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Brightly Woven

Alexandra Bracken

Why we're reading this: A lovely book, easy read and hard to put down
[close] A lovely book, easy read and hard to put down

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May 16, 2011 Lindsey rated it liked it

Shelves: cleanreads, reviewed

This book was a treat! Good enough that post-reading guilt probably won't set in for at least a week--I read the last 200 pages in one morning, which I definitely did not have time to do.

The plot was not extraordinarily different from many fantasies I have read, but I am a deep believer in the seven basic plots theory--there are only seven different stories in the world, and the most an author can do is retell of one of them attractively. This Bracken did, and she did not go down the dark pat This book was a treat! Good enough that post-reading guilt probably won't set in for at least a week--I read the last 200 pages in one morning, which I definitely did not have time to do.

The plot was not extraordinarily different from many fantasies I have read, but I am a deep believer in the seven basic plots theory--there are only seven different stories in the world, and the most an author can do is retell of one of them attractively. This Bracken did, and she did not go down the dark path of Tolkien-fanfiction.

The characters were well drawn--the queen and Pascal in particular, I noticed, did not fall victim to their traditional, one-dimensional roles--although I adore Dumbledore, pale imitations only annoy me, and Pascal was not the inescapable wise, all-knowing mentor. The end tied up neatly, perhaps more so than in real life, but not to the point where it was lazy or idealistic.

Bracken is a first-time author and naturally the book had its issues. The narrative had a tendency to jump from one place to the next with little explanation. Mundane details tended to be passed over: where Sydelle gets her thread and elixir supplies, eating, shelter, and so forth, and the alternate-world development was patchy and inconsistent. It was rather amusing how Owain's fair Vesta seemed to appear out of nowhere when needed and then disappear again without explanation. There was very little backstory on Wayland or Owain or many of the other characters, but that may have been author preference and deliberate. The thing most obviously overlooked was the Cliffton invasion. It was barely mentioned and did not bear as much weight on the story as it should have, Cliffton being Sydelle's home. The core of all of this simply is, she often left readers to puzzle through the unexplained portions on their own, and sometimes reaching the desired conclusion was a bit of a jump.

One last significant flaw was the occasional modern slang and expression that found its way into the dialogue, usually where Wayland was involved.

However, most of these were things I noticed after I finished the book, and did not greatly distract me while I was
reading. The world and people were vibrant; for all the holes, it felt real. It was like looking out on a street through a
window with slightly distorted glass: sometimes the details of the view were obscured, but there was no doubt that the
details were there. Bracken is definitely, as a
reviewer with rather better credentials than mine has noted, a debut author to watch, and I await Black is the Color and, I hope, its two sequels with eagerness. ...more

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Sep 10, 2011 Ginny marked it as to-read

Jun 15, 2019 Cassie marked it as to-read

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