Deadly Secrets
Tangled Lies
Woven truths
Incapable. Awkward. Artless. That's what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: She wants to fail. Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she's exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen to work the looms is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to manipulate the very fabric of reality. But if controlling what people eat, where they live, and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn't interested.
Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and used her hidden talent for a moment. Now she has one hour to eat her mom's overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister's academy gossip and laugh at her dad's jokes. One hour to pretend everything's okay. And one hour to escape.
Because tonight, they'll come for her.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful.
Incredibly Original Debut
By Miss Bonnie
'No one knows why some girls have the gift. There are theories, of course. That it's passed down genetically. Or that girls with an open mind can see the weave of life around them at all times. Even that it's a gift only given to the pure-hearted. But I know better. It's a curse.'In this world, everything is comprised of threads which can be altered, manipulated, or completely removed. Behavior modification can be done for unruly children or if they're deemed a lost cause can be removed completely. If that is done then everything is reworked in order to change the complete structure of everyone's thoughts and memories so that the child that was removed is not even remembered, even by his own parents. Even the most base things that would normally be natural: food cultivation, upcoming thunderstorms, these are all managed by the Spinsters. Only managed though.'Crewel work is an act of pure creation. Crewelers do more than weave the fabric of Arras. They can capture the materials to create the weave. Only they can see the weave of the raw materials. (...) The Spinsters wouldn't have any matter to weave if it weren't for her special gift.'Because this world wouldn't exist without the Creweler.'Day by day, I am remade, into someone else. I'm sixteen now, and I will be almost flawless forever. That thought helps me fall asleep at night, secure in my place here, but it also wakes me up trembling with nightmares.'Their beauty routines and the description of how these women look reminded me of geisha's. The only difference with the women in Arras is the access to renewal patches which allow them to heal wounds rapidly but also help to preserve their youth. These patches worked so well that you're virtually unable to tell people's true age anymore. A very sci-fi and freaky touch.Sure, there is a slight love-triangle in the book but I'm starting to realize that my main issue with them is that there is always the guy the protagonist should obviously be going for and one that she very clearly should not be (and he's usually a total prick). That wasn't the case with Crewel and it was a very plausible situation in which the love triangle derived from. I actually liked both guys, one more so than the other (Jost), but they were both still well likable and weren't total pricks. That calls for celebration I think.I loved the twist that was thrown in at the end. Everything slowly begins to unravel (haha... pun intended) and Adelice finally realizes the enormity of the situation that she's been forced into. The twist succeeded in not only making the entire situation crazy and eye-popping but really added a layer of realism to this 'perfect world'.While I had trouble grasping the concept (at first) I was still incredibly fascinated by the idea and everything ended up being explained sufficiently in my opinion. The attention to detail into every facet of this world was incredibly intricate and entirely original. I loved it. Crewel is a sci-fi world where everything can be altered with a 1984 type society where people are controlled to the nth degree. Highly recommended for dystopian fans.
27 of 32 people found the following review helpful.
Crewel
By Leeanna Chetsko
"Crewel" is a book I was highly anticipating. From the minute I read the summary, I wanted to get my hands on it. A book that has a cool premise, a dystopian society, inventive world building, and a twist on the Greek Fates? Yes, please.I gobbled up the first half, even though it was slow going at times. The worldbuilding and the weave captured my attention, and kept me going. But when I put the book down for a week, with only 40 or so pages to go until the end, I knew something was wrong.As I said, the worldbuilding in "Crewel" is quite inventive. When I found out where Arras came from, I thought it was pretty neat. Yeah, I saw influences from other dystopian novels, including "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood and "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, but I enjoyed the way Gennifer Albin twisted everything together.The descriptions of the weave -- the force Spinsters manipulate to keep everything perfectly in line in Arras -- are gorgeous to read, and the cover is evocative of that. I applaud the publisher for not going with the "pretty girl in a dress" trend for the cover, and doing something abstract yet fitting.My problems with "Crewel" started with Adelice, the main character. Her parents trained her to be clumsy, so she would never be picked to be a Spinster. I never understood why being clumsy would translate to being unable to see and touch the weave. When she's taken, Adelice discovers that she has more talent than any other Spinster, because she can manipulate the weave without a loom. Yet she uses her incredible talent to create a safe space to make out with the first boy she meets.Yep, there's a love triangle here. I'm sorry, but I am sick of love triangles, and didn't think this one fit the book. I can understand Adelice having feelings for Jost, because she's been segregated from the opposite sex for her whole life. And Jost *is* a great guy. But the romance with Erik is weak and unnecessary.While most of the writing was beautiful to read, sometimes it confused me. There was more than one passage I had to read several times in order to figure out just what was going on and why it was important to the plot. The ending was a real problem for me; it was rushed, and I'm still not sure exactly what happened.I had some other problems, but I also had a lot of things I liked about "Crewel." One of my favorite characters was actually Maela, Adelice's enemy, and I want to know more about her. In a world where women are controlled by men, Maela is power hungry and vicious. I also appreciated that Albin brought up same-sex relationships -- I definitely wondered about them in such a controlled society, and while I don't agree with how the Guild (Arras's rulers) handles them, I do think it's something readers will ponder.Overall, I enjoyed "Crewel." I just wasn't blown away, like I'd hoped to be. I WILL read the next book, because I want to find out what else the author has in mind, but it's not going to be a grabby hands, GIVE IT TO ME NOW sequel.
21 of 25 people found the following review helpful.Beautiful!
By Ellepaul
Not only is the cover of Crewel beautiful and striking, but the story inside is as well. This is one of those wonderful YA books that as soon as your eyes hit the very first page you find it very difficult to put it down. In fact I didn't put it down and ended up falling asleep reading it and woke up to find my poor Kindle on the floor. Never fear, I keep a pillow on the floor beside my bed for times just like this.Before I started reading I already knew what crewel is. Crewel is a form of embroidery, one I had tried when I was younger. It is not my favorite kind of needlework but it is never less a lovely one when completed. As far as I know and understand, crewel is not used when you are weaving on a loom. So I found it very interesting that while the name was used, the technique really wasn't.From an early age Adelice's parents realized that she was special. That she has a gift for weaving. While many would have loved their daughters to have such a gift, Adelice's parents taught her to hide hers. During her testing she makes a mistake and reveals that she has the gift. That night they come for her and her parents try to get her away. Unfortunately they take her and kill her father. Now Adelice must try to figure out who to trust and do her best to stay alive in her new privileged and yet dangerous world.Crewel is the first novel in a YA Dystopia/Matrix like series. While the story is fresh and creative there was one thing I didn't like, the proverbial love triangle. Crewel also left me with a lot of unanswered questions and a desire to read more in this wonderful series.
