Review: Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Read (August 19 - 26, 2012)

Book: Crewel (Crewel World #1) by Gennifer Albin

Publication Date: October 4, 2012

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Number of Pages: 360

Genre/s: Young Adult, Dystopia

Source: ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley

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 as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. 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 wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.

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 stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back. - (source)

It was Under the Never Sky all over again.

In all honesty, I was so much looking forward to reading Crewel. I read so many favorable reviews about it and the premise really got my attention that not shortly thereafter I began pining for it. I was expecting a lot of squealing with the likes of "OMG" / "HOLY SHIDOODLES" / "FRAKING FANTASTIC" / "SQUEEEEE!" / "BESTBOOKEVUH!" / "AMAZINGBALLS". But unfortunately, I didn't get what I was expecting.

Sometimes when you read a book and no matter how insanely unlikeable it is when you take into consideration your reading standards, you will still like it or even love it. But there are also times when a book that you should supposed to like or love just fails to capture you. That "thing" that will make or break a book could be a single element or the entirety of the book but when that "thing" is  present, everything will surely work out. 

Just like what happened with Under the Never Sky, I can't seem to pinpoint just when did Crewel start to lose me. It started really well. It was unputdownable, I immediately fell in love with the protagonist, Adelice, I felt a connection with her family, the concept was interesting and the pacing was just right.

However, when it did start to take off, I really had trouble keeping much of the enthusiasm I had when it started. Probably because I didn't think it would turn out the way it did. What am I talking about? Well, Adelice's perpective of the Spinster's coventry was it's not as glamorous as they painted it out to be. I second that. The moment Adelice started living the life of Spinster, I just lost her. 

The bad guys were unbelievably weak. I don't believe she would get away with so much if they weren't so pathetic. Also, I don't care at all with the love triangle. For me, it was unnecessary and it did nothing to help gripped me with the story.

It was highly technical, too. While the concept is intriguing and interesting, I had problems grasping how the weaving and time works. I had a hard time feeling the story because I wasn't able to understand how it works in the first place. In some books, I could get passed that but in Crewel, it seems like I keep being jolted out of its world because I have to stop and think about what I read at times.

However, Albin's delivery of the story is highly commendable. She had in mind a fantastic story and if not for her writing, I would've have liked it much less. Although, I had problems understanding the concept of weaving itself, I love that she didn't bombard the readers with details regarding the world she created in just one blow. She did it piece by piece and I appreciated it. I especially love that it wasn't until the last chapters of the book, that we knew what year the setting was in.

Crewel had a lot of potential. I wouldn't go far as to say it didn't live up to it because in a way it did stand up to its premise. And despite my reservations and quite lukewarm feelings with Crewel, I'm still looking forward to its sequel.

3 1/2 Cupids

A copy was provided by the publisher at no cost via Netgalley
in exchange for an honest review.