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.

Review: The Glimpse by Claire Merle

Read from June 7, 2012
to June 8, 2012

Book: The Glimpse by Claire Merle

Publication Date: June 7, 2012

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Number of Pages: 432

Genre/s: Young Adult, Dystopia

In a near future, society is segregated according to whether people are genetically disposed to mental illness. 17-year-old Ana has been living the privileged life of a Pure due to an error in her DNA test. When the authorities find out, she faces banishment from her safe Community, a fate only thwarted by the fact that she has already been promised to Pure-boy Jasper Taurell.

Jasper is from a rich and influential family and despite Ana’s condition, wants to be with her. The authorities grant Ana a tentative reprieve. If she is joined to Jasper before her 18th birthday, she may stay in the Community until her illness manifests. But if Jasper changes his mind, she will be cast out among the Crazies. As Ana’s joining ceremony and her birthday loom closer, she dares to hope she will be saved from the horror of the City and live a ‘normal’ life. But then Jasper disappears.

Led to believe Jasper has been taken by a strange sect the authorities will not intefere with, Ana sneaks out of her well-guarded Community to find him herself. Her search takes her through the underbelly of society, and as she delves deeper into the mystery of Jasper’s abduction she uncovers some devastating truths that destroy everything she has grown up to believe. - From Goodreads

'We're linked,' she said. 'We could lose each other a thousand times and the universe would still bring us back together. Will you wait for me?'

I was entirely captivated by The Glimpse.

It's the year 2041 and many catastrophes had happened. There have been the 2018 Collapse, the Global Depression, and Petrol Wars that lead Britain to close its borders. The Mental Health Care system has so much power over the society and people are now being classified into two, the Pures and the Crazies. The Pures live in the Community with comfort and luxury while the Crazies has to live with the disarray of the City.

Ana is the daughter of Ashber Barber, the man behind the invention of the Pure test. She is a Pure or so she thought. When her father was accused of manipulating her test results, she was branded as a Big3 Sleeper. Only a binding could save her from being thrown out to the City. But Jasper the man she's being bound to has troubles. He knew something big, something that could shatter the credibility of the Pure test and weaken the hold of the entire Board of Psychiatric Testing and Evaluation. That's why Jasper was kidnapped and Ana has only 4 weeks to figure out how to find Jasper or they will never be bound and she will be shunned from the Community. 

That's how it all started. Ana was intent on getting Jasper back because she knows he is in trouble. So she sneaked outside of the Community and her adventure started.

The Glimpse reminded me of previous dystopian books I've read. It reminded me of Matched by Ally Condie because of the Binding Ceremony. It also reminded me of Starters by Lissa Price because of its technicality. But in my humble opinion, The Glimpse is superior. Mostly because The Glimpse plays to my love for psychology. 

The appeal for me of The Glimpse can be pointed out to its concept. I love the idea behind it all. That because the world is in shambles, the pyschologists and intellectuals will step forward and try to control the crimes and the escalating turmoil by controlling people's action. By mapping out every mental health disorders, they could now classify people into who's harmful and who's not. They could now control people because they believe they fully understand how the brain functions. They give psychotic medications to children and even neonates as a form of prophylaxis or preventive treatment without regard to the debilitating side-effects. At a young age, they become dependent to it and without it, withdrawal symptoms occur to the point of depression and suicidal tendencies. Isn't that positively chilling?

The characters are also part of the charm of The Glimpse. I just like Ana so much. She is intelligent, brave, and compassionate. She had to endure a lot of things. She had to live with her cold, calculating father and has been brought up to lies and deceptions. She had even forgotten what lead to her mother suicide because of the layers of lies her father coached her to tell.

In times where emotions has to be estimated and always reigned in for fear of being taken away by the Psych Watch, being in the City is like freedom to Ana. Yes, she was scared and wary but you could really see that her role was to shake things and to start changing the system.

The only thing that slightly bothered me was the "Glimpse" thing. I just felt that it was the carrots in the soup. Just floating around but I guess we will have more explanation about this in the next installment.

I could go on and on but this review would then be very long. The Glimpse is definitely something. It had me take down notes like I'm on cracked. It made me think so much and even though it's highly improbable for now to have a society like that, it's possible that in the future this could happen. It all really boils down to power and how this power could be very corrupting. 

The Glimpse is definitely something. Oh wait, I've said that already. Just reiterating. This is definitely a must-buy and a must-read, people.

Cupid's Verdict:

4 1/2 Cupids

An advance copy was provided by the publisher at no cost via Netgalley