Review - The Weaver by Emmi Itäranta

 

 

Inside the Book:

Title: The Weaver
Author: Emmi Itaranta

Release Date: November 1, 2016

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Genre: Dystopian

Format: Ebook

The author of the critically acclaimed Memory of Water returns with this literary ecological tale in the vein of Ursula K. Le Guin and Sheri S. Tepper, in which an innocent young woman becomes entangled in a web of ancient secrets and deadly lies that lie at the dark center of her prosperous island world.

Eliana is a model citizen of the island, a weaver in the prestigious House of Webs. She also harbors a dangerous secret—she can dream, an ability forbidden by the island’s elusive council of elders. No one talks about the dreamers, the undesirables ostracized from society.

But the web of protection Eliana has woven around herself begins to unravel when a young girl is found lying unconscious in a pool of blood on the stones outside the house. Robbed of speech by her attackers, the only clue to her identity is one word tattooed in invisible ink across her palm: Eliana. Why does this mysterious girl bear her name? What links her to the weaver—and could she hold Eliana’s fate in her hand?

As Eliana finds herself growing closer to this injured girl she is bound to in ways she doesn’t understand, the enchanting lies of the island begin to crumble, revealing a deep and ancient corruption. Joining a band of brave rebels determined to expose the island’s dark secrets, Eliana becomes a target of ruthless forces determined to destroy her. To save herself and those she loves, she must call on the power within her she thought was her greatest weakness: her dreams.

 

My Review:

The Weaver by Emmi Itäranta is a fantastic book. I've not read much fantasy lately and this was just the book I needed to jump back in to the fantasy world with both feet. It was mysterious and magical and wonderful, even if sometimes in a bad way.

Eliana, at face value, is a dutiful weaver. She does what she's told when she's told and never seems to veer from the course that the rest of her House is on. Until a girl appears and flips her world completely upside down. Then she realizes that there is so much more than what she's told to say and do and not say and not do.... and not all of it is as it should be. The secrets she keeps aren't as secret as she thinks anymore either.

There are so many characters in this story that are just amazing. Eliana, Valeria, Janos, Alva... all magnificent and strong and willing to put their lives on the line to save those who need to be saved. There are also so many frustrating things going on... people happy to be kept ignorant... to believe everything they're told because it's easier than thinking for themselves. Even if it means people they know and love are going to be ripped from them and taken somewhere horrific and terrible for the rest of their lives. Sometimes ignorance is bliss... but not for everyone.

The Houses of Crafts were intriguing. All the different districts and positions... A place for everyone and everyone it their place kind of thing. Everything was described in so much detail at all times that sometimes I lost the actual purpose of what I was reading, but still... the imagery was beautiful and haunting and downright terrifying in spots.

I couldn't put this book down. I just couldn't. Read it in less than a day. If you're looking for a suspenseful and fantastical read with absolutely beautiful imagery, I highly recommend you pick up The Weaver.

Meet the Author:

Emmi Itäranta (b. 1976) was born in Tampere, Finland, where she also grew up. She holds one MA in Drama and Theatre Studies from the University of Tampere, and another from the University of Kent, UK, where she began writing her debut novel Memory of Water as a part of her Creative Writing masters degree. She later completed the full manuscript in both Finnish and English. The novel won the Fantasy and Sci-fi Literary Contest organised by the Finnish publishing house Teos. It was published to enthusiastic reviews in Finland in 2012 under the title Teemestarin kirja. In 2015 the English language version, Memory of Water, was nominated for the Philip K. Dick award in the US and the Arthur C. Clarke award in the UK. Translation rights to the award-winning novel have been sold in 21 territories to date. Itäranta’s second novel Kudottujen kujien kaupunki was published in 2015, and it won her the Tampere City Literary Award. In the UK the novel is known as The City of Woven Streets, and in the US as The Weaver. Itäranta’s professional background is an eclectic blend of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, dramaturge, scriptwriter and press officer. She lives in Canterbury, UK.

Connect with Emmi: Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

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Tour Schedule

 Monday, November 7 

Guest blogging at Books, Dreams, Life

Book featured at The Dark Phantom

Tuesday, November 8

Book featured at Literal Exposure

Book featured at The Literary Nook

Wednesday, November 9

Book featured at A Title Wave

Book featured at As the Pages Turn

Thursday, November 10

Book featured at Voodoo Princess

Friday, November 11

Book featured at The Bookworm Lodge

Book featured at All Inclusive Retort

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Monday, November 14

Book reviewed at I'm Shelf-ish

Book featured at Confessions of an Eccentric Bookaholic

Tuesday, November 15

Book reviewed at Shhh...Not While I'm Reading

Book featured at My Bookish Pleasures

Wednesday, November 16

Book featured at Mello and June

Book featured at Harmonious Publicity

Thursday, November 17

Book featured at CBY Book Club

Book featured at Write and Take Flight

Friday, November 18

Book featured at Bound 2 Escape

Book reviewed at Cover2Cover

Book featured at Authors and Readers Book Corner

Review - Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

“Dead girl walking”, the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret”, the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.

Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.

It's been a couple of months since I wrote up a review. And a couple of months since I read this Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. It's not a novel that's easy to review to be honest. I've read Fever 1793 and Speak by Anderson and while Speak was by no means a happy story to read, Melinda's ordeal was one that I was, unfortunately, familiar with... so it made it easier.

Lia and Cassie have eating disorders. But we don't see much of Cassie at all in the story. At least not in a conventional way. She's more... haunting... than anything else. She sort of manifests as one of Lia's demons.

The writing in this book is definitely different. Not told in solid story form but mainly through the jumbled thoughts of the main character. And I can tell you, it was so frustrating to read. So frustrating that I KNEW all this girl needed to do was eat... and so frustrating that she REFUSED even though she knew that was what she needed, too.

But eating disorders are never that easy. You can't just look at someone with bulimia and tell them to stop throwing up their food. You can't look at someone with anorexia and say "Here, have a sandwich," and expect everything to get better. It's a battle. And not a battle between you and that person, but a battle between that person and whatever demons are waging battle in their heads. Clearly Lia had many. And it was sad.

I'd seen a movie like this once. Long ago and far away. Best friends become anorexic... they literally compete to see who can eat the least and get the skinniest and then... one of them dies. The other is left with the guilt on top of the disease and her family's insistence that she seek treatment and "get better".

Lia has a family who knows what she's doing... in a way. They know she has a problem. And they believe they're monitoring it correctly. But Lia lies and manipulates her way in to "seeming" normal. The anger and irritation at seeing her lie conflicts with the sadness and the heartache of "watching" her waste away...

It's a hard book to read.

If you've read any of Anderson's other novels... I'd suggest giving this one a go. I'd probably recommend it for highschool and up because unfortunately, I know how easy it is for younger kids to read or see something like this book and "identify" with it to the point where they think they're experiencing the same issues... again, something I'm familiar with personally, sadly. So... less easily influenced minds are probably better suited for this particular type of story.