Stacia in Progress

"I'm here because it's the last place they'll look.""Look for what?" I ask, unsure if I want to know the answer."Revolution."THIS BOOK FRIED MY BRAIN.I'll award Crewel a happily confuzzled 3.5 stars.Of course, it wouldn't be nice if I let you know just who said the above quote. I'll leave you with the element of mystery, as if this book wouldn't do that to you on its own. Am I the only person who had a few moments of brain trauma while trying to figure out this world within a world uh... outside of a world ... parallel to a world uh... yeah. All I know is this : WE'RE ALL PUPPETS OF THE WEAVE. I thought that I was slightly confused while reading Hourglass Door. This is a similar, but extremely amped up, version of how people can manipulate space and time through their own machinations. Upon first impression, I thought this book was going to be another version of The Selection where shoddy world building was going to be excused because of the distraction of two cute boys vying for the lead female's attention. But then we went from no world building to "throw everything in the stew pot at once and things will sort themselves out!" I'm still reeling from the wtf-ery that just took place.So, you ask...did I like the book? I did! At least, I loved the characters and the concept. I'm not sure if I've quite made sense of how this world is even possible. Yes, I get that it's some sort of fantasy/sci-fi hybrid thing going on here and that I should just go with it. What you all don't know is that I can't get through many movies without asking "why?" at least a few times. My poor little brain wants to understand every little random detail sometimes, when everyone else is just accepting of the entertainment value. Basically, in a nutshell, Adelice is a "Spinster" (yeah, historical romance would coin this term as an insult)...a type of girl who can weave the threads of time and matter to influence the world around her. The weaves in the loom contain life as we know it - people, places, things...even the atmosphere, such as the weather. If you thought mafias could get rid of people easily, they ain't got nothin' on the spinsters. Don't piss off this government, or your thread is gonna get taken out of the loom."What happens to people when they're ripped?" I whisper."Honestly, I don't know," she says. "I'm sorry."Whatever was going on, I eventually started to warm up to the possibilities of where this series is going to take us. The ending took the idea of connected worlds and dropped us into a huge dilemma. I can only imagine how much trouble is going to be brought down on our trio of misfit toys as they navigate their new reality.The Players :Adelice - Her name. I keep wanting to call her Adelaide. In the lottery of crappy names, she hit it big. So far, I don't have any sort of strong opinion about her. I think she's a run-of-the-mill protag who's on a quest for truth, which tends to throw us off from learning many real details about her character itself."I can't be the first eligible who ever ran.""No, but you're special.""Yeah, what makes me different?""They didn't kill you."Jost - Well, hellloooooo Jost. I'm not the type of person to make "team edward/jacob" shirts, but if I had to pick a guy in this bizarre love triangle, I'd be firmly on team Jost. However, I'm slightly annoyed by the fact that Jost might have unclaimed baggage to get in the way. But he's tough, protective, and yet somehow mysterious. The bonus is he'll feed you if you're unable to do it yourself!"Here," Jost offers, picking up the plate and gathering a forkful of the potatoes.Erik - The playboy. While this type of character can be appealing in his own way, I prefer Jost's untamed character to Erik's refined one. But I can't say that he wouldn't be able to charm his way in if he gave it some effort..."So exactly what's on the agenda tonight?" I ask Erik."Well, you looking beautiful for one thing," he says, and I have to hold myself back from laughing."Does that stuff work with other girls?" I ask, barely containing my amusement."Yeah," he says, grinning widely. "How are you so immune to my charms?""Years of segregation.""That usually works in my favor," he admits in a whisper.I'm still a little unclear about where we're being taken, but I'll count Crewel as a good first book to an unusual series. Book 2 will definitely be put into my reading rotation when it comes out.This book was provided from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.