Brightly Woven

I enjoyed "Brightly Woven," by Alexandra Bracken. That's pretty much the most accurate description I can think of for how I feel about the book. I didn't fall madly in love with it, I didn't hate it, I just . . . enjoyed it. I feel more than lukewarm towards it, I'll read it again, I'll recommend it to others--it just didn't quite grab me all the way.

Here's the summary:

Just as the rains come after ten long, dry years, a young wizard, Wayland North, appears, to whisk Sydelle Mirabil away from her desert village. North needs an assistant, and Sydelle is eager to see the country--and to join him on his quest to stop the war that surely will destroy her home. [***Okay, this sentence is exaggerating a bit--at first Sydelle definitely does NOT want to go. Just had to make that clear. This part of the summary bugs me every time.***] But North has secrets--about himself, about why he chose Sydelle, about his real reasons for the journey. What does he want from her? And why does North's sworn enemy seem fascinated by Sydelle himself?

I think one of my main problems with this book is how Sydelle seems to fall in love with North so randomly. It's like one chapter she hates him and by the next she cares for him--but it wasn't really obvious to me how or why she falls for him. I also thought the book had a bit of a rocky start in terms of Sydelle being a realistic character in terms of her emotions and reactions, but after the first couple of chapters she evens out. I also though the characters should have been a little older to be believable. Sydelle is 16 and North is 18. I think it would've been better if Sydelle had been 18 and North 20, or something along those lines. They just acted older than their ages, and it came as a shock to me whenever I remembered their actual ages.

I did really like, however, how the author made me just as unsure of my feelings towards North as Sydelle was. I started off liking him, then I wasn't so sure any more, then he started growing on me again.

I think most of the issues I had with it can be attributed to the fact that this is the author's first book. I'll definitely give any other ones she writes a try.