Really cool world, strong heroine, a pseudo love triangle, and a cliffhanger ending. 4 stars.All of her life Adelice has been taught to hide her “gift.” In Adelice’s world, all young women are tested to see if they have the ability to become a Spinster, a woman who is able to weave the fabric of life. The whole premise of this book is intriguing. Imagine a room full of Spinsters operating special looms and creating life, weather, everything. Occasionally, “mistakes” are discovered and they are ripped out, vanishing without a trace. Spinsters lead very privileged lives. They are “retrieved” from the general population, taken to Coventry for further testing and training, and lead exciting lives full of parties, pretty dresses, and make up. So why wouldn’t a girl want to join their ranks? I adored the voice of Adelice the narrator. Rarely do you see a 16 year old with such maturity and determination. Adelice’s family is taken away from her; her parents killed on the day of her retrieval. Her sister Amie is reassigned to another family and no longer has any memory of Adelice and her former life. Amie’s safety and an escape from Coventry becomes a priority for Adelice. Crewel is set in the world of Arras, a planet similar to Earth. It is a strange place with very strict societal rules. Everything is regulated from birth to death. The sexes are segregated with families with female children living apart from families with male children. Purity laws are enforced and it is rare for males and females to mix. Population is regulated with the state deciding how many children a family may have. When a family member becomes too sick or old, they are ripped from the fabric of life and cease to exist. There were a few little things that annoyed me in the book. There was a lot of emphasis on makeup and its application. Spinsters had a team of aestheticians devoted to their makeup. For a world with such extreme purity laws, evening gowns that bared a lot of skin seemed out of place. Crewel is a pleasure to read. Once I started reading it, I did not want to put it down. I will warn you, there is a cliffhanger ending and wow, what a way to end a book. I kept trying to page forward, hoping that there was more to read. Crewel is a fantastic debut read. I can’t wait to read more books by Ms. Albin. Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group for a review copy of this book. Review posted on Badass Book Reviews.
