What a fun new fantasy series with some great lessons and applications. Perfect for readers of all ages, I know my daughter will enjoy this book as I did.

Lindsay A. Franklin's story telling creates a world where words become color, stories crystallize into pieces of art, and "art has a way of revealing the truth."


Tanwen is a story peddler/story weaver, who creates tangible trinkets from her with her story telling. When she loses control of her gift, she finds herself being hunted by the king's guard. Rescued by an unlikely band of other weavers. Tanwen works with this group to attempt to restore the kingdom. My one complaint was with the romance/love triangle. I wanted to see the feelings develop slowly and naturally, but instead it felt rushed. Aside from that, I found The Story Peddler to be filled with unique and lovable characters with an exciting and fast-paced story, and I thought this was a super-fun read.

The cover art and premise really hooked me onto this book. Sadly I was too late by the time I tried to read it! I will definitely be checking this series out as I've heard great things. Thank you though for the early access!

Such an original concept! I love the way the creative graces have been portrayed and the religious allegory is well done and not heavy-handed. I connected with the characters and their plight and enjoyed seeing how this intrigue played out. I did feel that the ending played out somewhat abrupt and left some things not satisfactorily wrapped up, but not to such an extent that I was left without a complete story. Well done!.

Some of the accents leave a lot to be desired in the audio-book, and whilst I was not convinced at first once I got into this story I started to enjoy it.

The world-building (no pun intended) was actually very strong, especially for the first novel in a trilogy, and also the author's debut. The notion of poems and stories having literally a life of their own, being able to speak influence the body was an intriguing one. There are vague hints of other fantasy stories here, but it stands apart from them too.

Most of the characters were well-drawn, although the villain is a little on the cartoonish side. So obvious in his evil and tyranny.

Overall, its a good story with adventure, chase scenes, action and smattering of romance. The conclusion could allow of this to be a single, self-contained story, but there are a few unresolved plot-lines and loose ends which will no doubt be resolved in the sequels

Tanwen dreams of being the royal storyteller, spinning her colorful stories and never going to bed hungry again. But her craft is a dangerous one when there are only a handful of approved stories, and anything outside of that is considered treasonous. As she continues to tell her stories and she unravels more of her mysterious past and that of the usurper, the truth becomes more and more difficult and even painful to suppress.



Will the truth cost Tanwen her life?



A fantastical new series, with strong worldbuilding, and wonderfully unique underdog heroes. A well crafted story, with a straightforward, and unflinchingly curious heroine. Tanwen says what she thinks, though she is also sensitive to others and struggles to strike a balance with one of her dearest friends.



I loved how the author used the color imagery of story spinning to bind the story together, as well as using various viewpoints to tell the story.



Overall this is an excellent start to a sure to be fantastic trilogy. I had heard rave reviews from other bookish friends so I was excited to dive into this one, and I wasn't disappointed. It has strong themes of truth, with seedling threads of faith, as well coming of age themes. Many of the characters are very interesting, some of them we got to know better than others, but I'm excited to get to know them better and see where the story goes. The ending was satisfying, in that it gave me just enough answers, while still leaving many threads unwound to be woven in subsequent installments. Definitely recommend!



I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Sometimes a book just has to sit and simmer for a bit before you pick it up cause you know that your going to just devour it. The Story Peddler is just that kind of book, the cover is eye catching, the blurb selling stories is a deadly business, and their secrets buried deep in the story. Also the sequel is coming out later this year so not much time to wait to sink your teeth into the rest of the story.

I the concept of weaving stories and have them be magical shown in strands of color shooting from your hands made for a very interesting magic system. Add in that the art of the story peddling is very controlled in the form of Crown Stories, stories that are approved by the king, better not let anyone be creative in this world. As our main heroine is unfolding these secrets and in turn her weird twist on the story peddler magic a whole group of peddlers exist as well. So she swept up in this political plot when her entire life she just want to spin stories for the king as the top story spinner and hopefully see the world at the same time.

The secrets and political intrigue of this novel are so on point, i did think when i first added this to my to be read list that it was a middle grade novel, but it definitely sits squarely in the young adult genre. It an amazing read and i can not wait for the sequel later this year.

*Thank you to Netgalley for providing me this free copy in exchange for an honest review.*

Tanwen has the unique ability to tell stories. And, she tells them so well that they almost seem real....
Everything is going well — until she weaves a story of treachery and treason against the king, now she’s on the run.

Overall, this story was a great read. I couldn’t get enough and I found myself going back to it whenever I had free time.

This was a decent story, but not overwhelming compelling for me. It wasn't bad, it wasn't preachy, it just didn't reach out and grab me. It also didn't make me go 'ugh, that's 2.5 hours of my life I'm never getting back.' It was just a very 'meh' kind of story for me. Probably better for the 12-16 crowd.

I very much wanted to love this book. It has such an interesting premise and so much promise. And yet, I just couldn't fully immerse myself into the story. I would read for a bit, put the book down for a few days, and found that when I came back to it, I couldn't remember what had happened. It just didn't grab me enough. It felt a bit like a writer's first attempt at a novel.
The ending particularly irritated me. The climax was very anti-climactic. Everything just fell into place so easily. And yet, there was no real resolution. Even if the book is the first in a series, I believe the reader should feel a sense of completion upon finishing the book. In this case, it felt like the author just decided that this was a good place to stop. It didn't resolve very much of anything.
I'm not one to write negative reviews, but I probably won't be reading the next book in this series.

This was a creative and very unusual fantasy. I liked Tanwen. She is a dreamer and very ambitious. The things I did not like about this book was that the story was told by many characters. This made it harder to keep track of the story. Also, the world-building was confusing, and did give me much explanation of a story peddler was. Still, I think this book is perfect for fans of A Thousand Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn, and Seraphina! I can’t wait to read the sequel!

DNFed

Honestly, It was just below my reading and maturity level. This is a GREAT read or middle schoolers or early high schoolers.. I'd call it a clean fantasy with an interesting plot.

This story honestly just blew me away! Adventure, rebels, royals, and folks who can literally weave a story to magically create real physical objects! How freaking awesome is that?!

The author's storytelling ability is superb. For a debut, it reads like the work of a very experienced writer. And the magic system! Hands down, one of the most intriguingly unique magical abilities/forms I've ever encountered. And one I wish really existed! I'd love to be able to spin real objects from stories! Or just have one, even!

The Story Peddler was a very pleasant surprise for me. I'd originally requested it based on the gorgeous cover and interesting synopsis but it was so, so much better than I expected. One of the best books I've read this year and a new favorite!

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! All opinions are my own.**

*This book was given to me by NetGalley in return for a honest review*

I really enjoyed this one. The story-line was unique and refreshing from the typical YA fantasy. I found Tanwen, the MC, such strong and charming heroine and the rest of the characters equally interesting. Looking forward to the next in the series!

Another reason I need to venture out of my comfort zone. The Story Peddler not only weaves a story but weaves the reader into the ink of the words. It is like a magical feeling to be swept up into the pages of this book and glide back to reality at the end of the novel. I couldn't fathom not reading this book again.

A Wizard Did It

The Story Peddler started out with a really cool magic system, and that’s what initially made me pick it up. But the execution really didn’t live up to the promise. There’s only a handful that are ‘approved’ by the king, desperate to keep control over the country he gained through coup, and there’s an undercurrent of ‘repressing the arts to control the people’ throughout the story. All well and good. But the approved stories are…really boring. Much of the storytelling scenes in the book are given over to describing what Tanwen is doing visually, while the story itself is reduced to a few extremely bland summary lines that I cannot imagine would draw any kind of paying audience. I mean, we’re talking “there’s a king and he’s got a daughter and she’s really pretty and that’s the story of our princess” levels of boring. It’s a pretty big letdown, considering this is supposed to be a central part of the story.

After Tanwen meets up with rebels she finds out that similar magic exists for singing and painting, as well, and that her magic can do more than just make light shows that solidify into souvenirs. Except ‘do more’ turns into ‘do anything’ which is also really boring. Magic (in my opinion) is most interesting when it has to operate within a set of parameters, when the characters have to be creative about implementing their solutions. In this book, the parameter-having part isn’t used creatively, and then the parameters get tossed out the window for ‘eh, just, things happen. Because magic.’ I could not get into it at all.

(There’s also a nonsensical river that apparently goes all the way up a mountain that I spent a long time yelling at, but apparently that’s a pet peeve not a lot of people share with me so.)

Why Is This Here?

The narrative of The Story Peddler is really three or four different stories in one, and as a result the pacing of the book becomes very fractured and each part is rushed. To start with, there’s a dual POV between Tanwen and Braith, so we switch back and forth from outside the palace to inside. I think Bronwyn’s whole story (and character) could have been cut from the book because it added nothing to the overall story. Her entire contribution was “I’d like to help, but woe is me, I cannot.” We didn’t even get anything from seeing the other characters inside the palace, because all of that information was relayed to us through the rebels or the actions of the guards.

But even beyond that, Tanwen’s story goes through three distinct parts. 1) She’s a travelling storyteller with a cruel mentor that she puts up with because she loves her job. She juggles her dream of going to the capital city with the affections of a neighbor boy. 2) She lives with the rebels and learns more about her magic and the world and forms a connection with them. 3) She gets captured and goes to the palace and gets treated like a guest under house arrest more than a prisoner, and then has to fight everyone. Each of these parts could have made a whole book by itself, or maybe part one with either part 2 or 3. All of them together, however, makes them feel terribly rushed. Tanwen forms instant connections with each of the rebels she’s with, because there’s no time for a slower found family story. Tanwen accomplishes nothing in the palace and only randomly learns one thing, because there’s only a couple chapters before we have to rush to a big battle of a climax. The first part is actually pretty well paced, but I think the author should have split the book instead of trying to force so much plot into one story.

Here There Be Spoilers

Okay, so now I need to talk about the book’s ending. Because this where it went from ‘eh’ to ‘no.’ Throughout the book there’s talk of the need to get rid of the evil king, how the evil king is illegitimate, etc. BUT there’s also one character constantly talking about other forms of government and about anarchy and democracy and such. So at the very end, when the evil king is defeated and the rag-tag group of like six people who somehow managed to stage a whole coup are discussing how to proceed?

They decide that radical change is too hard and they’re keeping the monarchy. And also that Braith should be queen because ‘maybe absolute monarchy isn’t so bad if it’s got the right person at the top.’ LIKE.

WHAT.

NO.

That’s just such a terrible take that I don’t think I can say more than ‘WHAT NO’ to it. On top of being freaking whiplash from what the book appeared to be setting up. Also on top of the fact that Braith has shown no leadership abilities besides ‘not freaking evil.’

Also on top of the fact that this coup makes no sense and that it completely ignores anyone who isn’t The King. Local governments? Lol, what’s that. Regional leaders like other nobles or governors? Haha, don’t exist, there is only king. OTHER COUNTRIES THAT THE EVIL KING INVADED AND TOOK OVER? Literally not even brought up.

It’s such a bizarre ending to essentially say “yeah, let’s just keep the system that the evil king set up and change absolutely nothing and let everything continue on into perpetuity. Yay, victory!” M’kay?

And while we're talking about the ending, ye gads, there was a scene that just about made me throw my ereader. Throughout the book there's a group of black people from a country that was an ally of the protagonist's country, but then Evil King took them over. Throughout the book all these characters are either servants or rebels, and there's a very racist Story that's told multiple times by Tanwyn. Yeah, it's obviously supposed to be a lie from the king to justify the invasion/prove his evilness, but...not handled well. And then.

AND THEN.

Braith has a lady's maid who is black, Cameria. In the final pages, they have a conversation in which Braith apologizes for being part of her father's government and Cameria basically says "oh no, you shouldn't do that, you tried to stand up to him. Not like me, no, I should be so terribly sorry because..." Literally because she always knew the Evil King was evil, participated in a rebellion early on, and after surviving the brutal beatdown that happened decided to keep her head down and not get killed. That. That's why Cameria thinks she's terrible, whereas Braith is just So Nice for occasionally "but that's mean, maybe be a little less mean" to her dad.

Between "you're so brave for occasionally pointing out mean things" and "nah, we're going to give you power over the whole country because you're such an awesome leader" for a character that had no impact on the story at all, Braith is, like, prototypical White Feminism Savior. Throw in the strong Christian overtones that the magic/religion has in this book and, yeah, I was very close to throwing things. If it hadn't waited until the end to get that overt, this would have been a DNF.

My thoughts overall

A cool premise, but a weak execution that just got weirder as the book went on. The book’s unwillingness to capitalize on its own unique opportunities turned it not only dull but frustrating to boot.

After seeing all the rave reviews this book received, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of it. This book definitely deserves a 5 star rating.

The author does a spectacular job of painting word pictures that make the story come to life. She is so much like the story weavers the book talks about, except instead of having her words end with with a crystalized image, they become a magical book filled with the kind of imagery that takes me to another time and place; I loved every minute of it.

I am thrilled that this will be a trilogy; it could be more than that, and I would be even happier. I highly recommend this book.

I received a copy of The Story Peddler through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review and I was genuinely a little bit nervous about it! The last time I read a book in exchange for a review I truly hated it and was filled with guilt leaving it a one-star review. However, I can happily say (with a massive sigh of relief) that Lindsay A. Franklin's The Story Peddler was a pleasure to read and I'm giving it 4 out of 5.

Tanwen is a talented orphan storyteller. Well, she doesn't simply tell stories she has the power to crystallise them into little sculptures; a talent which is both restricted by the country's laws and abused by her 'mentor'. Nevertheless, all Tanwen dreams of is leaving her small town and becoming the Royal Storyteller.

After Tanwen accidentally tells a story containing banned strands she quickly finds herself an outlaw fighting for her life and in the company of a mismatched band of rebel weavers. Follow Tanwen's journey as she discovers deep, dark secrets and just how much she has to lose.



What I Loved:
- It felt original. Apparently, in essence, every story has been told and everything now is just a retelling. In lots of ways, The Story Peddler is easy to compare with other stories​ I've read, yet it still felt like something completely new.
- The secrets. Okay, some of them I saw coming a mile off, but it was still so much fun to watch as the characters pieced them together.
- The romantic entanglements. I'm a sucker for a romantic subplot, but there were so many different takes on love in this book and I was loving pretty much all of them!

What I Didn't Like:
- I felt like I was being force-fed religion, in particular: Christianity. I have no problem with religion, and I think a higher power/God element in books can often add something to the storyline. Yet, this just felt so forced and like Franklin was almost trying to convert me. 
- The romantic entanglements. Yes, I know, this is also something I loved. But, some of the couplings come a bit out of nowhere, there was no real build up to them and therefore felt shoe-horned in. Perhaps they would have been better coming to the surface in a sequel, I don't know.
- Some of the language. Clearly, some words are used to create a class divide between the characters and the towns they've grown up in. But my God did it annoy me. The constant and repetitive use of words like 'lass' was just infuriating. 
 
“Most people’s lives were stories with mysterious endings. Mine was a story with a beginning I could never make sense of.”
― Lindsay A. Franklin, The Story Peddler (The Weaver Trilogy #1)

The cover for this book is beautiful and was what drew me to the book. A unique spin on fantasy which I enjoyed. Tanwen wants to be storyteller for the king more than anything else and will let nothing stand in the way. As the story goes on,things take a turn for the worst and she learns to be careful what you ask for. I enjoyed this story but Tanwen is a little selfish at times. I look forward to reading book 2.

This is not a genre that I usually read, but a friend told me I would love this book—-and she was right. Everything about this story was great.
Lindsay Franklin has written a storyline that makes your imagination soar and characters that you come to love. I’m looking forward to the next book.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I picked up The Story Peddler to see if it was something my niece would like. She's into fantasy stories (a lot like me at that age). It sounded different and interesting. And it is. I like the idea of the story becoming an actual "thing". I liked the magic of it.

But, the magic and world building is sparse. There is no real explanation of the magic system or of the other types of magic (colorweaver, I think, and a couple others). They exist and we are told about them, even meet people with the magic, but learn only a rudimentary amount about the different types.

Worldbuilding, too, is low. The names of the characters and some of the other words are Welsh in origin (or rather, based on a Welsh origin). But the empire building seen in the book is distinctly not Welsh. In fact, empire building is seen as a great evil, along the with the current king. Note that he remains king and is not emperor despite creating an empire. Various peoples of this empire are mentioned, but other than one of those peoples being dark-skinned, we learn next to nothing about them.

While this book has been labelled Christian, I found it to be Christian only in the broadest of senses, that there is a Creator. Somehow, there are also earlier goddess stories and Creator stories are suppressed. But that seems to be more a case of control over the populace and stories and never materializes into a true sense of religion or of a pitting of religions against each other.

This follows a basic hero's quest formula, which is expected for an "epic fantasy" style tale. It adds a lovely little love triangle to it since the "hero" is a heroine. There are a couple of surprises, notably with Tanwen's family and with Princess Braith. The biggest surprise is actually with one of the other characters (no spoilers, so I won't say who) and a sense that we will see them again.

Overall, I wasn't that impressed with the execution, but that could be because I am not the target audience. I also think my niece is not quite ready for this book given some of the love triangle parts. I'm curious about the next book but on the fence as to whether or not to continue this saga.