Three years ago, Elen had a plan. She and her elder sister would marry good men, have homes close enough that they could visit every day, and just have a happy life. But everything changed when the warband attacked. Now, Elen’s family is dead and she’s weaved a story of how a Saint Elen is looking out for Owain, warband leader and eldest son of a Welsh king. But when Owain starts to get overconfident in her protection and kidnaps a Norman lord’s wife and children, Elen’s control starts to unravel. I still don’t know how I feel about this book. It’s a fascinating concept, a young woman taken into a warband and how she works to manipulate them for her own protection. But this novel did not read like a YA historical fiction novel and the advance copy had so many errors that I almost had to stop reading it. I liked that it showed Elen’s insecurities and how she learned quickly that her body kept her valuable to Owain as well as her “connection to the saint”. There were allusions to rape and brutal murders but no descriptive scenes. I don’t know, this just didn’t stand up to what I expected.

I enjoyed this title so much! I thought the plot was so intriguing, and the characterization very strong! The description used by the author was so evocative I felt transported, and I kept turning until the very last page. I think the cover is very cute - I'll be sure to purchase this for my store!

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

This book was okay. I gave it 3 stars. My copy of this book wasn't very good and it was hard to read. It isn't the authors fault. I had to spend a lot of time trying to figure out was going on. Otherwise the book was a quick read even with the copy that I received.
This book is based on events that happen in Wales. In the year 1000. I don't know a lot about this time period.
The main male character is not a nice person. He wanted to do what he wanted and wouldn't listen to anyone if it went against what he wanted.
The female main character was young and said anything to protect herself, which included a lot of lying.
What I liked most about this book was the historical note at the end because it gave you information about the time period which made the story more understandable.

I really wanted to like this one. The blurb had me hooked and I was eager to get into my first historical fiction of the year. But like most every other review I've seen for this book, its near impossible to read because of the insane amount of typos!!! I've tried and stopped and tried again multiple times to just grit and bare it but its almost as if I'm spending more time trying to decipher what is meant to be written rather than retaining any information as to what I'm reading. Its next to impossible to get anywhere without stopping five times per page and its causing me to feel a reading slump just because I can't get into it!

I think that this is one of those books where I will eventually just have to bite the bullet and purchase a finished copy so I can read it as it was meant to be read. For now though I will give this 3 stars because it deserves some of the love it should get for the story it could be if i could just get past the typos!!!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book, I will give this a shot another time with a finished copy.

#netgalley #spindleanddagger

I had a hard time getting into this book and had to put it down and give it a rest. I will try and read again, so that I can give a proper review.

Okay so...... I didn't love this book. Which was honestly really sad to me because both the cover and the concept really intrigued me.

I liked Elen as a character and I think that the author handled her trauma and such really well, but the plot and worldbuilding itself just fell a bit flat to me. I know its a short book, but generally I like to know a bit more about the world before diving into a plot.

I know that ARCs are supposed to have typos, since they are uncorrected but I found that a few of them really seemed to be indecipherable.

I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the excessive typos, maybe a little bit, but I found that I couldn't really immerse myself in the world which is something that was really sad to me, especially considering how interested I am in the history behind the story and the culture.

I also felt that the ending felt....dissatisfying and unresolved, I guess? There was just so much that culminated and it seemed that only one singular thing was resolved at the end,

Maybe I would have enjoyed the book a bit better without the typos, but where it stands, this book is on the low side of a three star read for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this early copy!

Did not finish - I did not connect with the plot and writing and decided to put it down.

Content warning: rape/sexual assault.

I found the beginning of this book almost unintelligible. I actually know a fair bit about 1100s Wales, so it's not the historical side of things that was hard to understand, but a problem with Elen's narration - not nearly enough information was given about her history and situation to make it possible for me to connect with her. She has a complex relationship with Owain, who protects her in exchange for supposed protection from her namesake saint, but I thought the details were left too vague, and I never got a sense of why I was supposed to care about her.

DNFed at 34%.

In order to save herself from raiders, Elen convinces a warlord's son that she can bring him protection from saint Elen as long as he protects her. Based on true events, the majority of Elen's story relies on her making only the worst choices, usually after pondering for long enough to lose narrative momentum. Fans of early Christian narratives might find something engaging. Other will want to look elsewhere.

I REALLY wanted to get into this one!

Unfortunately the writing style completely left me in the dust. At the front of the book, there is a pronunciation guide that is supposed to help with the reading process. But it just wasn't enough for me. 

I didn't realize that the entire book was going to be set with a heavy, yet true, Welsh presence, so as I was trying to get into the story, I saw myself distracted by the writing itself. 

While the plot and characters were intriguing and created a world I wanted to be in, I just couldn't fully grasp the situation due to the writing style. 

I do think that if you want a book that will challenge you and give you diversity, you should give this one a try! A 2 out of 5 stars from me.

Sadly, I didn't enjoy this. It had just one specific reason: there were constantly letters missing in the earc file. It was extremely hard for me to read this, as words weren't complete, and I often had to guess at what it was supposed to say, which was impossible most of the time. This annoyed me to no end, since I so badly wanted to enjoy this book.

The story did have potential, though, if the parts I actually could read were anything to go by. They were enjoyable, and sucked me right in the story up until the point when letters started missing again.

I absolutely hate to give a two-star rating, but at this point I didn't know enough of the story to give any higher. I might buy a finished copy for myself, to just read it again.

My Review: I am a big fan of books set in medieval times and when I came across this book I was really intrigued. It was a fairly short book but it took quite a while to read. I really wanted to enjoy this book and at times I really did but overall it was a bit lack luster. A lot happens but at the same time not a lot does, it has a slow pace with not a lot of ups and downs. I couldn't connect with the characters or story. With that said, the way the world at the time is portrayed shows the brutal and harsh world women were forced to navigate with little to no power. I think it was a pretty accurate portrayal. There is also a theme of PTSD running throughout the story, Elen is forced to deal with the past trauma on her own and in her own way. While it wasn't a book that was easy reading, it was a well researched portrayal of the life of women at the time.

My Rating: I was a little disappointed with this book, it was a slow and tedious read but it was well researched. I just lacked any kind of connection with the characters or story. I give it a rating of Two Paws.

Spindle and Dagger was an interesting read but ultimately I had to put it down. I found it hard to connect to any of the characters and therefore it made it hard to finish. There are also a lot of typos and missing words in the e-galley, which made it extremely difficult to read and focus. I think the idea behind this book is really interesting. I love historical fiction in YA novel and the time period focus in Spindle and Dagger is really intriguing.

This was good, but not great. I think that the pacing was quite slow at times and made me need to walk away and come back in order to be interested again. But then other times it was so exciting. It wasn't well-balanced. I really liked Elen's character though, and the end of the book was really good. It's decent historical fiction, but it was just too slow for me.

Elen had survived her family's destruction at the hands of Owain ap Cadwgan by claiming that as long as he keeps her safe with him, Saint Elen would prevent his death. In the three years that followed, she had survived. Now it's 1109 in Wales and Owain kidnapped Nest, the wife of a Norman lord, and her three children. This is the start of all-out war, and Elen's careful survival is coming apart. Now she has to figure out who she is truly loyal to: the one that led to the murder of her family and her assault, or to the one person that showed her kindness and wants what's best for her.

This is a vivid picture of how to live in Medieval era Wales, and in the afterward it's explained that the novel is fleshing out the barest hint of historical reference to the real Nest and Owain ap Cadwgan. The life of Wales was a harsh one in that time, as different territories had different rulers. England was a tangled mess of rulers as well, so warbands in Wales was a real aspect of trying to control territory. This led to chaos, especially if the head of warbands didn't rein in their next in command. With Elen's lies, Owain believes himself invincible. He breaks traditional hospitality rules of the warbands and hostages, disobeys his father the King, and takes no one else's counsel.

Women at this point in time generally were considered no more than wives or daughters, and rarely were allowed to take on power in their own right. This is why Elen had to lie to Owain to secure her place with him, even though it wasn't an actual place. She wants to live, and that forces her into an odd place that isn't formally delineated. Nest, regal even in captivity, is a strong figure and clever enough to try to see her own way out. Elen finds kinship with her, and for the first time allows herself to dream of more than surviving the day. I enjoyed the friendship the two of them forged, and that Elen was stronger than she gave herself credit for. Not to spoil the ending of the book, but her journey was full of surprises until she finds a place where she can feel truly safe. I grew to like her over the course of the novel, and she certainly deserved to find that happiness.

I was pretty darn stoked to read a book set in 1109. I mean it even looks cool typed out, does it not? Plus, it's just not a time period I know a ton about and I love to learn cool stuff about old times! And it really is a neat book. Elen is in Wales in the early twelfth century, and obviously things are less on the comfy side and more on the brutal. Her whole family has been slain, and she's worked her way into the inner circle of their murderers.

Now, she travels around with Owain ap Cadwgan, leader of the warband and son of the king. Only, the king doesn't like her, most of the warband despises her, and she's not really sure what she wants. To survive, really, is the bottom line. Until Owain captures the innocent wife and children of an enemy, and she begins to see that there might be another way to live.

The world is, predictably, brutal. Like no one thinks twice of this warband's existence, right? It's totally legit that they raid towns and kill randos. But at the same time, there seems to be some sort of lines one should not cross (like the killing of Owain's Second, which is what lead him to kidnap the family in the first place), which is incredibly interesting. And, this is based on a true story which is even more fun!

Watching Elen have to make so many horrible choices while she remembers all too vividly the demise of her family is rough. But there is hope that she will find a way to live a better life, which is ultimately so worth reading about. Nest and her family are also phenomenal characters, and I was just as concerned (fine, maybe more concerned) for their lives and welfare as I was for Elen's. That, and roaming around twelfth century Wales is just fabulous!

My biggest complaint here is one that is not the author's fault whatsoever, but something that did effect my enjoyment of the book, and I feel like it needs to be addressed, so here we go. I could barely read the thing. I set it aside hoping I'd just get myself a finished copy, but after the world shut down, that wasn't an option anymore so I did my best. At some point, I managed to figure out a lot of what the missing letters were, and tried to turn it into a game of sorts, deciphering a code. Look, I get that eARCs are going to be a little rough, but I need to be able to read the thing in order to give a legitimate review.

Bottom Line: Once I finally started to be able to decode all the missing letters, this was a really solid book with characters that I truly cared about. Plus, the time period and setting were so unique and intriguing!

3.5 stars

Glad to see that at least some YA authors try to write historical fiction that is not a dumb romance-filled, factually incorrect fluff.

Spindle and Dagger joins a throng of novels that aim to give voice to the women in a history written by men. This story is based on the legend of so called "Helen of Wales" - Nest, wife of one Welsh lord kidnapped with her children by another one - Owain. Nest's narrative is open to interpretation and is compiled of differing, often contradictory accounts, in which Nest was maligned in various ways (just like Helen of Troy). Nest, however, is not the main character or narrator of this novel. It is Elen, Owain's sort of spiritual guide, who had previously saved her life by convincing Owain that as long as he kept her safe he would have the protection of Saint Elen. Elen's psychological journey is tightly women to Nest's. How these two women navigate the men-ruled world is what Spindle and Dagger is about.

What the author does here is quite successful, IMO. Anderson has given her heroines agency while acknowledging how powerless they often were. She manages to portray rape, abduction, even Stockholm syndrome in the historical context without explicitly and anachronistically naming them.

The book is much plottier than I like though. There are too many political schemes I couldn't quite keep up with. I'd rather have more historical details of everyday life. But then again, when I tried looking up additional info, I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of infighting in Wales at that time. It was a MESS. No wonder I can't fully get it. The men of the time fought and switched alliances constantly!

Fans of The Passion of Dolssa or Catherine, Called Birdy should check this out.

This book was thrilling! I could not put it down. I really loved the world building and character development. This is the perfect book for ya fantasy lovers. The concept was intriguing but it was the characters that carried the story and made me want to read page after page

<b>It's such a shame to send out so many e-arcs to readers, giving them hope to find a new favorite book and then when they open the file, they find out the worst written manuscript ever. I swear, I've never seen so many typos.</b> Only a couple pages in and I was already frustrated and getting mad. Here are a few examples from the first few paragraphs:

"O and share a big meal and get rosy with ale and dance caroles and hear the news."
"there were three drunken <b>stghts</b>"
"I also <b>nd</b> the toy mouse..."
"during his <b>rst</b> raid"
"<b>e</b> toy mouse's paws are coming unstitched"
"and both of us <b>inch</b>" instead of flinch...
"I <b>stu</b> the toy into my rucksack along with my sewing kit so I can<b> x</b> it later."
"<b>ere</b> are Normans out there."

I don't mind a few typos in books. I'm really not a snob when it comes to that but here, I just can't do it. The synopsis sound amazing though so I might check out the published copy but I can say for sure I'm disappointed with Candlewick Press. It's not difficult to do a quick check before sending arcs, is it? Do you really expect readers to decipher sentences like these and then write a great review? I'm baffled.