***Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ebook.


Woven from Clay is a rich and emotionally grounded YA fantasy that blends self-discovery, magic, and identity in compelling ways. The story follows Terra Slater, a high school senior who is determined to make her final year unforgettable. But when the enigmatic Thorne Wilder arrives, everything she thought she knew about herself—and her world—begins to unravel.

Jennifer Birch delivers a fascinating twist on the chosen-one trope with Terra, who discovers she’s not human at all, but a golem crafted from magic. This revelation sets off a journey not just of magical training, but of deep emotional growth and a redefinition of what it means to be alive and to belong. Terra is incredibly relatable—strong, kind-hearted, and driven to protect others like her, even as she wrestles with her own fears and doubts.

The world-building shines throughout the novel. Birch creates a magical ecosystem that feels fresh and intricate, with rules that unfold naturally through Terra's experiences. The magic system, particularly the process of Terra learning to control her abilities, is handled with care and a sense of wonder. Her evolution from confusion to competence is one of the story’s strongest arcs.

That said, the pacing could have used more balance. Key plot points—such as the hunt for Quill, Terra's creator—feel rushed, and Quill’s death, though pivotal, doesn't have as much narrative weight as it might deserve. Additionally, the sudden importance of the other golems at the climax felt underdeveloped, as they are barely mentioned before becoming central to the resolution (sharing their powers).

Still, despite these pacing issues, Woven from Clay is a strong and heartfelt novel. It stands out for its emotional resonance, its unique take on identity, and a protagonist you can't help but root for. Fans of magical coming-of-age stories will find a lot to love here.

Honestly what a concept! I never thought I’d find clay golems so…interesting! But Birch has a way of making it so magical, yet still grounded.

I really liked the overall genre choice of this one—as a contemporary fantasy it really sets itself apart on my shelf (and, I think, in the bookish space right now). The modernity of it mixed well with the prose to create a punchy, approachable read. It was easy to slip into a chapter and soon find myself 100 pages deep without stopping.

The characters are young, and definitely read that way: Terra is a HS school girl with all the quirks and foibles that come with that…plus, obviously, some extra challenges. I enjoyed how she worked to overcome her trauma, I thought there were a lot of tender introspective moments to be found.

I think she (and the gang) will be very relatable to the YA audience, though the crossover potential for the more adult reader is slimmer. But, since this *is* a “young adult” book—I think it nailed what its audience is expecting!

Overall: The strengths of this book lie in the cool magic system, the relatable (for its audience) characters, and the approachable prose. The biggest weakness for me was the romance, I just didn’t quite like them together honestly.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a free arc in exchange for an honest
unfortunately I didn't enjoy this that much. it was very YA and people are right when they talk about how it has twilight vibes/brought back the twilight days and while I enjoyed that when I was younger, I'm not really into the super YA these days so it fell a little flat for me

This is a good YA book for Twilight fans who miss the series but also want something different. Small town, and instead of a vampire's focus, we have golems. Can you imagine, the main character is a female teen who has no idea why there's mud everywhere? She has power, it's awakening, and the arrival of an inconvenient, arrogant boy will set all in motion, because he... is a hunter. I must say that she is in denial a lot at the start. A lot.. makes her a bit slow to get things at the beginning. Well written, good pacing, interesting characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Jenny Birch for letting me read this arc early!

This book was my second 5 star read of 2025! Yes, it may be a young adult book, but I didn't even care because it was so good! I was hooked from the very beginning. I liked the plot, the character growth, and the uniqueness to the story. I also loved how the author made family and finding yourself as a person (or golem in this case) a big part of the story. I loved Terra and Thorne's characters and how much they grew from the beginning of the story to the end. And that ending was spectacular! I'm a huge fan of easy to follow fantasy reads, and this was just that.

I was highly interested in this premise, and felt surprised by how YA it felt, as so much time is spent in her high school, giving it some Twilight vibes for me. The story fell a little flat for me. Terra feels a little too "good" while Thorne is hard to connect to. And the love triangle drama felt pretty juvenile. It held my attention to the point that I finished it, but it felt like a struggle near the end. It was all a bit meh.

Golems and magic! I've never read about golems before so when I read the synopsis, I was automatically intrigued. This book is very YA. It totally brought me back to my Twilight-obsessed days. I wasn’t sure what to expect with the “contemporary fantasy” label, but it turns out it includes a slow-burn forbidden romance and mythical creatures.

The story centers on Terra Slater, who’s just trying to make it through her senior year like any other high school kid. Then of course broody, mysterious and secretive Thorne Wilder shows up and flips Terra’s entire world upside down. She finds out that she’s not human, she’s a golem made of clay and magic by a fugitive warlock named Cyrus Quill. The issue – Cyrus Quill is being hunted by Thorne’s coven for all the shady things he’s done in his past, but the problem is that if he dies, all the golems he created (cue our FMC) will quite literally melt into a puddle of mud forever.

If I was a teenager reading this, I think I would have been obsessed with Terra and Thorne, their magic, the journey and the romance. Thorne was actually my favorite character in this and I wish there was at least one chapter in his POV. When I saw the whole book was in Terra’s first-person voice, I was a little skeptical as it had the potential to lean into very teen-girl territory. But I stuck with it, and honestly, it turned out fine. The concept of golems, magical bounty hunters, and covens was fun. My biggest issue was that the characters were flat and lacked serious depth.

The golems, magical bounty hunters, and coven politics were a cool mix and made the world feel fresh. That said, I do wish the book had gone deeper into the golem mythology, who they are, what their purpose is, and how their magic really works. It felt like we only scratched the surface.

Thank you Wednesday Books for the arc!

Terra does not know anything about her birth family or where she comes from when a magical bounty hunter moves into town with revelations that will turn her world upside down. She learns she wasn't born but crafted from mud and magic and the warlock that made her is a fugitive on the run, his sentence is death which would unravel the magic that holds all the golem's he created together. In a desperate attempt to survive she makes a deal with the coven and she must master the magic within her to survive.

I have never read a story about a golem before and found the magic system super interesting. There are strong willed characters and a sense of suspense throughout. the story line and magic system were intriguing enough to keep you engrossed throughout the story.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
I did not finish this book. I stopped at 5%
I underestimated how YA this would be. The premise was interesting enough that i chose it knowing that it would be a little more juvenile than I usually read but unfortunately it didn't hold my interest enough for me to look past the writing. The dialogue was clunky. The writing was overly descriptive, like every sentence there was a descriptor. And it was predictable from the start, even just from character names, Terra and Brick. The author tried to make Thorne intimidating but he just came off extremely rude and with a lack of boundaries. I think this book is closer the middle grade because I’m sure i would’ve eaten this up at like 12. And this is all before i finished chapter 2.

This book had some good aspects, but it is quite tropey so it's worth knowing that going in. It was a bit too much in places, feeling very earnest and a bit cheesy. The magic was interesting though, and I'd say it had potential.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy for review

I was immediately excited when I read the description of this book...a golem ✅, magic ✅, supernatural romance ✅.

Terra's world gets thrown upside down when she is told by an unknown boy who shows up one day in the halls of her high school that she is not in fact human, but is a golem. Terra's journey of self discovery and acceptance and how to embrace her power and who she really is made it hard to put this book down. I also loved Thorne and the slow burn romance of him and Terra, and I wished the book was dual POV so we could've gotten inside his head.

Thanks to NetGalley & Wednesday Books for letting me enjoy this title early in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for eARC; invited to review via e-mail.

DNF at Chapter Nine // 24%

▲ POV: First, through our main character, Terra.
▲ Setting: North Heights, senior year

Not too sure about writing style, kind of too...boring. Which is a shame, and frankly surprising, because the concept has so much promise. Not I just cannot gel with it. Great cover art, though.

* EDIT: After reading through other eARC reviews, I agree that the predetermined age group may enjoy this, but it was too "cheesy" for 40 year-old me.

This book started like another young adult book on the shelf for me. A bit slow and focused on teenage crushes. Luckily it picked up and became way more interesting. I enjoyed this authors take on golems. Kind of a Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein take. Do the creations have their own emotions and humanity or are they just mindless creations only to carry out the bidding of their creators. What I wish there was more of is world building and magic system development.

Over this is not a bad entry level book for someone who is new to fantasy or a YA reader.

Initially, I really liked this concept. I think the beginning of the book and the characters were set up with a lot of potential. However, once the conflict started to intensify I found too many loose ends and things happening too fast. It felt a little unfinished in terms of character development and plot. I think it almost less YA and more 12-14 reader which isn't a bad thing!

Woven from Clay was an okay read. The premise of the novel was so enticing when I read the blurb. A story about a high school girl who turns out to be a golem and needs to do what she can to save herself from disappearing from the world she knew. All with the help of a magical bounty hunter? Sign me up!

However, while reading, I was constantly feeling a bit bored by the writing. There were times that I felt it was so rushed and the dialogue kind of cliche; while at other times the story tended to drag on and the emotions felt disingenuous.

As for characters, Terra was a forgettable lead. Every time I would pick up the book, I always had to flip back to remember how she was described as and her key personality points. With the supporting cast of characters, I did mix up quite a few of the names because they just seemed like so many other characters I have read before.

Although this was an okay read, I still plan to check back with this author after a few more works.

I like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing a read.

Oh boy. I'm giving this book a tentative 3 stars... it's getting a sequel, and I'm wondering if it warrants one. Because, what the hell was the point of this book?

This entire book the male lead absolutely treats the female lead like trash. I get that he is at war with himself because he has been lead to believe her kind is a lie, that they're evil monsters made by warlocks / witches and they don't have hopes and dreams. But, after getting to know her he falls for her. Yet, he is still rude and brash through it all.

But seriously - what is the point of the golems? Is she going to do battle with someone evil? Is she needed for serving an evil purpose? The villain is some old man who *checks notes* made her and the rest because he wanted to give back to society and give parents unable to have kids have kids. I mean, guess you could see if from a mile a way since there was nothing really evil happening in this town.

But why put so much focus on this clan of witches and warlocks who are out chasing this guy who has been off the radar for years? Isn't there anything else happening? Why write witches and wizards but give them some harmless old guy to throw all their resources behind? Which loops it back to .... the female lead was just living a normal life, just her side power is that she can turn into Alex Mack when she wants.

I give the books props for having a strong, authentic female, but everything else around it is not holding up when you think about it.

This was a really interesting and fast-paced read.

The story being centered around a Golem is what initially led me to pick it up. It's always nice to see an author include magical elements, creatures or folklore that doesn't appear in many stories.

Overall I think that the author did a great job crafting a plotline that both hooked and held my attention. It definitely fits well into the YA Fantasy genre and I would recommend checking it out.

I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Thank you Jennifer Birch, Net Galley and St. Martin's Press| Wednesday Books for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

Sadly I wasnt a big fan of this one and it took me multiple times to keep picking it up. It was hard to hold interest in the story. Also I didnt feel I connected with the characters and felt too YA For me.

Birch weaves together a very interesting story that hinges heavily on the concept that the FMC is a golem. Golems -in nature- being creatures from Jewish folklore that were oftentimes created and utilized to protect or defend their master or creator. Although Birch does not lean into the aspects found in heavily in that Jewish folklore, she does lean into this idea of the golem being bound or connected to its master. Using this idea of a tenuous connection, Birch connects Terra to her maker using magical "threads" that she can see because within her is her creator's magic. The Catch? Terra Slater has always believed herself to simply be human and also to be adopted that is until the mysterious Thorne breezes into town at the behest of the witch's guild to question her about her master, the benevolent adoption lawyer, Cyrus Quill. However, Terra only knows Quill to be the adoption lawyer that helped her parents and many families in town and a green thumb farmer. At a drop of a hat (or splat of mud), Terra is whisked into a world of magic, lies, intrigue, and bigotry that leaves her reeling with questions, "Am I real? What makes me human?"

Thanks to NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for access to this eARC in exchange for a honest review. I honestly didn’t know what to expect with this book but was intrigued by the premise of Golems. I had never heard of them before so maybe I’m a bad fantasy reader but I was intrigued and the author did a great job explaining some of the lore. I liked how we found out more about them as our main character did. Ultimately I enjoyed this book. I think that the fact that it was YA is probably would bumped it down to 4 stars some YA books are for all readers but the teenage angst was a little too much for me. But I think if I had read this in high school it would be 5 stars for sure.