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.

Clumsy explication and shallow character development ruined what I expected to be an interesting foray into fantasy. Sorry, I only managed to slog through about half of the book, hoping in vain it would get better.

This book reminded me of many Twilight-era young adult paranormal romances. It has many of the same trends, such as a mysterious boy showing up that somehow knows more about her than anyone else. A fmc with untapped powers.

This book is quite Cheesey. These golems were created from the earth, and had no idea they were earth golems, but they all have names such as Clay, Brick, Terra, Gaia, and Adam. Come onnnnn lol

I think this book could be entertaining for the 13-14 age range, but this book ultimately did nothing really than making golems the paranormal creature rather than fae, vampires, or werewolves.

This is the kind of book I would of loved reading in my middle/high school days.

Terra thinks she is a regular high school girl but some to find out she is not. A boy turns up and breaks the news that she's a golem created by a warlock.

The first third of the book is a bit slow, It took too many pages describing how Terra is a normal girl.. But once the plot has been set up the story really picks up the pace. I couldn't have guessed the endings, but I really enjoyed how everything got tied together for a satisfying conclusion. I got to where I wanted to see the kids wanted the best for them.

NetGallery

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book. I really enjoyed the read.

It was a truly enjoyable book and I do not hesitate to recommend.

Take the plunge!

Thank you NetGalley! 4.5⭐️ Loved this original book that proves that preconceived notions of a group of individuals is not always what’s expected. Terra Slater is ready for her senior year in high school until a new handsome guy named Thorne is assigned to her to help him navigate the school. Things take a strange turn when he reveals he’s a magical bounty hunter and is after a sweet older man in town and that she and many others in town are actually “creatures “ called golems. A unique story that deserves recognition. Highly recommend!

I'm not sure why this book is published so I'm really curious to see how it does. It reads as a kids book not a YA.
It's too much of a wanna be Mary Sue who lacks basic interrogation skills and has zero sense of self. Not for me.