Requested this ARC as soon as I saw the cover; it was so gorgeous. I really enjoyed this! I thought it was supposed to be a stand alone but I am now VERY curious to see what happens in a sequel. It’s very reminiscent of The Selection and The Bachelor, which made it up my alley. Yet, it is still its own thing which is nice! It mostly has great pacing and ruthless characters, and it always kept me guessing. The romance was okay, I wanted a little more from it, but oh well! I hope we get lots of romance drama and drama drama in the next book. The magical hair also kept reminding me of Tangled. I think the romance was what brought it down for me and the lack of some character development.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!

Like I’m sure everyone else did I requested (well I guess not really since it was a “read now” ARC for the gorgeous cover! I loved The Selection by Kierra Cass and binged the series in high school and this book definitely has similar element but with a unique magic system thrown into the mix. Yeah the plot twists were a little obvious but I was still engaged the whole way through. The romance (honestly if you can really call it that??) felt a little forced and underdeveloped. I’m excited for a sequel so that maybe we can actually learn a bit more about Elliot.

This book took me by surprise. The mystery was great and i was kept guessing the whole time about who done it and what was going on. I never guessed right and the ending blew me away. I seriously hope that there is a book two. It's hard to tell because for the most part there wasn't much left open, but at the same time there is so much more that the author can do in this world.

What I really enjoyed about The Weaver Bride was the gothic atmosphere Lydia Gregovic created. You could almost feel the damp chill of the setting and the weight of the secrets hanging in the air. I also really enjoyed the marriage competition with trials aspect of the book. And the central mystery was also quite clever, with enough twists to keep me guessing without feeling contrived.

On the other hand, I found the pacing a bit inconsistent. There were stretches where the story moved along at a good pace, and then other parts where it felt like it was lingering a little too long.

Overall, it's a solid read with a good blend of mystery and magic.

Thank you Random House Children's Books for providing this ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. This was such a fun immersive book! The world building was so in depth you felt as if you were there. The magical elements were fun and overall this was a great quick read. I think I wish I saw a little more depth into some aspects, but that didn’t diminish from the plot at all

A dun romantic story of a Weaver bride- the mythical worldbuilding and lore included in this made for an exciting romantic journey.

First off, this cover is absolutely stunning and the reason why I wanted to read this book in the first place! Like hello? That pink is gorgeous!!

Let's move on to the contents of the book! Okay so the plot is pretty simple you know, she's a silkwitch, he's the son of a prominient weaver. Ooh tension, a little banter and you've got a plot!

She's in some desperate times and so Eliot (the rich dude) offers her a ticket (in other words) in an entry to the competition to win Noé Alaire's hand in marriage. Basically, our mc needs to solve Eliot's sister's death, and Eliot will make sure she has her pick of Weaver suitors (because girliepop needs some help).

"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬, 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐈 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐭."

There's lies, there's tension, there's romance!!! Note, I'm so tired of love triangles where there's such an obvious clear option. (Or I hope so...???)

I didn't like Noé that much and I'm not sure if that was on purpose. Tbh from the second he stepped on page something ticked me off about him.

Eliot, however. . .

Is almost giving a little Darcy???

"𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞," 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬. "𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭--𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞."

The fact that our cutesy little mc (lovett) couldn't figure out that Eliot is literally in love with her gets me so much.

"𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥," 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐲𝐥𝐲. "𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡."

Alright! Wrap up!

I loved the plot and the uniqueness of the marriage competition and her trying to figure out a murder mystery of Eliot's younger sister. It flowed nicely and it was fun to see Lovett's character develop as she figured things out and outsmarted people because girlipop is smart for sure! That ending though...I better have a sequal next year! The reason I'm ranking it a middle three stars is because at some points I just wasn't "feeling" the book and that's why it took me so long to read! It's a good fun read though!

۫ ꣑ৎ

⤷ thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review

As someone who likes romantic competitions, I enjoyed this book! One of my favorite books as a teen had the same premise and I am a sucker for it every time. I liked the characters and I think that the motivations behind their actions felt real. The trials the characters went through held my attention, along with the various side plots that were interwoven within the story.

I wish I cared more for the characters personally, but this does feel like an introduction to a longer series. It was a solid read overall. However, the ending was fine. I wanted to know a bit more about the side characters and felt like we just scratched the surface.

I do think it was overall a good book that would benefit with a bit more detail along the way. I would definitely be open to reading more from this world and seeing where it goes from here. I read this in one day and time flew by. It was captivating at
moments!

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC!

The Weaver Bride had an interesting setup, but it didn’t totally land for me. The pacing dragged in parts, and I never really felt the spark between the two main characters. Cool concept, just needed a tighter plot and more believable chemistry.

An amazing witchy book with a gripping mystery that makes for a real page turner with all its twists! The magic system is unique and while the romance lacks ever so slightly (hence the 1 star dedication), I can’t wait to read the sequel to see how the series ends.

Witches, murder, mystery, and a marriage competition?! Say less.
This book had me HOOKED, it was such a fun read and I NEED to know what is next!! This was not a spicy book and yet I was burning up! The tension and the slow burn were just chef’s kiss.

Favorite quotes:

“A lure was more tempting if the target of one’s hunt felt they had to reach up to grasp it, after all. No man wanted what swam on his level.”

“I knew boys of this kind, knew them well. Always playing the gentleman, but only shallowly, like a bouquet of flowers wrapped round an iron rod. Nothing but sweet words and frilly gifts—until you reminded them that you were not a pet they could place on their lap, until you attempted to disobey. Then the carrot gave way to the stick.”

“Excuse me, sir, I seem to have forgotten my line. Perhaps if you were to hand me a script, I could better comprehend my part in this conversation.”

““And you think you’re not doing the same to me?” Eliot did not move toward me, but it was as if we were locked together; his stare was unwavering and furious, holding me fast. “Do you really believe I want to think of you as often as I do?” he asked. “Do you think I enjoy it, watching Noé put his hands on you and then bowing to him afterward, calling him my brother? Lying awake at night, haunted by the image of you in his arms, over the memory of my own sister?” He swiped a hand over his brow, his outrage draining away, breaking like a storm. “You are ruining me, Lovett,” he asserted softly. “You have destroyed me.””

““It’s true,” he insisted. “You’re so terrifyingly smart, Lovett. I speak with you, and I know that you could kill me if you wanted—there’ve been times in the past weeks that I wondered if you would—and I can hardly bring myself to care. My self-preservation . . . It seems to vanish as soon as you appear.””

Thoroughly enjoyed this and am going to order the physical book because it’s stunning too! Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC.

The Weaver Bride instantly grabbed my attention. This book was so unique, and unlike anything I’ve picked up in a while. The story felt like a dark fairytale meets murder mystery, and also had elements reminiscent of Trial of the Sun Queen. I was completely hooked and could not put it down! The twist at the end caught me off guard, and the cliffhanger left me eager to dive into the next book!

I requested this book because it was freely available to download, and the title is very intriguing (nice cover too!). However, I quickly realized this YA fantasy has a lot of elements that I don’t personally enjoy. These elements weren’t necessarily highlighted in the pitch. Rather I was drawn in by elements such as the magic system (magic hair!), a competition with trials, and the promise of romance or at least romantic angst. Because of these elements, I thought the book was going to have a Decemberists vibe. This book may work well for a younger YA audience. DNF at around 15%. Only rating based on what I read.

This book is everything I’ve been wanting. It’s gothy, magical, and such a great fantasy. Also a murder mystery ?! Sign me up. I loved the concept of weavers and silkwitches. I wanted to know more of Eliot and Lovett’s backstory but, when i started this book I could not put it down. The ending left me wanting more. I can’t wait for the next book. I enjoyed this book so much i pre-ordered the hard cover because i will be adding this to my shelf.

I absolutely LOVE the cover of this book! It is beautiful! This book was amazing. I love reading fantasy & mystery. It has a forbidden romance, it's witchy and suspenseful! This book was really different and unique. I liked the female main character too!

Thank you!

What a fun, quick read! Lovett is a silkwitch that needs husband to "properly" use her magic. So naturally she teams up with Elliot to win a suitor competition. I will definitely recommend this to those fans of The Selections/other courtship competition tropes. Their dynamics are fun and familiar, but with a very interesting magic system. Fashion/clothing magic seems to be on the rise. I have had more than one request looking for either magical girls or other fantasys focused on the textiles/fabrics/fashion in YA.

I want to start by thanking NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced copy of The Weaver Bride. This book was an easy 4.5-5 stars for the first 90%. The last 10% though was super irritating and unless there is a sequel, that ending was the worst!
For the most part, the story was compelling, original, and very well written. I really enjoyed the relationship between Lovett and Eliot. The pacing was great and everything flowed nicely. Until the end, that is. I also really liked the mystery aspect of this story. I really hope there is a sequel though, so the characters can have more of a conclusion to their story.

The writing took my breath away with how utterly gorgeous it was. The way a sense of atmosphere and pure emotion could be evoked throughout a scene simply by how it was described is incredible. And the magic system made me want to pick it apart to it's deepest level it was so interesting. There is so much good to be found in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Also still debating my rating of this book between 4 and 5 Stars because I absolutely loved this book. The ending had me outraged at the injustice of women but in a good way. I am glad when a book can make have me in different emotions and still thinking over what happened. Lovett is the main character who is a silkwitch and needs to marry a man a weaver before she’s 21 or she will be leaving in the cloisters the rest of her life. Lovett doesn’t have status so when she’s offered up a chance to participate in a game the Vainglory to win to marry the Weaver King’s son. At first the book makes you angry at the old fashioned manner forcing girls to fight in a competition just to marry a man. When Lovett enters the castle we find out there’s much more than meets the eye. It’s not just about finding out who killed Ophelia at some point it’s about trying to stay alive. There are other secrets the Weaver King is hiding that make you furious. Especially in the injustice of women which I hope Lovett can fix and I hope this is a series. It’s a book I spent too nights reading far too late because I had to know what would happen. Lovett was great at getting information from the girls and crafty. It’s definitely not easy to put down this book get ready to be sucked in.

This book was amazing! The main female character was truly inspiring and was very much a leader!! The writing is incredible and the words flow very well. I will definitely be recommending to my friends!