The prose in THE WEAVER BRIDE is utterly gorgeous! I was immediately drawn in by Lovett's voice, the unique magic system, and the rich worldbuilding. The first act was a little slow, but by the time Lovett arrived at the competition, the pace picked up quite a bit. I enjoyed the different Wits and learning about them; my only regret is that we didn't get to spend more time with the other contestants and become really immersed in their magic. (Perhaps in a sequel!)

I did struggle a little in the beginning with how Lovett clearly disliked the patriarchal weaver-bride-slave system, but she still operated within in rather than trying to bring it down. The ending, however, clearly hinted that she's taking a pretty pivotal turn in book 2, and it gave me hope that we'll see her ignite a revolution.

The Weaver Bride is a good read. I would give it more of a 3.5 star

I really wanted to love this book because it does have lots of elements that would draw in any fantasy reader. This book includes witches and sorcerers, with a magical mafia family. I think most readers will enjoy this book but for me it just started off so slow. That said I am happy I didn't DNF it because overall it is a good read. I just personally need a book that holds my attention full from page one.

What you’ll find in The Weaver Bride:
🪡 Witches x sorcerers
🪡 Reluctant allies to lovers
🪡 Etiquette lessons
🪡 Deadly dating competition
🪡 Rumplestiltskin vibes (eerie magical spinning wheels)
🪡 hand-flex style yearning

I would like to say thank you to everyone involved with this book and NetGalley for allowing me a chance to enjoy it early. Now let's get down to the knitty gritty.
In the first couple chapters I struggled. There were some redundancies in the beginning that gave me a bit of pause, however, the intrigue of this unique magic system had me pushing forward. Boy am I glad I did! This book reminded me of bridgerton with games and trials then throw some mystery and magic into the mix. Little bit of some slow burn tension romance in there, but no spice. This is exactly the type of pallette cleansing I look for in between my spicey reads! It had some good twists and turns, and the ending left me content yet wanting more at the same time and, although this is a standalone, I would not mind seeing more of this world and or universe! All in all I really enjoyed this book, and have no doubt many others will too.
Also, can we take a second to appreciate how stunning this book looks? I cannot wait to grab myself a copy for a book trophy!

First of all, this book is absolutely stunning. I can't wait to buy the deluxe edition with sprayed edges when it is released.

The book started out rather slow and I didn't really get into it until around 35% in. I think that the summary gave away too much information, so I felt like I already knew what was gonna happen in the beginning portion.

The book really picks up after that initial bit. I found myself stuck into the story and wanting to know more as details unraveled. There are so many secrets and betrayals that it really hooks you into the story. I wasn't a huge fan of Eliot in the beginning, but he ended up being one of my favorite characters. I thought this book had such an interesting concept and that it was written perfectly. I loved discovering all of the silk witches different hidden abilities. I was shocked when I found out what was behind the moon door and about the truth of the silk witches. The truth behind Ophelia's murder was a bit disappointing to me, but the things that it revealed were surprising so I didn't really mind.

I really hope there will be a sequel to this book, because that is not the ending I wanted. I am really interested to see how the story progresses from this point. Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Children's Books/Delacorte Press, and Lydia Gregovic for an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion.

Hello readers, today I’m review YA romantasy novel The Weaver Bride by Lydia Gregovic.

In this genre bending YA fantasy we follow a witch who is kind of ,sort of, on the run. She's tried finding a husband, which didn't work out, she doesn't want to end up in the cloister (I mean who does), so she's living a life of thieving and secrets. And as a silkwitch, with a rare magic, she’s supposed to conform to societies laws and marry a Weaver, who would then take her magic and use it to profit off of. Think Victorian Era England. Add in a Hunger Games marriage competition, which by-the-way, happens to be a do-over because of the scandal. In the first games a contestant “killed herself,” which ended the game.

Our main girl, Lovett Tamerlane, the one on the run, gets caught thieving, but makes a deal she can't refuse. Her task, find out who killed Ophelia Lear by becoming one of the contestants in the marriage game to win a prince, try and not get caught, and not fall for Eliot Lear, the notorious son of a prominent Weaver (he's not the prince).

There is a lot going on in under 500 pages and it's the ending that has me interested in picking up the second novel. I want to know what will happen to Lovett, if she keeps her magic as her own, and if her feelings for Eliot Lear will simmer to nothing or become a smoldering burn that could ruin them both.

Curious to know what happens next? Definitely consider pre-ordering this one book friends. I mean, just look at those edges!

OMG this ending! I know why, I get it really, but also my brain is screaming "How could you?". I need the next book immediately please and thank you.

Initially it took me a bit to get into this story but once it had me in its grip it refused to let go. The mystery and suspense build up wonderfully thought the course of the book I was able to pick up hints of some things but overlooked others in hind sight. The romance felt like it took a bit of a back seat to the rest of the plot but I still really enjoyed it. My only big criticism is I would have really liked to see a little bit more out of Lovett in some places and I hope she develops further in the next installment. She does not really grow as you would expect from an FMC and there are some blatant connections that she misses that don't make sense. I think both she and the story have so much potential still to show us.

I'm going to first start off with stating that this booc cover and book are beautiful. It really drew me in but the story was was kept my attention. There were so many twists and turns throughout that kept me on my toes. There was a lot more suspense in this book than I was expecting. The magic system in this book is also unique and things aren’t always what they seem to be.

There is murder mystery, thrill, dark fantasy and forbidden love. There are trials you can say with a bachelor type vibe. But the fact that the roles are women are somewhat med-evil.... in the sense that women needing to get married or be forced into a life of misery but surprisingly or not... all is not what it seems.

Definitely give this book a read! Recommended for anyone who likes a great YA fantasy story with a bit of romance (as romance isn't the main driver here but more of a subplot). It's witchy too!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's Books for the ARC! :)

I really enjoyed this YA Fantasy! It was atmospheric and mysterious, and made a perfect fall read! I enjoyed the characters and the romance aspect. I look forward to reading more books from this author!

This book gave me anxiety…in a good way. The tension was taut! Between the murder mystery and the potentials for romance I was wound tight throughout the entire book. I am not generally a fan of trial type books but the saving grace of this book in my opinion was the mystery and the fact that the main character’s main goal is not to win the trials. I love a good crime solving story and finding all the little pieces to gather together along with the main character was such a fun ride. There were some places where the lyrical prose sent me off on a daydream and I forgot where I was. At times the sentence structure left me a little confused and I had to go back and reread a sentence or two, but overall I enjoyed the style of writing and the intimately described scene setting.
“I was suddenly aware of the familiar open air to my back, in contrast with the chilly unknown ahead of me. It felt like a choice, somehow like a parable torn from a children’s tale: Cross the threshold and enter the cold, the dark, or turn back toward light. Safety.” - this theme repeated throughout the book with several choices, our main character at a crossroads and decisions need to be made with limited knowledge
Lydia’s writing style reminds me of Sarah A Parker (whom I adore) in the lovely descriptive and transcendent story but it does require a bit more effort than some other authors to stayed focused and follow where the words are taking you. Overall I very much enjoyed this story and can’t wait to read more from this author.

Pretty sure there’s actual magic woven into the pages of The Weaver Bride.

***

I think The Weaver Bride will get marketed as romantasy, which is fine, because that’s likely to generate the most hype (and this book deserves ALL THE HYPE). But if you’re choosing (or not choosing) to read based on that marketing, you should know that this is much more similar to YA fantasy (like Holly Black’s Folk of the Air series or Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer/Muse of Nightmares duology) than it is to ACOTAR or Fourth Wing. There is trickery, there is societal commentary, there is mystery, there is murder, and, most importantly, while there is romance, the plot does not revolve around it. Our whip-smart FMC, Lovett, might fall in love… but it’s a minor inconvenience. She’s not going to let it get in her way. (And our male MMC knows it 😈)

In case I haven’t made it clear enough, I absolutely loved The Weaver Bride. I read it very early, which is only going to make the wait for book 2 even longer. Surely there’s a book 2, right? That was a WHOPPER of a cliffhanger… ugh. I’m so sad it’s over. (And so glad it happened.)

Finally, just for fun, here are some of the (borderline hysterical) notes I made while reading:

* The tropes are troping, but this is GOOD
* This writing is so good!
* This writer is truly talented wtf
* This is seriously so f*cking good
* I love you Lovett
* I’m head over heels for this book omg
* I can’t get over it. A SMART HEROINE

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing an ARC in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.

Omg this was amazing! i read with a voracity that very few books give me. The characters were so well written and complex. The plot twists and betrayals were many but still spread out enough to engage me continuously. There was intrigue and world building- despite most of the book being within one small setting. I read this so fast and loved every second of it!

I always love a good regency-inspired story as well as romantasy so when I found out this was a mashup between the two? Super exciting!

And while the story premise and plot are interesting, I had a very difficult time with the writing style used for this. I can tell the author intended to use Austen-like prose to give the reader a full feel of the regency era, but in this case I am afraid it was overkill.

The "fluff" added to the sentence structure made it difficult to read through to find the actual substance of the plot to the point where it felt like it was tripping over itself trying to be something it is not. If you were to just pull out an excerpt from the story you can count just how many random off-hand little comments or comparisons the main character states to overexplain things. That and just the excessiveness of comma use whenever the main character would be shuffling through her thoughts.. What should be one or two sentences becomes 1-2 paragraphs. It's very distracting and is very easy to lose the reader amongst the drabble of unnecessary filler words.

That being said, there is a good story in here and the mystery unfolding will keep things interesting.

(Review will go live 2 weeks before the publishing date)

I’m emotionally devastated in the best way possible. While the beginning of The Weaver Bride starts off a bit slow (as is often the case with fantasy worldbuilding), once I hit the 20% mark, I was hooked. The pacing shifts into a thriller vibe that kept me on edge, and the forbidden romance (my weakness) was beautifully AGONIZING.

I felt everything: her anxiety, her fear, her guilt and self-loathing. The emotional depth was INCREDIBLE. The world felt like a Gothic blend of The Selection meets Phantasma—a marriage competition layered with murder mystery, secrets, and a haunting atmosphere I couldn’t get enough of.

What surprised me (and not necessarily in a good way) was the ending. Although it was on character for her & I can understand her motives, it was a slap in the face (I’m a romantic). Also, the sudden absence of a certain character at the end was a bit confusing as well. The ending also felt a bit too open-ended if this is a standalone. But if it’s part of a series, I’m willing to be patient.

Overall, I ABSOLUTELY loved this book. The tension, the yearning, the mystery, the setting—I’ll be thinking about it for a long time. I just need to know if this story continues, because my heart can’t rest like this!!!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Lydia Gregovic and Random House Children's Books | Delacorte Press for this digital advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was first drawn to this book because of the pretty cover, and I'm glad I read it! I was hooked from the very beginning of the story, and there were so many twists and turns throughout that kept me on my toes. There was a lot more suspense in this book than I was expecting, but I ate up every word of it. The ending doesn't end on a cliffhanger per-se, but I really hope there is a book 2 because I need to know what happens next for the characters!

The magic system in this book is so unique, and I loved reading about it. At first I was hesitant about women needing to get married or be forced into a life of misery, but I was pleasantly shocked that things aren’t always what they seem to be.

There was a lot of character growth for Lovett, and I will be rooting for her and Eliot until the very end!! I really hope Lovett and Eliot are endgame! If we get Tamlin-ed, I'm going to be so sad. I need a book 2 to see how her and Eliot can be together :(

I’ve been on the edge of my seat the ENTIRE book!

With the ability to unlock secrets through the passage of doors, Lovett strikes a deal with Eliot Lear a man of mystery himself to reveal who killed his sister in the previous Vainglory. With more than just murder to unveil, Lovett becomes stuck in a deadly game with unknown motives. Through the continuous trials, Lovett must choose whether to trust her gifts and intuition or to follow what her heart says.

Filled with murder mystery, thrill, dark fantasy and forbidden love, The Weaver Bride packs it all! This is the type of book to keep you up all night from needing to know what happens next. I can’t wait for the next book in the series to come out!

The following review will be posted to my Goodreads account on September 16th, 2025 to comply with the publisher's approval preferences:

DNF at 40%, but I'm chalking this one up to personal preference.

I will say this: Lydia Gregovic's prose is very pretty and well suited for the fantasy genre. Perhaps not as lyrical, but it's reminiscent of Laura Steven's writing in Our Infinite Fates. She created a lush atmosphere with a magic system that manages to stand out in the overly saturated fantasy market.

But that's where my disappointment lies. The gorgeous writing gets in the way of the fast paced plot I was searching for. Truthfully, I wanted to DNF at the 10-15% mark because the pace was so slow. The opening chapters focused too much on backstory and world building, which, while interesting in concept, failed in execution as I had yet to connect with Lovett as a character.

I went into this expecting something more like The Prison Healer or Trial of the Sun Queen. The first chapters of those books are packed with action and tension. But I never felt those same high stakes in The Weaver Bride. Lovett's reasoning for joining the Vainglory made sense, but I didn't care as much as I probably should have.

I held in long enough to read through the first trial, since that's the main appeal of this book and the main reason I requested the arc. But even that didn't give me the propulsive tension I was desperately searching for. But I can see this book being a hit with die-hard YA fantasy readers because the magic system truly is fun and inventive. Just not for me.

I hate to be the first to give this book a bad rating but lying is bad therefore 2.5*

This was definitely one of the books I've read in 2025. The plot was somewhat interesting; the writing style made everything very predictable but Gregovic managed to leave enough engaging crumbs scattered throughout the book so I didn't drop the book. I also feel like Lovett was kinda stupid (even though everyone in the book would jump to tell me how she's soo intellectual) since some clues were staring RIGHT AT HER and she just didn't notice them until too late. And the last, biggest mystery? Yeah she just asked someone about it. Which does not make her feel very smart, honestly.

This book does pretty much what it says in the synopsis — decent mystery, mildly entertaining trials — with one caveat. THE ROMANCE. Gods, I loathed the relationship between the two leads, especially Lovett's treatment of Eliot in her head. I thought she was being spectacularly unkind to my mans who kinda just mewls weakly at her and apologises when he makes a mistake (he does fight back occasionally but I find that is not enough, lol). At one point a clash between the two leads made me want to drop the book right then and there because of how stupid the conflict was.

The characters were the worst part for me. Lovett is the exact flavour of morally grey that I despise the most; entitled, stubborn, and way too prideful. But I understand other people will like her for being strong-willed and intellectual (tbh that bit’s debatable but most people seem to think she’s smart so uh what do I know I guess). Eliot, too, kinda sucked. I do wonder why one would make the conscious decision to make Eliot with one L the most useless person in this entire book. Like, why would you do that, lol? Do you even want me to root for this guy? The secondary characters had flairs and quirks, but I could not care less for them.

I think a lot of people will enjoy this book, as it does have a decent plot there, but my loathing for the characters and predictably written mystery cannot make me rate it higher than 2.5 stars. I’m not sure if I will be reading the sequel (side note: I am annoyed this wasn't made clear beforehand since I don't start unfinished series) because idk if I care enough, but we’ll see.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's Books, Delacorte Press, and author Lydia Gregovic for this ARC in exchange for an honest review :D

What a fantastic read!!!Did I preorder this before I even read it, just because of the stunning cover? Absolutely! Did I love it ? Yes I did! From the very first page, I was hooked. The mix of magic, mystery, and romance kept me totally engaged throughout the story. I really enjoyed the whole premise of the marriage competition, especially since it’s tied to a tragic family mystery. It added so much depth to the plot.

The characters were definitely one of the highlights for me. Lovett was such an interesting protagonist, with her unique magic and the way she navigated a world where status and power are everything. Eliot, the mysterious guy, was a perfect counterpart to Lovett, and their dynamic had me really invested in their journey together.

The world-building in this book was also incredible. The magic system felt fresh and different from anything else I’ve read, and I loved how the author built such a rich, detailed world around it. The mix of tradition, competition, and personal stakes made the story feel so layered and intense.

What really kept me turning the pages was the tension throughout the book. It had the right balance of suspense, romance, and just enough danger to keep things exciting. Overall, it was exactly the kind of fantasy story I love, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

If you’re into fantasy, mystery, and a little romance, I definitely recommend The Weaver Bride. It was such an enjoyable read, and I’m already looking forward to the next one!

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

I loved this book! It was the perfect mix of witches and fantasy. This book took me back to what inspired me to read fantasy in the first place. Also, who doesn’t love a good marriage trial? I absolutely loved the plot snd the setting of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Lydia Gregovic and Random House Children's Books for this digital advanced reader’s copy of this book! I’m eager to see this book on shelves.

Almost immediately I felt that The Weaver Bride would be a 5-star read…and I was right!

As a reader who grew up on stories like The Selection series, there’s something about dark and twisted marriage competitions that I cannot resist.

The Weaver Bride is such a strong fantasy read because it maintains its vicious nature throughout the entire book. The characters are completely self-serving, the romance is equal parts beautiful and brutal, and the ending offers neither comfort nor closure.

The Weaver Bride had me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Lydia Gregovic has woven countless complex perspectives into one impossible-to-put-down story.

Add The Weaver Bride to your TBR if you’re also someone who enjoys:
- fairy tale-inspired fantasies
- secrets upon secrets
- “I hate that I love you”-style romances

Bottom line: The pages are still warm but I’m already planning my next reread.