Reviews

Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez

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lunatyck's review

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reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

travelingdolphin's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

First off, I just have to say the cover of this is gorgeous. And the fact that the author designed and illustrated it herself is really cool. She is very talented. I enjoyed the book itself. The setting was different, and I liked that it wasn't European inspired like most YA fantasy I read. The magic system was interesting, although I wish that it was better explained and utilized. I am definitely planning to read Written in Starlight. This is an author I'll be watching out for.

ashleyscofield's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

gabamunchkin's review against another edition

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i WANTED to get into it but i just couldn't unfortunately. maybe i will come back to it at somepoint in the future.

snaillydia's review

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4.0

Ximena is the decoy of a queen she's loyal to, forced to marry her people's enemy as she unravels the secrets of her history. Bursting at the seams with moon magic and lush descriptions of Bolivian food, Woven in Moonlight is a lovely addition to the YA fantasy sphere.

To be completely fair, I'm not sure this is YA. No character's age is ever mentioned outright. However, this reads a lot like YA, considering the relative lightness of its themes. Those of you who've read Throne of Glass or The Bird and the Sword will recognise this story's structure. The tropes are clear as day, a main character imprisoned, charming guards, sneaking around the castle by night, you know the rest.

Even though the story structure and the tropes are nothing new, I can't help but see that this novel stands out among its counterparts. The setting helps a lot, but so do the characters. Every character (with the king as a notable exception) has been masterfully crafted. That's not to say that every character is complex, they're pretty simple, but they're all interesting and full of life. Relationships between them develop in ways that feel natural, their threads woven with a lot of patience and care.

One thing that I'm not sure how I feel about is the main narrative of the story, which is about the plight of the Illustrians. I'll tag the following as spoilers, but I will not spoil the story, only the worldbuilding and the character development of Ximena.

Spoiler

The Llacsans revolted because of our mistreatment. So whose fault is it really that my parents are dead? How many of their parents died as we neglected them for centuries?

This quote pretty much sums up the narrative. At its core the message is not a bad one. Ximena has been raised to hate the Llacsans, and throughout the novels she comes to terms with the truth. The truth that the Llacsans were an people who revolted against their oppressors, her very ancestors. But at points like in that quote it seems like the genocide of her people is excused because they were oppressors. And that doesn't exactly sit well with me.

Obviously, this novel wasn't perfect. There are a couple of things that seemed a bit silly and convenient. Honestly, though? I had a lot a fun.

mariugonza's review

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4.0

When I saw the cover of this book and read the plot, I immediately knew this was a must on my life. And I’m not disappointed. The story is set in an interesting nation based on Quechua and Bolivian Traditions and politics. The characters are somewhat interesting (I’ll come back to this later) and the plot was amazing.

My problem comes from the characters themselves. Ximena is a regular character; your typical reckless YA main character. I like her arc through the book and the way she bonds with the others in el castillo, but she still fell bland (ngl I love yuca frita cuz who doesn’t, and with guasacaca uff amazing, but that ain’t no character trait). Rumi was kinda predictable but I actually liked him
he being El Lobo was kinda obvious in my opinion and I was expecting it, but it still surprised me to be honest.

Juan Carlos is as sweet as un quesillo o un dulce de leche. My boy deserved better :(

My problem was Atoc. I assumed he was supposed to be like Evo or even Maduro (enter here the necessary Maduro Coñoetumadre, always needed), but he felt more like a generic antagonist and abusive man, than a true, evil tyrant (and I kinda know what it’s like living under that system, I can tell)

Anyways great book, the author writes beautifully and the touch of using Spanglish was really nice. Even when Woven In Moonlight is Isabel Ibáñez’s debut novel, it has an astonishing quality to it, and made me want to learn about Bolivia (which I only know for the infamous memes of them having no ocean, the Incas, el Lamento Boliviano, and well the dictator himself, so close to the monsters and usurpers from Venezuela)

This book made me happy and I just want for the next one to come