Scan barcode
A review by snaillydia
Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez
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.
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.
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.