Crewel is dystopian with a young heroine in a world where women must fit tiny, narrow roles. Our heroine, Adelice, has a rare talent to manipulate the form of her world and has been forcibly enlisted as a Spinster.
We don’t quite see how the Crewel world works until quite late in the story. The first part of Crewel is taken up with Adelice being hauled out of the escape tunnel her parents built in their basement, then punished for attempting to run, and finally being brought into the training group.
Spinsters are the female leaders who use their unusual abilities to touch and manipulate the world via looms. They are not allowed to marry and are forbidden any sexual activities due to stringent purity laws. The Guild leaders are men who govern and decide. Guild is dependent on the Spinsters to keep Arras functional, but the men are careful to not allow the women power or control.
Adelice has love interests in two young men but since she has had zero exposure to men she doesn’t quite know what to think about them. She is intrigued but fears the retribution should she be discovered in a compromising scene.
About two thirds through the book Adelice learns that Arras is truly woven above and separate from Earth, separated during a time when war threatened and leaders of twelve countries decided to set up the separate world. It is not clear exactly how Arras works. It is physical, with special Thread that forms the physical reality and individual people. Yet it is connected somehow to Earth.
The Creweler – and there is only one – is able to create new Threads and to use Thread to create new places within Arras. The current Creweler is old and wants no part of further renewals.
Adelice is appalled when she learns that the Threads that represent individual people can be cleaned, or even remapped. People who have memories that threaten the Guild or illness or are rebellious or inconvenient are either Cleaned or if severe, Ripped. Adelice learns a new technique to Remap individuals has much promise to leave most of the person’s skills intact. Even worse. Adelice has questioned once too often. Now she faces Remapping.
Adelice has to choose whether to take up her assigned role as the next Creweler, to be Remapped, or to somehow escape. Escape seems impossible. Is it?
Crewel is shown as the first book in the new series Crewel World and ends on a cliffhanger.
3 Stars
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