4.75/5 stars!

Look, I'm just gonna say it. GO READ THIS BOOK! You will not be disappointed!

This was such a fantastically written political fantasy novel, and is deeply rooted in Bolivian politics. It also tackles many issues that people face even now in the world. The magic system is very unique. It's shown to the reader where we don't get all the answers, but there are many pieces that can easily fit together to get us to understand how it works. I find it to be a subtle magic system instead of in your face, and that's something I thought the book did well. It focused a lot on characters and the main political theme. I thought the author did a fantastic job weaving 2 different concepts and making them work in harmony.

Characters are absolutely AMAZING! Ximena is a powerhouse of a heroine. She's strong in her own way, and she doesn't let herself fall victim without doing her best to save others. She's incredibly smart, witty, cautious, and very aware of just how dangerous her position is. Rumi is another character that I liked right away from the start. he comes off as sarcastic, goading and very closed off from others. Over the course of the book he truly grows into a better version of himself. It's a gradual change that you almost don't notice until reflecting on the book. Ximena and Rumi are like 2 sides of the same coin, and their scenes together were always some of my favorite, no matter how brutal or heartwarming the scene was.

Honestly just go read this book! It's so SO good! I fell in love with this and I can't wait to see what else the author writes. If I had any issues, I just wish the beginning was a tad bit quicker in pace. It took a while to get to the main story and was filled with explanations, but it's such a nitpick that it doesn't hurt the book in any way.

ARC provided to be by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is one of my favorite covers this year.
And once you read the book you see how all these different elements work together.

This book has a very interesting premise, but there was just something about it that did not grab me.
I lost interest constantly and it took me a long time to get through it. 
I wanted to love this book and I really thought I would,

I can't even put my finger on what it was I didn't like about it, whether it is the writing style, the characters, or the actual story, there was just something.

Full disclosure, I received a digital ARC for this book and the file did not work on my kindle, so I had to read it on my phone, which is never an enjoyable experience, I would like this think this is not impacting my review, but when you can't relax with a book, it makes it difficult to get into it.

Beautifully written political fantasy inspired by real life events in Bolivia. The world was immersive. The magic system was very clever. The characters were engaging. I’m not sure the romance really worked but that could just be me since I am very picky about romantic sub plots. The pacing was a little uneven. Overall though this was a great YA fantasy with plenty of grit beneath the magical realism.

#WoveninMoonlight
#PageStreetPublishing
Thank you to NetGalley and Page Street Publishing Co. for the E-arc copy of Woven in Moonlight. I can't wait for this novel to be released. It is such a great young adult novel.

4.5 stars

I am so thankful to have a arc of this book. I found out about it a couple months ago when I saw my bookshelves lacked Latinx authors and being Latina myself I knew I needed to add more diverse reads.

This book immediately caught my eye and after reading the synopsis I knew this was going to be my most anticipated 2020 read, but I wanted to review it sooner.

This book is a Bolivian fantasy novel, food is mentioned so much that I crave all of it. The colors in this book are just so vibrant and the magic is just magical. Also nobody is safe in this book either which had me shook lol.

This fantasy novel brought up real life issues especially understanding colonizers and how it affected the natives. You get to understand both sides and you truly understand the mc motives and understanding that her enemies are not her enemies. That things can change and sometimes you have to out others needs before your own even if it ruins friendships.

I truly loved this story, the settings, and cant wait to read the second book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.

This is another hard one for me to rate, because there are some really amazing parts in it. But there are also some not-so-great parts, and I'm going to cover those first. The pacing of this book felt really off. It felt like it went way too fast at some parts, rushing through things that should've been allowed more time to build. The rushing also weakened emotional impact. There is this scene early on that's done well, but as the story goes on it feels like the emotion's not there as strongly anymore. I can't explain without giving away spoilers, but for it being in first person, I didn't always feel the emotional response and conflict from our main character.

I hate always picking on the romance in YA, yet here we are again. This felt really rushed, too. It falls under the "enemies to lovers" trope, but I feel like some plot points were conveniently placed to let them make that progression a lot faster. I was buying them going from enemies to friends, but the lovers felt too rushed. They still don't know each other well and the first sign of her possibly not being on his side has him questioning her and not trusting her. Plus, I'm honestly just tired of having a romance subplot in every single YA I read lately. Is it really so hard to write a marketable YA novel without a romance in it?

Now let's talk world-building. I read that this is based on real Bolivian conflict. That's very cool and I love the mixture of Spanish and English words throughout the novel. What I don't really like is still not fully understanding what happened in this world. Rumi tells Ximena to read the history of his people, but she forgets the book in the dungeon and I don't think ever actually reads it. She just goes by what she sees and hears of the people around her. While it's good she's being more socially aware, it would've helped if she understood the history behind how and why all this happened. Especially as she's helping decide the future of the country. Artoc could've used more development, too. I don't know, maybe his character is based on a real person, but I feel like he was going to such an extreme when something more subtle would've been way more compelling. Have there be more of a gray area of the two rulers or something to really stamp in the message that they didn't understand each other's cultures/their past hurt was dictating how they treated each other in the present.

That said, those elements certainly are there. Both sides have a certain idea of how the other behaves and thinks, and the prejudice and hatred they have is clearly shown. They do progressively learn there is more to each other than what they believed, but maybe that's done a little too quickly? Sometimes it was hard to tell if this was Stockholm Syndrome or Ximena actually learning about the other side and vice versa. I was good but could've been better.

The magic was also really cool. Not entirely explained, but it didn't entirely need to be. I would advocate this to be a graphic novel just so I could see the designs of the tapestries Ximena creates as well as the animals. I would've liked more understanding of the religions, but I got a general idea of them.

Overall, it was creative, and I liked it taking Bolivian history and highlighting some of that culture and the language. I just wish the story took its time more and really dived into the ideas presented.

I really enjoyed this book and thought it was very interesting. The plot was very interesting and I was focused the entire time and never got bored. Would highly recommend this book!

What a unique and captivating book. Danger lurks between the lines and intricate palace intrigue thrills me to the bones. Meticulous researched with painstaking details, the intimate writing pulls the reader in. The characters possess plausible motives. The world exudes beauty and brutality. The plot is at once suspenseful and enjoyable. I loved the read!