DNF at 60%

***ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

This has been on my currently reading for over 6 months now and I just know that I won't continue with it. I was never really engaged in the story. The stakes felt so high and we were told that we should care about the events but there were never enough motivation to why we should care about certain characters or events.

Going through other people's reviews, I'm not gaining more interest in finishing the book. Many OwnVoices readers seem to be disappointed by the representation in this book and are arguing that a lot of its content is problematic.

I can't personally speak on that since I'm not educated about those concerns, but what I can speak of is the fantasy elements and they simply were not interesting enough.

I dnf'd this book at 25%. I really liked the first chapter but afterwards I ost complete interest. I read some own voices reviews Wich all say that the representation wasn't good at all. And so with all that I've decided to dnf this book.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. When I read the blurb for this book I was so excited to see how it would all workout. I have to say it is a magical world that she has created and the characters are amazing. It pulled me in and I wanted see what would happen to the characters. The magic of the Bookweavers that bring stories to life is magically perfect. With each page I wanted to know more about Reya as she move forward. My heart broke for all she had to go with on her journey, but her self-discovery was so wonderful. It left me hanging on each word to see what would happen next.

Wow. This novel is awesome, weaving the power of words with magic, mythology, tyranny, rebellion, and redemption. It's awesome. The world-building is so subtle that it doesn't detract from the story. It's an amazing read. Can't recommend it enough.

An evil King has taken over the lands of Kasmira and Reya Kandhari and her father have been in hiding for seven years. She conceals herself as a peasant to hide the fact that she is The Bookweaver’s Daughter, one of three powerful Yogis. Magic has become forbidden and mages are hunted down and destroyed. After the death of her father, Reya and her only friend Nina are thrust into a journey to find a way to stop the wickedness that hunts them. The girls must decide what is worth fighting for and what they are willing to sacrifice to reclaim their homeland.

As an avid reader and a lover of fantasy, I was really excited to read this book. I don’t know why this book has received so much hate. If you immerse yourself in a bit of escapism, then the story itself is intriguing. I enjoyed it for what it was, a fantasy story featuring strong female characters who are given the responsibility of helping to create a better world. I have very little knowledge of Indian culture so I cannot speak about that in regard to this story, but if the author’s intention was to educate her readers then there should be more explanation regarding the Indian lore.

Overall, I enjoyed this tale, and I liked the characters introduced. I could easily see this being made into a series as I feel that there is more that could be told. I would have preferred more world-building and character development but for a young author, I think this was a great effort and I am looking forward to seeing what more she has to offer.

Thank you to the author, published, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited about this book, but I was not impressed. I had high hopes. I felt it needed more, more character building, more exciting plot twists, just more umpf. I did like the friendship between Reya and Nina. I wanted to see what a Book Weaver could do. I thought we could have learned more about this.
*I received an eARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.*

The cover is so lovely I was excited to read it! I really enjoy fantasy I would pick up another book by this author.

I thought I wouldn't send a review of this book but I have to say that whatever I've read of it, it is in no way flattering and though it boasts of representation, it's half-baked at best. It's commendable that the author wrote it at such a young age but when you're writing a topic as this, it's better to have an wider understanding of what you are writing rather than just dump in everything you see on the news. Sorry, but no.

My honest review: I could not enjoy this book as much as I wanted to, due to a lot of things. The premise of the book was amazing, but I came to realize the Indian representation lacked, although it is written by an Indian-American author,

This book sucked me into it's story immediately. I was so concerned for Reya from the beginning that I couldn't put this book down. I hope to see continuing stories of her.

After what I have heard about this book's Islamophobia and misrepresentation of the politics surrounding the Kashmir region; and the author's treatment of bloggers on social media who called this to attention, I cannot in good conscience give a review. I was formerly part of a blog tour for the novel which was cancelled, so I do thank you for providing an ARC for me to review.

I no longer intend to read this book to the multitude of negative reviews revolving around representation. A book about Indian culture was very intriguing as its a culture that often doesn't get representation in Fantasy. But if the Indian readers find major issue with representation of their own culture, I am no longer interested.

I appreciate the opportunity to review this book, and I don't know how these reviews work, if only the publisher gets the review, or if these are somehow visible to all publishers.

On the off chance any publisher can see my reviews, know that I'm a voracious reader and do like to review books when I can, but I have a a very big policy not to negatively review books.

I try to only request books that I think that I'll like, but so often lately I've been disappointed, and I don't want to go down that road with this book.

Thank you.

Gods, I had so much expectation for this one! The synopsis? Radical friendship? Magical mythological Indian lore? An OwnVoices novel that tells the journey of weaving their own stories? Along with Roshani Chokshi’s praise on it? I was so EXCITED for it.

But this is what I got: A broken story which needs a lot of editing and a sensible understandable plotline. I mean, how did this happen again? I was asking myself this a dozen times. It is definitely not YA even if the characters are 15 years old and the genre is Teen/YA. It is an averagely written barely middle-grade story. Now keeping the author’s age in mind (written when she was 17), I could say it is great but I’d be lying. It had so MUCH potential! It could be exactly like the blurb suggests! But no. It needs tonnes of editing. I feel like it is a badly written draft and something like I would make up; when I’m half asleep and half my age I mean.

What I conclude is it could have been a great book but I got an unedited draft of it :((

I absolutely loved reading this book. I would highly recommend it and thank you to net galley for allowing me to read it .

I didn't like this book very much.

For one thing, it felt anti-Muslim from the way I saw it. (in a manner of clearly-phrased terms)
1; Kasmira = Kashmir (a province in Northern India which is predominantly Muslim and being brutalized for wanting to join Pakistan)
2. Indira = India (I feel this is more of your Hindu-predominant Southern Indian regions)
3. Zakir = a muslim name (given to the heartless dictator in The Bookweaver's Daughter)
With that being said, and several of the other things that other reviewers mentioned, I rest my case.

In addition, the writing was much too rushed, thus impacting:
1. The character relationships and development: I literally could not feel any connection between any of the characters. They all just seemed to exist. There was no raw emotion. Why are Nina and Reya such good friends? Surely, Naveen and Reya could take a little more time before just jumping into a rushed friendship? Yes, they both have that similarity, but, honestly, is that all it takes to form a friendship? In addition, none of the characters really took away anything from such a memorable experience.
2. The setting: being an OwnVoices novel, I think it's generally expected to have no explanation for any of the Indian culture because the main audience will be Indian. In addition, I didn't really feel like the setting was described very well or much.
3. The plot: at times, it was confusing. With the rush throughout, the reader gets sorta stranded somewhere in all of the words rushing past, wondering what on earth happened.

The one thing I did like:
The fact that there was little to no romance. It is so overused that there is a feminist main character and that she's ugly or whatever but she ends up in a love triangle with two handsome guys (somehow) or at least that she ends up with someone. I liked that Reya didn't have to do that, though I didn't really approve of the hints at the ending.

Note: By two stars, I say that I dislike the book, rather than completely hating the book at one star.

2/5 ⭐️
Firstly, I’d like to start by saying that overall, I did connect well to this book, the writing, and our characters. Although the storyline itself wasn’t super unique, I did enjoy it and the book kept me engaged.

However, when I came to write this review, I became aware from own-voices reviewers that this book has some very problematic elements. Specifically, the representation of Hindu-Muslim relations in the Kashmiri region of India, of which the setting is based. Please read own-voices review to learn more, as well as doing your own research on the current events and news from that area from people who are or have lived there.

I went into this book really wanting to enjoy i.t., but I was disappointed by the inaccuracies and classic younger YA tropes that just don't appeal to me anymore. I thought since this was a book about an Indian MC, as an Indian girl myself, I thought i.t. would further break limits placed on women of color in this industry but I was let down. This book had inconsistent characters, pacing that just disrupted the cadence of reading, alongside the infodumps that never bode well. Overall, I had really wanted to love this book but couldn't.

I really wanted to love this book! The plot summary sounded absolutely amazing! Plus, an own-voices story? I was absolutely stoked to read this book! Unfortunately, this book fell VERY short for me. I should note that I saw a majority of own-voices reviewers said this book was very problematic. For me, books that mis-represent a culture are incredibly problematic. While I cannot comment on the accuracy of the representation, other own-voices readers have noted that this book is problematic and I have to believe them. This was something that took away how interested I was in this book. To be honest, I didn't finish this book. I could not get over the terrible writing and over-used tropes. There were also a plethora of plot-holes that finished ruining the book for me. The characters were un-relatable and unlikeable. I do believe this book had the potential to be better though- had it gone through more edits and shown cultural respect. Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone!

I was really so close to giving this book a DNF, but I pushed on through because it's not very long. I didn't like it. It felt like it was written for either a younger audience or an ignorant one. And with that feeling, it felt like an insult to all readers.

When I saw this book was listed on Netgalley, I knew that I needed it. I immediately requested it, and was ready to dive right in. We were promised a lush and intricate fantasy world inspired by Indian folklore, but sadly, this didn’t deliver.

The Bookweaver’s daughter follows Reya after her father’s death. His legacy as Bookweaver has passed on to her, and she is now a symbol of hope for the rebellion. Drawn into the struggle and fight for freedom, she’s caught between two warring sides.

Now, a lot of other reviewers have addressed the harmful representation in this. I am in no way educated on this topic, so I won’t be addressing that in this review. Not because I don’t care, but because I simply don’t know enough to form an opinion. By all means though, read other reviews and their complaints about the representation.

I just want to address the concept of this book for a quick second. It was completely epic. I mean, the title Bookweaver just sounds awesome, so that hooked me immediately. Farther than that though, this truly did have a ton of potential. I truly feel like this book suffered from being too short. At a measly 250 pages, this felt super rushed. Like a lot of other reviewers, the pacing threw me off. This book is supposed to happen over the span of months, but it felt like it took days. Huge plot points were glossed over in a page or two, which minor details were focused on. I really struggled with this, because it was hard to get engaged in a plot with a confusing timeline. The author easily could’ve added another hundred pages without this ever feeling like it was dragging.

I also have to complain about the world building. After reading half the book, I just had to sit back for a second, and ask myself “what is a Bookweaver.” And after reading this, I still have that question. It’s never told to us straight, it’s danced around, and mentioned, but never explicitly stated. I really needed it to be stated though, because in a world with mages, yogis, and Weavers, I got confused very quickly.

Another one of my problems with this was the dialogue. I’m not sure why it felt so stilted, but it did. Conversations often felt like they were only thrown in to educate us, and didn’t feel like real interactions.

And finally, I just want to talk about all of the potential that is wasted with Devendra. As soon as he was introduced, I was in love. I was totally ready to read about the tortured prince who changes his views and challenges his father. Instead, he’s just kinda there for the entire book. His personality is barely explored, and except for one incident at the end, he just sits back and watches.

After reading this, I have to confront the fact that while I didn’t hate it, I was waiting for it to be over. I hate giving ARCs a bad review, but I can’t justify rating this any higher. I would like to commend the author for writing this at only 17, it’s a huge accomplishment. This book just wasn’t executed very well.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!