I really liked this book alot it was something different which is exactly what I needed and I really enjoyed it

The pace was fairly off throughout, starting quite slow and picking up nearer the middle. I wasn't necessarily compelled by Anna or her actions.

Perhaps I have just outgrown YA as a genre, but I wanted to love this so much more than I did.

Threadneedle is the first in a series of YA dark academia fantasy novels by Cari Thomas. Released 27 May 2021 by HarperCollins on their HarperVoyager imprint, it's 576 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback (31st Jan '23), audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a well written character driven YA tale. MC Anna has been taught to fear and loathe her magical talent by her repressive and cruelly disapproving aunt. She's approaching the day when a ceremony will bind her magic forever, when she meets exuberant and irrepressible young students Effie and Attis. They're soon off having adventures and exploring their magic and testing boundaries.

At its essence, it's a YA coming-of-age novel. The background, world building, and magic systems are expertly rendered. I found the first parts of the book quite a relentless slog (until she meets up with Effie). There are potentially triggering on-page descriptions of emotional manipulation and physical abuse and gaslighting. Then *poof* (more or less) the book changes to a YA school C-o-A story, with all the drama and most of the silliness that entails.

Three and a half stars (mostly for the dichotomy of the first third of the book compared to the latter parts). The writing is very good throughout. For fans of Phillip Pullman, Leigh Bardugo, and Kerri Maniscalco, this one will likely be made to order. It's a substantial book, but there's also a novella in the same general world/pantheon, but set in Wales, contra London.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This read a little young for me and the entire story drug on and on and on. I didn't care about Anna, and her Aunt irritated me. Would suit a younger audience.

I like that this book has a few twists and turns to separate it from other supernatural teen books. The characters were interesting. The setting was modern. All and all a good read.

Whimsical and immersive, Threadneedle was a delight for the senses.

We follow Anna, living in her Aunts care, repeatedly taught that magic is a forbidden sin and dangerous. Why would she questions that, it's what killed her parents after all. She keeps her head down and follows the rules as she moves towards the age when her magic can be bound. New perspectives and friends begin to guide Anna in a new direction as she begins to question everything she has ever been told.

Anna is a bit different as far as YA heroines go and I found that quite refreshing. Her first instincts of being a conformist do evolve but in a smart and realistic way. This made her much more relatable. I didn't find myself having to suspend me belief at her growth arc as I so often do in YA. The world here is familiar but the magic woven in is beautiful ans whimsical touch.

All in all Threadneedle was a engaging and thoughtful read bolstered by beautiful atmosphere and relatable characters.

Thank you to Harper Voyager for the early review copy.

This book was so interesting and I loved the magic system. Incredibly unique. Loved the growth of the characters as well. What a fun journey. I was so anxious for Anna to stand up to her aunt or get away to be who she is meant to be.

I did not finish this book. It held my attention for a very short time but the story was far too slow personally and I felt like it was dragging.

This book somehow has dark YA dystopian vibes even though it takes place in contemporary London. Anna’s Aunt is straight up terrifying (imagine being raised by Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter). Meanwhile, Selene has raised Effie to be free-spirited and independent. It was very interesting to see how the two girls interacted with the people and events around them and with each other due to (or sometimes in spite of) their upbringings. I don’t want to give too much away, but I’m very intrigued to see what happens next in the series!

*ARC provided by Netgalley in return for an honest review*

I'm going to be honest. I forgot to review this book until now (p.s. the read dates are def off due to this).

This book struggled to pull me in. It's like I was giving a shiney new bag of fresh beef jerky, only to discover that it was really really tough and hard to eat.

The concept was interesting, and I liked how the magic in this world worked. I just didn't find the plot intriguing.

Threadneedle is a magical fantasy that slowly builds into a beautiful tapestry where the mystery unfolds. A magical story with granular, rich descriptions and well-developed characters.

ARC was provided by NetGalley and Harper360 in exchange for an honest review.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

A really fascinating fantasy novel!! I oved the way that it did magic and the way that it built up and layered the mysteries. I do think the pacing bythe end got a little bit rushed, but I'm very excited for the sequel and think that it was a fun read overall!

I decided not to finish this book. The story and characters weren't grabbing me, and when it started to be like The Craft and full of high school drama, I realized this book just isn't for me. But it seems like there are definitely a lot of readers who will enjoy this one.

Threadneedle is a story about teenage Anna, who lives with her strict and abusive aunt after the death of her parents due to magic. Her aunt belongs to the Binders, a group that believes that magic is sinful and forces Anna to control her magic. Despite this, she meets other teenage witches and they form a coven, which begins unraveling family secrets related to the death of Anna's parents.

I thought the idea of magic and sewing was cool and was excited to read this book. After finishing it, it took me a while to collect my thoughts. It was a cool idea, and the magic system in general was really unique, but the sewing part in particular that I was excited about was a form of abuse akin to making Harry carve his name into the back of his hand. So not exactly something that I wanted to read a lot about. A lot of the magic was like that. The Binders were a very transparent allegory of extreme Christianity, which is an interesting idea, but I didn't enjoy reading about the ways that they force their followers. Okay, so any nice parts of the magic system? Kinda. There were some delightful parts of magic, but not a lot of them. What about the witches? The majority of the characters that aren't inflicting abuse are teenagers. And yep, they act like teenagers (i.e. annoying and mean in different parts). Mkay, so that's not really delightful either. What else we got? A twist in the last 5% that takes over 500 pages to get to.

I also didn't know that this book was 600 pages when I requested it, and I got nervous when I was only 60% through and felt like I had been reading for a long time. I liked it just fine, but it moved. so. slowly. And then there was a breakneck twist at the very end that almost gave me whiplash.

So... overall, I guess read this book if you wondered what Harry Potter would be like if he never left the Dursley's and was raised by Aunt Petunia who was a religious fanatic. And the book is 600 pages.

This book had some cool parts and good ideas but I just couldn't get past the page count and focus on abuse to actually enjoy it that much. 2.75 stars rounded up to 3 for me. Thank you to HarperVoyager and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review!

thank you to netgalley and harper 360 for the digital advanced reading copy of the threadneedle by cari thomas. This was an interesting book. a story about a young girl anna and her aunt. the magics they have and have to bind. suffer in silence. their magic is not a gift but a curse. magic is not fun and games for them. magic is knots, math and knowing and training. anna is looking forward to her ceremony that will bind her magic, following her aunts footsteps. until she meets some new friends that introduce her to the wildness of magic. her new friends open her eyes and the sights of london she has never thought to experience before. this story about friendships, family, academia and magic was interesting. this has been a release many were looking forward to. it starts off very slow but it gets better and is worth the read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper 360/HarperVoyager for the advanced reader copy so that I can leave an honest review.

I am not completely certain how I feel about this book. There were moments when I was fascinated and fully invested. There were moments were I was deeply uncomfortable with the subtle and not-so-subtle emotional and physical child abuse. There were moments when I felt like things were just crawling along and I couldn't wait for it to be over. Overall, though, I was entertained and I will absolutely be reading any sequels that come after this one because I need to know what happens. In terms of trigger warnings, this absolutely has terrible abuse of a minor (mostly emotional), but there is some physical abuse. There is also gaslighting, emotional manipulation, murder, a magically forced relationship with an adult and minor, and deep religious trauma. Be warned because while the voice is very YA, these sometimes subtle triggers are much darker than I anticipated going in.

This is the mysterious coming-of-age story of Anna, who lost her parents when she was a baby to a murder-suicide. She is raised by her Aunt in an exceedingly controlled and borderline torturous manner according to the rules of her Aunt's magical and religious cult, the Binders. Emotions and magic are sins and Anna is fated to have her magic and emotions bound with some kind of sacrifice. Her mother's friend Selene breezes back into her life with her daughter Effie and Effie's friend Attis and Anna begins to explore what it means to be a witch and to rebel against her abusive Aunt's wishes. What secrets is everyone in her life hiding from her? What is the truth behind her parents' deaths? Who can she trust?

There is a lot of teenage rebellion and terrible choices. It reads like something of a dark academia. The magic is quite interesting and the lore behind the novel seems fascinating, but the school antics are much too long and tend to drag. I feel like this book has really good bones and again - it is really interesting and much darker than I anticipated (which is something I liked, but again it was uncomfortable). I am interested in the deeper world-building that I expect (and hope) from a second novel. Altogether a good start and I do recommend this one if you like family drama and a little bit of dark academia.

I actually really enjoyed this book. I felt the world was rich and interesting. There is some TW for family abuse, Anna’s aunt is a piece of work. She also deals with bullying at school, which so relatable on a different level. Then the richness of the magical word at large is wonderful. There is also a part of the story that is a murder mystery which all comes to a head at the end. Overall, this book was quite the page turner. I can’t wait for the next installment. netgalley provided this e arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book is so fantastical and magical. I did have a rough time getting through the first hundred pages or so, but once things started to happen, it got more interesting. I do think the book is a little long and repetitive in some spots, but overall it's a fun read.

Review copy (eARC) provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first entry in "The Language of Magic" series, which currently consists of this book and a novella. The best way I can explain this book is it felt like a different take on Harry Potter...to be clear, I don't mean that as a criticism, but rather, a compliment. That's just the vibe I got, which overall is a good thing, because I really loved reading Harry Potter, but it's just not my current preferred genre.

As a result, I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5, which I will round up to a 4 because it was fun and I think my criticisms are more personal than true problems with the book.