“I don’t want to be a goddess. I want to be just a woman.”

The world building takes you on quite a fantastic journey, but not only that, there’s amazing banter & high stakes situation to keep you on edge!

Nieve is a relatable character and she pulled on my heart strings immediately.
Amidst a difficult time, she finds herself ready to shine, despite every odd stacking against her.

Keir on the other hand is a mysterious presence, that keeps you and Nieve on our toes. 🤭

“I keep trying to tell you, Starling. Without you, there’s no such thing as freedom. There is no life without you.”

10/10 recommend!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Starling's Weave is a young adult fantasy. It's told from Nieve and Keir's points of view. Nieve is eighteen. Keir is a twenty-two-year-old pirate captain. The story has elemental magic and a slow-burn romance. Powerful mages also play a big role in the novel.

Nieve was born without magic, unlike the rest of her people and they treat her badly because of this. She wants to know why magic is disappearing. The Elder Wright Mages used to fill the world with magic. Now, her world is dying. Captain Mansaray offers her a ride on his ship. He's handsome and so intriguing! This is where their romance begins. It seems destined that they would meet.

The story gains speed halfway through. You should expect conflict, battles, and fire, plenty of fire. You'll find adventure in a uniquely built world. Nieve and Keir both grow on their journeys of self-discovery. This clean romance is a perfect fit for teens new to fantasy. The ending hints at a sequel that Starling's Weave fans will eagerly await.

So, this book was everything, all in one action, adventure, ooo the plot, great characters. I felt like I was there with the characters. It was a bit slow for me but I did enjoy the book.

The writing was a little poetic for my taste, and I think YA readers may find it that way as well. I just couldn't find myself getting invested in the plot at that point.

Super good Ya romantasy , checking all the right boxes. Is a full pack with action, unique plot , high stakes, one true love . The plot is very well developed, i like the world building and the Magic system immensely. One of my favorite things is that the book is dual pov. Always good when you get both sides. Definitely recommending

2.5/5

I really wanted to love this book, but wow, it just didn’t hit the mark for me. The cover? Gorgeous. The concept? Super intriguing. But the execution? That’s where things fell apart.

The pacing was all over the place; slow for most of the book, then suddenly everything happened in the last chunk, and it felt rushed. The worldbuilding had so much potential, but it never fully came together. I kept wanting more explanations, more depth, more something to pull me in. And the romance? It had its moments, but it was way too insta-love for my taste.

That said, I didn’t hate it. The characters had promise, and I liked the found family dynamic with the pirates. If you enjoy slower, character-driven fantasy with a touch of magic and romance, this might work better for you than it did for me!

Thank you Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for the ARCs

#StarlingsWeave #NetGalley

Neive has lived her whole life just wanting to be useful to her village of water magic people. However, she is shunned when it turns out she is the first person with no magic at all. When a sailor outsider comes to her village, which normally doesn't let outsiders in, with food to a starving population Neive will do anything to save her people. Famine and disease is all over the world because magic is dying so she sets off on an rescue missing, gets captured, set free, meets an Elder Wright, and starts to get feelings for the stranger. I do love a dual POV so thank you for that. I really enjoyed this adventure and trilled for another story even though this is a stand alone novel.

DNFed at 29%. I couldn't get into this book, unfortunately. I had a hard time sympathizing with the FMC. She was very obtuse. And whenever someone died, she mostly thought about how she was disappointed that she couldn't use them to become the village's hero. It seems she was intended to be an innocent, kind character, but her thoughts said otherwise.

My other issues with this book were more minor, but they still bothered me. It alternated between first-person POV for the FMC and third-person POV for the MMC, which I found jarring. And there were a lot of things that just didn't make sense, like things looking tiny to the FMC when she's only 12 feet off the ground or another character somehow keeping an arrow trained on her while holding a bag and digging around in it. It bugged me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ARC.

Starling’s Weave was honestly such a good read! I am so glad I gave it a read. This was a character focused book which I always love! The plot was a bit slower paced but I don’t mind that.

I would highly recommend this upper YA fantasy book to anyone, and everyone!

Thank you NetGalley for granting me access to this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This one felt pretty young adult, but was also an interesting and fanciful feeling story. The plot was creative, and kept me engaged.

This was a great read! This book caught my attention from the first page! Loved the plot and the characters of this one. One thing that had me getting lost a bit as I read was the switching between character POVs. Overall a great read that I definitely recommend giving a read!

I loved the backwardness of the premise: a girl who is shunned from her village due to her lack of powers in a town full of water magic users. The world building and history were excellent. However, I didn't love the third-person POV, with switches back and forth between Manseray and Nieve. It made the story a bit harder to follow and felt like I was being jerked back and forth as I tried to figure out what the plot exactly was. Overall, I enjoyed the journey, but I feel like it could have been smoother.

I really enjoyed this book, but honestly who doesn't enjoy a fantasy pirate adventure, it had really excellent world-building and I enjoyed the magic system. I was super intrigued by the history of the world and ate it up. Keir and Neive are a dynamic pair and though I've seen some reviews say it was insta-lovey, I disagree. I felt it was more instant intrigue and attraction but I thought their relationship built up really great and felt very natural. Overall, it felt very creative and inventive, I've read a ton of fantasy and romantasies this year but this one managed to stand out and stick with me, I really hope we get more!

This book was something magical. At first it is quite slow-paced, making me almost DNF. However I struggled through and started to like the story more and more, I liked the storyline and all the magical aspects.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

The switching between 1P and 3P really drove me up a wall, I was just like, stick with one or the other, please! I really loved the concept of this book and thought it could have been so amazing, but I am just not about the switching of first/third person.

Well well, I fell in love with the cover and then I fell in love with the fast paced, twisty, and highly entertaining story featuring a cast of interesting and fleshed out characters in an fascinating world.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I think what I enjoyed most in this book was the world building and magic system. I had a good time with the dual POV between Nieve and Elder. This book was a little slower paced than I typically lean towards but overall the plot was interesting.

Here's the review rewritten in your own words:

"In L.E. Sterling's 'Starling's Weave,' the fate of a magical village rests on the shoulders of Nieve, a young woman born without the water magic that sustains her people. When a pirate captain arrives with his own agenda, Nieve is drawn into a perilous adventure.

This story, with its intricate magic system and richly imagined world, reminded me why I love fantasy. Sterling masterfully weaves together the perspectives of Nieve and the pirate captain, revealing their motivations and the complexities of their relationship. The story is full of suspense, with twists and turns that kept me hooked until the very end.

Nieve's unique perspective, as someone who doesn't possess the magic she's surrounded by, adds a fascinating layer to the narrative. Her journey of self-discovery and her growing understanding of magic are truly compelling. 'Starling's Weave' is a captivating and unforgettable read."

I don't know how else to describe my feelings about this book, other than it feels like a translation with something lost in the translation.

Now, from what I can tell, that isn't actually the case, but the writing is oddly soft...with not plot holes exactly, but connection holes.

Also, this is another one that was so busy world building that the author got to almost the required page length and was like "oh no, we need a resolution" and resolved everything in 5 pages. I had truly been expecting a cliffhanger because there didn't seem like enough pages left to resolve things properly.

I would definitely try another book from this author again, because I liked the characters and the interesting magic system, but it just needs a bit more polish and firming up.