This fun, fantasy adventure kicks off with our heroine, Nieve, who lives in a small village where everyone has a magical calling—well, everyone except her. She's ostracized because she’s the first of her people born without any magic, and she feels like an outsider in her own world. But everything changes when a mysterious pirate docks in her village during a trading stop. Nieve’s curiosity is piqued, and she starts to wonder if she might one day escape her small village and see the world, just like he has.

What follows is an epic journey filled with adventure, magic, and a mission to restore the world’s magic, with Nieve right in the middle of it all! This YA fantasy has zero spice and is full of that warm, fuzzy found-family feeling that I couldn’t get enough of. The pacing keeps things moving, and you’ll quickly be rooting for Nieve as she discovers her true potential.

If you’re in the mood for an enchanting fantasy that’s equal parts adventure and heart, definitely add Starling's Weave to your TBR!

I read this in a day and loved how this story unfolded. Every character is precious and not a single one grated on my nerves. The root of the story for me is strength in vulnerability. A lot of self love and self worth. Being able to reveal all of yourself, leave yourself bare with no mask(s) to hide behind, and find trust within yourself. Only then can you really let people in and even then it's the vulnerability to let them help you.

Nieve is a breath of fresh air. She's not the overconfident and brazen main female character you find in so many romantasy books these days. She's strong and brave but raw and at times timid despite the masks she wears. My heart broke for her, started to heal, broke again, and then pulled itself back together at the end. Manseray was also refreshing for a main male character with his vulnerability being exposed to readers right in the beginning despite outwardly appearing confident. The rubbing of his chest from the very beginning and oh my god the things he tells Nieve when he says he loves her...does he have a brother? I also liked how the conflicts between them were quickly resolved and explanations for any misunderstandings were accepted with all characters being completely reasonable about things. Weird thing to like, maybe? I get tired of the drawn out head scratching conflicts so this was really unexpected and much appreciated.

The magic was interesting, the supporting characters are great, but I have so many questions and hope this is the first in a series or duology! First, what is Nieve's real background? Freja calls her out for not being descendant from her supposed grandmother so who are her parents or was her mother truly her mother and her father an outsider because he is never mentioned. Why did the king want to get rid of all the Elder Wrights...what's the root of that? Where did Nieve's village go?! Where are the rest of the old ones like Freja?! What's next?! I need to know!!! I have to be honest, I'm VERY glad this didn't end on some crazy heart wrenching cliffhanger. It wouldn't have felt right for the story and characters and helped my stress level (thank you).


Thank you to Entangled Teen, L.E. Sterling, and Netgalley for the eARC.

I was very excited by the summary for this book! As a big fan of "Dark Water Daughter," I was intrigued by a book that seemed to be following a similar track. Unfortunately, this one was a bit all over the place. As the story unfolded, it felt like important themes and plot lines were picked up and dropped, seemingly at random. In the beginning, the main character's interest in storytelling seems to be set up as her primary driving force. However, this pretty much completely dropped by halfway through the story. This continued with several other aspects of the book. It felt like the author never had a steady hand on exactly what sort of story this was supposed to be. The quality of the writing, overall, was a bit lackluster as well, feeling stiff at times, clunky at others. Unfortunately, this one wasn't for me.

This book was original and very engaging. I found myself falling into this story within the first chapter with a lot of questions and wonderment, a good mark for the world building of any story because the drive to know more means I am engaged and care about the characters. However, this did slow the base of the book quite drastically for what I was expecting in a YA novel. I found Nieve to be young woman that I rooted for, she defines herself by her actions and responses to the challenges she has to face and does not let her status as a non magical limit her in the way that others expect her to.

This book was a slow burn romance and slow starting book and up until about 1/3 of the way in did the action really begin. I know this Book One of a series, so in total this may be a smaller part of the series, but I would have liked more action sooner to reflect the last two thirds of the book. The romance was a surprise and so was the ending! I will be back for the next book to see were the romance, action, and world building take me.

Thank you L E Sterling, Entangled Teen, and NetGalley for the ARC of the novel that I read

The premise of the story was a delightful spin for a fantasy book. The worldbuilding and the magic made the book come alive. Nieve was a great character and her development through the book was enjoyable. I really liked that a the Nieve's love interest was a pirate, Keir.

super cool little fantasy book with a lot of cool vibes in it. would recommend the book, the romance is strong and the vibes are strong. the world building is gorgeous and very classic-fantasy where the magic is waning, and the sea setting provides it with a little hint of uniqueness that makes the story that much stronger. 4.5 stars. Tysm for the arc.

It's a beautiful story that will take you on a wonderful journey of a lifetime. As a fan of YA fantasy, it's no surprise that I fell in love with this book. It has everything; a strong lead character you can't help but root for, well-developed side characters that give depth to the story, and a tale filled with twists and turns you are sure to enjoy reading. All in all, it's a must-read book that fans of fiction will love. I thoroughly enjoyed this thrilling and exciting story.

I really enjoyed the magical world that the author created in this book! There was magic, there was adventure, there was some mystery, there was some romance. All in all, it had a lot of things that I enjoy in a book! Plus, with the way it ended, it leaves it open to a possible sequel! I don’t think I fully understood everything about the Elder Wrights that the book was trying to convey so I think I would have appreciated a bit more information on the Elder Wrights besides the fact that there used to be a lot of them and then they started to disappear until they were all gone.

I stepped into this book and discovered a captivating world that immediately drew me in. Initially, I felt disoriented as the author plunged me into the midst of this unfamiliar realm without warning. However, I soon grew accustomed to this immersive storytelling style and found myself enthralled.

As I navigated this richly crafted world alongside the characters, I felt like a fellow traveler on their arduous journey of self-discovery. The slow-burning romance between Nieve and Manseray was tenderly woven, filling my heart with warmth.

The book's grip on me tightened with each turning page. I couldn't put it down, driven by an insatiable need to unravel the mysteries and reach the conclusion. The payoff was satisfying yet left me hungering for more.

I'm eager for this story to continue, to delve deeper into this enthralling world and witness the next chapter in Nieve and Manseray's journey."

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Starling Weave by L.E Sterling
Tropes:
Good vs Evil
Epic magic
Pirates
Chosen one
Cinnamon Roll MMC vibes
Insta-love romance

I enjoyed that this book was full of adventure, a good amount of world building, excitement and the cinnamon roll vibes from the MMC were an added bonus. I’m not usually a huge fan of the insta-love trope but this one was cute and was done well. Honestly you can never go wrong with pirates, and once you use that word, you might as well have put my name on the book.
The pace was good, and I definitely thought the plot was an interesting concept.

First of all, a huge thank you to Entangled Teen for providing me with this ARC!

I recently devoured Starling's Weave, a captivating upper YA fantasy novel that held me spellbound from start to finish. Filled with unexpected plot twists, it challenged my usual talent for predicting storylines. In a world where magic is fading and sickness looms, Nieve, an outcast due to her lack of powers, refuses to let others define her. Instead, she embarks on a quest to save her people—and perhaps her world.

This gripping tale kept me on the edge of my seat, with surprises at every turn. I especially loved seeing Nieve forge friendships and discover love along the way.

A perfect YA romantasy!

We start by meeting Nieve in her village. She lives with her grandmother, the village healer. Everyone around her is able to manipulate water with their powers, except for Nieve. She's left feeling very unwanted as she is unable to train with anyone (due to her lack of magic), but tradition dictates that she's not allowed to leave either. We also learn that the magic seems to be waning. Their crops aren't as fruitful, the fishermen's catches aren't as plentiful. Because their village is slowly starving, the village council allows outsiders to trade with them for the first time, and we meet Keir Manseray. He seems very taken with Nieve after a member of the head council assigns her to be his guide while they are trading in the village. She also finds him very attractive, but knows that she should not act on any feelings.

After an immense tragedy, Nieve goes off in search of the Old Ones or a relic of their magics in an attempt to bring magic back to her village, and perhaps give herself some magic as well. One thing leads to another, and she is captured and brought to the black market. We get the first glimpse of possible magics that Nieve has when she doesn't want anyone to look at her, and the whole crowd of purchasers leaves. She is then rescued by 2 women, and discovers that one of these women is one of the Old Ones that she needs! But this one doesn't remember much except her name, Arisame aka Dragon Fire. After they make their way back to her village, she discovers that they have packed up and left, and didn't bother doing a head count or waiting for her. This stings, but also she didn't have a role to play in the village so they might've been relieved that she wasn't around when they left.

After making plans to get to another Talin village, she bumps (quite literally) into Manseray again. This is when she learns that he's not really a trader, but a pirate (or mutineer, in his words). And that while he'll take her and her new friends to this village (his old Talin village), he has bigger plans that he needs Nieve for. She loses trust in him, especially in all the flirtations they've shared, because she thinks he's just buttering her up so she'll go along with his plans. This is when I love having the second POV to show that while yes he wants her for his plans, he's actually remade his plans just to revolve around her and is falling for her. His plans feature her because of his attraction to her, although he tries to tell himself that this is for the sake of his mission.

His mission: saving another Elder Wright aka Old One. They are successful in this, largely due to Nieve's newfound magics. When she bleeds, she is able to manipulate anything, including bringing this other Elder Wright back from the dead. She then manipulates the minds of the soldiers to stay in the dungeons and not move while they escape. She then takes out a fleet of their ships while they sail away.

Throughout the story, we see Nieve fall a little more for Manseray the more time they spend together. But she tries to hold her heart back knowing what kind of man he is. Manseray seems to be trying to convince himself to not form attachments to her when he's been protective and possessive since the first time he met her.

"Harm one hair on her head and we'll both learn how creative I can get with your murd3r."

All this show of magic really cements Manseray's feelings for her, and after Nieve asks him if he's only acting interested in her because of his mission, he answers with a smoldering kiss (putting her doubts to rest). They then have a good old-fashioned high school make-out in his quarters.

When they reach the end of their journey, Arisame and Nieve are able to fix the stopper of magic and let it flow back around the Earth. As Nieve lays dying, Arisame and Ocean work to save her life, turning her into an Old One, aka Blood Song. Nieve is now scared that as her new self, Manseray won't want to be with her anymore. He quickly quiets that fear and vows to sail with her and love her where-ever they should travel.

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

This is a beautiful YA romantasy perfect for fans of Shadow and Bone and Dark Water Daughter. Definitely give this book a read if you love a coming of age story, social issues, overcoming the odds, secrets, found family, and touch her and d!e vibes.

This is such a captivating world. I loved the characters and seeing the way magic and mythology combine as the main character discovers that the old myths are still living and get drawn into an epic adventure. The characters are wonderfully written and it was so great how they began to navigate working together and figure things out. The settings were so well done, seeing the different parts of this world was my favorite aspect of this book. The only thing I felt was a little off was some of the pacing felt a little rushed. There was so much amazing detail I would have loved to see a longer book or even this divided into two books so everything could really get it's chance to shine. That said I still absolutely devoured this story and highly recommend this book.

* Self-Discovery
* Tension & Conflict
* Surprising Twists
* Fantasy World-Building
* Strong Character Development

What I Loved:
The story is filled with non-stop action and suspenseful moments, making it a thrilling read from beginning to end. With surprises around every corner, the plot will keep you guessing, especially the shocking twist at the end. Nieve and other characters undergo significant personal growth, which adds layers of depth to the narrative. The story doesn’t shy away from sad or poignant scenes that enhance the plot and give the characters more dimension.

Vibes: Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin (for romantic tension & dark twists), The Hunger Games (high stakes action, emotional intensity, high character development)

I did struggle in the beginning but by the end I really enjoyed the story.
Starting off, there were some parts that I was left wondering what type of culture inspired the story. The names felt mixed and it made me feel thrown off ( Nieve , Freya , Keir etc). I did move past that feeling as the story went on.
I agree with some other reviews that Ive seen, that their were times I felt like I wasn’t following the plot for a moment - Personally I think its that the story is told in third person dual POV.

I did love the build of the main characters relationship, they have instant attraction and interest, but move slowly with the story.

Overall I really did like the story, it had some great fantasy and adventure elements that truly pulled it all together for me.

Starling’s Weave - Review

Starling’s Weave is a captivating Young Adult fantasy that will appeal to readers who appreciate a slow-burn romance between the main characters, Nieve Septile and Keir Manseray.

Set in a world where Elder Wrights once breathed magic into the seven seas, Nieve is the only Talin—an elusive race of magical mages—in her village without powers. As magic fades and everything around her begins to wither, Nieve takes it upon herself to save her people, even though they treat her as an outcast for her lack of magic.

Keir Manseray, a “pirate” or mutineer with his own magical abilities, arrives in her village with a hidden agenda. Upon meeting Nieve, he realizes that he needs her to complete his mission. Without revealing too much, the two are forced to shed their “masks” and learn to trust each other, embarking on a journey where Nieve, the girl without magic, discovers her true potential.

I loved the vivid and descriptive world-building L.E. Sterling created, and the dual narration provided a rich perspective into both main characters’ minds. However, I found myself wanting more—more backstory on the different types of water magic the Talin possess, a deeper understanding of what weavers and threads are, and more details on why the Elder Wrights are being hunted down. The pacing, while immersive, felt slower than I had anticipated, and the ending seemed a bit rushed, leaving some threads untied. Just as I found myself fully invested in the story, it ended rather abruptly.

Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed the story, with its blend of fantasy, magic, action, and adventure. I would recommend it to any young adult reader who loves diving into richly imagined worlds and getting lost in a tale of magic and self-discovery.

Thank you to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Nieve has always had a fascination with stories about the Old Ones, especially the lost stories. She learns there’s a story about a reservoir of magic that could possibly restore their dying land and the magic in it, and wants to find it to hopefully restore respect towards her being the only one of her people without magic.

Well, one day, for the first time ever, a ship filled with strangers arrives, and Nieve is directed to greet and take care of their guest, Keir Manseray.

Keir Manseray is on a mission to retrieve a man by the name of Edsel Bo from the most notorious prison in the world, but is having difficulties coming up with the right person for their plan, until he meets Nieve and realizes she could be the key to the execution of their plan. And now has to figure out how he could ask her to sail away with him.

This book had such potential. The world sounds unique, but was not explained in detail. The magic system sounds interesting, but again, not explained in detail. The romance is swoony, and although took awhile for them to finally kiss, it was still too insta-love and fast to be believable. The characters seem wonderful, but are not well rounded and not fully likable since we did not really get to know them that well.

It seemed the story and plot was rushed, but was the primary focus in this book rather than building on the world and building on the history of the world and its magic system. The character building could have been expounded on as well since I never felt connected with either of them. They had a history, but I was just thrown into the now of their lives, rather than learn how they got to where they are now. I felt like I entered into the middle of the book and its story, rather than the start of a book and the start of the story.

Now, I didn’t hate it, but I did not love this story. It wasn’t horrible, I just wish there was more detail to allow me to connect to the story and the characters more. I did for the most part enjoy the romance and the plot, but everything else just fell flat. The overall picture was just lacking the depth to feel immersed in the story and in the characters’ lives.

There were also small details that drove me nuts, like the travel time from one place to another. In one page, they’re going back to a town, and by the next page, they’re there, but how? Like, is everything two steps from each other?? And small details, like one time Nieve started eating a snack, and on the next page, on the same day mind you, she’s complaining about when did she eat last. It must have been 24 hours ago, when she literally was eating two seconds ago. It was silly details like that, that just kind of drove me nuts 😅

Definitely a solid 3 ⭐️ read for me. If you enjoy books with pirates, and a swoony romance, then give it a chance. This one just wasn’t quite for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

As I did enjoy this story with all its twists and turns and magical systems. It ended a bit more abruptly than I would have liked. Still a good read and will recommend to others.

I am a huge fan of Entangled, so when I saw this book come up as something I could request to read, I jumped on the opportunity.

Nieve is a Talin without typical Talin water magic. She's helped her grandmother, a healer, all her life but has never really been welcomed with a place of her own amongst her people. Now, they're dying, as sickness and blight aren't overtaking their world. It is at this moment that Nieve's entire world is upended with the arrival of a swashbuckling pirate (mutineer?). It is in their adventure together, embarking with seoarate goals in mind, that they both find themselves and what they're capable of.

I enjoyed this book so much. The world and magic system are unique and inventive. I found the plot to carry forward quite well and picked up the pace as the last 1/4 of the book neared. Nieve didn't seem like your typical FMC, but MAN did she end up being quite fierce. She and Manseray complimented each other well.

I feel like this book ended with a perfect opening for a sequel. One that I hope happens...and soon!

Delightful fantasy read!

Nieve has no magic and is treated as useless by the community. A supply ship arrives in the harbor and Nieve is assigned as host to the captain, Keir Manseray. Nieve has no idea that Keir is a pirate who is on a mission that has nothing to do with delivering supplies. When Nieve’s best friend Nina and Liet, Nieve’s grandma and guardian, return from helping care for another village, they die from the sickness they brought back with them. Nieve sets out to find the magic that will help heal the village from the sickness and she’s hoping it will also give her the magic she’s wanted her entire life. She unknowingly becomes part of Keir Manseray’s mysterious mission.

Likes/dislikes: This book was a delightful and fun read. I enjoyed the variety of characters and reading about the conflicts they dealt with. The humor was cute. I would read it again!
Language: R for 22 swears and 2 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for kissing.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: predominantly white.