I can see the interesting story that lurks behind Starling's Weave but unfortunately the execution just wasn't there for me. The plot moved along at a great pace, but things happened too conveniently just to move the story along, and then certain points were dropped, never to be heard of again. The romance was a bit insta-lovey in that I wasn't sure that they actually liked each other or if it was just a lack of options based on their situations (she's an outcast in a small village, he's a pirate on a ship of men.) I think there's potential for a very interesting magic system but we see very little of the water magic that happens to be the male MC's main power. The switch in tense in the POVs also bothered me throughout the book. We get first person present with the female MC but then it switches to third person with the male MC. We get the POV switch often enough that it stuck out to me as frustrating, because it took away from the flow of the story. I did speed through it so I was hooked enough to finish, but I don't think it'll be memorable.

Oh my goodness where to start.

This book is action packed with twists and turns everywhere. The tension between Nieve and Manseray, amazing. There were some parts that were sad, but they definitely helped fuel the story. I loved that as the story progressed different characters were discovering themselves.
The ending, the twist at the ending. I didn't quite see it coming, I had a completely different thought.
I do hope that this story continues because I'm not quite ready to this world behind yet.

**Thank you to L.E. Sterling, Netgalley, and Entangled Teen for the chance to read this ARC**

I really enjoyed the story, I felt like there was a good plot and interesting characters that I enjoyed reading about. Where this book fell short for me was the execution of the writing. At times, it felt a little choppy and was back and forth between one topic to another. There were things I felt were meant to be plot twists but because the story wasn’t flowing smoothly it kinda felt like things were coming out of left field.

As a reader i personally prefer a book to be well written as opposed to something with a deep rich story. Anyone can come up with fun story details and plots but to be able to weave everything together seamlessly and execute a writing style that does justice to your story is a whole different ballgame. If you feel the opposite then disregard this review because this book will be perfect for those who enjoy reading YA and are in it for the story instead of the writing!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this eARC!

. The confusion started for me in the Lotts where it gave Nieve’s full POV and then the next chapter back tracks and shows Manseray’s partial POV. The book is so long and all over the place that by the time you make it to the ending the beginnning feels like an entirely different book. The beginning talks so much about Nieve wanting to become a story teller and then halfway through the book that whole train of thought is dropped. A lot of random things go on and then they are like “hey we need to save the whole world.” The insta-love comes out of left field for me. The first 80% of the book seemed drawn out and the ending felt rushed with little to no answers. The ending doesn’t make me think there should be a sequel, I think the reader can come to their own conclusion, mine would be Nieve fixes everything she needs to and then traveling to finally gather her storie. But then again now that she is an Elder Wight and most likely immortal - that is not good for Manseray. Idk the book was all over the place, just like my review.

This book is one of the best books I've read so far this year. I gave it 5 stars because it really is THAT good!!! Loved every second of it.

“Starling’s Weave,” by L. E. Sterling

I thought this was a good book. I had a hard time picturing the world though, I thought it was mostly a water world but then a few places I wondered if I was picturing it wrong. I love the two main characters, and they were both mysterious and interesting. I felt a lot of this book was world building and getting to know the characters and places, so it felt a little slow at some points. All in all, I really liked it. 4 out of 5 stars.

-Magic
-Pirates
-Kidnapped

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

I loved this adventure. I was lucky to receive an eARC from entangled. This story was so unique from what I've been reading in Fantasy lately. I love the characters!

This is an action packed story filled with lots of twists and turns that will keep you hooked until the end. The world is really interesting and the characters are all unique. The story will keep you guessing the whole time. I didn't see the ending coming but it was perfectly done. This is a fantastic book. I highly recommend it if you like YA fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for allowing me to read this book ahead of release in exchange for my honest opinion.

This had everything that I was looking for in a fantasy world, it had that concept that I was looking for and enjoyed going through this. The characters had that concept that I was looking for and felt like they belonged in this world. I was invested in what L.E. Sterling wrote and left me wanting to read more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

It was a fast read. I was able to read this book quickly and found it an easy read.

The characters, descriptive text and plot were clearly developed. There were a few grammatical errors that tripped me up, but nothing major.

Could use a bit of editing.

You will enjoy the read.

✨Epic Quest
✨Unique World / Magic System
✨Found Family
✨Instant Attraction / Slow Burn Romance

Bingeable, fast-paced read that had a really interesting storyline and magic system!

I think this author really excels at crafting intricate and unique worlds. While this story does have a Romantic element to it, the storyline itself is rich in history and lore; it also has a strong Fantasy element to it which I really enjoyed.

I thought the pacing, world building and leading characters were done really well. So much happens in the last quarter of this book, I'm looking forward to seeing where the author takes the story next!

I'd definitely keep this book on your radar if you enjoy reading books in the YA Fantasy genre, I'll definitely be recommending it.

On a superficial note, the cover of this book is fantastic and I can't wait to add a copy to my bookshelf.

Thank you L.E. Sterling, Net Galley and Entangled Publishing LLC for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you like a story full of action, stakes, an intriguing plot, a true love, and a unique plot and world, this is the book for you.

This is a book with plot twists and amazingly distinct and interesting characters. I also like the direction that this book went at the end, though of course, I don’t wanna spoiler anyone. But trust me when I say it’s really cool! It piqued my interest and made me want to know how the story continues.

The main character is courageous and strong. She’s incredibly selfless. The elder wright she meets and goes on a journey on is very cool.

These are the things I like. Now let’s get to what I didn’t enjoy. The love interest is 4 years older than the main character, and she is 18 years old. While some don’t mind this kind of age gap, I don’t like it all. It would be different if she was also an older adult, but 18 is just too young. It was also pretty insta-lovey. While it took a while for them to actually kiss and confess their love, the love interest talked about her at the beginning as if he already gained feelings for her so quickly. Many readers don’t like insta-love and I am one of them.

I also felt like the emotional scenes fell flat. I guess it’s just something about the authors writing style that made me not really feel what they felt. Not that the author is a shit writer or anything - her writing style is almost poetic and very fantasy-like - it’s just not my cup of tea, I think. Particularly the beginning of the story was something that I felt very disconnected to. We hardly really got to feel the life in that town/city/community. We only got to see the main character being hated on (lol) by the council, but we didn’t get to see her interact with anyone really except her family member and her best friend - and even then it felt very brief to me. I didn’t buy her relationship to her grandma and best friend, let’s say it like that.

Consequently to these things, I didn’t really enjoy reading the book, and my enjoyment plays into these ratings. But I believe that there will be many people who will enjoy this kind of book, and that it could go viral on BookTok because the romance later in the book is pretty decent and the story really is interesting. Just didn’t like the execution much.