Review: Woven by Michael Jensen & David Powers King

Woven by Michael Jensen & David Powers King 

Published January 27th 2015 

by Scholastic Press  

Two unlikely allies must journey across a kingdom in the hopes of thwarting death itself. All his life, Nels has wanted to be a knight of the kingdom of Avërand. Tall and strong, and with a knack for helping those in need, the people of his sleepy little village have even taken to calling him the Knight of Cobblestown. But that was before Nels died, murdered outside his home by a mysterious figure. Now the young hero has awoken as a ghost, invisible to all around him save one person—his only hope for understanding what happened to him—the kingdom’s heir, Princess Tyra. At first the spoiled royal wants nothing to do with Nels, but as the mystery of his death unravels, the two find themselves linked by a secret, and an enemy who could be hiding behind any face. Nels and Tyra have no choice but to abscond from the castle, charting a hidden world of tangled magic and forlorn phantoms. They must seek out an ancient needle with the power to mend what has been torn, and they have to move fast. Because soon Nels will disappear forever.

My Thoughts  

This was a cute fantasy read.

Woven follows Nels, a young man who wants to be knight, unfortunately his life is cut short by his tragic and mysterious murder. Nel's mother is fiercely protective and has always kept him away from strangers and public events for fear of this exact thing happening. Nel realizes (a bit to late) that his mother had good reason for keeping him cooped up all to herself, she was trying to keep him alive. This is where the story really begins. Nel is ghost and the only person who seems to be able to see him is the Princess Tyra. This is the last thing either of them want but Nels has the presence of mind to know it must be for a reason.

I have to admit I wasn't that into this book by the end of it. There was some really great stuff combatting some super annoying stuff that I just couldn't get past. I am a very character driven person and I felt that most of these people unfortunately fell flat.  I did really enjoyed Nels character, even though he was a ghost. He was kind and brave and had some faults and short comings but he learned from his mistakes. The other main P.O.V. was the Princess Tyra and I COULD NOT STAND HER! I don't know if it was intentional or not but the book is written in limited 3rd person so the author would refer to Nel as peasant even though it was through narration. I get if Tyra was saying or thinking it but it sometimes was distracting and I would wonder who the peasant was. When I don't like one of the leading characters it becomes quite a challenge for me to stay invested in the rest. I did however find the secretive society of the Vagas very intriguing. 

The other thing that kept me invested was the magical system that was created. It was definitely unique take of  Fabricating life. The authors did a great job spreading out vital information so that it trickled into the plot at just the right points. It took a bit longer to get to "the big reveal" then I would have liked and it wasn't what I expected but still liked it nonetheless. I can't get to into this topic with out giving away the bank so that is all I'll say.There was some serious things going on but the tone of most the book seemed rather light to me. This made it incredibly easy to breeze through.

I would say if you like fun fantasy adventures that have ghost and a bit of mystery, this one is right up your alley. It is unique tale if you can overlook a few minor snafu's

3 Snowflakes