Review – The Story Peddler (The Weaver Trilogy, Book 1) by Lindsay A. Franklin (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Enclave
Release Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1683701361
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Weaver trilogy
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Tanwen doesn’t just tell stories–she weaves them into crystallized sculptures that sell for more than a few bits. But the only way to escape the control of her cruel mentor and claw her way from poverty is to set her sights on something grander: becoming Royal Storyteller to the king.

During her final story peddling tour, a tale of treason spills from her hands, threatening the king himself. Tanwen goes from peddler to prey as the king’s guard hunts her down…and they’re not known for their mercy. As Tanwen flees for her life, she unearths long-buried secrets and discovers she’s not the only outlaw in the empire. There’s a rebel group of weavers…and they’re after her too.”

I have had this book on my wishlist for some time and was excited to read this finally! This is the first book in The Weaver Trilogy. I really enjoyed this story a lot, it’s a beautifully written fantasy that is creative and engaging.

Tanwen is apprenticed as a Story Peddler to a mean old woman. As a Story Peddler Tanwen weaves stories with beautiful rays of light and at the end of the telling the story crystallizes into a sculpture that can be sold. However, when Tanwen starts to loose control of her Storytelling power she ends up accused of treason and on the run with a rebel group of weavers.

I loved the different types of artistic magic in this story. The explanation of how the magic works and the effect of not using their magic to their full capability on the characters’ health was intriguing. I also really enjoyed how our characters grow and change throughout the story.

This book is beautifully written and was just a wonderful read. I fell right into the story everytime I picked up this book and was just so into this story. I loved almost everything about it.

My only small complaint is that the book starts to get slightly preachy at the end. There is a lot of discussion about the Creator and how important he is to everyone’s destiny. It was towards the end that I realized that Enclave publishes only Christina Sci-Fi/Fantasy. It made me a bit worried that as the series continues it’s going to get very preachy and have heavy religious overtones.

Overall I really loved this book and definitely plan on continuing the series. However, the preachiness at the end made me a bit wary of what this story might be turning in to. I would recommend to fans of YA fantasy that love unique magic systems and beautiful writing.