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laurareads87's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
The Tale that Twines follows June, an apprentice to an Illuminator who creates eternal books in a magical, fantastical library. I enjoyed the author’s previous book in this series so was happy to pick up this one. The Tale that Twines features an autistic ADHD demiromantic narrator, diverse queer representation, and really thoughtful engagement with themes around trauma; I am appreciative to the author for their ability to create books that feel cozy and supportive that also address serious themes, and I feel like they’ve grown as an author between the first book in the series and this one. The setting, Caspora City, and the broader dynamics between countries is more developed here than in the prior book, and I think the characters read more consistently in terms of their ages (in my review of the prior novel in the series, I’d noted the characters felt quite a bit younger than described; here they don’t so much). The writing does feel overly didactic in some places, but overall I liked this a lot + recommend it for those looking for queer cozy heartwarming fantasy with magic and lots and lots of books.
The Tale that Twines is a prequel set forty years prior to The Thread that Binds and linked to an oracle deck created by the author, The Threadbound Oracle (the deck itself figures into The Thread but not this novel). This one could be read before or after the other, or as a standalone. Having the deck, or having any familiarity with oracle decks in general, is not needed to enjoy these novels. The author provides a pronunciation key, a note on pronouns (especially e/em/eirs), and content notes.
Content warnings: the author provides a detailed list at the outset of the book. Content includes grief, death of a parent, survival of a natural disaster, trauma / symptoms of post-traumatic stress injury including panic attacks, religious bigotry, mention of past sexual abuse (not graphic in any way), medical content (mention of cancer), toxic relationship, gaslighting
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Animal cruelty and Sexual violence