A review by ballgownsandbooks
Unraveller, by Frances Hardinge

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

4.5 stars

It is well-documented (see: <a href=“https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp_jeZ_Fe1sz5t6aAXyPTdoPtdJlLZum-“>many hours of Cara’s and my rambly gushing</a> that I am incapable of talking about Frances Hardinge’s writing with any degree of coherence - especially while avoiding spoilers - so perhaps requesting an ARC of this was a mistake. But here goes:

The marketing material that comes with the eARC describes Hardinge’s writing as <i>‘unique gothic imagination carried by luminous prose’,</i> which is really a much more succinctly accurate description than anything I could come up with! And this book absolutely lives up to everything you expect from her work: an extremely creepy setting that feels like a character in its own right; a bizarre world where nothing is as it seems; a twisty plot full of mysteries, betrayals, and turns you never could have seen coming, but make total sense when they do; loveable characters who deserve the absolute world; and discussions of themes that are impressively wide-ranging and nuanced!

So let’s break those down one by one:

The Wilds is a classic Hardinge setting, and it is CREEPY. It has a personality right from the first sentence, and the feeling of darkness and danger permeates the whole book.

<i>If you must travel to the country of Raddith, then be prepared. Bring a mosquito net for the lowlands, and a warm coat for the hills or mountains. If you mean to visit the misty marsh-woods known as the Wilds, you will need stout, waterproof boots. (You will also need wits, courage and luck, but some things cannot be packed.)</i>

Beyond the basic setting, the wider world is also so fully-realised and layered. Not just the physical geography, but also the terrifying array of supernatural creatures, and of course the curses, which was such a unique and creative conceit that opens so many doors for exploration.

<i>You can’t cure a curse; you have to unravel it. You have to find the reasons that wove it, and work out how to pull the threads loose.</i>

The plot is gloriously complex. Even for Hardinge, it’s complicated and twisty, with an unusually and sometimes bewilderingly large cast of side characters we only encounter briefly, but her writing is masterful enough that every thread is pulled together by the end, and every character and encounter contributes something to our understanding of the world and themes. 

The characters are simply everything. Nettle in particular has my whole heart, with her quiet strength and compassion, and a depth of trauma that she struggles to let anyone see. Kellen took me longer to warm to - he is arguably more flawed, and that particular brand of impulsive stubbornness that I can often find irritating - but he grew on me too, and I loved the way they balanced each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Some of the themes here are things Hardinge has explored before - it touches on power and injustice, family, and what it means to be human and live in a society. But this book is in large part concerned with trauma: the things that anger and hurt can push people to, and how different people can react differently to the same emotions; and what it means to heal and forgive. It’s dark and it’s heartbreaking, but it’s also beautiful. 

<i>The curse eggs… they’re meant as gifts. A way for the powerless to hold their persecutors to account. So they find those who are filled with anger, pain and a deep sense of grievance, and they give them the weapon they need to strike back. But … just because somebody feels wronged, that doesn’t mean they are.</i>

Nothing I can say will do justice to the beauty and creativity of this book (see aforementioned incoherence). For those who are familiar with Frances Hardinge, I’d probably compare this most closely with <i>Verdigris Deep</i> and <i>Gullstruck Island</i>, and tell you to absolutely go and read this as soon as possible! If you’re new to her work, all I can do is to recommend her as strongly as possible (though with that said, I wouldn’t necessarily suggest this book as the place to start - <i>Verdigris Deep</i> is my usual recommendation for Hardinge beginners, then come back!)
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