A review by nereads
The Story Peddler by Lindsay A. Franklin
4.0
I received a copy of The Story Peddler through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review and I was genuinely a little bit nervous about it! The last time I read a book in exchange for a review I truly hated it and was filled with guilt leaving it a one-star review. However, I can happily say (with a massive sigh of relief) that Lindsay A. Franklin's The Story Peddler was a pleasure to read and I'm giving it 4 out of 5.
Tanwen is a talented orphan storyteller. Well, she doesn't simply tell stories she has the power to crystallise them into little sculptures; a talent which is both restricted by the country's laws and abused by her 'mentor'. Nevertheless, all Tanwen dreams of is leaving her small town and becoming the Royal Storyteller.
After Tanwen accidentally tells a story containing banned strands she quickly finds herself an outlaw fighting for her life and in the company of a mismatched band of rebel weavers. Follow Tanwen's journey as she discovers deep, dark secrets and just how much she has to lose.
What I Loved:
- It felt original. Apparently, in essence, every story has been told and everything now is just a retelling. In lots of ways, The Story Peddler is easy to compare with other stories I've read, yet it still felt like something completely new.
- The secrets. Okay, some of them I saw coming a mile off, but it was still so much fun to watch as the characters pieced them together.
- The romantic entanglements. I'm a sucker for a romantic subplot, but there were so many different takes on love in this book and I was loving pretty much all of them!
What I Didn't Like:
- I felt like I was being force-fed religion, in particular: Christianity. I have no problem with religion, and I think a higher power/God element in books can often add something to the storyline. Yet, this just felt so forced and like Franklin was almost trying to convert me.
- The romantic entanglements. Yes, I know, this is also something I loved. But, some of the couplings come a bit out of nowhere, there was no real build up to them and therefore felt shoe-horned in. Perhaps they would have been better coming to the surface in a sequel, I don't know.
- Some of the language. Clearly, some words are used to create a class divide between the characters and the towns they've grown up in. But my God did it annoy me. The constant and repetitive use of words like 'lass' was just infuriating.
“Most people’s lives were stories with mysterious endings. Mine was a story with a beginning I could never make sense of.”
― Lindsay A. Franklin, The Story Peddler (The Weaver Trilogy #1)
Tanwen is a talented orphan storyteller. Well, she doesn't simply tell stories she has the power to crystallise them into little sculptures; a talent which is both restricted by the country's laws and abused by her 'mentor'. Nevertheless, all Tanwen dreams of is leaving her small town and becoming the Royal Storyteller.
After Tanwen accidentally tells a story containing banned strands she quickly finds herself an outlaw fighting for her life and in the company of a mismatched band of rebel weavers. Follow Tanwen's journey as she discovers deep, dark secrets and just how much she has to lose.
What I Loved:
- It felt original. Apparently, in essence, every story has been told and everything now is just a retelling. In lots of ways, The Story Peddler is easy to compare with other stories I've read, yet it still felt like something completely new.
- The secrets. Okay, some of them I saw coming a mile off, but it was still so much fun to watch as the characters pieced them together.
- The romantic entanglements. I'm a sucker for a romantic subplot, but there were so many different takes on love in this book and I was loving pretty much all of them!
What I Didn't Like:
- I felt like I was being force-fed religion, in particular: Christianity. I have no problem with religion, and I think a higher power/God element in books can often add something to the storyline. Yet, this just felt so forced and like Franklin was almost trying to convert me.
- The romantic entanglements. Yes, I know, this is also something I loved. But, some of the couplings come a bit out of nowhere, there was no real build up to them and therefore felt shoe-horned in. Perhaps they would have been better coming to the surface in a sequel, I don't know.
- Some of the language. Clearly, some words are used to create a class divide between the characters and the towns they've grown up in. But my God did it annoy me. The constant and repetitive use of words like 'lass' was just infuriating.
“Most people’s lives were stories with mysterious endings. Mine was a story with a beginning I could never make sense of.”
― Lindsay A. Franklin, The Story Peddler (The Weaver Trilogy #1)