The plot is compelling, with Anna on her way to become a Binder, the mystery of the Faceless Women, the death of Anna’s parents and the introduction of the witches who befriend Anna, each element comes together to create an interesting story of choice, magic and love. The pacing is decent throughout, though it does feel slow in the middle, particularly with the school drama that occurs, and picks up again at the end. The combination of the narrative and prose avoids any info-dumps, and let’s us learn about the world in a natural way, through Anna’s lessons and observations of others. Not only that, the narrative allows us to see the complexities of magic, of being a witch, particularly with the knot magic used. Anna’s closed off lifestyle means we learn things alongside her, and feel amazed when she see new, beautiful forms of magic that exist aside of her knot magic. The narrative we get is that of Anna’s, it is a strong narrative that gives us enough insight into Anna and the world but also aids the mystery and suspense pervading the novel. It perfectly captivates the magic in this world, and the different types, is compelling and full of beautiful descriptions, and evokes emotion perfectly. The prose is a strong point of the book, easy to read but maintains a beauty to it. The plot itself is complex and mysterious, gripping you and keeping you reading – it did feel a little tangled at times and a slow in the middle, but overall the secrets and mysteries is enough to keep you reading. Now, I love YA, but I went into this expecting it to be Adult fiction, so the significant focus on school took me by surprise. Threadneedle, by Cari Thomas is, undoubtedly, a unique and captivating read – the magic and characters are compelling and interesting, and the plot is full of surprising twists and turns- but it feels quite YA. But, when Anna meets new witches she begins to question whether magic is truly a sin.ĬW/TW: abuse/neglect/murder/bullying/ others may be present. Her aunt teachers her the way of the Binders, the way of bound magic.

Her mother died because of magic, and her aunt does not want the same to happen to her. Synopsis: Anna has been taught that magic is a sin, and so it must be bound.

Threadneedle novel