This is a fantastic book and full of twists and turns. Set in a world where curses are real and to be a curser you risk imprisonment, two friends set off on a journey of discovery that will lead them to changing the world that they live in.
The style if writing is unique and engaging, throwing you into this wonderfully imagined world.

Unraveller is another great book by Frances Hardinge full of the fantastical and imaginative. This audiobook is beautifully narrated by Eleanor Bennett who brings the characters of Kellen and Nettle to life. A book about curses, superstition and above all friendship, which lingers long in the memory. As with many of her books, Hardinge celebrates the weirdness and uniqueness of her characters who are never just black and white, but complicated and more alive because of it.

Many thanks to Macmillan UK Audio and Frances Hardinge for the advanced audio copy of Unraveller via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel.

Unraveller is an epic story weaving fantasy folklore with the concepts of grievance, redemption, trust, love, hate, manipulation, empathy, (mis)understanding and navigating the world.
I was blown away by the sheer amount of imagination encompassed within the story. The tale moved from one fantastical piece of lore to the next, but they all blended seamlessly, beautifully in a masterful way.

This book is suitable for children through to adults. I will certainly be getting a hard copy for my children to enjoy when they’re a little older, and it will be a story that I’m sure I’ll glean more from upon each re-read.

The narrator, Eleanor Bennett, was a lovely choice and was a pleasure to listen to. There were many sound descriptions (“swish swash”, “splish”) within the story which were done beautifully and really added to the story. The pace of the narration is quite slow and, as the book is a long one, this makes the whole mood of the story one to sit back and just close your eyes and listen to the story.
Often I listen to my audiobooks whilst I’m working, walking or doing things. But this book and narration was so intense, but gentle at the same time, that I really just wanted to sit or lie back, close my eyes, and just immerse myself in the world of Kellen, Nettle and the Little Brothers.

I really hope this is picked up and optioned for a film adaptation.

NOTE: if you have genuine arachnophobia, I would not recommend this book.

Moods: adventurous, challenging, dark, emotional, mysterious, reflective, tense
Pace: medium
Character development: strong
Plot or character driven: 50/50
Diversity: low
Spice: 0/5
Trigger warnings: Arachnophobia, Death of a family member, Kidnapping

Rating
Story: 5/5
Audio: 5/5

Beautifully written in Hardinge’s usual excellent style. However I think this story is overly long and I wonder how many young adults will have the time to invest in this in book or audio form.?

Thank you to the publisher for giving me the link for the audiobook.

Although I really enjoyed the novel (review already done for the novel) I struggled with the audiobook. I found that while the narrator delivered the storyline when it came to the characters I struggled to differentiate between the characters and who was speaking at what time.

I would say give this audiobook a go still as the book is great and you might find you really enjoy the narrator

Amazon summary - Unraveller is a spell-binding fantasy from the Costa-award winning author of The Lie Tree, Frances Hardinge.

In a world where anyone can cast a life-destroying curse, only one person has the power to unravel them.

Kellen does not fully understand his unique gift, but helps those who are cursed, like his friend Nettle who was trapped in the body of a bird for years. She is now Kellen's constant companion and his closest ally.

But the Unraveller carries a curse himself and, unless he and Nettle can remove it, Kellen is a danger to everything – and everyone – around him . . .

My Review - This is a review of the Audio Book. I love the narrator, Eleanor Bennett is very easy to listen too and made listening to this book a pleasure. The story has a really interesting premise and is a prefect story for fantasy lovers and has a fairytale feel to it. I loved the world building and characters especially Nettles. I would recommend this for adults and kids alike.

A highly original and masterful dark fantasy world for YA readers that delves into curries and the undoing of them. Those with the unique power to undo curses are looked upon with fear and scorn. Those who curse are outcast, yet curse eggs are borne from wrongdoing, feelings of resentment and hurt building and fuelling into eventual curses. Is it possible to remove the curse egg and resentment from the cursee instead of just undoing the boundless curses? It means the difference between continuing strife, and escalating curses and an eventual peace. Superb storytelling from Hardinge. Brilliantly narrated. A pacy and thoroughly escapist listen #unraveller #franceshardinge #netgalley

https://lynns-books.com/2022/10/20/unraveller-by-frances-hardinge/
4.5 of 5 stars
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Oh What a Tangled Web

Yet again Frances Hardinge continues to astonish me with her phenomenal imagination. What a creative talent she is. Okay, I confess, this is an author who I’m really enjoying at the moment and I don’t know whether that makes me ridiculously biased or simply determined to enjoy her books but I do enjoy them so I’m not going to question the whys and wherefores too deeply.. Her writing is just packed with everything I love and this is no exception.

What an unusual tale this one is and very thought provoking to boot. I mean, in one respect, I can see why this would appear to be a book aimed at MG/YA, given the ages of the povs and the quest like style of storytelling, but then this is chock full of fascinating world building, fairytale themes that definitely border the dark side and some curse working that is downright nasty in parts so I have no qualms whatsoever in recommending it. For me this is a book that crosses boundaries and is definitely a story that you can say to yourself at the conclusion ‘and the moral of the story was…’ but, I’m not going to tell you that because self discovery is so much more enjoyable. Anyway, to the review.

This is a book grounded in a world of curses. Anyone can become a curser at some point in their life and these curses can be terrible in nature. Kellen and Nettle’s travels have a dual purpose, they help in finding those who have been cursed and in trying to discover the way to unravel the damage done they more often than not uncover the curser. Based on the idea of ‘once a curser always a curser’, the penalty for wielding this magic is imprisonment – although it doesn’t necessarily follow that the offender will commit more crimes. You see, these curses are usually based on hatred or revenge, carried out in a form of retaliation for harms either real or perceived. Now we have Kellen who, quite uniquely, can unravel the curses. As you may imagine he is almost loved and hated in equal measure and in a world where hatred leads to curses Kellen and Nettle both become embroiled in a race against the clock to uncover a ‘conspiracy of cursers’.

I won’t say any more but instead talk of the aspects of this that I really enjoyed. So, put the kettle on, grab a cup of tea or coffee and have a seat – because I may ramble.

Take it as a given that I loved the writing and the ideas that Hardinge comes up with. This will put you in mind of countless fairytales and yet at the same time feel totally unique and it’s this ability to make you reminisce that delivers an overwhelmingly enjoyable sense of nostalgia and whimsy.

The characters. You might not love them all but you have a number to choose from here. Nettle was probably my favourite together with her brother -who I won’t discuss further as I think you need to discover her family’s backstory during the read. Kellen can come across as a little, mmm, prickly. A bit hotheaded who tends to rush in and let his mouth run away with him and Nettle kind of grounds him. But to be fair, he’s a strong character and I thought the friendship between the two was fundamental to the story. Then we have Gall. This is a guy that’s struck a deal (with the devil or otherwise is for you to discover). He wears an eye patch and rides a Marsh horse – not something a regular human can do. These are fearsome beasts that form a strong bond and if that bond is severed are as likely to eat you as not. Not an immediately likeable character but he kind of grows on you.

Now, speaking of Marsh horses is a lovely way to look at the larger world at play. This is set in a place known as the Wilds. What a fascinating place this is. Populated with remote villages that are unreachable due to monsters. The most wonderful and magical markets you can think of – I mean, I would love to go to one of these but at the same time I know instinctively that I would put my foot in it and end up in servitude to some sort of hideous creature. It’s quite literally a feast for the eyes though.

In terms of criticisms. Not a lot here to be honest. I think my biggest problem is waiting for this author’s next book but at least I have the option to backtrack and pick up some of her earlier works.

Also, I had the audio version of this and I thought the narration was fantastic. I was listening to this whilst doing some rather boring decorating and it completely transported me – the walls seemed to paint themselves in fact, so perhaps this author really can perform magic. I think my only regret is that the writing is so lovely I kind of missed reading the written word for this one – does that even make sense?

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

Hardinge has an ethereal like quality to her writing, and Unraveller was just as good as her previous work.  It was a complex and imaginative story with layers upon layers, to both her ideas and her characters.  I cannot wait to recommend this to my customers!

Such an incredible book, I just loved this! Beautifully written, full of folklore and totally immersive.

The gothic, twisted world building was wonderful and I enjoyed all the different interwoven elements of magic and reality. You really come to empathise with the main characters Kellan and Nettle as they overcome many obstacles throughout their adventure.

Just spellbinding.

I hope there will be more in this series, I really didn’t want it to end. (I would say it’s probably good for over 12’s as there were some bits that might be a little scary. Definitely good for adult fantasy fans!)



The narrator was brilliant, she brought the book to life and made it really easy to tell between characters.

Unraveller is a wonderfully conceived and written fantasy story for readers of all ages - children, teenagers and adults. It is a story of faerie magic, grievance and curse, misunderstanding and understanding, of love and hate, manipulation, of risky ill conceived plans, and ultimately acceptance that we no-one is perfect but with hard work we can try to do good. Thank you to MacMillan Publishers and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

As intricate, entrancing and magical as the author’s previous books, this is a delight. Complex and other-worldly yet with a clear link to our world, it leads the reader to almost question which world is real. . I certainly won’t look at “little brothers” in the same way again.