Brightly Woven by Alexandra Braken (2010 Debut Novel)

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Braken
Pages: 368
Pub Date: March 23, 2010
Author Website/Blog: http://bracken.livejournal.com/
Synopsis: Sydelle Mirabil is living proof that, with a single drop of rain, a life can be changed forever. Tucked away in the farthest reaches of the kingdom, her dusty village has suffered under the weight of a strangely persistent drought. That is, of course, until a wizard wanders into town and brings the rain with him. In return for this gift, Wayland North is offered any reward he desires—and no one is more surprised than Sydelle when, without any explanation, he chooses her. Taken from her home, Sydelle hardly needs encouragement to find reasons to dislike North. He drinks too much and bathes too little, and if that isn’t enough to drive her to madness, North rarely even uses the magic he takes such pride in possessing. Yet, it’s not long before she realizes there’s something strange about the wizard, who is as fiercely protective of her as he is secretive about a curse that turns his limbs a sinister shade of black and leaves him breathless with agony. Unfortunately, there is never a chance for her to seek answers. Along with the strangely powerful quakes and storms that trace their path across the kingdom, other wizards begin to take an inexplicable interest in her as well, resulting in a series of deadly duels. Against a backdrop of war and uncertainty, Sydelle is faced with the growing awareness that these events aren’t as random as she had believed—that no curse, not even that of Wayland North, is quite as terrible as the one she herself may carry

Okay to be honest I wasn't going to read this book, but my librarian came up to me asking about it, and said "well it was written by Alex who used to go here, so Ive been trying to find it" So I decided to read it, you know be a good little mustang :) Honestly, the first time I heard about this book I smirked and went, "ew." So really quickly I would like to say ALEX! THANK YOU FOR GOING TO MY MIDDLE SCHOOL! I would NEVER have read this book if she didnt go there! And I am really glad I did! It is amazing. It really seemed like a weaving of different fairy tales we grew up on. Well at least to me. It had a great back story and it really held a great story about one of the main characters NORTH. The story doesn't really focus on him but if you look hard enough you find a whole story that revolves around him. This book was so gorgeous. It was hard NOT to fall in love with the characters, okay so I hated the people from the village, and was cheering on North but what does that matter?? I LOVED this book! It is amazing, beautifully written, and simply makes me want to hit the characters! But hey thats what makes it great :)