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Do you ever feel that you’re a part of something larger? That we’re all related to each other in some way, that our stories are tied together, interwoven, part of the same weave, the same warp?
Seventeen-year-old Tessa Brody, in Warped by Maurissa Guibord, finds out that she is literally part of a larger tapestry, and the destinies of many lives rest on what she does. Can Fate be overruled? Can it be beaten? Are we controlled by forces we don’t understand, or do we have free will and control our own destinies? These are just a few of the questions that this brilliant debut young adult novel deals in with suspenseful, dramatic flair. Tessa’s growing feelings for William de Chaucy, a man from her distant past, makes this enchanting novel one that should appeal to fans of urban fantasy and supernatural romance novels.
For people who love books, Tessa’s life with her father upstairs from the used bookstore he owns is a fantastical dream. If only her mother were still alive, Tessa’s life would probably be one many people would envy. Even her first name comes from a novel - A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle - that her mom loved as a girl (another excellent book I highly recommend). It’s pretty cool that Maurissa Guibord pays homage to it with her own book involving wrinkles in time by naming her main character Tessa Margaret Brody. Margaret, or Meg, was the main character in L’Engle’s novel, and tessaracts are geometrical shapes that form wrinkles in time.
Tessa’s father bids on some books at an auction, and when they get the books home, he finds out they have one more box than he thought he’d bid on. In that box is a beautiful tapestry with a unicorn at its center in a glade of trees. The unicorn’s horn is bloodied and it has a scratch on its cheek. There is also a mysterious book in the box: Texo Vita (to weave life).
Tessa thinks the tapestry is awesome and hangs it in her room. When she tugs on a loose dangling thread, little does she know that she’s unraveling a thread of life that one of the Fate sisters, or Norns, wove when Will was born in the late 1400s. In other words, Tessa unravels Will’s very soul from the tapestry, after its being placed there by an evil witch. Grey Lily wove it into the shape of a unicorn, a symbol of immortality, to ensure that she would remain youthful and undying over the centuries.
His thread of life is one of seven that the Norns are desperately searching for. Tessa’s own life seems, if you look at her thread, to have doubled back upon itself. She may be the person who Will believes she strongly resembles: the teen virgin who Grey Lily talked the villagers into using to trap him after transforming his life thread into that of a unicorn. The Fates/Norns initially blame Tessa for the theft of the threads since she possesses the tapestry and has somehow managed to free Will, so now - besides an angry witch - Tessa has to contend with ticked-off Norns for much of the novel.
I would definitely include Warped on any fantasy/romance lover’s Must-Have list, especially if you’re also a fan of A Wrinkle In Time, though it’s not at all a prerequisite to have read it to enjoy Warped. This marvelous, page-turning urban fantasy with a touch of romance and three-dimensional characters boasts a wondrously woven plot that is guaranteed to live with you long after you put the book down.
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Douglas R. Cobb/2011 for curled
up with a good kid's book |
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For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews,
visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)
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Warped