Tessa Brody is just an average seventeen-year-old in most ways. She has just one best friend, no boyfriend, and some academic pursuits. One of the big differences between her and most teens, though, is that she doesn’t mind hanging out with her dad. After all, since her mom died they’ve had to take care of each other and run the bookstore that they live above.
That’s how they end up at the auction, bidding on crates of ancient books.
Tessa’s dad gave up because the bid got too high, but then the auctioneer opened one of the bolted crates and pulled out a tapestry that the bidder would get as a bonus. Something unexplainable happens to Tessa as she stares at it. It’s beautiful, almost alive, and features a wild-looking unicorn with a slightly bloodied horn. She’s never been a fantasy fanatic or a unicorn lover, but she finds herself pushing her dad’s hand up and winning them the bid.
When she puts the old, dusty, yet, to her, bewitching tapestry up in her bedroom, strange things start to happen. She begins to have intense dreams, even sometimes visions in the middle of the day. And then when a solitary thread hangs loose she pulls it out, and new secrets and revelations begin to fall into her lap. She meets William de Chaucy, a very good-looking, young sixteenth-century, infuriatingly haughty nobleman, and she realizes she has gotten deep into something dangerous.
Tessa also receives validation on something she’s suspected from the beginning: the tapestry is anything but just a wall decoration for a unicorn weirdo (which she beginning to fear she was).
Together with Will, whom she is frustratingly attracted to, she tries to unravel to magic of the tapestry and right wrongs that were done hundreds of years ago.
The problem is the Fates, called the Norn sisters, don’t take kindly to Tessa’s interference and suddenly everything and everyone she loves is crumbling down around her…
Warped was one of those books that took me a little while to get into, but then fully converted me before it was done.
This is a well-done magical mystery that switches from modern Tessa, hypnotized and mesmerized by the old tapestry, and 1511 England where we meet evildoers, Will in his rightful timeline, and Tessa’s doppelganger. It has a suspenseful build that I didn’t feel from the get-go, but as things get really crazy you start to appreciate that slow burn.
One of my favorite things, early on, about Warped was how the author portrays the relationship between Tessa and her dad. The grief they still share over the death of her mother quickly humanizes our protagonist and makes her more relatable.
Warped has so many different elements to the story that keep it moving briskly, it’s almost impossible to touch on them all. There’s excellent humor to lighten it up in parts, especially with Tessa’s best friend Opal who is absolutely hilarious and provides one of the more unorthodox and refreshing moments of trust. I don’t want to give it away, but I’ll say it was nice to see this happen, as it doesn’t often in books or movies.
Here we have a romantic, exciting, action-packed, sometimes violent, unexpected, and fast-paced must-read for any YA lover. With each page I was sucked in more and more.
Warped is a wonderful novel that hobbles together (expertly) fantasy, myth, legend, time-travel, love, and bravery. I was on pins and needles up to the end!
I ended up loving it! I would like the story to continue, but I’m thinking it’s a stand-alone. I resignedly admit, despite my bibliophile ailment that demands MORE, that it was a pleasing conclusion.
My, oh my, this is a goodie!
Special Note: For the next four Fridays (including today) you'll notice two reviews posted. Due to some scheduling issues, you'll be getting a TGIF bonus! It'll go back to just one review on Friday June 8th, but until then enjoy reading about yet another book before your weekend reading frenzy!
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