First of all, I don’t read a lot of YA, but for some reason, science fiction YA is something like crack to me.  I’ll speed through it.  It might be because one of my favorite re-reads when I was younger was Podkayne of Mars.  Madeline L’Engle was one of my go-to authors (she still is, to be honest).  So when my friend J.A. Marlow mentioned she had a YA science fiction novel, I knew I had to read it.

The String Weavers (String Weavers Book 1) did not disappoint.  I will not lie – I read this book in two days.  And it’s not a small book.  It’s not a simple book.  It’s a lush, vibrant, amazing book that sucked me in to its worlds and wouldn’t let me go until I came out gasping on the other end.

This is the story of Kelsey Hale, a  normal sixteen year old girl.  Well, if normal girls could hear phantom music, have food disappear on her and see ghosts.  Doesn’t everyone?

Well, no.  Turns out Kelsey’s bracelet, a gift from her dead mother, is a Weaver band – a special piece of jewelry that aliens use to travel the Strings and help keep the Universes (yes, with an “s”) untangled.  There are Phoenixes to help them, but there is also danger – and that danger has just come to Kelsey’s home, and kidnapped her and her father.

What I liked about this book was that Kelsey was really real.  She didn’t automatically become a badass – she’s a teenager, thrust into an incredible situation, and she doesn’t just rise to the challenge.  She falls sometimes.  She breaks some things (mostly rules).  She gets into trouble.

And damn, is this well-written trouble.  I had a lot of fun reading this, and I have already bought the second book The Phoenix Eggs,  and I promise you there will be a review of that soon.  There are some typos that I did notice, but they didn’t detract from the story.

Disclaimer: I do know J.A. Marlow as a friend, and I did receive a free copy of the book to review.