ThreadNeedle is full of witches, their magic, covens, secrets, and so much teenage drama. It's set in modern day london and I get really excited every time I read about a place I know.

The story is about a girl Anna who knows she has magic but has always been told to keep it hidden and that she will have to give it up as some point. But when she meets Effie, she discovers a world very different than the one she has inhabited so far. Having had a taste of the magic and it's exhilarating freedom, she has to make a choice of whether to give it up or not. There is also the mystery behind her parents death.

Intriguing right? I believe it's a book that can bring you out of your slump. It sure helped me.

I absolutely loved reading this book. There are not many characters Ike in a usual fantasy so it’s easy to keep track. It’s also a series but I found that it reads good as a stand alone too. I for one will look forward to reading the upcoming parts.

The pace is good. There is always something exciting happening and some games afoot. Only towards the end did I find it slowing down. There are many magical places mentioned throughout the book and I wish they were more frequent as they transported me to a very different feel.

It also had a very ya tv series feel and I can imagine it being a hit one if it ever gets made.

Overall, highly recommended.

Threadneedle is a twisty, magical read that brings to life London in the most thrilling way possible. It is the first book in The Language of Magic series.

I thoroughly enjoyed the world-building and character development throughout this book. They were so intricately entwined with one another and it really made the story come alive.

Initially, I had concerns that the types of magic would become confusing the more that were introduced throughout the book but I ended up not finding it to be much of a problem. It was fascinating to read as it all came together and made sense. The Binders – to me – felt like a cult from the moment they were introduced. There was something that felt distinctly off about them as they seemed to turn a blind eye to Aunt’s abusive treatment towards Anna. Beneath it all, I do think Aunt wanted to protect Anna but she was so shrouded by her own self-doubt and fear of magic that it made it difficult to see that. I felt her character was actually far more complex than she initially seemed, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say I felt sorry for her.

Anna, the main protagonist, came across as a bit of a weakling at first. It seemed as though she was never willing to defend herself against her Aunt. But when Aunt’s abuse came to light I understood why she’d held back. At the end of the day, she was a 16-year-old girl whose only family was her Aunt. In those moments, she was truly alone because no one else could protect her from what was happening. Aunt made her bury her emotions so deeply that even to speak felt like a sin. She’d accepted her loneliness for so long that it became a personality trait. At school she was known as ‘The Nobody’ and she took that nickname in her stride. When she became friends with Effie, Rowan, and Miranda, she opened in a way she never had before, and seeing another side to her was refreshing. Finally, she had a backbone! I actually did feel painfully sorry for her, she’d been so sheltered and ‘protected’ her entire life that she hid from others because she thought she had to. Reading as her magic developed and in turn her personality, I ended up loving her character. I felt so proud of her at times that I could’ve jumped for joy.

The other characters, Effie, Rowan, Miranda, and Attis also really shone for me. Effie was a badass and extremely rebellious due to her mother, Selene’s, lack of actual parenting ability. Rowan was funny, and almost your typical teenage girl who enjoyed talking about boys and gossiping. Miranda – I felt she was definitely forced into a religious belief that she had no real interest in being a part of but she didn’t want to upset her parents, so I get it. Then there’s Attis, bad boy energy but an actual sweetheart underneath. The only characters I hated were the popular girls who were downright bullies.

I didn't like this book at all. I realised around half way through that this book wasn't for me. I found it a bit too long but also wasn't keen on the characters either.

Do you ever stumble across something and you know without a doubt that if you had found it when you were younger, you would have been obsessed with it? One I can think of is those cat-ear hairbands (and I’m grateful forever that they didn’t exist when I was a tween-teen, because OH BOY). Another is The Craft, which I saw for the first time the other year and was certain that it would have become my entire personality if I had watched it when I was 16. The same is true of this novel.

This is a strange book that opens with a quite intense and cruel introduction to its world. I actually found it quite hard to place the time period it was set in for a lot longer than I would have expected, because Anna’s home life is so cold and formal. I felt that perhaps this was a Victorian piece, where the stiffness was expected and the harsh punishments wouldn’t seem to out of place, so I was startled when it turned into a contemporary novel. I will warn that there is a lot of child abuse in this, some of it feeling quite extreme, and it could be very triggering, because the narrative voice is fantastically rich and visceral, which means some of the brutal punishments Anna receives from her aunt throughout the book are extremely painful to read.

I mention The Craft particularly because what happens, when Effie and Attis appear, is that you almost get two different novels. The first is a dark fantasy mystery novel, around the mysterious death of Anna’s parents and the apparent mass suicide of a coven of witches found hanging from Big Ben. This is a fascinating and chilling insight into the wider world of witchcraft that Anna has been kept from by her aunt, with a real mystery that slowly unravels dark secrets and leads to sinister revelations. The other plotline is a dark teen witch movie, almost exactly along the lines of The Craft, where Anna – naive and overly sheltered – is coaxed into forming a coven with Effie and two other girls at school: Rowan, the garden witch, and Miranda, the Christian fundamentalist who is in denial about her true nature. Effie’s dark charisma mirrors that of Nancy from The Craft, walking the line between rebellious and outright unhinged, never sure whether her actions can be read as malicious or just thoughtless and unintentionally cruel. The newly-formed coven even begins testing their powers with an homage to the “light as a feather, stiff as a board” scene.

Both storylines are strong, but I’ll be honest that as an adult I felt more interested in the dark murder mystery than in the witchy teen drama. I struggled to relate to the school experience – that of an exclusive private single-gender school sixth form, with a partner boys’ school with who they share classes, in London, but for some reason it read to me more like an American TV high school flavour of interpersonal bullying and drama. I say this as someone who went to an all-girls’ school (admittedly, state rather than private) with a partner boys’ school with whom we shared classes during sixth form; however I also say this as someone for whom sixth form was… longer ago than I care to admit (cough2006graduatecough). Things may well have changed since I was at school, but I also did feel I recognised a lot of the dynamics from the teen media from the USA I used to watch back then. This is why I felt that, as a teenager, I perhaps would have been obsessed with the school-based timeline and rejected the darker murder mystery side of the book.

I loved the different styles of magic that Thomas introduces in the story, the different styles of coven and the way magic expresses itself – the garden witches, the memory witches, the musical witches, the binders for all their sinister and culty beliefs (or perhaps because of them, as it made them supremely chilling). I loved the vintage shop which sold magic memories, the club which transcended mortal understanding… There was so much of this world that I wanted to explore which gave magic its depth, both for better or worse, and I wanted to see more of it. Perhaps this is also why I felt like the in-school threads were less interesting to me, it felt like space that could have been used to give me more of the bits I really enjoyed. I also felt like some of the characters gave up their resistance to Effie’s coven plans rather more easily than I would have liked – seeing more of an exploration of Miranda’s difficulty overcoming her religious upbringing clashing with the existence of magic would have been fascinating, and I would have liked more of a fight from Anna given the actual real consequences she could face. This is explored a little, but I think it was felt that this was not the key point of the narration, and given the sheer amount of other content that is jammed in here, I guess I can understand why!

One of the other things I really enjoyed about this was the way Thomas leaned into the grey areas of morality and magic, of Anna trying to find herself and her power when she has been battered with evangelical teachings about the evils of her powers all her life. She’s trying to find the truth of magic but also of herself, and set up her own moral code while being fed wildly different opinions from those around her. She feels entirely alone, and has to try and decode the messages around her. It’s a fascinating process to see her work through, and Thomas doesn’t shy away from the darker sides of it to try and make Anna look good. Anna is as flawed as the people around her, and is working on far less information, so she has to try and build her own sense of right and wrong.

The ending is interesting. While, to all intents and purposes, most of the main mysteries are tied up, an overarching issue doesn’t quite get addressed, and we are given a sense of a much wider world of magic and witchy politics that Anna has yet to discover. This is the first of at least a trilogy – potentially more based on the original contract. There’s a lot more to unwind here, and that feeling is very clear once you reach the ending.

While I’m not sure Adult Me will be interested in reading the rest of the stories, I’m certain that Teenage Me would have been a very loyal reader. If you loved The Craft, if dark, contemporary fantasy with unique and interesting magical lore is your bag, and you don’t mind a bit of teen drama around it, this is probably a series you will love.

Briefly:

A rich and vivid exploration of witchcraft set in modern London, with a fascinating style of magic and some rich, wonderful details.
It’s a novel of two halves, and where I would have preferred more of the dark murder mystery with exploration of the wider magic world, you may love the interpersonal tension and exploration of coven dynamics between the characters.
Be warned, the vividness of the writing means that the depiction of domestic abuse from the aunt to Anna could be very triggering. It goes into a fair amount of detail, and it gets quite dark and brutal. Look after yourself when reading this.

Threadneedle is a twisty, magical read that brings to life London in the most thrilling way possible. It is the first book in The Language of Magic series.

I admit it's been a long time since I last read a YA book about witches but I'm so thrilled the opportunity to read this beauty landed in my inbox. Firstly, it would simply be a sin not to mention the gorgeous cover. This immediately caught my attention and made me want to read it. But aside from that, I thoroughly enjoyed the world-building and character development throughout this book. They were so intricately entwined with one another and it really made the story come alive.

I'd put some trigger warnings on this book: bullying, gore, violence, and abuse. I can see why it dips into the realms of adult fiction, but it definitely read more like YA to me. Honestly, I absolutely loved this book, and don't hesitate to rate it 5/5 stars. I know, it's been a while since I last gave a book that rating! I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

What a fantastic debut novel that is both captivating and enchanting.
Ann always was told that she is cursed with magic, however when she meets Effie and Attis, she begins to wonder if what she has been told is at all correct.
Well written fluid plot and absolutely perfect for young adults.

I loved the darkness that ripples throughout Threadneedle. With echoes of the original Grimm’s fairy tales (nothing light and fluffy here), the light and the dark enchanted me throughout.

There are familiar magical themes such as the orphaned baby, magical ability untested, isolation, a bleak existence, not fitting in, the push and pull of the dark and the light, secrets. Oh, and sacrifice.

I thought the world alive under the mundane in London was inspired. The library and the party were definite highlights for me. I would love more of these scenes!

Effie with Attis bring an awakening on more than one level as well as a whirlwind of change. The developing friendships in the coven are tentative bonds in this first book in the series and I’m guessing going to be powerful moving forward.

The magical practices felt authentic with the four elements and calling the watchtowers. At times, I could feel that power rising (one being when Anna played the piano during assembly).

There’s a suggestion that the two halves will be a force to reckon with, if they can work together. Stripping it back to the basics of good and evil, is anything ever purely good or wholly evil? I’m looking forward to this tussle in future stories.

What I really loved was starting off thinking one thing, then each time I learned something new I had to change those initial thoughts. Turning every thing I thought I knew on its head …

If you’ve enjoyed TV series The Winx Saga, you will LOVE Threadneedle. I did. 

I didn’t realise that this utterly charming and beautiful story was YA until I was well into the story. Threadneedle was a truly enchanting tale and I felt like I was transported into another world when reading it, 5 well earned stars.

Unfortunately I just couldn't get into this book. I tried reading it several times and I just wasn't enjoying it. I didn't like any of the characters so it was hard to become invested in their story.

A thrilling and dark tale of families, secrets and magic. This novel is full of twists and turns, every time I thought I knew what was going to happen I was proven wrong.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

It took me a while to get round to reading this and wow, do I regret it. Thomas's world is richly drawn and filled with life (I particularly love that her magical world is set in 21st century London) and the plot keeps you guessing till the end. Slight trigger warning for domestic violence, but it's dealt with well. I'm assuming a sequel is in the works, and I for one can't wait!

The first in a new series featuring a recognisably modern world clashing with an undercurrent of old magic this features not only witches but an entire sect whose only task is to prevent the existence of witchcraft being known (by the, sometimes, rather brutal suppression of any manifestation). Anna lives with her aunt, a member of this repressive group, and thinks she is the only young witch she knows until an old friend of her dead mother arrives, with a daughter (Effie) in tow, who joins her school. As Anna's attempts to live unseen by the bullies are blown away by Effie she begins to doubt all that her aunt has ever told her about life, witchcraft and even her mother's death.
A good read - the only problem is having to wait until the next book (as yet no date) comes out to find out what happens next.

Anna is an orphan brought up by her scary aunt who has spent her life warning Anna about the dangers of magic. She belongs to a group (or should it be 'covan') who work at Binding magic. Anna will be expected to join them. But then she meets Effie & Attis- children of an old family friend. They are not afraid of magic! She is not thrilled to find they will all be going to the same school but along with two other 'nobodies'- Rowan & Manda, they form their own grove. Anna is desperate to find out what happened to her parents but are there some things that you may be better off not knowing!

As I read exclusively on my Kindle I don't know why a books cover should draw me in but this one did. To start with I was thinking about the old adage of "Never tell a book by its cover!" The fact that it was a long book as well nearly made me give up- I'm so glad I didn't! I found it hard going until the five got together & from then on I was hooked. I liked Anna & really loved Rachel ! This is definitely a YA book, full of teenage angst etc. but I found it a 'spellbinding' read in the end & am interested to see what happens next. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read this book.

Wow.
Just wow.
I loved this book - the characters, the setting, the story, start to finish. It's just so very good and well worth the read.
Magic, mundane and mesmerising all mix to create an unforgettable read that you'll be glad you tried.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

For quite a lengthy book, I found the pacing of Threadneedle amazing – I couldn't put it down! There's a whirlwind of world building and magic, I really enjoyed meeting the full breadth of cast members here. Absolutely hooked. It was also difficult to figure out what was going to happen next, so I couldn't put this down. It's a solid read for the up and coming YA category of witchy vibes and parallel worlds.

I was super excited to read this. I've really enjoyed witch based fantasy recently, especially the Discovery of Witches Trilogy. I have picked this up and set it aside soon after several times over the past few months. Whilst the beginning is intriguing, the cruelty of the aunt is difficult to bear. I'm disappointed that I can't get past this (I find it too triggering) as there are early hints this could be a fantastic novel. I think that the protagonist will likely break away from her aunt and choose to practise magic, especially given the influence of the visitors who come to stay. But I just can't get to that point. I'm very grateful though for the opportunity though and wish the book and author every success.

So I finally got around to reading this one and I really enjoyed it. I loved the magic system and loved the modern day setting alongside it!

I did at times struggle with the pace of the story and for some reason thought that this was going to be more of an adult fantasy, to me it felt at times quite YA

I loved seeing as the characters developed, especially Anna. However Effie frustrated me a lot haha!

Overall a decent read and intrigued to see how the story develops.

4.5 stars

Magic is a curse, Anna has been told that all her life, but what if Aunt is wrong?

I loved the friendships between the coven, the hideous bullies, the parental figures. It was really easy to imagine the garden & the magical library they were places I'd love to spend some time in. This is a story that I couldn't help but enjoy, I was strangely compelled to keep reading it even though very little happens at the beginning & there's a lot of scene setting & character introduction, which are all well done but maybe add to the length of an already long book.

The ending was suitably dramatic with twists I hadn't seen coming. I do love a magic book or witchy read & this happily ticked those boxes. I'm really hoping there's more to come.

Oh I love a magical book about witches ! This was a good one and I hear it is the 1st in a 4 part series - perfect!
Its set in modern day London about a 16 year old called Anna who has the gift of magic- she is an orphan cared for by her Aunt who brings her up to be wary of her magic and she is told that her magic will be bound in knotting ceremony when she is of age. Her Aunt is very strict and not a nice character. An old family friend of Annas' mother moves to London with her daughter Effie and she is enrolled in the same school as Anna . Effie also has the gift of magic but unlike Anna she has been using hers and enjoys all the fun it comes with.
I loved this book especially all the magical elements to it - A magical Library, A feather that stops time , magic shoes! In parts it reminded me of an older , darker version of Harry Potter - I can't wait to read the rest when they are released!

An intriguing and enjoyable read, the story is steeped in magic and the comparison to Gossip Girl meets The Craft suits it well. I flew through the novel and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.