This was a great story about magic. !6yr old orphan Anna has magical abilities which her Aunt tries to stifle, after all it was the cause of her parents death. Set in contemporary London , it is absorbing from beginning to end.

Although I enjoyed rading the story of Anna, her horrid aunt and her newly found friends. I thought that teh book was just too long to keep my attention in all moments. Howevrer, I am looking forward to the second part of tehr series, as it hopefully brings more interesting developments.

I’m afraid to say this book as not for me, I could not get into it. I wish the author all the best for the future. I’ll rate is 3 stars as possibly to some people this book will be right up there street. Just unfortunately not for me.

This is a YA book that makes me wish I was still YA. None the less, very enjoyable for adults too! Sweet and scary, well written.

Goodness! How to you review something that was most definitely your favourite book of the year? It's hard to put into the words, especially as it's now been a couple of months since I read the book. But I remember every bit of it vividly, which really speaks to the strength of Thomas' storytelling. In Threadneedle we are introduced to Anna (a young and inexperienced witch) and a whole new world of magic. It feels darker than any other YA books I've read that featured magic. In fact, if I had to pick a favourite thing, I would say that the magical elements of the story were my favourite thing. The fact that there are so many different branches of magic, leaves so much to the imagination and a whole world that I'm sure will be expanded over the series. I cannot wait to read the next book! There is, of course, teenage love and the kind of drama I would expect out of a school-type setting. There are some dark and difficult thematic elements and a very strong cast of side characters. I 100% recommend this read.,

This feels like two different stories, tightly knotted together, with some mysterious murders as a backdrop.

We start with Anna and her Aunt, who seem to be locked in an abusive, coercive relationship which Anna is due to willingly commit to any day now. When another Aunt turns up with a pair of ‘too-cool-for-school’ teens in tow, Anna hopes for a lifeline that will save her from choosing between defying her Aunt and giving up what little magic she has forever. Instead, she is plunged into the drama of a more normal teen life (if you ignore the magical elements!) – bullying, hazing, peer pressure and romance. This strand reminded me of The Craft in many ways.

I love the world of magic and magic use (or not) that Cari Thomas has created here, with its Binders and Hunters, and personal magical ‘languages’, such as music, plants, potions, or *shudders* knots. The Binders and their knots definitely got in my head and under my skin… by the end of the story I was feeling every knot, needle and nasty comment along with Anna.

While the ending does resolve Anna’s personal mysteries, the bigger storyline is left open to lead into a sequel, and I will definitely need to check that out and find out what happens to Anna, Effie, Attis and Rowan. If you love YA fantasy with a bit of everything – romance, mystery, horror, magic – then this is a great start to a promising new series/trilogy.

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

A very original and incredibly rich fantasy novel that really kept me hooked. The fantasy world was incredible!

Absolutely love love love this book!!!

I loved all the characters (bar Aunt of course..), the character building is excellent, and the storyline is just fantastic in my opinion, it ticks all the boxes for me.

This is the first in the series, and I for one cannot wait for the next instalment!

My thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

Loved the setting and idea for this book but it sometimes felt a bit slow and meandering. We didn't get to know all the characters to the extent I would have liked but perhaps this can be addressed in the next book. Overall a promising read.

Are you like me and are instantly drawn in by the gorgeous cover and intriguing title of this book? Threadneedle sets great expectations in the mind and delivers on them.

The book comes to us from the point of view of sixteen year old orphan Anna who stays with her Aunt. Aunt has always warned Anna about the dangers of magic and plans to bind Anna’s magical abilities. But soon some new people enter Anna’s life and she begins to question the validity of everything her Aunt has ingrained in her mind.

Anna is ultimately a conformist. She’s not your typical heroine, which allows us to really see her growth over the course of this novel. She flourishes alongside her magical understanding. I had no idea of the trajectory her story was to take, but was hooked on finding out all the way to its dramatic close.

Thomas manages to breathe new life into the genre with a unique take on witchcraft that is inspired by both the traditional as well as something entirely new.

The writing style is excellent and easy to follow and the pacing is average-fast. At nearly 600 pages long I was surprised to find that I flew through this in just over a week.

“Protectresses of heaven. Nature in female form. Keepers of the languages. The good within us all.”

The bonds we have with family and friends and how these can be tied to fear and sacrifice are explored in this book. It’s not always clear whether someone is acting selfishly or in another person’s best interests. There are opposing truths at play, which complicates things even further. One thing that definitely wasn’t complicated for me was my love of this book’s magical library. This could be one of my favourite libraries ever and I want to spend an entire book lost in there.

This story is the first in the series but the ending is quite conclusive, though not complete. Most of the major plot points are resolved, so those who avoid cliff-hangers can still attempt the book. The ending sets a very firm foundation for the next book in the series.

I think this is a case of the book simply not being for me. I genuinely thought this was going to be historical rather than a modern setting which definitely threw me & I think skewed my view of the novel from then on. Though I enjoyed the authors writing style and the MC, I just struggled to get overly invested in the story and DNF at around 35%.

Anna has always known about magic but her aunt has told her to be careful and that she must repress it. As Anna reaches 16 she becomes aware that magic can be dangerous, important witches have been found dead and her aunt is telling her that she must formally bind her magic. Into her life come Effie and Attis, their magic is wild and free and they encourage Anna to experiment and develop. Anna has a huge decision to make and wants to know her family secrets before making it as she feels she is cursed.
I can imagine that this book is very popular with its target audience but I was left wanting a little bit more sense and less teenage angst. It's a little like reading a hormonally-driven Harry Potter book but without the lightness and humour. Don't get me wrong, there is an interesting plot here but I felt it was suppressed and not developed enough leaving the final quarter of the book jammed with content that actually was the driver of the narrative.

I liked Anna as a character but the story was a tad too long (even though enjoyable). I’m not the target reader and I did enjoy the tale of how Anna was told magic was wrong only to find out it’s not all bad but I think I got lost at times.

It was well written and I think the right target reader would love it.

Creepy, thrilling, disturbing, magically mesmeric.
It’s like creepy Sabrina and disturbing The Witches meshed together with a tiny bit of discover of witches. I found some bits a bit too much and others not enough. I also found certain characters a tad annoying but overall it’s really engrossing and a good plain ol tale.

Anna has been brought up to believe magic is a curse, something that should be suppressed and bound, but its temptation is strong and when the wild and carefree Effie joins her school, Anna might just get a taste of the magic she’d spent so long trying to resist.

This was a book that had all in the ingredients for a perfect reading spell. From the cast of characters to the story and, of course, the magic. While I can see Anna being frustrating for some, I particularly enjoyed her character arc as she battled between ‘no-one’ persona she’d cultivated to appease her aunt, and the personality that had been hidden away. I felt the book did a good job of exploring her doubts and divided loyalties between her friends and her aunt, the woman who raised her.

I particularly enjoyed how to book balanced the various relationships within the story, from the family aspect to the friendships and then the romantic elements. It was refreshing to see the friendships be the primary focal point, despite the romance being particularly relevant for the main plot, and coming away from the book those are the elements I remember the strongest. The group of friends was fun to read in how they came together and played off each other.

My favourite part of the book was the magic. The way it was depicted and how it was treated in the lore of the book caught my imagination. That there were different languages of magic, from the knots of the binders to the plant work of Rowan’s family, made for interesting and varied uses within the book and it was fun thinking of what kind of magic language I would use. Given that the series title appears to be ‘The Language of Magic’ according to Goodreads, this seems to be a concept that will be picked up and explored more in later books, which I am there for.

Overall, this was a solid read. I enjoyed the development and seeing how it played out, as well as integrating the magic and over-arching plot with a group of high-school girls having fun while on a journey of self-discovery within a school setting. It did have its slow moments. It also didn’t shy away from depicting abuse and the darker side of magic either, which could potentially be disturbing for some readers. Even so, this book was very much my cup of tea and I am intrigued for where it will go from here.

Anna has grown up with a magic she isn't allowed to use.

Raised by her Aunt, Anna has been drilled endlessly on the danger of magic. It's why, when she's sixteen, she's to be bound to the Binders. In their eyes, magic is a sin.

But Anna longs for more! And when Selene brings Effie and Attis on her next visit, Anna finally has her chance.

Introduced to the wider world of the magic around her, Anna begins to finally come into her power. But the further she becomes drawn into magic, the more clear it becomes that there is something dark in her past.

Threadneedle is great witchy fantasy fun!

First, the world building in Threadneedle is fabulous! The atmosphere of Anna's London is so imbued with magic through Thomas's words, but it's woven very subtly into the story.

Anna is a stubborn teen. She's lost her mother and her father and has been raised by an aunt who isn't affectionate or seemingly caring at all. One of the things Anna wants most is to practice real magic, but her aunt keeps her under such tight constraints that she knows it's likely never to happen.

But then her mother's friend Selene arrives and Anna finally experiences a bit of freedom. More than that, she meets others who definitely don't feel the same way about magic as her aunt.

The magic system in Threadneedle is a really cool one! In fact, it was probably my favorite thing about the book. And again, Thomas's descriptions were fabulous here!

Threadneedle is the first in the Language of Magic trilogy. It'll be really interesting to see what happens in the next installment.

I was really excited to pick this book up as I I anything yo do with Witches and it sounds exactly like something I would love in paper but unfortunately I just couldn't get into it. I found myself really bored with it. Nothing interested me or stood out to me. The plot starts off very dark and mysterious but that's about all it really had going for it. Unfortunately I DNFed this one.

This was a book I fell in love with at first sight – I mean just look at that cover. I also really enjoyed the worldbuilding and setting for this book, from the combination of magical realism with a contemporary London setting, to the magic and its various elements. The author really brought the world to life, and it had that touch of whimsy that enchants you without taking away from the more serious threads, such as the details of school life, and the fact that their were some stand out characters like Anna who felt very well-realised and human, with shades of grey to their personalities and choices. Also there is a magical library – that’s how you hook a bookworm! I did feel that the pacing let it down a little, and in the middle in particular progress felt a little disjointed, but the ending did largely make up for it, and I think part of it was that it quite predictable in places so you could forsee what lay ahead.

Oh how do I describe this one, other than I really enjoyed it. This just created such an interesting world. I love when a book lets you discover a secret magical world hidden behind what appears to be mundane and that is exactly what Threadneedle does with its worldbuilding. We have vintage shops filled with magical items, magical libraries buried under the British library and nightclubs that resemble the fairy court scenes from Shakespeare! All this is tucked into modern British living, it makes the magical world seem accessible. The magic itself also seems very accessible too. I loved how many different ‘languages’ of magic there were and I really wish we had got to learn more about them.

It felt like the magic system had a note of Wicca and Modern Witch craft about it, particularly in its rituals, taking snippets of herb lore, binding magics, candle magic, elemental magic and then expanding them out. I love how many every day things had a magical solution such as magical makeup and dresses, to skeleton keys. I really enjoyed how the teenage characters responded to exploring their magical power. The acted exactly how you would expect, using it to attract boys, to get their own back on the mean girls, to feel popular and pretty. It had that ring of authenticity, like the Wicca craze of the early 00’s – girl up and down the country were doing candle spells to chase away rumours etc. This part exploring that magic and those friendships was just so great.

It really worked well with the other side to the plot which was Anna’s home life. The Binders and the knot magic had a darker tone. It reflected a much more dangerous side to the magic, where people were in danger of becoming fanatical, seeing magic as both dangerous and a curse itself but also to continue using it, granting themselves status and power. It was a really great juxtaposition, giving the lighter magic a more teenage rebellious feel. I really liked how the plot played out, there were lots of moments of double crossing and twists I just didn’t see coming. I found the romance a little bland but it did lead again to some good twists and turns. I really loved the conflict Anna went through. not knowing who to trust or believe or even what she wanted out of it all. All the doubt and fear, yet curiosity and excitement she felt just made her such a great character. We really got to see her grow in strength too.

It does to me read more YA than adult fiction (which is what it was marketed as in the UK) but I love a well written and well constructed YA. I found this such a compelling read with strong characters, that made me want to read more. I do hope that there is a series so we can keep exploring the magic.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I think this book is to me what I call a 'missed me' book. Almost every singly review I have read is glowing but I found it a real slog to get through. The story itself was fine but when I find myself continually checking the % in the bottom right-hand side of my kindle and it never seems to go up then it's a sign I'm not enjoying it. I found the pace glacial and the entire high school drama plot didn't engage me at all. I maybe missed the boat on this but I didn't get the sense before reading it that it was supposed to be a YA novel but that's certainly how it read to me.

I understand that this is to be a series but I will be ending the journey here.