Spindle (The Two Monarchies Sequence) Paperback – May 11, 2017

Not very long ago, I was introduced to W.R. Gingell’s writing through her book Masque, and I was immediately enchanted by her writing and her characters. Masque was fun, creative, and hilarious and to date has one of my absolute favorite heroines. I wasn’t disappointed when I picked up Spindle expecting the same awesomeness I experienced in Masque.Quick overview: Poly has been asleep in a castle tower for 300 years. She’s no princess despite what everyone thinks, but that’s okay, because her savior ends up being not a prince, but a rather spacey wizard named Luck. They travel together, along with the stray “puppy” Onepiece, in an effort to completely break the curse surrounding Poly and also to sort out the bureaucratic red tape that comes with being pseudo-royalty waking up in a new era.I’m happy to say that while Masque had my favorite female character, I realized pretty quickly that Spindle was going to have one of my favorite male characters. Luck is just adorably quirky and fun to root for in his rather sporadic and inconspicuous romantic pursuit in which he uses kisses as a threat and gets himself slapped or kicked a lot. Gingell is a master at creating absolutely lovable characters, and they play off of each other wonderfully.The feeling of the story itself reminds me of Howl’s Moving Castle with hints of Vivian Vande Velde’s fairytales and Rebecca Lickiss’s Never After, though I think the pacing of this novel is superior to Howl’s in that it has less drag. The voice is great in both its thoroughness and its humor.There are so many awesome lines in this book:“It was a punctilious sort of kiss that suggested the kisser had better things to do and would like to get on with it, please.” (Who doesn’t love an author who uses a term like “punctilious kiss”?)“smiles plumply” “fat voice” (GREAT description)“Obnoxiously healthy countryside.” (To think that one word can change a good sentence into a great sentence.)“Don’t throw that at me.” (Sigh, How could you not love a wizard who talks to outlaws like this? I wouldn’t call him a fighter…more of a frustrated parent who may just give you a time out soon.)“Scones are always relevant.” (Plus his priorities are clearly in the right places)Despite the fact that the author likes to not explain everything, I like how complete the ideas in Gingell’s stories actually are. For instance, at the beginning of the story Poly mentions that Luck’s voice is out of sync with his mouth, and then the subject is kind of forgotten about. Later, Poly finds out why his voice was out of sync when they first met and I had an “Oh! That’s super interesting” moment. I love when little details are taken care of and when authors care enough to think them through and put them in their books. This may not have made total sense to readers of this review, but you’ll get it when you read the book. It’s a little detail that shows the author’s dedication. She (the author) doesn’t stop to explain everything, which can be a little difficult for those of us who are used to being spoon fed. A lot relies on the reader catching inferences. Her (still the author) magic has rules and works much more as a tool, or even as a part of the characters themselves, and there is very little “it’s magic so I don’t have to explain it” nonsense-there are actually quite a few technical explanations here and there. This takes some getting used to, and I admit that I always flounder for a minute or two as magic and technology is being explained in these books, but thinking through it always ends up being worth it. The stories are just SO good.I admit that sometimes I wanted more background information (or more time figuring out the antagonist) but like with the magic, far more is implied then actually told and you have to get into the less passive mindset while reading, putting two and two together and whatnot. Also, I will mention I wanted many more cutesy love moments and kissing between the main characters, which I’m afraid reveals way too much about me as a person.My only problem with the book (which is the same problem I had with Masque) was that I didn’t want it to end. I started reading it and was so enthralled that I finished it in a day. I remember looking down and realizing I was only 26 pages from the end, which filled me with instant sadness. I really hated saying goodbye to these awesome characters. Part of me really hopes there are some sequels in the future featuring the same characters, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up. Read W.R. Gingell’s books; they’re amazing =).

The beginning is pretty confusing, but I believe this is a stylistic choice because the main character is very confused. We learn alongside her as the plot progresses and she makes discoveries.The reveals were interesting and I liked Poly and the side character Onepiece. Luck was an interesting character. I could definitely relate to Poly’s frustration with him!The romance is not easily sorted into any particular trope, but it is clean. Very strange progression in certain aspects though and I would’ve enjoyed a bit more development. However, it was actually better developed than many of Gingell’s romances and a bit more satisfying.

Are you sitting down? Make sure you're sitting down. I'm going to say something a little crazy. You ready? Good. Here goes:This reminds me of Howl's Moving Castle more than any other book I've read, and it's almost as good.I'm trying not to overhype Spindle because there's no better way to kill a book than to go into it expecting that it'll miraculously make your life a hundred times better when it is, in fact, only a book. And books, granted, do make your life better and are magical, wonderful things, but even the best ones can only do so much.Anyway. Spindle is a wonderful book. It's a bit confusing and a tiny bit frustrating at times, especially since I went in expecting a mystery novel and I really didn't get one — at least not of the type I was looking for. But instead I got a lovely adventure that's quiet and exciting by turns. Luck and Poly are wonderfully Howl and Sophie-ish in numerous ways — personality, relationship dynamics, magicalness — while also being their own characters. Even the plot includes some of the same beats and tropes (though it's not at all the same story). And the world feels very like Ingary in some respects, while also very unlike. It's nice to find a world where magic — not scientific magic, like in Sanderson, but magical magic; it's about feel more than anything — is a normal thing.It was fun to see appearances from Isabelle and Melchior. (I also quite like that Melchior is named Melchior; it sounds like a name that would be typically reserved for either a Mentor of the old-and-wise variety or for a villain, but instead he's a young, clever, charming, and relatively handsome magician. I approve immensely.) I look forward to seeing them more in the other Two Monarchies books.Anyway. Spindle is a wonderful book; I love it, and I'm so glad I read it, and I think I'm going to go see what else by this author I can find to devour.