"No one prayed to nay of the Saints anymore. People wanted bread, not sacraments."

GENRE: Gothic Fantasy with Romance
RATING: 5/5
FORMAT: eBook Arc

Overall Impression: WHAT A BOOK!!! I repeat, WHAT A BOOK!

Review:

Weavingshaw is a beautiful Gothic Romance that combines SO many elements in the best of ways! We get a bit of colonisation, language and identity elements mixed in with a slow burn relationship building plus the gothic element of it: Weavingshaw as a House/Mansion and the plot surrounding it all.

Weavingshaw is a story of wanting more, wanting better and yearning for what you cant have. It's a story of not knowing where you fit in but fighting for better anyways. It's a story of wanting to dream bigger but not having anything under your control. It's a story of what happens when greed overtakes. It's a story of magic, gothic and atmospheric story and what a story it is.

Leena, our FMC, is stubborn and strong. She continues to live and try to handle everything in her family while helping her brother, Rami. Getting to know her throughout the story is a lovely journey, one where we see how she struggles with being a Refugee and struggles with accepting that she doesn't fit in anywhere. She struggles with this through language

"...she had grown up speaking Algaraan like a foreigner, in the same way many of the immigrant children born in Morland did, stumbling in and out of both languages, not being able to find a home in either. While her Algaraan had been heavily accented, she had learned to read Morish in the schoolroom with ease, and spoke it eloquently as if Morish - and not Algaraan - was the language of her heart."

Meanwhile, St Silas, the MMC in Weavingshaw, is a complex and layered character, written in a way that is truly fitting for this Gothic Fantasy. I can't say much without spoiling anything but the dynamic between Leena and St Silas builds up throughout the story and this is a true slow burn. I think, ultimately, what connects me to Weavingshaw and the MCs to each other is standing out in their own community and never truly fitting in.

Another part that I loved about Weavingshaw is Heba Al-Wasity's ability to weave in lyrical prose with the plot that makes it flow beautifully. All in all, Weavingshaw is a beautiful story, filled with a lot of dark, atmospherical moments that lead up to certain revealtion throughout the story. I can't wait to read more and see what happens going forward.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for the Arc copy!