I really liked both main characters we’re introduced to. Kellen is a rash, flawed and complex character who finds himself with a gift to unravel the curses that are inflicted from “cursed eggs”, formed from the build up of people’s long buried hatred and spite. I really enjoyed exploring his concept of justice, but his anger issues (one of his biggest flaws) were also really interesting to watch as his “gift” of unravelling can cause everything in his vicinity (garments, furniture, objects) to unravel when he experiences heightened emotions. Most of the narrative revolves around his impulsive tendencies and the result of his rash decisions—most of which do get him into a spot of trouble on more than one occasion. But his journey does involve some self reflection and I enjoyed seeing him learn the importance of having a little patience.

The story itself follows Kellen, it's unruly protagonist, who has a rare and highly sought after gift. A gift that allows him to unravel (undo) the previously mentioned curses. We witness as he and his unusual companions, throw themselves deep into the unknown, in a bid to save those who have been cruelly jinxed and to bring down a unidentified enemy abetting those who curse. Of course, nothing is quite as it seems... It’s wonderful that in a story about unravelling - curses, yes, but also the tangled webs of resentment and hate and pain - Frances Hardinge instead weaves a very complex and deeply nuanced tale with a whole onion-worth of layers. I loved the relationship and connection between Kellen and Nettle, I think this is the closest I've seen to a Queerplatonic relationship in any book, friendship isn't quite enough to describe the way they're bonded, but they're definitely not a romantic couple either. Moss hung in great, green-grey swathes from the branches. Everywhere there was the cold, lush smell of the woods with its undercurrent of rot, its fierce green freshness and the scent of a thousand marsh flowers gaping their fat silken petals in the summer dark. Perhaps you will decide that all the stories of the Wilds and the Raddith cursers were invented to entertain tourists. And at night, when you see a many-legged shape scuttle across the ceiling of your bedchamber, you will tell yourself that it is a spider, and only a spider . . .I can't really shake the feeling that all the people raving about all the "layers" in this book must not read awfully complicated books often, because I found the "layers" utterly underwhelming. After being imprisoned for mouthing off to some pompous idiot merchant, Kellen is rescued by a marsh horse and her rider on behest of their female patron - she has a job for the unraveller. The book features a depth of themes including but not limited to: victims, survivors, anger and hatred, trauma, therapy, cults, betrayal, domestic abuse, all under the guise of a stunning fantasy world with curses and the riveting and mysterious Wilds. But I also loved the more visual parts of the worldbuilding. From bogs to marshes, from rivers to the metropolis; whether we were in lonely places or ones bursting from the seams with inhabitants - this world was beautiful in every way. Unraveller feels like a true fairytale, there may be wondrous creatures and mysterious forest settings, but there's also a Marsh Horse that may eat you and definitely a solid chance of being turned into a harp, a bat or a ship if you get on someone's bad side. It's very funny throughout, but balances that out with themes of grief, fear and rage.

The Wilds, which run along the coast of Raddith, are a place of mystery and magic and legend, home to beings like marsh horses and Dancing Stars and, most importantly, Little Brothers, which are kind of like spiders, except not really. They weave and they have many legs, but they can also give people the power to curse others. “The curse then nestles in the host’s soul like an unhatched egg, growing in power, until the curser is ready to unleash it upon an enemy.” Perhaps you will decide that all the stories of the Wilds and the Raddith cursers were invented to entertain tourists. And at night, when you see a many-legged shape scuttle across the ceiling of your bedchamber, you will tell yourself that it is a spider, and only a spider… This is a story for which it’s hard to give an “elevator pitch”, a deft distillation of ideas and themes in a few pithy sentences. It’s too complex for it, and its characters are layered and messy and difficult, and full of wonderful contradictions and sharp corners. And the brilliantly fantastic worlds of Hardinge’s imagination resist the soothing simplicity of stark binary contrasts, instead showing (always showing, never telling) the lived-in ambiguity of reality, however fantastic it might be. But I will be thinking about this story for a long time. It had so many unique and endearing characters, the setting of the Wilds was exceptionally magical and I loved Nettle and Kellen’s growth throughout the novel. For fans of Natalie Haynes, Kiran Millwood-Hargrave and Neil Gaiman comes Frances Hardinge's spectacular novel Unraveller. Called her 'best yet' by the Guardian, and 'sheer perfection' and 'a masterpiece' by reviewers, Hardinge expertly weaves together mythology and mystery in a meticulously-detailed world besieged by curses.

Nettle, our other protagonist is the complete antithesis to Kellen, she’s methodical and cautious in her approach to most situations but also caring, which I felt definitely helped to balance out some of Kellen’s chaotic, callous and unpredictable tendencies. She internalises a lot of her problems which does make her seem a little colder/ uncaring to begin with however, we do learn why she’s soo guarded and I genuinely felt emotional over what she had to endure (having been cursed by her stepmother.)

When I wrote about Hardinge’s A Face Like Glass , I noted that her villains are rarely people, but broken societies that have stopped asking whether they can be fixed. Raddith is a society that largely doesn’t realize how broken it is. Her young protagonists are outcasts of a sort, but not the same kind of outcast as a curser. It is easy to assume, when you are young and naive or sheltered or have spent some time as a bird, that people who have been rejected by society have been treated this way for valid reasons. In a world where anyone can create life-destroying curses, only one person has the power to unravel them. Kellen does not fully understand his talent, but uses it to help those who have been cursed, including his ally and closest friend, Nettle. But Kellen himself is cursed, and unless he and Nettle can release him, he is in danger of unravelling everything - and everyone - around him. I expected nothing less from Frances Hardinge… Fairytale unique story, loveable characters, crazy imagination but also felt so interesting and addictive, those are all I got in “The Unraveller” Even if you didn’t dwell on the past, however, sometimes the past dwelt on you. Sometimes it remembered you and came after you for revenge.” I think anger’s alright, actually. Lots of you have been treated badly, and most of you never asked for any of this. But… hate’s different. It eats you up and makes everything worse. You’ve all suffered enough already, haven’t you?”I’m happy to say that Unraveller did indeed have all the magic I expected! Reading this aloud with my kids, I was again swept up in a story full of wonder and joy. But it also discussed the power of pain and anger and forgiveness, the consequences of keeping your anger and resentment close until it turns into something you’re unable to control. In short and without giving anything away, what takes place is a captivating tale, set deep within a beautifully crafted world that as a reader, we slowly get to explore. The many mysteries in need of untangling, and the numerous twists and turns, make the story all the more enjoyable. My only complaint would be that I found it a *bit* to long - however, there was no way I wasn't finishing! My hosts started to realize that just because somebody *feels* wronged, that doesn’t mean they are.” L'ho trovata una storia avvincente e suggestiva, ispirata da varie fiabe gotiche (tra tutte, la fiaba dei Cigni Selvatici di Andersen), ma sempre tesa a sviscerare il problema del senso di colpa di chi maledice e la sofferenza di chi subisce e viene guarito. Spesso, le maledizioni traggono origini da motivi futili, da incomprensioni familiari, ed è vero il concetto che il male invocato può ritorcersi contro chi ne ha fatto un uso dissennato. It’s “middle grade” literature, which is ridiculous. Hardinge writes more than suitably for adults, but these are also stories that you can hand to a young reader without cringy embarrassment for your book tastes. Young age of her characters does not detract from the high level of clever complexity, but does - thank all the literary deities - end up romance-proof, which at least to me is a welcome reprieve of the easy storytelling trends that lets us because they sell. This book is carried on the strength of its story, not on the whiff of hormones, and it’s wonderful.