Nightweaver – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Supernatural, danger, mythology, romance, pirates.
Children’s book title: Nightweaver.
YA author: R.M Gray.
Genre: Romantasy.
Published by: Penguin.
ISBN: 9780241735060.
Recommended for children aged: 14+.
First published: Paperback March 2025.
This children’s book is ideal for: KS4 romantasy fans.
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Our review:
There is a reason humans fled to the water six hundred years ago. After the Fall, Nightweavers claimed the land for themselves, hunting our kind to near extinction. The ocean was supposed to keep us safe. They weren’t supposed to follow us here.
Seventeen-year-old pirate Aster Oberon has always felt safe on her family’s ship the Lightbringer. Her parents and six siblings are all the company she needs and Aster has never known another home or lifestyle than being at sea. The Oberon’s are a loyal clan, fiercely protective of the youngest member of their family, eight-year-old Elsie, who has always been shielded from the more gruesome aspects of their pirate lifestyle.
This is not my first battle. I have tasted blood and ash. I have plunged my dagger into the heart of my enemy. I have ended a life with the weight of a bullet.
When a violent kidnapping attempt of Elsie kills Aster’s beloved brother, the remaining Oberons are captured by the dreaded Nightweavers. Long-reviled as supernatural blood-thirsty cannibals, Aster discovers that Nightweavers are in fact very much human. Albeit still rather blood-thirsty.
How will I know when I am facing my enemy if my enemy looks just like me?
Aster’s confusion continues when handsome Nightweaver Will saves the Oberon family from death or slavery by offering them employment on his vast family estate of Bludgrave Manor. As Aster and Will struggle to fight the growing attraction between them, Aster is torn between family loyalty and trying to uncover the mysteries of the Nightweavers, including their true role in her brother’s death.
Nightweaver is the first in a gripping sea-faring romantasy duology, with the second book Starchaser due out in November 2025. The action-packed tale will grip readers right from the start and keep them enthralled with an intricately plotted tale of mysteries, secrets and ill-advised romance. Mixing the sea-faring action of Pirates of the Caribbean with the court intrigue of Bridgerton, this is a highly topical tale that is sure to find a devoted readership.
The enemies-to-(maybe) lovers trope is well managed and fits neatly alongside the more supernatural elements of the tale. There is a hefty dose of horror and gore in the book, making it more suitable for older readers.
Nightweaver is an immersive tale of mystery and magic that will appeal to fans of Kalynn Bayron’s Cinderella is Dead and Amie Kaufman’s Isle of the Gods.
Many thanks to Penguin for the review copy.
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