A Treason of Thorns is a fierce and haunting book that grew brambles around my heart and held me captive. I could not escape the power of its wild magic, or the raw, indomitable spirit of its heroine as she fought to redefine the meaning of home.
An achingly lovely take on finding your own world. I loved this beautiful book!
The Light Between Worlds is a lyrical exploration of one’s true place – in the people we love, in ourselves, or in woodland realms beyond our ken – and the lengths we take to chase it.
Even as Evelyn and Philippa navigate their exile from another world, Laura Weymouth reveals to us the real magic—born of sisterhood, nature, love and resilience—that resides in our own. THE LIGHT BETWEEN WORLDS is transfixing and unforgettable.”
With such lush, lyrical prose, this book grips your heart and doesn’t let go until the last, stunning sentence.
Weymouth offers a picture of severe depression beautified by her own luminous prose...she evokes a sense of empathy for Evelyn, and offers absolution and redemption for Philippa, who has to believe that her sister is in a better place.”
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Moody and atmospheric, with beautifully descriptive images, this is fantasy and magic at its best.
Haunting and beautiful, The Light Between Worlds is a love story to siblings, to the belief in magic, to discovering where you belong.
Weymouth offers a picture of severe depression beautified by her own luminous prose...she evokes a sense of empathy for Evelyn, and offers absolution and redemption for Philippa, who has to believe that her sister is in a better place.”
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
“Weymouth offers a picture of severe depression beautified by her own luminous prose...she evokes a sense of empathy for Evelyn, and offers absolution and redemption for Philippa, who has to believe that her sister is in a better place.”
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
★ 06/24/2019
In this moving 19th-century fantasy, a young woman who has long dreamed of becoming a Caretaker to one of five sentient Great Houses, “whose vast magic governs the well-being of England,” must choose between obligation and love. Upon the death of her father, Violet Sterling becomes responsible for Burleigh House, whose power affects the West Country. But Burleigh is sick following years without a Caretaker, crumbling as its essence spirals out of control, and the King will burn it if Violet can’t reverse things by summer’s end. Her only hope is to find its long-hidden deed and unbind Burleigh from the monarch’s control—the same treasonous act whose mere planning cost her father his life, an act that the House itself is commanded to prevent. Furthermore, the fate of Wyn, Violet’s beloved childhood companion, is also tied up in Burleigh’s survival. With lush prose and an eye for atmospheric detail, Weymouth (The Light Between Worlds ) adeptly spins a tale in which the heroine is torn between passion and purpose, destruction and duty. The love triangle may involve a sentient place of power, but Weymouth imbues the story with enough emotion that the plot’s final outcome never feels set in stone. Ages 13–up. Agent: Lauren Spieller, TriadaUS. (Sept.)
[A] moving 19-century fantasy… With lush prose and an eye for atmospheric detail, Weymouth adeptly spins a tale in which the heroine is torn between passion and purpose, destruction and duty.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Weymouth’s prose is lush and evocative, filled with palpable descriptions and compelling mystery… Spellbinding.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Weymouth captures a feisty character in Violet, a well-bred girl who doesn’t take no for an answer. Rich in language and imagery with characters readers want to get to know better, this title’s a keeper.” — ALA Booklist
“A piercing, luminous tale of legacies and devotion, and the many faces of home: a place you remember being loved, a place you fight to protect, and a place that may eat you alive.” — Rosamund Hodge, author of Cruel Beauty
“Lyrical and inventive, this story of heart and home, of love lost and found again, is sure to stay with readers long after the last page is turned.” — Megan Bannen, author of The Bird and the Blade
“A Treason of Thorns is an original, engrossing YA fantasy that explores the bonds of family, the cost of freedom, and what truly makes a home. Built like a rolling clap of thunder, Weymouth’s tale is spun of dark magic, unspoken love, and finding the balance between fate and freedom.” — Sarah Henning, author of Sea Witch & Sea Witch Rising
“A Treason of Thorns is a fierce and haunting book that grew brambles around my heart and held me captive. I could not escape the power of its wild magic, or the raw, indomitable spirit of its heroine as she fought to redefine the meaning of home.” — Margaret Rogerson, New York Times bestselling author of An Enchantment of Ravens
“A Treason of Thorns feels completely new and fresh… it’s a story that will likely surprise you.” — Culturess
“Unusual and delightfully creative… a highly satisfying stand-alone fantasy.” — NPR
“Lushly atmospheric [with] an unusual but compelling love triangle… A Treason of Thorns is told with nuance, delicate but deft world-building, and charged with emotion.” — Canadian Review of Materials
“Moody and atmospheric, with beautifully descriptive images, this is fantasy and magic at its best.” — Shelf Awareness
Praise for THE LIGHT BETWEEN WORLDS: “Emotional and poignant… a powerful, magical debut for all YA fantasy shelves. Hand this to anyone who ever wondered what may have happened to the Pevensie children after Narnia.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
“In this love letter to portal fantasies and Narnia, Weymouth infuses her characters with a rich panoply of emotions set against wartime England. A shining thread of hope and healing mitigates the book’s heartbreak and underlying trauma, suggesting a bright future for all involved.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A mystical novel about three siblings finding, then losing, then finding their ways home again.” — Kirkus Reviews
“An achingly lovely take on finding your own world. I loved this beautiful book!” — Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood
“The perfect story for anyone who’s ever searched for magic in the everyday, THE LIGHT BETWEEN WORLDS will break your heart and then make it whole again. Laura Weymouth wields words like she’s casting spells, and the result is utterly enchanting.” — Sarah Glenn Marsh, author of the Reign of the Fallen series
“Haunting and beautiful, The Light Between Worlds is a love story to siblings, to the belief in magic, to discovering where you belong.” — Lori M Lee, author of the Gates of Thread and Stone series
“The Light Between Worlds is a lyrical exploration of one’s true place – in the people we love, in ourselves, or in woodland realms beyond our ken – and the lengths we take to chase it.” — Destenie Fafard, Celler Door Books (Riverside, CA)
“The Narnia archetype of children finding passage to an adjacent world is given a powerful new perspective in The Light Between Worlds … Exceptional!” — Kenny Brechner, Devaney, Doak & Garrett Booksellers (Farmington, ME)
" A luminous story, told with transcendent beauty and grace, THE LIGHT BETWEEN WORLDS is a haunting, unforgettable ode to hope, love, and loss. This is a book for all of us who grew up heartsick for the magical places to which we surely belonged, if only we could find them. I will never be the same after reading it." — Margaret Rogerson, New York Times bestselling author of An Enchantment of Ravens
“With such lush, lyrical prose, this book grips your heart and doesn’t let go until the last, stunning sentence.”The Jewel
“Finally, an “after Narnia” book that balances hope and loss, longing and belonging. It’s about coming back to the real world, but it’s magical.” — Erin Bow, author of The Scorpion Rules
“Even as Evelyn and Philippa navigate their exile from another world, Laura Weymouth reveals to us the real magic—born of sisterhood, nature, love and resilience—that resides in our own. THE LIGHT BETWEEN WORLDS is transfixing and unforgettable.” — Sara Holland, New York Times bestselling author of Everless
“Weymouth offers a picture of severe depression beautified by her own luminous prose...she evokes a sense of empathy for Evelyn, and offers absolution and redemption for Philippa, who has to believe that her sister is in a better place.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Anyone who knows that feeling of being in love with a fantasy world as a child can understand the longing that Evelyn feels for the Woodlands…. I am so compelled by this story and by these sisters who have lived in another world and must find contentment in our own.” — NPR
“More than just an entertaining read…[The Light Between Worlds is] filled with great characters, a timely theme, a perfectly captured setting, and a willingness to not only ask but dwell with the most enduring question in fantasy literature, ‘what happens when our heroes and heroines return home?’ I can think of no better fantasy book to share with a young adult.” — The NarniaFans Book Reviews
“A Treason of Thorns is an original, engrossing YA fantasy that explores the bonds of family, the cost of freedom, and what truly makes a home. Built like a rolling clap of thunder, Weymouth’s tale is spun of dark magic, unspoken love, and finding the balance between fate and freedom.
A piercing, luminous tale of legacies and devotion, and the many faces of home: a place you remember being loved, a place you fight to protect, and a place that may eat you alive.
Lushly atmospheric [with] an unusual but compelling love triangle… A Treason of Thorns is told with nuance, delicate but deft world-building, and charged with emotion.
Canadian Review of Materials
Lyrical and inventive, this story of heart and home, of love lost and found again, is sure to stay with readers long after the last page is turned.
A Treason of Thorns feels completely new and fresh… it’s a story that will likely surprise you.
Weymouth captures a feisty character in Violet, a well-bred girl who doesn’t take no for an answer. Rich in language and imagery with characters readers want to get to know better, this title’s a keeper.”
The Narnia archetype of children finding passage to an adjacent world is given a powerful new perspective in The Light Between Worlds … Exceptional!
More than just an entertaining read…[The Light Between Worlds is] filled with great characters, a timely theme, a perfectly captured setting, and a willingness to not only ask but dwell with the most enduring question in fantasy literature, ‘what happens when our heroes and heroines return home?’ I can think of no better fantasy book to share with a young adult.
The NarniaFans Book Reviews
The perfect story for anyone who’s ever searched for magic in the everyday, THE LIGHT BETWEEN WORLDS will break your heart and then make it whole again. Laura Weymouth wields words like she’s casting spells, and the result is utterly enchanting.
Finally, an “after Narnia” book that balances hope and loss, longing and belonging. It’s about coming back to the real world, but it’s magical.
09/01/2020
Gr 9 Up— In this inventive and atmospheric tale, Weymouth imagines a world in which places have as much soul and heart as the people who live within them. Violet Sterling has grown up believing that she one day will be Caretaker of Burleigh House and, as such, she must put her house before everything else. Burleigh is one of the great houses that has long stabilized the English countryside. However, the house's health is declining—the result of being enslaved to a line of cruel kings. Everything gets worse when Violet's father is convicted of treason and executed, leaving Violet to wonder how she can balance her own desires against her obligation to Burleigh. This book does a beautiful job imagining the ways that a human being and a house might communicate, often wordlessly, through looming clouds, creeping vines, rising mortar, and profusions of thorns. Weymouth is lyrical in rendering the atmosphere around Violet, and these descriptions only make the elements of grief and pain in Violet's story stand out more starkly as her journey progresses. This story is engrossing, grounded in the complex emotions and experiences of its characters. Ultimately, Weymouth creates a unique setting to draw out questions about fate versus free will and duty versus the call of one's heart. Violet is identified as white, and there are secondary characters of color. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy atmospheric writing, strong female leads, and fantastical storytelling.—Talea Anderson, Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA.
2019-07-13
Violet Sterling knows she has one singular purpose. The daughter of the Caretaker of one of the five Great Houses, sentient buildings "whose vast magic governs the well-being of England," she will take over as Caretaker of the West Country's Burleigh House when her father retires. But nothing works out as she imagined: Nine years after her father commits treason and she is exiled from Burleigh, she returns to find her father dead, the house disintegrating into disrepair, the health of the countryside failing, and her only friend, Wyn, much changed. If Violet does not return Burleigh to its former health and glory by the end of the summer, the King, who holds deeds to all the Houses, will burn it to the ground. Violet knows "A good Caretaker puts her house first….Before king. Before country. Before her own life. Before her heart. " Now she must decide how to save Burleigh and see whether, in the process, she can liberate herself. Weymouth's (The Light Between Worlds , 2018) prose is lush and evocative, filled with palpable descriptions and compelling mystery. The Sterling family's steward and housekeeper, a married couple, are Jewish, and mentions of their practice are authentically incorporated. Characters default to white, and there are a few characters of color.
Spellbinding. (Fantasy. 14-18)
