"Tell Me a Story."

The first book I'm going to review after my very long hiatus is one of the best books I've read in a very long time. It's also one of the only books I've read in a very long time, but that is beside the point.

Here's what happened: I was out on a walk, because I'm meant to get some form of exercise every day and I didn't realize I could do so without leaving the house and whilst watching TV just by using my dad's electric bike until like a week later, and I thought, "WHAT THE HECK. I'LL GO TO THE LIBRARY." So I did. And see the thing about me is that all my bookshopping is done in a very special way: I go to a bookstore (or library), look at all the books with pretty covers and interesting titles in the YA section, and take home the two-to-five that most pique my interest, even if that means I'm spending like seventy bucks in one go. (It's a dangerous lifestyle, but hey, Danger is my middle name.) (That was a lie. Danger is just my nickname.) (That was also a lie. Danger is a word that is starting to look very strange to me, and that is all.) On this particular day, I went to the library with comfortably empty arms and left with a giant stack of hard-cover books. (I only got four books, so the stack wasn't really giant, but I had two more blocks to walk and nothing to carry them in so it was all very awkward.) The first book I read was good, but I'm not going to blog about it, because it wasn't amazing and I just don't feel like it. This is the second.

Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow

Otter was born to be a binder, to tie the knots that protect the Shadowed People from the dead. Her mother, Willow, is the greatest binder since Mad Spider, and Otter has inherited that power. Her friend Kestrel is training to be a ranger, one of the brave women who venture beyond the protection of the ward; Cricket, a boy in a world where men aren't safe, has a knack for storytelling. These three friends know where they belong in Westmost, their forest village, and they are happy.
But there are worse dangers than the little dead that live in shadows: A White Hand is lurking in the forest, putting all of the Shadowed People in fear of a touch that breeds madness. Meanwhile, the old binder has died, leaving Westmost in the hands of Willow, whose power seems to be turning inside out. In a very short time, everything goes wrong, and Otter is faced with impossible choices, terrible grief, and the growing knowledge that, as Willow says: There is something wrong with the knots.

This book, just, wow. Everything about it is incredible, and unique. The language is precise, formal yet natural, and the writing is so gloriously rich with vivid imagery that even the intangible--the clotting shadows of the dead, the electric power of the wards, and all the true physicalities of emotions--becomes undoubtably real. The characters are complex and compelling, and completely believable--as is the world that Bow created, which is beautiful and horrifying at the same time. One of my favorite things about this world is its stories, which are hugely significant; one of my favorite things about this book is how the characters had to trace back to the roots of their stories in order to understand what they were facing. There was something very exhilarating about that. The whole book was exhilarating, really, and very eerie, and Bow wove suspense impressively well; I haven't been so desperate to finish a book in quite a while. At the same time, I wish it hadn't ended, because it was so incredible, and I really enjoyed the time I spent consumed by it.

What's really cool about this book is that the story ends, but a new character is introduced, and he has a story that is just beginning. I have a feeling that Erin Bow will not be writing his story, which would really be more of a companion to Sorrow's Knot than a sequel, and I'm sort of glad of that, because I think it's nice to leave the imagining of it up to the reader. At the same time, I really really really do want her to write it, because I want so much more of this world. Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure there's nothing that could stop me from reading her first book, Plain Kate, as well as her third, Children of Peace, though the latter won't be out for another two years. Her writing is just so amazing, and I'm really curious to see how it changes when she writes about different worlds.

As far as I can tell, there is no movie in the works for Sorrow's Knot. I think I'm glad of that. As much as I'd love to experience the world about which I keep waxing poetic in full audio-visual form, I can't imagine it being captured as perfectly in such a form as it is in its original. I like it as a book.

Thanks... to the library, I guess. This thanks section is kind of weird, isn't it? I'm not sure I'll keep it.

Recommendation: This isn't a happy book, so don't read this if you only like happy books. Otherwise, if you have an appreciation for great world-building and intricate mythologies, like I do, then definitely read this. Also, if you want strong female characters, because two of the main characters are female and very strong, and their whole society is probably like 90% women, all of whom are strong in their own ways. If you like stories about stories, this is a good choice. If you want your breath taken away--in all the ways, but especially all the best ways--then this, my friend, is a must-read for you. Read it. Yes. You. Read. Read it. Readdddddd it.

Rating: Five stars.