Review: Threads by Sophia Bennett!

I'm getting used to this. And used to thinking up good points for the big review. Which is what this is. In 27 days, 5 hours, 56 minutes and 24 seconds, the finale of the Threads series is released onto the bookshelf. And with it will come tears, cheers and a wedding gown. I am on tenderhooks. See below of the blurb of the third book, Sequins, Stars and Spotlights, which is on my first wishlist for the new challenge. And fall in love.

But before that, there are two other installments. These hold a trip to India, a boy with a sweaty upper lip *shiver*, a girl in a tutu and two beautiful covers. One that has three versions. WEIRD? But still gorgeous. Over Christmas, I reread the first, Threads, and here is all details - which might get you hooked. Hopefully.

When Nonie and her best friends, Jenny and Edie, find a girl with an afro and a taste for fashion, it changes their lives. The whole book is about how Crow, the girl with the afro, starts her glittering career in fashion by designing a collection for London Fashion Week. And how Jenny copes with being the newest movie star on the block, and Edie becoming the top-notch student of every teacher's dream.

At first, it was hard for me to understand it all, but three chapters in and I was loving every word. The details of the dresses, based on the Twelve Dancing Princess, thrilled me and so did the turvy Jenny story. By the end, the characters are like your best friends! Fourteen-year-old Nonie narrates, which is witty and fun, and Sophia Bennett has made her individual and as stand out as the three people around her, being the only one who's future is unclear.

The plot of Crow was neverending and linked to almost everything brilliantly, solving all the answers of the questions you have. The idea of a young fashion designer changing your lives is so unusual yet it is written as if it is entirely real. If that makes sense! It's a heartwarming novel with a lovely ending, with just enough to keep you hanging on for the next one. Which is even more FABULOUS.

I have heard of four covers - the Giles Decon one, then three versions of the one above. I have the one upwards, which is my personal favourite, though I suppose I like them all. Except for the silver dress one, which doesn't match and doesn't really give off the striking, 'isn't that awesome?' feel of the whole novel!

Ratings:

Cover: 8.5/10.

Plot: 10/10.

Characters: 10/10.

Written style: 10/10.

Total: 38.5/40 = TOTAL.MUST.READ.

Published August 2009 by Chicken House. Paperback format: 272 Pages: 11+

Winner of The Times/Chicken House fiction competition 2009.