Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee

GoTaS #1

Book Summary via Goodreads:

"In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe.

     In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her.

     Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power."

I received this book from NetGalley for review.

The synopsis of this book drew me in instantly, and I thought the cover was interesting as well, but I wasn't entirely sure what to think of this book. 

Kai is kind of a unique character in some ways. She doesn't have some deluded idea of being strong and super capable of being independent, she depends on her adoptive brother Reev, and relies on him a great deal. While she does know how to defend herself she doesn't seem to like to do it if she can avoid it.

Reev isn't in enough of this book for me to know what kind of character he will end up being, all the side characters were different from each other, and I liked all of them even the "villains". 

Avan, he was slightly harder to get a feel for, for most of the book. For a good portion of the book I was worried if he was going to end up just being a pointless love interest, but thankfully the book hardly focused on Kai's attraction to Avan and focused more on her goal and interest in finding her brother.

That was another great thing about this book, while there was a hinting of a romance, that was never the focus. And whenever Kai started to think about wanting to kiss Avan she always reminded herself that she had more important things to worry about than her crush on Avan..

This book was well written, fast paced with unique and interesting characters. I think it's a book that everyone should check out.