The Fall 2024 Light Novel Guide

A Woven Attachment

What's It About? 

As the notorious magical spinstress of her small kingdom of Falworth, Emmy finds herself in quite the pickle. A neighboring kingdom's forces are on the move – and this means trouble for Falworth. In her attempts to save her beloved home, she's caught between a mischievous crown prince and the stoic commander of the knights. But in a world where people, politics and motivations are never what they seem, this seamstress is about to get tangled up in a whole lot more than thread.

A Woven Attachment has a story by Matchamo, with English translation by Tapas Entertainment. Published by Tapas Entertainment.

Is It Worth Reading?

In the grand scheme of things, A Woven Attachment isn't the worst thing I've read. It's not isekai (although that's not a judgment on isekai, just an observation about its prevalence), it's not nonsensical, and none of the characters are so annoying as to ruin the story, all things that have been issues in other Guide titles, or at least irritants. No, what A Woven Attachment is is unremarkable and somewhat shoddily written. It's somewhere just south of mediocre, and that can be enough to move it toward the bottom of the “to read” pile.

Mostly this feels like it comes down to authorial inexperience. While I don't know that it's author Matchamo's first book (or first serialization), it does read like it could be. The plot makes sense, but it isn't well written, with heroine Emmy suffering from Special Snowflake Syndrome and attempts to make the world and language interesting or quirky falling flat. Emmy, the daughter of bakers, tends to exclaim things like “Jumping biscuits! Blast a berry cobbler!” and awkward turns of phrase like “she had a pocketful of magic up her sleeve” pepper the narrative, while the occasional misuse of a homophone stands out, like writing “hair-brained” instead of “hare-brained.” It's a shame, because there are some good elements to this story, particularly in Emmy's profession as the Yarn Spinstress, a form of magic fabric artisan able to imbue traits into fabric she stitches by using specific thread-based spells. We've seen this work in other stories, such as Maiden of the Needle, and it's the strongest element of Matchamo's book.

The other persistent issue is that Emmy is just way too attractive to handsome, high-ranking men for no good reason. When Prince Yuki and Guard Commander Theo meet her, they have no idea that she's the Yarn Spinstress; there's just something about her that makes them immediately obsessed. This clearly isn't Emmy's fault, and she's largely oblivious to it, but that unfortunately just adds to the half-baked YA feel of the story. She's amazing because we're told she is, not because we see her do anything that proves it. Very little is earned or shown, making this feel like the immature work of an author who is likely to be a much stronger author later on.

I do think that's true because A Woven Attachment does improve throughout these twenty chapters. It can't completely shake off its issues, but it gets more readable and engaging as it goes on. I suspect that reading it one or two chapters at a time will also work in the story's favor, but taken as a whole, this is hampered by some clear problems, even though they do start to lessen over the pages.

Lauren Orsini
Rating:

So this is that “cozy fantasy” genre I've been hearing so much about! This light novel is supremely domestic and chill, centered around homely pursuits like sewing and baking. Characters are always enjoying good conversation over a steaming cup of tea or biting into a fresh baked croissant. True to its genre, this is an otome story with a love triangle at its core, but A Woven Attachment is more about setting the stage for some seriously cozy vibes. Brief, bite-sized chapters make this novel a quick read even though the occasional odd word or translation choice gave me pause.

Emmaline, known affectionately as Emmy, is your textbook otome heroine. Not only is she effortlessly gorgeous, she's also a commoner with uncommon magic powers. She has drawn the eye of both the prince of the kingdom and the captain of the guard, not to mention befriended the kingdom's famously icy princess. But lest you think all this attention has made her haughty, she's pointedly down to earth: absorbed in her work as a magical spinstress, a unique occupation in which she spins literal gemstones into magic thread. I say unique because she's the only person in the entire kingdom who can do it. “Blazing biscuits!” as Emmy would say, and often does. Her pastry-inflected speech is come by honestly, as her family operates a bakery in town which, despite its humble location, draws such illustrious patrons as the aforementioned prince, princess, and captain of the guard. The bread must be just that good!

This may be an escapist fantasy, but I occasionally jolted back to reality thanks to the writing style. Some odd translation choices (“weathery days” and “moseyed in the park” have stuck with me) and unusual typos have me wondering whether machine translation was used, as well as whether the novel takes place in Scotland. (“Gloaming hour,” anyone?) This is always a hazard of reading translated light novels with dubiously compensated localizers. What kept me reading through it, however, was that the plot is less like an airy cream puff and more like a cinnamon roll, grooved with layer after layer. Sure Emmy is sweet, but eventually we get acquainted with her fiery streak when she senses injustice, and that's the most interesting thing about her. And while the love triangle isn't special (will Emmy choose the playful dude or the serious one? Let's waffle about it for 30 more chapters!) there's a deeper storyline in which Emmy investigates a mysterious trade border blockade. It's cozy, yes, but it's more than a pretty pastry.