Review: Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibanez

Hello friends – I hope everyone had a good Fourth of July! 🇺🇸🇺🇸

Every once in a while I’m going to be posting a book review – this is my first one and I’m super excited to share it with y’all! So without further ado, I give you: WOVEN IN MOONLIGHT by Isabel Ibanez!

A lush tapestry of magic, romance, and revolución, drawing inspiration from Bolivian politics and history.

Ximena is the decoy Condesa, a stand-in for the last remaining Illustrian royal. Her people lost everything when the usurper, Atoc, used an ancient relic to summon ghosts and drive the Illustrians from La Ciudad. Now Ximena’s motivated by her insatiable thirst for revenge, and her rare ability to spin thread from moonlight.

When Atoc demands the real Condesa’s hand in marriage, it’s Ximena’s duty to go in her stead. She relishes the chance, as Illustrian spies have reported that Atoc’s no longer carrying his deadly relic. If Ximena can find it, she can return the true aristócrata to their rightful place.

She hunts for the relic, using her weaving ability to hide messages in tapestries for the resistance. But when a masked vigilante, a warm-hearted princess, and a thoughtful healer challenge Ximena, her mission becomes more complicated. There could be a way to overthrow the usurper without starting another war, but only if Ximena turns her back on revenge—and her Condesa.

THAT FIRST LINE. Magic, romance, and revolution? That’s an auto-buy for me. Let’s dive in to this fantastic work of art.

First the plot. Friends, this was an emotional rollercoaster. Ximena’s drive and passion is so relatable – her people conquered by another people? She wants revenge? Understandable, especially when the ruler of these said people is an, to put it in simpler words, awful guy. And with Ximena being the decoy condesa (countess) she struggles with who she really is and who she’s pretending to be, while also dealing with a new perspective of the people who are supposed to be her enemies. This book grabbed me from the first chapter.

The characters and their development. Wow, Isabel Ibanez knocked it out of the park. I can’t get into much for fear of spoilers, but let’s just say that she did a fantastic job weaving in the plot twists with Ximena’s shifting thoughts and opinions.

The romance. Again, can’t get into much, but let’s just say that there was just enough of it and was mixed perfectly with the other subplots.

The climax. Since this is spoiler-free, I’ll just say that the rising tension was perfect, the climax perfectly drawn out yet cut short, and the resolution satisfying. I think one of the ways this was accomplished so well is how tentatively each plot twist was revealed, and how each one was, like I said above, related to Ximena’s development.

Conclusion. Like I said before, WOVEN IN MOONLIGHT is, in my opinion, a masterpiece. It actually made TIME’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time, and I think it’s because of the book’s depth. It really makes you think, really makes you wonder if you would choose forgiveness over war, acceptance over hate. And Ximena’s story beautifully displays how gray the world really is – there’s no such thing as black and white. Five out of five stars.