I can honestly say that I’ve never read a fantasy world quite like this one. The planet of Lyra never experiences day. There is only night, where the moon, called Selene, provides some light, and then Darknight, a pitch-blackness that’s dominated by the Void, an evil blight that is slowly devouring Lyra.

Lyra is a moonlit planet. Think glowing mushrooms. Floating jellyfish. Foxfire dust. Barnett has dreamed up a literal “dream” world that evokes a sense of glittering night, without feeling “dark” as in evil.

Lyrians are trying to heal the Void by harvesting magical threads from human dreams. Nova, our protagonist, is a young harvester, and one day, she meets a boy in a dream who recognizes her. He shouldn’t even see or sense her presence. But he knows her name!

This is the entry point into Thread of Dreams. I will say that there’s a decently steep learning curve when it comes to this fantasy universe, but the author does a great job of sprinkling the world-building throughout the book, helping you along. But there were times when I forgot what a certain thing was…maybe a glossary for the second edition?

I loved the character dynamics. Nova has an older sister, Cally, who has taken care of her since their parents died when they were kids. The bond of sisterhood is strong with this one. There is a core group of young people who must do great deeds to help save Lyra. I don’t want to spoil anything. All I’m trying to say is that there is a nice plot-character balance here.

You’ll love this if you want a YA fantasy that includes adventure and romance but that doesn’t involve graphic violence, sex, or profanity. There IS romance here, and Nova is pretty young, just thirteen when the book starts, but she ages to sixteen (if I’m remembering right) by the end. I feel that this is a nice choice if you have a teen girl who is hankering after romantic books but you don’t want her to read anything icky.

Meet the Author, Emily Barnett
Check out the interview I did with Emily over on Library Binding.