Sorrow's Knot

by Erin Bow

Winner of the 2014 Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy, from the author of Plain Kate . At the very edge of the world live the Shadowed People. And with them live the dead.There, in the village of Westmost, Otter is born to power. She is the proud daughter of Willow, the greatest binder of the dead in generations. It will be Otter’s job someday to tie the knots of the ward, the only thing that keeps the living safe.Kestrel is training to be a ranger, one of the brave women who venture into the forest to gather whatever the Shadowed People can’t live without and to fight off whatever dark threat might slip through the ward’s defenses.And Cricket wants to be a storyteller -- already he shows the knack, the ear -- and already he knows dangerous secrets. But something is very wrong at the edge of the world. Willow’s power seems to be turning inside out. The ward is in danger of falling. And lurking in the shadows, hungry, is a White Hand, the most dangerous of the dead, whose very touch means madness, and worse.Suspenseful, eerie, and beautifully imagined.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Magic, Horror, Ghosts, Young Adult Fantasy

352 pages, Hardcover

First published October 29, 2013

About the author

TEN THINGS ABOUT ME:

1. I'm a physicist turned poet turned YA novelist.
2. I am world-famous in Canada, which is kind of like being world-famous in real life.
3. I write books for young readers and people like me who didn't grow up. All my books will either will make you either cry on the bus or snort milk out your nose. I am dangerous to your dignity and should be stopped.
4. I needed WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS to have a happy ending, so I wrote a middle-grade book called STAND ON THE SKY
5. I needed a book with a Spock-like hero who was also a queer girl, so I wrote THE SCORPION RULES, and its sequel THE SWAN RIDERS.
6. I think cats can actually talk, but don't find us worthy, hence PLAIN KATE.
7. I hate horror, so I wrote a horror: SORROW'S KNOT,
7. I think Hufflepuff is the best house, Xander was the best Scoobie, Five was the best Doctor, and Spock was the best everything.
8. I am married to another novelist, and we can actually pay our bills. Our daughters want to be scientists.
10. My bookshelves will always be full.

Reviews

[jv poore · Rating 5 out of 5]

How many times have you asked “Why?” only to be told (with a bit of exasperation) “Because, we’ve always done it this way!” From the outside looking in, this can be frustrating, a non-answer. It doesn’t explain a thing and it seems somewhat defensive and stubborn. Of course, if you have “always done it this way”, and there are no obvious repercussions, the old “if it ain’t broke…..” adage may seem more than adequate. With that philosophy, there would be no progress, no improvements, we would become stagnant. The devil’s advocate may wonder, what is wrong with that? Well, Sorrow’s Knot shows us.

I finished this book awhile ago, but writing this review has been challenging. I could almost write two different reviews---both hugely in favour of the book. It is truly fantastic. The unique and subtle life lessons were spot-on and welcome. As an adult (chronologically), a mom, a short-time former educator and self-proclaimed promoter of the written word; I find this to be a stand-out book. On the other hand, the book loving, adolescent inside of me just thinks it is a kick-ass story.

First, the appeal to the intended Middle-Grade audience: allow me to gush about the Rock-Star-Quality characters. Otter, Cricket and Kestrel are unique and likeable, individually; but as the tightly knit trio, they are outstanding! I want to hang out with Kestrel, be her BFF. She is my new heroine. I could spend days completing menial tasks if Cricket was there to tell me stories. The friendship among them surpasses all, including the laws that their people have forever lived by. Together, they face mystery, intrigue, love and death.

Strengths exhibited by Kestrel, a female ranger are more real, and therefore way cooler, than the modern-day vampire. Sweeter romance will not be easily found. In their world, okishae, said to mean mate, pair, knot. It is the exception, not the rule. Okishae lasts a lifetime. Two humans choosing to love each other, exclusively and forever, is not just rare, it is strange. That which is feared, The White Hand, is a brand-new (or newly introduced) creepy, eerie and scary entity. The vagueness surrounding it adds to the mystique and makes for a bone-chilling tale. As their sheltered life begins to unravel, Otter and Kestrel are faced with decisions that will impact, not just them, but the entire population of Westmost and potentially beyond. Unceremoniously joined up with a complete stranger in Orca; the ladies will be forced to choose where to place their trust. Should they accept Orca’s wild tales or continue believing what they’ve always been told? The many twists and turns are thought-provoking and entertaining, making this one of the grooviest books I’ve read this year.

Now—a quick adult-themed note: I love that the village is mostly women, that a monogamous relationship is an oddity, that a Story-Teller plays such a vital role in the community and that the adolescences are so strong, smart and capable. Most of all, I loved the purity and loyalty that came with their friendship. These might not leap out as attributes to the intended audience, but the strength and solidarity that they lend to the story will not be missed.

This review was written for Buried Under Books Blog.

[Keertana · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I had realized how apt the title of this novel is, perhaps I wouldn't have picked it up. In her sophomore novel, Erin Bow, weaves an eerie tale of grief; of the living, of the dead, and our inability to let go of our loved ones. Granted, it's a fairly weighty subject matter, but that doesn't discount the fact that this book blew my mind. I just didn't see it coming. Sorrow's Knot is fantasy at its best: creepy and alluring; is contemporary at its finest: realistic and honest emotions; and horror at its creepiest: shivering but sure.

Sorrow's Knot takes place in a land much like North America, ruled by matriarchal societies in which boys, after becoming men, leave their homes, never to seen or heard from again. It is the women, in this world, who are born with power; the power to create knots. Rangers, to create the knots that will hunt animals and protect the villages; Storytellers, to create the knots that will make their tales all the more real; and Binders, to create the knots that will help the dead to depart from the living. And yet, the Binders are of utmost importance to these tribes, not just because of their duty to help the dead pass on, but because they have the power to keep away the White Hand, an evil manifestation of a human spirit kept on Earth. Otter, the daughter of Willow, the strongest Binder since Mad Spider herself, has always known that she will become a Binder herself one day. When Willow, however, refuses to take on Otter as an apprentice, claiming the knots have turned against themselves, Otter is left with immense power and little training. And, worst of all, White Hands lie near, waiting to touch the minds of the living and turn them insane. With her life slowly unraveling, spiraling out of control in every way, Otter is left with only one choice: find a way to stop the White Hands or become one herself.

Bow's novel is enticing from the very first page itself; impossible to put down. Otter's world is so different from our own, but Bow's world-building is woven throughout the tale, in the little things. In the customs, in the phrases, in the relationships. Nothing is explicitly stated, but rather subtly hinted at; folklore repeated, clues scattered, and dialogue haunting. It's a masterpiece to read, merely because the writing is so beautiful and chilling at the same time. The White Hands of Bow's novel are utterly creepy, being slowly built-up into the terrifying monsters they truly are. In fact, the reason this book excels is precisely because everything is built up slowly, especially the relationships. As a novel dealing with grief, there is - obviously - a large presence of death throughout the story, but despite knowing this, our hearts involuntarily go towards these characters, becoming enraptured by their tales and brutal realities. Sorrow's Knot is deeply emotional because of these connections; because we come to empathize so deeply with these real-life people and are just as hurt when darkness and sorrow come their way.

One of my favorite aspects of this tale, however, is Otter. As a protagonist, Otter is unrivaled, particularly in the realistic influx of her emotions. From the first moment we are introduced to her itself, Otter is full of gray matter: hating her mother for abandoning her, but loving her nevertheless; terrified of her lack of a role in society, but courageous enough to stand up for what she believes in; desperate to fit in, but fiercely loyal no matter what. Every one of the relationships Otter sustains - particularly with her best friends Kestrel and Cricket - is shockingly nuanced. Kestrel, Cricket, and Otter are a fierce trio, constantly there for one another. Kestrel and Cricket's romance - short, but sweet - is never a detriment to their friendship with Otter and only strengthens the bonds between them. Kestrel, a Ranger, and Cricket, a Storyteller, both play important roles in this novel, right alongside Otter, the Binder. From the beginning to the end, their friendship is strong and true, realistic and bold, practically unseen in its honesty. And that, plain and simple, is what I loved so much about the characters in this novel; they were flawed, but proud of who they were, never romanticized or dishonestly portrayed. With the subject matter that she tackled, it was integral for Bow to keep her characters realistic, even in their cruelty, and that came across so well, particularly within the cast of secondary characters who make up the people of this village.

Although there is a romance in this novel, it isn't a focus. In fact, it only emerges during the last quarter, or so, of the story, but still manages to be well-developed and poignant. Sorrow's Knot is very much a creeping mystery, a slow unraveling of the truths hidden in this society. The Rangers, Storytellers, and Binders are kept apart, sworn to secrecy to never reveal their knots and lessons to one another. It's a strange realm, that's for sure, and it's particularly jarring to see males referred to as weak, merely because it's so far from the truth of our own patriarchal society today. Yet, I love that this novel, though looking at a flipped society of female dominance, never veers away from the main plot threads. With her world, Bow manages to touch upon many intriguing topics - the power of secrets, the misconceptions society leaves us with - but those only enrich her tale. With many authors, it's easy to get carried away by these side issues or, more often, ignore their impact on the characters, but Bow strikes such a perfect balance between her tale, her world, and her characters.

Frankly speaking, Sorrow's Knot is a novel one simply has to experience. It's difficult to put into words exactly why it works, but it just does. It's unique, on so many different levels, and leaves such a jarring impact; of our world, of our afterlife, and of death in general. Although it seems to be a very heavy novel, it truly is more horror-story-esque than anything else. And yet, I wouldn't hesitate to thrust it upon any unsuspecting passer-by. I can certainly promise you one thing: it'll leave your hearts in knots. Ones you just won't want to untie.

You can read this review and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings.

[Tamora Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gut-wrenching, beautiful, scary tale of three friends, a Storyteller, a Hunter, and a Binder (she ties knots that tie things together, and sometimes release them), whose village is surrounded by the ghosts of the dead. Most of them can be dealt with, but the horrifying White Hands will devour the spirits of the living, and return to trap others. Only a Binder can bind the newly dead so they won't return as White Hands. And the most terrifying White Hand of all is one who was once a Binder.

This is, quite literally, a book that will haunt you.

[Eilonwy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otter, Kestrel, and Cricket belong to the Shadow People, where everyone has a calling. Otter is destined to be a binder, weaving knots to keep her people safe from danger. Kestrel is a ranger, expert in forest lore. And Cricket is a story teller. But the forest is haunted by the dead, and no one is truly safe. When tragedy strikes, it will take all three talents to finally try to break the curse.

This book is very hard to describe. It's set in a magical North America, somewhere just to the east of the Cascade Mountains (I'm guessing), and seems inspired by Native tribes without actually being specific. The story is essentially horror ... and yet it's so much more. This is one of the most beautifully written and emotional books I've read in a long time. It's dark and heartbreaking, but balanced with wonder and discovery. I loved every word of it.

I found myself completely drawn into this world right from Page 1. The story can be a little confusing, since there are no infodumps, just Otter's knowledge and the things she learns stirred into the book in little spoonfuls, but I liked this total immersion, and how I had to glean useful facts and make connections right along with Otter. I was completely absorbed -- nearly missing my subway stops, and living in this story constantly even when I wasn't reading. I loved the little magics these people had discovered, and how the magic was just accepted, with no explanation necessary. I loved the friendship between Otter, Kestrel, and Cricket; they share a deep love for one another that transcends the usual YA romance and made for a unique spin here. I don't want to say too much more for fear of spoilers. This book is best just experienced, I think.

This is a quiet but powerful story, very different from anything else I've read. I may forget the details, but the spell it cast is going to stay with me for a long time. And I've got to read more books by Erin Bow.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who told me to read this? Was it one of you? I know it was recommended in relation to Killer of Enemies but I can't find a comment or review that suggested I read this instead of that. It was Addley.
Well, whoever it was Addley: Thank you. This is a phenomenal story except for that last 1/4 and that was just personal taste on my part.

Here is a not-dragons/castles/European-based fantasy that centers on the balance between life and death. Literally. There are little deaths (neither the Shakespearean nor Victorian kinds) waiting in the shadows and they can get a person but they’re just as easy as any other shadow to get rid of, as long as one stays vigilant.

Not so easy to deal with are the big deaths, the out of balance deaths, the hungry ghosts who want their humanity back and know of only one way to get it.

It’s also a lovely parable on not holding on too tightly, not to your loved ones, not to your secrets, not to your beliefs. Attachment can cause problems for everyone, living and dead, for years and years.

In this tale, women have the power to cast magic through knots. Binders are in charge of making sure the wind, the rain, and the ravens take the dead so they can’t come back as White Hands (fun related experiment: wrap a string around your wrist too tightly and watch what happens to your hand! And then take the string off so your hand can get blood and you don't get nerve damage) Otter is a binder, or will be after her sunflower days are over and she enters a cord (profession). Her two best friends, Kestrel and Cricket, also at the end of their sunflower days, expect to be entering cords soon, as well, though Cricket really should be moving out of the home pinch and off to the plains where the buffalo roam because he’s a male and only females control magic.
Spoiler: Things don't turn out as planned.

There is so much grief, so much sorrow in this book, it’s amazing any reader could possibly enjoy it. However, it’s also beautifully written, simple yet evocative. It’s based in North American Indigenous folklore instead of the more European fairy tale we (Disney Americans) are used to. The characters are fully-realized and well-developed and the setting is rich and powerful. While the magic via yarn is never explained, it just makes sense that whatever these women are doing, it works.

My one problem with this story was the addition of Orca. I felt introducing him diminished Kestrel’s and Otter’s journey and growth, that he was mainly thrown in so that Otter could have someone to love and that rubbed me the wrong way, it felt too "This can't be a YA without romance so let's give her a guy!" Bleargh. Again, though, that's personal taste on my part - I think romance is gross.

Other than that, however, this is a beautiful story about strong women from a matriarchal society that do their best to keep their traditions alive while those coming into their own are realizing that perhaps some traditions are harmful and need to die.

Now. On another note - I have some feelings of discomfort regarding the author.
Again, this is a fantasy based on Native American cultures in the North American upper Midwest area (the Black Hills, in particular) The author did a ton of research about the area and she talked to storytellers and she tried hard to reimagine without stealing, which I feel she did well. In fact, she did everything a white person writing about another culture, however loosely, should do.
If this were 1988, even 1998, I would probably be applauding her for her thorough and thoughtful representation of her Native American-inspired characters in their Black Hills-inspired environment.
This was published near the end of 2013. Several months later, #weneeddiversebooks started on Twitter and a substream of that asked specifically for books written #inourownvoices meaning that no matter how perfectly a default writer can represent a non-default character, a non-default writer gives non-default characters more legitimacy. Yes, I know this book was written before all that and was probably in the works several years prior to #ownvoices. The idea was still in our consciousness, though; it's not like Twitter was the first place any of us had ever encountered the idea of backing off and letting non-default people tell their stories in their voices.

In this case, it's like what the Native American wing at my local museum is now expressing. The display was recently refurbished to include contemporary Native American art (the pieces below are not from said display) because while this:

[Blackfoot Reverence by James Ayer]
may be an accurate portrayal, it is also a romanticized rendition of what we want to believe. It's a beautiful piece (found here) and the artist is clearly paying homage to the cultures he's experienced and obviously loves and admires. That doesn't change the fact that is fan art at a professional level.

However, this:

[Untitled (Blue Dancer with Headdress) by Acee Blue Eagle]
is an expression of the artist's lived experience (found here). It may not be as masterfully rendered but it's primary source material, if you will. I don't want to say it's more authentic because that implies the other painting is not authentic which would be untrue. But this is art from the source while the other is art one degree removed from the source.
It's the same with writing.
This story is gorgeous but it's second-hand material because it was not written by a person who has direct ties to the people used as the model for these characters.

The author (ditto the painter above) didn't do anything wrong - she had a powerful folkloric story she needed to tell and she told it beautifully (except for that freakin' love interest, dammit!) - but I am not confident she did the right thing, either, despite her diligence and respect and research.
Would there have been a better way to tell this story? She says it didn't fit in the Eurocentric fantasy framework and I believe her. I can't think of another way this story should have been told, either, and I loved it (except that last quarter, dammit!) but I still have dissonance over a white woman telling this tale.

[Renna Mira (AKA Enna Isilee) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waffling between 3 and 4 stars. So... 3.5?

I loved this story and the world and the characters. HOWEVER I never really understood what was going on...

This was one of those books (and maybe there's a word for this?) where they never actually come out an explain anything. You are just supposed to piece things together by watching the characters live their lives. And maybe it's just because my brain is super tired from senior semester, but I just could never wrap my brain fully around anything. I found myself CRAVING an omniscient narrator who would explain the rules of the world to me, or a new character to stumble in so that the existing characters would have to explain what was going on to him/her. And even though a new character eventually DID stumble into the world, the existing characters DIDN'T explain anything. At least, not more than they already had. They just expected the new character to figure it out, just like me.

Things that I wish had been more fully explained:

1. What exactly is "binding"? Where did it come from? How was it discovered? Why does string have power? Does ANY kind of knot have power?

2. Where do the dead come from? (honestly, I only JUST realized that the dead come from shadows, and that's why the traveling folk don't come to the forest often. They're trying to avoid shadows.)

3. How is the society organized? I was kind of able to piece together the idea of the cords, but I would have liked to know more about the different kinds and options, what it takes to belong in each.

4. Why aren't there very many boys? Why do only women have power? Has there EVER been a boy with power? Do the boys leave because they DON'T have power, or just because it's the norm for boys to leave?

I THINK that all of these things were in the book somewhere, but they were never explicitly explained. And so I feel like in order to answer these questions I'd have to do a lot of guesswork and fill-in-the-blank.

With all that said, I did REALLY enjoy the book. Maybe if I had gone into it after having read some kind of author's note or summary it would have helped. OR if this had been a book club book and so I could now TALK to people about it. But as it is, here I am 400 pages later and I'm STILL not quite sure what happened...

[Kogiopsis · Rating 5 out of 5]

2025 reread as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: yet again, I'm just using this as an excuse to revisit Erin Bow books, and of course I'm keeping it. It's a meditation on the pain of unprocessed grief and it's lovely and sad in all the right ways.


Original 2015 review:
Once again, I've picked up an Erin Bow book, and once again I find myself struggling for words that aren't 'just read this, it's beautiful'. I'm gonna try to articulate it better, but I might not be able to so... just read this, it's beautiful.


Comparisons between this book and Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series are probably inevitable, since both share the concept of binding the dead so that they may not walk again. They are, however, fundamentally different sorts of stories: the Abhorsen books are adventure tales at their heart, rife with magic in numerous forms and culminating in a great confrontation. Sorrow's Knot is a character-driven story and fundamentally turns on themes of grief. The adventure is less sweeping, the goal and the resolution more personal. It is a tight knot of a story, the kind that must be picked at with fingernails and teeth and leaves the string bent when it finally comes free.

The writing is... simply incredible. I don't really know how else to put it. Erin Bow's descriptions are flowing and lyrical (and speaking as someone who's spent a lot of time in the Rockies, accurate both in environment description and in capturing the feeling of the landscape). Her use of words is elegantly balanced between beauty and economy, and it's consistently so throughout the book - I feel like I could flip open to a page at random and find something to quote. Actually, I did that, and:

"She says everything is too tight but the rope is rotting."
The cornmeal gave a last great glub, like someone drowning.
A silence tightened, and Fawn said: "She says it will be soon."

And from another segment, two economical sentences that horrified me and turned my stomach:

"Cricket had a story - do you know it? - about the lost woman who was starving, and wished that everything she touched would turn to meat? And then she found her children…"

Everything in this book is so careful and beautiful and meticulous and I just can't get over it or put it into clearer words.

I would be remiss, too, to mention the setting and not discuss it a bit more at least - especially the fact that the cultures Bow describes are clearly Native American-based, with nary a white person in sight. The acknowledgements for the book make it clear that this was done with much research, ranging from modern botanists to historical accounts to consulting actual sacred drummers. I'm not Native myself, so I can't speak to the accuracy of the details, but I certainly did get a strong sense of a uniquely and wholly non-European fantasy setting here.

Unlike Plain Kate, I didn't find this book to be a tearjerker. It was more of a heartstring-tugger, really; deeper and quieter and slower. What it has in common most with its predecessor (other than gorgeous prose) is staying power: this is a book that will sit in the back of your mind for a long time after you turn the last page.

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved the beginning of this book, and was sure it'd be a five star read, but then something seemed to change. I still can't quite put my finger on it... it's possible that it was the late love interest, and how that felt really rushed, or more likely that the latter pace of the book/writing didn't pick up where I had expected (and wanted) it too.

The writing is not bad by any means, and at first it was perfect; sparse, eloquent, imaginative, but then I got to some point in which I expected to see a more frantic pace as the climax and revelation built, but it just stayed really slow.

Why are the middle-of-the-road books the hardest to review? I like the story, but it didn't blow me away. I won't forget the main concept, but I'll likely forget the names of the characters. I stayed up late reading, but it didn't have me tensed up in anticipation. I wouldn't want to tell people it's not a good read, but I'm not going to readily recommend it either.

It's all so confusing.

[Misty]

I am the first to mark this as to-read. Muahaha!!!!

(That's because I added it! =P )

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sorrow’s Knot had some big footsteps in which to follow, since Erin Bow’s debut novel Plain Kate was pretty terrific. But I’m pleased to report that Sorrow’s Knot not only lived up to my expectations but exceeded them. This is a fantastic novel, and better than Plain Kate.

Sorrow’s Knot is set in a world that feels a lot like the Pacific Northwest, and draws from (without copying anyone or anything in particular) Native American cultures. The heroine, Otter, is growing up in a village that is almost exclusively made up of women. She is the daughter of Willow, the village’s Binder, whose task it is to bind the dead — both figuratively and literally — so that they cannot return in ghostly form to harm the living. But now Willow is going mad, and making cryptic statements about the binding knots being “wrong” in some way that spells danger for the whole village. When terrible things begin to happen, it’s up to Otter and her friends to piece together disparate bits of lore, get to the root of what’s wrong, and, possibly, change their world.

Bow draws us into the novel from the very beginning with her prose and the unique rhythm of it:

The girl who remade the world was born in winter.

It was the last day of the Nameless Moon, and bitterly cold. For as long as she could, the girl’s mother, whose name was Willow, walked round and round the outside of the midwife’s lodge, leaning on the earthen walls when pains came fiercely. Willow’s hair was full of sweat, and her body was steaming like a hot spring. She was trailed by a mist of ice that glittered in the bitter sunlight. She looked like a comet.

She looked like what she was: a woman of power.


Later, when Bow turns her talents toward describing the restless dead, the result is absolutely spine-chilling. Make no mistake: Sorrow’s Knot is a scary book.

Characterization is terrific: Otter and her friends Kestrel and Cricket are beautifully drawn and have a great bond with plenty of warmth, humor, and sadness to go around, and the novel’s other characters are well-developed too. No one is a cardboard bad guy here and you really feel like you understand where everyone is coming from, even when they make the wrong choices.

As you might guess by the title, there’s a great deal of sorrow in V, and yet to me this is a more hopeful tale than Plain Kate. For all that I loved Plain Kate, there was sometimes a sense that life was just heaping tragedy on Kate nonstop, while Otter gets to have more peaceful moments in the sun between disasters, and more people who love her.

Read this one if you liked Plain Kate, and also if you liked Sarah Beth Durst’s Vessel; like the latter, it’s a story of a young woman who learns something has gone wrong in her people’s spiritual system, and also like Vessel it’s set in a refreshingly non-European world. Read it, too, if you love strong friendships and mother-daughter tales and having the socks scared off you, and romance that’s just enough to add richness to the plot without devouring it. Sorrow’s Knot is one of the best books I’ve read this year, and I strongly recommend it.

fantasyliterature.com

[Gina (My Precious Blog) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a good start to my 2014 reading. I'm a huge fan of Erin Bow. With talent and ease she crafted one of my favorite stories of all time, Plain Kate. When it was announced she had released another novel, of course I couldn't pass it up when I saw it available on Netgalley. It was with eager anticipation I opened the ebook file and began to read. Near the beginning I was hopeful. As the story progressed sadly the disappointment factor increased with each passing page. The story had potential. The world building touted as unique, imaginative and different drew me to the book, but it did not deliver the type of story I was hoping for. The book felt like it takes place in the distant past with a Native American fantasy world setting. Its told in a third person narrative through the eyes of the main character Otter, a binder. Pacing is slow, slow, slow. Right from the beginning I didn't understanding the setting, I couldn't picture the world in my head and I had no idea what to make of it all. The shadow creatures just cropped up out of nowhere and totally caught me off guard. The characters lived in a tribe in a place (well I think its a place) called "The Pinch". In the tribe their were Binders, Rangers and Story Tellers. Children were asked to chose what trade they would learn when they reached age sixteen. Since I was so baffled by it all, I confided with a few fellow bloggers, to find out what the heck my problem was. They all explained it was a metaphorical read. Therein lies the problem. I am not a cerebral or metaphorical reader. I like my stories, black and white, concrete with little areas of gray. The vast majority of this story is gray! I guess I just wasn't the right reader for this book. Erin Bow's writing as always was brilliantly scripted with eloquent details and description. This I enjoyed. However, with this book, unlike Plain Kate, she did tend to be repetitive at times, especially with particular words and phrases. Maybe this was to give it a more tribal feel? I don't know. This wasn't working for me at all. I kept reading over and over "Mad Spider bound the knots too tight." - or something to that affect. This began to grate on my nerves. Another piece of the plot which wasn't working for me was all the non-stop story telling. Was it just me or did the phrase "tell me a story..." seem overused? I was sick to death of stories by the end of this one. Oh, and speaking of death, far too many characters died in this book for no particular reason what so ever. The strange thing for me, though was it didn't affect me at all. In Erin Bow's Plain Kate, she had me in tears, but in this one, I felt absolutely no emotion what-so-ever. As for the characters, Otter, Kestrel and Cricket, I appreciated their friendships and loyalties to each other. They totally had each other's backs and would do anything for each other - even die - which should be pretty powerful. It wasn't enough to compel me to care. I never felt attached to them. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe because I didn't really get a chance to know them very well. In addition, the villains of the story were not concrete, the main evil being a white hand. Yes, that's right, you heard me a white hand! I needed more background information. I craved for more understanding and explanation for this one to work for me. I was left with far too many questions about the society, I just wasn't able to fill in the details without the author's help. She didn't provide me what I needed to grasp the world she was creating. I felt let down. The ending was painful in a long drawn out way. At this point, I just really wanted the story to end and it felt like it just kept going on and on. Sadly, the happiest part of this book for me was when I read the last page. This story was just not for me. That doesn't mean it wasn't a good story though. Many people enjoyed it. I would recommend this to readers looking for something completely different. People who can fill in details and form their own opinions with minimum backstory will appreciate this tale more than me. If you want native american tribal customs mixed with magic, a book with lots of mythology and stories, slow pacing and a cerebral, metaphorical read - this book would be a great fit.

[Nafiza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before we begin any sort of review on this novel, let me just say I’m a shameless Erin Bow fangirl. I read and loved Plain Kate which is an amazing book and one you need to read if you haven’t done so already.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s move on to Sorrow’s Knot. And I really don’t know where to start talking about this book. Honestly, I don’t. Okay, I can do this.

Sorrow’s Knot is brilliantly Canadian without being explicit about it. The novel tells a story; by that I mean I felt as though I was sitting around a fire, hearing about Otter, Cricket and Kestrel. There is something hypnotic about the narrative tone – the short and pithy sentences manage to be evocative despite their length. The cadence of the prose. There is a quiet intensity in the small, soft moments. The friendship is so beautifully expressed between Cricket and Otter, and Otter and Kestrel. While Cricket and Otter are good friends, I think I most empathized with the friendship between Kestrel and Otter. Theirs is an honest friend, not sugar-coated and falsely sunny. They trust each other to do the things they would not be able to do and there’s beauty in that.

Though the characters and their lifestyles and portrayals are suggestive of First Nations people, Bow avoids mention of any specific tradition or otherwise identifiable to a certain tribe or people and thus avoids any instances of cultural appropriation. A lot of time is devoted in making the Westmost people feel authentic in their rituals and traditions and I appreciate the research that must have been done to make it so. The fictional Westmost people are ruled by matriarchy and I love how this affects gender constructions. The novel explores themes of death and letting go in such a poignant and beautiful manner that even though your heart is breaking, you cannot help but read on.

Another aspect of the novel that I enjoyed very much is the distinction between the two girls. Kestrel is the character a YA novel would usually follow. She is the epitome of the strong heroine; the Katniss, of sorts. Otter, on the other hand, though not physically strong has strength of a different kind. It is interesting to have a nonconventional heroine for once. The romances in this novel are sweet and sad and I liked how cleverly the girls discuss physical relationships without shying away from it.

Sorrow’s Knot does not deal with the destruction of the world on a grand scale. It concerns itself with the lives of one particular group of people and goes deep into their mythology, their prejudices and their resistance to change. Readers who are more familiar with scenarios where the fate of the world rests upon the protagonists’ overly burdened shoulders may find themselves discomfited for a while. However, the realization that Otter’s world, though not very big, is just as important comes quick and with that realization, the reader will be swept away by the story of the binders and their knots.

The tension in the novel is exquisitely managed and readers’ emotions will react as though they are the strings in a finely strung violin. The tension continues to rise until you are almost despairing and then eases only to rise again. In other words, Erin Bow plays with your emotions. A lot. And you willingly read on, almost breathless with the anticipation, because you have to see Otter’s story to the end.

And what an end it is. You guys, I didn’t think I could love Sorrow’s Knot more than Plain Kate but I do. Definitely, strongly, recommended.

[Julianna Helms · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick reaction:

Excuse the cursing, but... I. FUCKING. LOVE. THIS. BOOK. I LOVE IT SO MUCH IT LITERALLY PAINS ME TO LET IT SLIP FROM MY FINGERS.

IT'S SO GOOD. SO SO GOOD. I CAN'T EVEN.

Definitely one of my top 3 all-time favorites, right up there with TIGER LILY.

I love this book more than words can say.

OtterKestrelCricketOrcaWillowTamarackFawn

-nonono i don't want this to be over please no-

-the writing is so beautiful I want to wrap myself in it and let it sing me to sleep-

-small bone to pick: the cover is awesome except for the White Hands. I get the relevance, but :( it's so badly photoshopped in that it looks just strange. Ah well.-

Actual, full review: (Full, original review here. Note: Due to copy-and-paste, some formatting and links may have been lost.)

Sorrow's Knot is a woeful, poetic tale with a dew-dazzling quality to it, hypnotic in rhythm and unrelenting in emotions. Erin Bow's writing is beautifully quiet, with words stringed together like charms on a bracelet without ever stealing the story away from its original purpose: to give us some sense of hope, of peace and serenity, even when we know that not all is well.

I think what Sorrow's Knot does exceptionally well is its delicate balance of romanticizing sacrifice and spearing freedom. It raises such profound questions, and in a way that never makes you feel as if its suffocating you with its morality. How free is freedom, and how far are we allowed to go to protect freedom before we've gone too far? Is sacrifice a smudge of weakness or is it heroic and insurmountable?

Besides the phenomenally crafted themes and writing of the book, the worldbuilding is superb as well. The world is reminiscent of Native American culture, and some parts of it reminds me of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (Evil Forest, etc.). But that's not to say the world is a parody; if it is based on any sort of Native American or African culture at all, it is safe to say that Sorrow's Knot is more of a corollary, a refining of such traditions rather than an imitation. And the world is rich and believable and immersive, and it's almost impossible to not forget yourself when you're wallowing in lakes with Otter or hiking through mazes of crooked branches.

The characters, finally, are commendable for their depth and realism. Though they live in a world so completely different from ours, there never was a doubt in my mind that they weren't fleshed out. Every character had its own identity and even the most seething, hateful ones had qualities that allowed us to glimpse their humanity. It is truly remarkable, how incredible each character is developed.

Read this book. There's nothing else I can say but ask you to read it. It is, quite simply, breathtaking.

[Jessie Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best kind of weird, odd, and strange. A distinctly Erin Bow effort and a good one.

[Small Review · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally posted at Small Review

I adored Plain Kate , mostly because Erin Bow created a rich world with depth, culture, history, and texture, filled it with people (and one very important animal) who completely claimed my love, and then she spent the entire book ripping my heart out with the beautiful heart-smashing loveliness of her harsh, cruel world.

Plain Kate was the best kind of fairy tale. It was gorgeously written, but those pretty words breathed life into her characters, vitality into her world, and substance into her plot.

So, of course I set my bar for Sorrow's Knot pretty high, and, in some ways, it almost rose to the challenge. In others...well, Sorrow's Knot is no Plain Kate. 



The Yays

Sorrow's Knot has really, really pretty writing. I was totally drawn into the book in that life-sucking way that makes you neglect the things around you because "MY BOOK" *hand flap everything away*

The evocative, storytelling writing smothered me in that book fuzz that blocks out the world, but what kept me there was the mystery that I felt supernaturally compelled to unravel (sorry, I had to get at least one pun out of my system).

I love books with story mythology, and Sorrow's Knot is definitely a book that relies heavily on story mythology. The White Hand creatures were both creepy and tragic, and the final reveal surrounding them was devastating. I only wish this aspect had been delivered with fewer holes and loose strings.


And, the sobbing disappointment

I'm a concrete kind of person. I like artwork that painstakingly recreates reality. I'm not a fan of poetry unless it's the epic kind of poems where they're basically novels with weird line spacing. If a blurb says something like "profound metaphorical journey," I run the other way. I actually like long and clunky info-dumps.

Sorrow's Knot makes sense in that dreamy profoundly half-logical way episodes like Buffy's dreamscape Restless or Frank Herbert's Dune series make sense. Everyone walks around sagely spouting off nonsense and half-sentences. Most things don't have a fully reasoned explanation and we're just supposed to accept them, because. But the characters say it all with a miasma of authoritative wisdom! So, it's all deep and stuff!

And, oh lord, Sorrow's Knot is pretty much one giant convoluted mess of double speak, vague metaphors, and fuzzy half-explanations. It's also set in a fictional Native American tribe of She-Ra Men Haters Club inductees, so with that double dose of cliche you know it's super extra profound.

And, I don't know, maybe I'm extra bleh about the whole thing because the Magical Indian and the Wise Woman tropes are particular Do Not Want points for me (I'd rather have female and Native American characters who are wise because they're actually wise and not because it's somehow an implicit character trait brought on by their race and sex), but after Plain Kate, I expected something more original from Erin Bow.

And, yes, I know a significant point of the story is actually going against the established and promoting growth to a less insular, rigid society, but that falls flat when the rigid world is the better developed, more memorable part of the story and the push for change is wrapped in convoluted, thin explanations.

The fact that the whole "We do what we do, because." traditional approach is challenged by "We shouldn't do what we do anymore. Just because it's bad and stuff. Yeah!" kinda undermines the whole story. It comes across more like teenage rebellion, ignorant of the whys behind the way things have developed (explanations never given, but unlikely not to exist), instead of a story of logical growth and development.

Also, if the problem was that they were binding too tightly, then why did they stop binding completely? Was there something inherently wrong with binding in general? If so, then why does the tightness matter? If not, then, again, why stop binding at all? Was there ever then a purpose to binding? And, if so, then why is that reason suddenly gone?

Plain Kate had me crying from the opening chapter (and don't even get me started on the double whammy scenes with Taggle), but Sorrow's Knot never once made me feel. The difference is that Plain Kate made me care about the characters because they had depth and personality. They were nuanced and alive.

Sorrow's Knot's characters were stereotypes. Really worn out stereotypes. Even worse, their characterizations relied almost completely on the stereotypes and never developed beyond them. One character is even switched out for another partway through the story, and it makes no difference because they're almost exactly the same.

They're also constantly dropping dead. Sorrow's Knot has a near-Shakespearean tragedy body count, and yet I couldn't muster up a single care.

Add in a dash of "inexplicable" and a heaping of "bleary sagacity" and not only were the characters thinly developed, but their actions and motivations didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Which brings me to the plot, which also didn't make a whole lot of sense. Now, when I was in the story, this didn't bother me as much. I was wrapped up in the mystery of the White Hand creatures and the lore and mythology of the world and trying to figure out how they all connected.

All with a nagging feeling that, "NO, THAT MAKES NO SENSE" mixed with "oh please don't let that actually be the explanation." Except it was. The big reveal was that awkward, obvious, and filled-with-holes explanation I was desperately hoping (from very early on in the story) it would not turn out to be.

Add in the rushed ending with its sloppy resolution, loose ends, and 11th hour (and totally unnecessary) romance, and I felt cast adrift without a paddle by the time I turned the final page. 


Bottom line

My initial feeling is that I liked this story a whole lot. There really is a lot of talent and potential in here, even if it never coalesces. And, I wonder, would I have liked it more if I hadn't read Plain Kate first? I'd say maybe yes, but then I remember all the logical inconsistencies and plot holes, so, maybe not.

But, Plain Kate was so much more, whereas Sorrow's Knot is so worn, and my crushing disappointment is near overwhelming. Both contain underlying messages of growing up, grief, and letting go, but one does it with subtle finesse and tenderness, expertly balancing the comfortingly familiar fairy tale frame with stunning originality. The other relies on stereotypes, cliches, and muddy allusions, none of which resonated with me.

This is a standalone, though there are possibilities for more.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Originally posted at Small Review

[Whitley Birks · Rating 5 out of 5]

See more reviews on my blog.

Beautiful. Beautiful writing. Beautiful characters. Beautiful worldbuilding. Beautiful concept. Beautiful execution. The whole thing was beautiful. The only part of this book I didn’t like was the ending (really confusing, which made it anticlimactic) but I had so many feelz from the rest of it that I don’t even care. 4.5 stars for the book, + .5 stars for knocking my socks off.

I adored everything about this book. It has a very lyrical writing style, and it comes off reading like a fairy tale or a myth. It was certainly a switch from the immediacy of the 1st person narrators I’m used to, so there was a distance in the narration that I had to get used to, but I got used to it fast because it’s so smooth and gorgeous.

The worldbuilding in this novel was so spot-on perfect that I want to put in a textbook. It was unique (although it shouldn’t be; we need more Native American settings!) and had a way of feel perfectly natural, richly detailed and yet without overburdening the reader with clunky infodumping. It just was: a perfectly real world to hold the story, it existed seamlessly along with everything else. I wanted to wrap myself up in it and giggle forever.

I loved the story for this. It captivated me and flowed perfectly. It was a really steady story, not a lot of action, just people’s lives moving forward at a constant pace. There was tension and danger, but not too much flash and bang, but it didn’t need it. I think ‘steady’ really is the best word for this plot, steady and quiet and intense. It grabbed hold of me and sucked me in with the power of simply being that interesting, not with action and intrigue. (Not that there’s anything wrong with action and intrigue — I like them both — but there’s all types of good books in the world.) I don’t even fully know how to explain how good it was, so you’ll just have to go read it, so there.

The characters…were good. Like much of the book, they were quiet and steady and I actually didn’t get much of an impression from Otter, but the rest were good. I’m not entirely sure what to say. Outside of Willow, none of them were intense, and because of the story style we didn’t get up close and personal with them. So I don’t feel like I knew them well. On the other hand, they were subtle, and they felt like real people, and I don’t know real people after hanging out with them for a few days either. They never felt flat to me. They felt complete, but distant from me, and that didn’t bother me. They were good at carrying the story, and the story was the focus of the book’s attention anyway. For a character-driven reader, it might be lacking. (But again, it takes all types.)

And the FEEEEEEELZ. They took me by surprise, because of the narrative distance I had from the characters. I thought I was just watching all these people do their thing, and then an emotional moment would come along, and bam. The beautiful writing in this novel really made up for the lack of connection with the characters, because it was just gut-punching when it needed to be. All it took was a masterful turn of phrase to take a moderately tense scene and make me rock back and start crying. And be warned: there is a lot of sorrow in Sorrow’s Knot.

I did take issue with the ending. First because I always take issue with the “female hero has to save the day with suffering and sacrifice instead of action,” and second because…dafuq even happened? I’m still not sure. The magic system in this book is brilliantly rendered and I was able to follow along with it with no trouble for 90% of the book, and then at the end…it fell apart a little. The explanation they gave during the denouement helped, but as for what Otter actually did to make that happen…??? But, as I said, I had enough feelz at that point to carry me through.

[Linna · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was really, really good. Sorrow's Knot is part coming of age tale, the best kind, about facing what scares us and changes us, but growing up through it all. So here there are echoes of Plain Kate, in what we may fear the most-- losing someone you love. Wanting to have them back. Struggling to let them go.

I'm let down by some things that happened in the end, but overall I loved the plot and structure of the book; it never let up the suspense and I nearly finished it all in one sitting because I wanted to know what was going to happen to the characters, and I always wanted to know more about the secrets behind this mysterious, eerie, world. It's disappointing that we didn't get much background around how the main trio became friends in the first place, or more time spent on Otter's relationships with her mother and the other women living there. Some of these critical, emotional scenes are written so beautifully, but they don't quite resonate as much as they could. But the writing is still so impossibly good.

Also, the entire idea of the dead lurking around in the shadows terrified to me no end that is some truly scary stuff

[Shae · Rating 4 out of 5]

What the crap did I just read. This was so different from anything else I've read and the world-building... Actually, I do have tiny, nitpicky questions about the world-building, but overall it's spectacular! I love when I get to read something truly fresh and new! And when that something manages to be 1) truly creepy, and 2) truly sad as well, then I'm as happy as a duck in a pond. No wonder my friends were gaga over Erin Bow even before THE SCORPION RULES.

[Nidofito · Rating 3 out of 5]

So interesting, so cool.

Although it took a bit of time for me to understand the story and I definitely struggled through the first half, the story picked up when the trio left Westmost right until the very end.

But it doesn't end here for these characters. In fact as Willow had said, it is only just the beginning.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally reviewed here @ Angieville

How long has it been since I read a really good horror novel? And how did I not realize going in that that's exactly what SORROW'S KNOT was? I read Erin Bow's debut novel Plain Kate when it came out and was suitably impressed with her writing, even though the book as a whole didn't work for me perfectly. But as soon as I heard that her sophomore novel was to be an indigenous tale of ghosts and the generations of women who bind them, I felt certain I would be reading it as soon as I got the chance. It just sounded too intriguing to miss. I wasn't entirely sold on the cover, and now after having read it I kind of wish they'd gone with something darker (less mystic blue) to more accurately match the chilling content hidden within its pages. Because make no mistake—SORROW'S KNOT is an unapologetically terrifying gem of a tale. In fact, it rather resists classification. It's fantasy, but oh, it's horror. It's young adult, but it's really very middle grade, too. It's sad. But its moments of happiness are blinding. Which is why you really must read it so you can find out what it is for you.

Otter is the daughter of a long and distinguished tradition of binders, the women of her pinch who protect their people from the rising dead. Her mother Willow is widely expected to be the greatest binder who ever lived. And that is taking into account the legendary Mad Spider who set the standard for binding and setting wards and holding off the deadliest of all undead: the White Hands. And so Otter's life has been open and sure, certain in the knowledge that her path would take her in the footsteps of her ancestors, that one day she, too, would take up the calling as binder for her people. And life has been good. Together with her two best friends the ranger Kestrel and the storyteller Cricket, she's been free to run and laugh and play tricks on the more grave elders of her band. Until the old binder Tamarack dies and her mother Willow reluctantly steps into her shoes. From that day on, nothing is right. Sure that something is wrong with the knots she ties to bind the dead, Willow drifts farther and father away from them. As her mother's words and actions become more erratic, Otter's fear grows. And then one day Willow reveals she will never take Otter as her apprentice. And Otter's life unties itself before her very eyes, her footsteps haunted by the terrible secret behind her mother's decline.

Bow's writing folds you into its clutches so gently you have no defense left when the terror beneath the words reveals itself. I think it's best to just start with one of my favorite scenes, so you know what we're dealing with here:

Otter tried to breathe deep, but each breath made her shudder and shudder. Kestrel put her hand between Otter's shoulders: steady. The summer stones were rough and warm to the touch. They were not alive, but if they were dead, it was a simple kind of dead: They were only themselves. They needed nothing.

Otter was thinking this and not watching the world, and so when someone moved just behind her, her heart leapt like a startled grasshopper. She spun and had her bracelets thrust up before she saw who it was.

"What happened?" said Cricket.

"Once our dogs were wolves," said Cricket, when no one answered him, "and though we loved them, we watched them carefully."

Kestrel half laughed. "They're watching Willow."

"No, they're sure she's rabid." He turned to Otter. "They're watching you."

Otter trailed along the edge of the sunflower row, away from the lodges and the open space of the palm. She could feel the eyes of the pinch on her back. "I didn't do anything," she said. "It's only that I'm—I'm—" This girl is a binder born. "—her daughter."

Slowly they walked away from the lodges of Westmost, as if they were deer browsing. As if they were not afraid. Kestrel put out her hand and skimmed it along the top of the grass as the meadow became wilder.

"What happened?" said Cricket again. "Have mercy on a storyteller: Tell me a story."

"It's not just a story," said Otter. Something broke out of her that sounded like anger.

"They never are," said Cricket softly.

Those three. They form the magnetic center of this wild book and I loved them so very much. What a beautiful rendering of a trifold friendship. The playful storyteller, the stalwart ranger, and the tier of powerful knots who walks with the dead. I would have followed the three of them anywhere. And, in fact, I followed them much farther than I expected or (in some cases) wanted. Their story is deceptively small, geographically as well as emotionally. And while the marvelously imaginative and complicated rules and history of Otter's world exist on a grand scale, the whole thing rests very much on what it means to three children who have grown into their adult roles and found the world a larger, infinitely more disturbing place than they believed it to be.

Which leads me to the White Hands. I'm still repressing shivers, days later, my friends. The alarmingly apt descriptions of the quiet ways these beings kill you had me glancing up for reassurance on a continual basis. I couldn't bear their encroaching presence around the characters I'd come to care for. To be honest, the bleak, growing dread of it all got to me at one point and I had to put the book down and come back to it the following evening when I had a little more perspective (and summoned a little more hope). This may or may not have coincided with a supremely sorrowful moment. Suffice it to say I spent some time grieving. It's oppressive at times, but in an undeniably well-crafted way. When I did return, I read it through to the end, closing the book wholly satisfied, if a little winded. The unexpected, understated, and sweet romance in the last third of the book may have had a little to do with my sigh of contentedness at the end. It's a story I will remember for quite some time, and one that really should not be missed. Recommended for fans of Tiger Lily. I know.

[Steph | bookedinsaigon · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO GOOD. Erin Bow's sophomore novel is even better than her already-noteworthy debut, Plain Kate. Similarly atmospheric and so thought-provoking, a philosophical musing that drops you in its midst and leaves you to go with the flow and figure things out.

[Brandy Painter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.

Sometimes it is so hard being a blogger, because books like Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow come along. A book that is so beautifully written, heart wrenching, and immediately beloved that I know whatever words I come up with to tell you about it will be woefully inadequate.

The writing in Sorrow's Knot is wordcraft at its most eloquent. Otter's story is a complicated one that ties the mythology of her people with their present dangers. Otter hears the stories, some of which are forbidden, from her best friend who is training as a storyteller. She also finds herself living a story. A story in which she, a binder, plays an integral part just as another binder did so many years ago. Bow uses all of these elements in the structure of her story. Every word and sentence has the cadence and rhythm of a story being told. In Otter's world the storytellers use drums and rattles as they spin their tales, and I swear you can even hear that in the way Bow strung her words together. Then there is the binding aspect. Every piece, every segment, every word is tied together the same way Otter ties her wards, creating magic but also binding the reader. As I read there were places where I could feel those bonds tightening on me as they were on Otter.

And let's talk about Otter, who is now holding the number one spot for best heroine in a book I've read this year. She is facing difficult odds, rejected by her mother, adrift, not knowing what she wants to do. The only this she ever wanted to be was taken from and at first she does nothing to move out of her drifting state. Bow established early and well that Otter has courage, power, and will though and all of those things come to serve her well as she is faced with ever increasing hardships. She has to make so many difficult choices and they don't always turn out for good. In fact they often turn out quite horribly. I love how she learns, grows, and faces what comes next even when she has just pulled through horror that could break most people. (And indeed does.) Otter is as successful as she is though because she has an amazing support team in her best friends, Kestrel and Cricket. I loved both of them just as much as Otter. Each has their own strengths and faults and the three of them fit together so well as a team. Later in the book an equally wonderful character, Orca, also joins Otter in her journeys and struggles. All four of these characters forever hold places in my heart.

The world here is reminiscent of pre-colonized North America, but is not based on any particular culture. That is all Bow's brilliant creation. The world feels so real that you can almost believe it to be true though. Bow's prose brings the forests, the caldera, the frozen river, every place her characters go to vivid and colorful life. Her descriptive talents also manage to create one of the most horrific monsters I have read of in some time. The White Hands are not fully evil, which makes their hunger and anger all the more terrifying. Through Otter's story so much is said of tradition-both its importance and the importance of challenging it, how knowledge and understanding of the past can illuminate your present and direct your future, and the importance and magic in the words of the story. A favorite quote:
"A storyteller can spin a web that will hold the dead listening until they dry up like stranded eels. A storyteller can change men's minds. Tell their futures. Compel their help. Create their love. With a little work and time, Kestrel, this storyteller could drive you quite mad."

Sorrow's Knot has a definite place in my top 10 list for the year. It is actually one of the top three books I've read this year. I can not recommend it highly enough.

I read an e-galley provided by the publisher, Arthur Levine Books, via NetGalley. Sorrow's Knot is available for purchase now.

[Evelyn (devours and digests words) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be warned! This book contains a lot of feels!

I expected many sorrows the moment I started this book. And I was right. I had it coming but it still hit me right in the gut and swept me off my feet.

There are three friends. Otter who is a Binder, Kestrel who is a Ranger and Cricket who is a Storyteller.

There's magic in binding. Otter and the others like her can weave with their cords to set up a ward against the Shadowed people: the slip and the worst of all, The White Hands.

One touch from this creature and it will mean certain thing worse than death itself.

The people of Westmost bind their dead to keep them from returning to the world as something else entirely. Things went normal that way. Until one day Otter's mother, Willow casted her out of the ward. That is when things take to climaxing actions.

"There's something wrong with the knots."

I was so absorbed in its beautiful Native American world setting that I nearly ran down a kid with my trolley cart this morning (yes, I still read while shopping :p)

I admit I do have a bit of trouble reading this book. Sorrow's Knot is something new for me. I'm slow on the uptake but it took me a while to grasp what was going on to the characters. I struggled to catch up with its magic binding system (it takes a lot of imagination for me to imagine the characters weaving out magic that binds the shadow people) and its supposed antagonists (the White Hands). Pretty soon, I got dragged down because sometimes the details were so vague. Nothing and no one was really explaining what was going on. I decided to just read on, letting the story wash over me. The blurry lines cleared a bit when a new character was introduced. Sometimes, there are even scenes that were so completely unexpected that I had to put away the book and take deep, calming breaths.

The thing is, there was no huge plot device to push the story. You see things unraveling by reading through the characters' lives. They are the ones who do things, it is them who make their own stories.

Otter didn't strike me as much but I do feel her despair. Her mother, Willow stood tall in my mind with her intense motherly affection, and Kestrel with the flare in her got me rooting for her. She is the hunter in the book afterall. I feel her burning passion for Cricket, our lovable Storyteller with his humour and wit. I cried when he got taken away. Eventhough I've finished reading this, I still mourn for his death. I adore Orca with his sheer stubbornness in opposing Kestrel.

There's little romance in Sorrow's Knot. It was not the focus of the story, but it was still heart-warming.

Overall, I love everything about Sorrow's Knot. I love the beautiful world building, Erin Bow's wonderful writing style, the characters' interaction with each other, the plot line and even the monsters. Eventhough this is a stand-alone, I wish to read more of the characters. I'll miss them.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sorrow's Knot is all worldbuilding. It is the story of a town near the end of the world, a town where the dead flit near the living, kept away only by a binder's wards.

The writing is evocative and yet distant, as if shared by a storyteller. It centers on Otter, whose life follows a coming-of-age pattern reminiscent of other novels: she has power, she is not chosen for a vocation when she enters adulthood, she grows up too quickly, she witnesses death. She is also fierce and brave and caring. She fights for her friends and her town.

But to me this is not only Otter's story. It is also Kestrel's - Kestrel, who loses so much and still clings to life and hope and the promise of a future. Kestrel, without whom Otter could not have set a town free.

Sorrow's Knot is more than the story of Otter and Kestrel, though. It is the story of secrets and mangled history and distorted tradition. It is the story of the unmaking of a world. There is the beginning of healing, but only on a personal level. It is a fitting end for Sorrow's Knot, which above all else is the story of the fear of death.

[elise rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I did not sign up for the emotional trauma, but, dang, this book was really, really, really good. It reminded me a little bit of Sabriel by Garth Nix since it's the same kind of dark fantasy.
Other than that, it's a very unique and creative book. I loved the characters, and the story was incredible.
In other words, this book ripped out my heart and chopped it into little pieces. I loved it. You should read it. Because that makes sense
But.... yeah, it has "sorrow" in the title for a reason.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

beautifully written and wonderfully told.
i really appreciated the obvious research
and care Bow took to write an inspired by
Native American fantasy. the lore and mythos
mixed with the magic and ghosts were wonderfully
done. i enjoyed the relationships and really
loved the sister friendship.

an utterly original contribution to
YA fantasy. recommended!

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am somewhat notorious for going into books completely blind, and I generally ignore author blurbs, so even though it was Laini Taylor's endorsement that piqued my interest enough to go back and accept the review request for Sorrow's Knot, I still didn't really know what I was in for. And now? My only regret is not reading it sooner.

By chapter two, I was reeling with curiosity, awe, and delight. I was grinning at my Kindle, squirming with excitement as I savored every word. I went into the kitchen to tell my husband about it, as I often do.

"Oh my gosh, this book is so good." (A phrase I often utter to him, unsurprisingly.)

He nodded appreciatively as he continued to make his sandwich. (A gesture he often does toward me, and YES he makes his own sandwiches.)

"It's like... like Laini Taylor and Victoria Schwab -- two of my favorite authors -- combined!"

"Oh, wow," he said, tying the bag of bread closed. "That's good!"

"No... it's like Laini Taylor, Victoria Schwab, Neil Gaiman -- and Diana Wynne Jones -- combined! It is so GOOD!"

He took a bite of his sandwich and nodded again, letting me know that he was excited for me.

(I snuck in another chapter while I waited for him to finish eating. I couldn't help myself.)

This book has incited a couple of rares for me: 1) I actually listened to -- and agreed with -- an endorsement from an author, and 2) I actually compared it to several other authors. I don't like to do this, because it's hard to do. Everyone's tastes are different. But from the very beginning, I knew I had found something special in Sorrow's Knot: it made me swell with the magic and awe, a familiar twinkle in my chest, that can only be coaxed into being by a master.

Like many readers, I often enjoy fiction for the fantasy, for the escape. I love diving into a completely different world and immersing myself in something new and different. This is an everyday activity for me, which is why the depth of my immersion into Sorrow's Knot took me by surprise. It felt familiar, but wholly new, and I lost myself so completely in its pages that I didn't know what to do with myself when I'd reached the end and realized there was no more.

I know: I haven't included any sort of analysis or specifics in this review, but I don't think I need to. Here is what I want you to know about Sorrow's Knot:
- I have never wanted to hug a book so much as I did when finishing this one.
- I went out and bought the hardcover of Sorrow's Knot before I was even 10% into it, because I already loved it that much.
- It may have just surpassed every other book in my favorites and moved to the top.
- It is beautiful, it is heartbreaking, it is magical, and it is human.
- If there is one book I would actually reread on a regular basis, it is this one.

You want my advice? Read this book. If you haven't read Sorrow's Knot: read it. If you have read it: read it again. And then, hug it to your chest and never let it go.

[Daphne · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Gave up at page 183. My review only reflects the part of the novel that I read.

The story wasn't completely horrible. As most books do, Sorrow's Knot had its strengths and its weaknesses, However, I do put extra emphasis on the weakness part. On the up side, the theme was original and the writing flowed nicely. However, it's important to note that just because the writing style is poetic and seemingly profound, doesn't mean that it makes sense. On the contrary, it can sound like a whole lot of gibberish.

Nothing was thoroughly explained in this novel. We were left with half-answers, grasping at straws, wondering what the hell we were supposed to know. Concrete ideas were withheld, and I felt like there were too many contradictions. Either that, or I subconsciously jumped to conclusions, because I wasn't quite sure what to believe. The characters were also very dry and emotionless. There comes a time in the book where one of the characters kills someone by accident. Even if it wasn't on purpose, don't you think the normal response would be to cry or show some outwardly sign of deep remorse? Perhaps, go into a state of shock or horror? Nope. Instead you can just stare blankly at the body while it's being dragged away.

Another thing that didn't feel realistic was the overall atmosphere of the townspeople. Basically, all they did was stare and whisper to each other conspiratorially. Even when there was a crazy woman in their midst, a woman with the capability of ending all their lives, they just calmly questioned her on what she was doing. Despite the blatantly obvious information right in front of their faces POINTING TO HER UNSTABLE MIND. What kind of society is this? In fact, we don't even get to know anybody in this town, tribe, whatever you want to call it. Well, maybe with the exception of two or three people, but other than that, nothing more than a glimpse of their faces or outwardly appearances.

I never became immersed in this world. There was little action, at least from the portion I managed to get through. I've read from other reviews that it picks up towards the end when the love interest makes a sudden appearance, but sadly, I just can't find it in myself to care.

This story seriously had a HUGE amount of potential, and it always saddens me to see that potential wasted. I, for one, am completely fascinated by Native American culture and their interactions with nature, which is why I started this with such high hopes. Unfortunately, Sorrow's Knot just....didn't do it for me.

Heroine- 2/5
Romance- N/A
Love interest doesn't enter
until the latter portion of the book.
Action- 2/5
Dragged, and dragged, and dragged.
Writing- 4/5
Unique and well stylized. However, it does
make the plot feel slower at times,
especially in the climatic scenes.
Overall- 2/5

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huge thank you to Scholastic and Netgalley for providing an advance copy of this book.

4.5

Reading Plain Kate earlier this year, I knew Erin Bow was an author to watch out for. Crafting deep worlds and strong characters having very intimate connections to their environments, I hoped that her second novel, Sorrow’s Knot would deliver in the same vein.

I wasn’t disappointed. While I felt like Sorrow’s Knot pacing was a touch all over the place, it weirdly didn’t effect my connection to the overall narrative Bow was trying to craft. A lot of this novel is very slow, deliberate, and methodical. There’s a lot of connections throughout the narrative, weaving together a lot of mystery elements. This is a book that is constantly building, never backtracking, so it’s one where you really have to pay close attention to make sure you know what is going on. Erin Bow also always has some of the most beautiful, if simplistic prose I’ve seen. It’s stunning without being convoluted, and she makes the story so engaging just by the strength in her style.

Sorrow’s Knot is very atmospheric. Bow does a great job of crafting the world and making it a vivid place to be pictured. She also gives us great characters who are easy to empathize with. I had to hold in a few tears because some of the death scenes are so bittersweet. This is a story of friendship and loss and Bow weaves these themes together with ease. It’s so easy to fall in love with the characters and understand their motivations within the context of the world.

I also loved the whole element of weaving knots and how it relates to life and death, but how it’s also a practice that the inhabitants of the world know is important but equally still fear it. The world building is just so stunning, and Bow makes it so easy for the reader to just cuddle into this dark world and view it from the inside-out.

While I do like Plain Kate a touch more, Sorrow’s Knot is a worthy second novel. Fans of strong world-building, unique magic systems, and great characters will easily love what the novel has to offer. I look forward to reading more of Bow’s work as it’s published, but the woman really has a gift for the written word.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love speculative fiction (both science fiction and fantasy) but I have to admit that I am often disappointed at how often the same ideas get repeated over and over. Which is why I am so impressed with Sorrow's Knot. I have never even begun to imagine a world like what Bow creates and it kept me completely immersed from beginning to end. Sorrow's Knot is the story of a Binder's daughter, Otter, and her struggle to understand the dangers of the craft which she has grown up with. Binders protect the villages from the hungry spirits of the dead, especially the White Hands with their killing touch, by binding knots and patterns in cord and yarn of protection and strength. When Otter's mother forbids her from being a Binder, Otter must figure out how she fits into a village where everyone has a chosen path. And when a White Hand threatens the safety of the entire village and leaves Otter as the lone Binder, she must decide how to confront this supernatural enemy.

The concept of the White Hands was so interesting and creepy that I couldn't help but be fascinated. I loved the way that Bow dealt with death and grief in the novel and the way in which Otter and her friends deal with the threat of the White Hands. The love interest got a little sappy at the very end but I loved it because I'm a sucker for that kind of thing when it's done reasonably well. And the side characters never felt like cardboard cutouts. You really learn to understand her friends Kestrel, Cricket and Orca and how their experiences impact Otter's decisions. Sorrow's Knot is a very well-written, original fantasy that I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys fantasy and YA and is looking for something a little different from the norm.