Young Adult Fantasy Book Review Feature: The Web of Time by Flavia Brunetti

Today, I have a young adult novel with a magical realism theme to share! I enjoy reading young adult books--especially those with unique concepts. Learn about The Web of Time and author Flavia Brunetti, read my thoughts on the book and be sure to enter for a chance to win a prize in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post.

 

​Book Title:  THE WEB OF TIME by Flavia Brunetti
Category:  YA Fiction (Ages 13-17),  298 pages
Genre: Grounded Fantasy
Publisher: Blue House Literary
Release date:  May 2025
Content Rating: G + M: While this is fully G, it does touch on matters including physical abuse and trauma. This is done in a very gentle way, but perhaps worth noting.

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About the Book

Far beneath the ground, a web quietly spins. The threads are keeping time, marking history. What’s done is done. Until now.

Protected by the gods and powering the three Great Portals of Art, Language, and Kindness, The Web of Time rearranges itself as humans change their minds, fall in love, or cause empires to rise and fall. When the Great Portals close from the world, time begins erasing itself, histories start to disappear, Earth falls into chaos, and the gods don’t know how to stop it—until Jack meets Anna. 
 
Anna is a passionate and solitary writer who is protected by her companion, Nafusa of Libya, the cat god. When Jack, a young painter harboring a traumatic past, falls through the Great Portal of Art in Tunis, he stumbles into Anna, and his fate. 

Helped and hindered by a rotating cast of deities, the two embark on a journey that connects three ancient cities in different times: Rome, Tunis, and Tripoli. They realize that it is Anna’s gift for healing words and Jack’s natural talent for drawing places as they were that can reinstate the Great Portals and restore the world’s balance, but some of the darker gods who thrive on chaos will stop at nothing to derail their quest. As time tears faster than they can heal it, Anna and Jack must come together in time to save history, and the possibility of a future.

 

My Review

 

The Web of Time is a Unique Young Adult Fantasy. I really enjoyed the blend of history, fantasy and magical realism throughout this book. The storyline has a mythology element and a "save the world" style theme that still blends realistically with the teen characters' stories and abilities. The book is a clean read with characters that readers will enjoy growing with throughout the book.

The Writing Style May Require Some Focus. While the book is well-written and engaging, the back-and -forth movement between times, places and points of view is sometimes difficult to follow. It doesn't make the book too difficult to read, but there were times when I found myself initially a little confused during transitions. The book has wonderful characters and a unique storyline that will pull you in and keep your interest--but, I wasn't always immediately "on the same page" as the author during some of the shifts and would need to re-read a section.

Would I Recommend The Web of Time by Flavia Brunetti?  I enjoyed the characters, the settings and the magical realism presented in the storyline. I did sometimes need to re-read a paragraph or two if I found myself in a different time or point of view during a chapter--but this didn't greatly affect the story flow. If you enjoy mythology and realistic, clean teen fantasy that is presented in a unique style, this story is an interesting one for your reading list. 

 

Buy the Book 

Web of Time
Amazon ~ B&N
​add to goodreads

 

Meet the Author

Born just outside of Rome, Flavia grew up bouncing back and forth between Italy and California and has lived between a myriad other countries, so her writing often revolves around place and identity and is usually written on a plane where she inevitably apologizes to the person sitting next to her for bumping their elbow. She is the author of the novel All the Way to Italy. Her second novel, The Web of Time, a YA grounded fantasy adventure set in Rome, Tunis, and Tripoli, will be published by Blue House Literary in May 2025.

Today, Flavia continues learning about the world while working for a humanitarian organization and getting lost in her Eternal City, writing flash fiction and non-fiction stories, and connecting with other readers, writers, and adventurers (also the armchair travel variety).

connect with the author: website ~ X ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads

 

Enter the Giveaway

WEB OF TIME Book Tour Giveaway