Reviewed by: Holly A.
Literary Merit: Excellent
Characterization: Excellent
Recommended: Recommended
Level: Middle Grade

In the first book in this series, Beautiful Blue World, Mathilde was chosen to join a childrens' military intelligence group, working to help defend Sofarende, an Eastern-European-like country that's being invaded by its neighbor, Tyssia. But her work with a young Tyssian prisoner lets Mathilde see him as a person, and when Sofarende is invaded, she can't bring herself to leave him to be killed by his own soldiers. In Threads of Blue Mathilde has made her way alone across the channel to Eilean, where she needs to find her group, and especially her best friend, Megs, and try to win her forgiveness for breaking her promise to never leave her and for putting a stranger's needs above those of her life-long friend, even if it was only for a few minutes. Mathilde also struggles with the fact that the intelligence work she’s doing helps the military bomb factories and supply centers in Sofarende that might help the Tyssian war effort, but also kills the innocent people of Sofarende. When the war is won, will Mathilde have a family to go back to? Will she have lost more than she’s won?

Threads of Blue is a beautifully considered story about how one lives with wrongs done for right reasons, and how one learns to forgive others for not understanding. While you can enjoy the second book without the first, going back to read the first book second would be marred by several spoilers. The writing is excellent, and it’s a quick read. ( )

This book picks right up where "Beautiful Blue World" ends, leaving Mathilde alone and afraid in a foreign world. She eventually meets up with the rest of her group from Faetre in Eilean and ultimately discovers and comes to terms with the fate of her family.

I kept thinking that Mathilde was going to have some sort of superpower and that this story would hit readers with a sci-fi or fantasy twist but it turned out to be a simple and honest look at the ravages of war and the impact it has on everyone that stands in its path. ( )