Nightweaver by R.M Gray

Here is a summary with spoilers for Nightweaver by R.M Gray

The Oberon family have been living in a world full of Nightweavers, cursed beings who have taken the human land for their own. Thus, many families, including the Oberon family, turned to life on the water as pirates. However, the Nightweavers have taken their fight to the sea. A vicious attack happens, and Aster, one of the daughters, is left fighting for her family. Alongside some of her older siblings, she tries to protect the younger ones. But the attack gets worse, and her oldest sibling, Owen, dies right in front of her. Aster and the rest of her family are taken by the Nightweavers as prisoners. As they are brought back to land, they are terrified of what will become of them in the hands of the Nightweavers. However, they are shown mercy by a Nightweaver named Will.

Aster and her family are taken in as kitchen workers to serve in Will’s home. He has shown the family a lot of kindness, and even said that if Aster ever wants to leave, she can. Aster hates how she is treated by others there, as if she is tainted because she is a pirate. Her father has adapted well and tries to be encouraging, but it doesn’t help Aster. She decides to take Will up on his offer that she can leave whenever she wants. When she starts to leave, Will stops her and asks for time to explain why he wants her there. She agrees, and Will mentions that there are other beings worse than Nightweavers out in the world. Will wants Aster’s help in defeating them, and also, potentially, ruining the prince’s plan. It is at this time that Aster realizes the Nightweavers never killed her brother, but a monster called a Sylk did. Aster now has a vendetta against both the Sylk and the prince. She decides to stay. After that decision, the two hear screaming and laughing. They follow the sounds and see a massacre: a monster has killed two people and carved a message into their heads, “hello Aster.” Also attached to them is a note.

Aster and Will continue to grow closer together. They both try many ways to help each other. Her father is also enjoying their new life and has adapted well. So much so that he signed a form for the whole family to support the king and promise not to go back to piracy. This infuriates Aster. Even so, she starts to enjoy her day-to-day life, but the thing keeping her going is trying to find the Sylk who killed Owen. Just as she and Will are starting to get even closer, he announces that he is leaving for soldier duties, leaving behind Aster to do all the work on her own. She is incredibly sad, but Will sends a friend in to help her as well.

One day, Aster is summoned to Will’s parents’ room for a meeting. While there, many other beings come into the room, beings she thought to be myths and legends, not real. It turns out they are all banding together for one purpose: to defeat the prince and create a better and safer world to live in. Aster realizes how wrong she has been about the Nightweavers and decides to join their rebellion and fight for her family and for those she has lost.

Even though she has joined the rebellion and feels like she has a purpose, she is still missing Will. His brother, Henry, helps a little bit, but she still feels like something is off. Things get worse when the prince comes for her and once again marks her arm with the sign of a pirate. She ends up fighting back and harming him.

It is time for the ball, which has been anticipated for some time now. She intends to make Will jealous, because after three months he came back but didn’t come find her. She decides to use Henry to do that, but they are interrupted by a new prince, Prince Titus. After a conversation with him, which includes some flirting as well as some warnings, Aster and Henry go outside to get some fresh air. They are surprised by her brother Albert, and Henry accidentally hits him. While making sure Albert is okay, Aster believes she saw Owen, so she runs after the shadow, only for it to be Prince Titus, who once again warns her to leave.

Aster goes back to the ball, right when she and her family are being called out as guests of honor. It brings Aster unwanted attention, because even though the king says they have renounced their pirate life and now serve him, many still don’t believe it. Will, noticing that things don’t look good for the family, diverts the attention away. However, he does it in a way that makes Aster feel bad, so she once again leaves the party. Will goes to find her to apologize, and they have their first conversation in months. Their talk gets interrupted when they hear screaming. The Sylks have made it to the party and are killing everyone there. Aster sneaks into the kitchens to see who can be saved. While in the kitchen, her father is also there, and he starts acting a bit odd. He then apologizes, because it was his fault the Sylks made it inside. Aster realizes they took over his body with compulsion. In a quick moment, her father seems like himself. He grabs a knife and stabs himself, forcing the Sylk to go elsewhere. Aster isn’t able to grieve long, as Trudy, the main Sylk, arrives. She also happens to be the Sylk who killed her brother Owen. Trudy says that Aster is the solution to many things, and she just needs to join the right side. But in rage over her father and Owen, Aster kills Trudy.

After the death of Trudy, Prince Titus finds her and sees her eyes are changed. He tells her that she is a Nightweaver. Not believing it, she runs away, right into a voice that has haunted her for months: Owen. She can’t believe she is seeing her dead brother, only to quickly realize that Owen is being controlled by a Sylk. Although he does still have a bit of himself left, he confirms that she is a Nightweaver, although she hasn’t been turned yet. He tells her that their parents betrayed them, and that yes, one of them has lied about their heritage. He also mentions that as a child, Aster was attacked and scratched by a monster. She was rushed to a healer, but it was too late, and monsters were going to come after her because of it. That is why their life as pirates worked so well, they needed to be on the move for Aster anyway. Their parents also made them all bracelets so they could be protected. After giving Aster all the information, Owen reveals that he also has with him the king and his daughter. The daughter is being controlled by a Sylk and tortures her father anytime Aster does something Owen doesn’t like. Owen then offers his plan: Aster needs to be turned, and if she does it, he will let the king and his daughter go. Before anything can happen, Aster passes out and Owen leaves.

When Aster wakes up, she is on Shade’s ship, the same ship and captain that once got her a better life. Shade seems sad that she is back on his ship, but before she can think more on it, Will shows up. She is immediately upset with him, as Will forgot to tell Aster a lot of things, including that she is a Nightweaver and that her brother may have been alive. She is angry, but Shade decides to give her a chance to get out. She still has her curse, and if she releases the queen (who is currently being overtaken by a Sylk), she can help lift the curse. Will is going to help her do it as well, as he also has a curse and is close to dying. If Aster completes the task, Shade will give her a gem that will let her live her days out in peace. She agrees, but then asks Shade why he wants the queen released. He reveals it is because the queen is his fiancée. Aster looks closely at Shade, and her betrayal happens all over again, as Shade is actually Prince Titus.

Needing space yet again, Aster runs away from both men who betrayed her. She runs right to the water and jumps in, with Titus following after her. Aster is ready to give up, and Titus grabs her, only to be pushed back by some force, while Aster is put in a bubble. She has a conversation with a woman, who tells her the queen needs to rise and blood needs to be spilled. Aster is then pulled out of the water. For her it felt like moments, but for Titus and Will, she was under for 12 hours. Aster is ready to complete her task.