We picked this one up because we knew it featured music as a main element of the plot. It's a rich read for girls sparking rebellion, and for anyone who knows about making music with your voice.

On the island of Blightsend, little girls who turnaway in infancy are sent to a suffocating cloister to learn with Mother Nine how to turn the notes of the stone flutes and their silent "shimmer" into actual gold. When they turn 12, they're presented to the various masters and chosen by one to work for him.

Delphernia Undersea cannot create shimmer. She prefers to sing -- and one night she sings not just shimmer, but the soul of a golden bird into existence. She sets it free, and only after realizes someone -- a boy -- has seen her do it. It's forbidden to sing, as Mother Nine believes the sea will swallow Delphernia up if she does.

Mother Nine is a horrific character, beating and lashing and verbally pulling down Delphernia every chance she gets.

On the day Delphernia's presented to the Masters, a Master like no other appears. A girl, pretending to be a Master. The girl is hauled away, exposed, and Delphernia appears to have been chosen by no Master. But then a boy -- the boy -- the one who saw her sing the gold bird soul into existence, appears and chooses her.

And her life changes forever. Suddenly, she's Outside the cloister with a Master who doesn't care about "convention." He doesn't have to. He's the Prince of Blightsend, and he wants Delphernia for her secret singing ability only he knows she possesses.

But what are his intentions? How does he plan on using it -- and Delphernia?

This was a great rebellious read.

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Absolutely brilliant. Slow burn. Beautiful writing. Hope truly is the thing with feathers.

The Turnaway Girls is the kind of story that feels like a fairy tale. Something old and buried. Something that could resonate in any time/history. Like a foundation. Something that has been around for centuries, like the stars myths & forgotten. But here it is, resurfaced in your hand. A treasure remembered and cherished. Something sacred and ancient.
It takes such residence in your heart that it speaks to your soul, grasps your intuition, and opens, like a key to Bluebeards chamber showing the truth. And encourages, like Orpheus charging into the underworld, to be brave. Showing, with a cloisterwing, a glimmer of shining light, the way back home to the soul self.

Every sentence sings and comes alive. Every word beats with heart and thrums with a double edged meaning. This is such a carefully weaved and intricate story - much like the Turnaway Girls threads and Delphernia's Golden birds. I'm still letting this story seap into my bones. Letting it take a soft feathered space within my heart.

Hayley, this is incredible! You are incredible!
What an inspiration. What a beautiful beautiful tale of reclaiming back our voices, of going against the grain, of answering the call to courage, and being our authentic selves. Such an empowering read. It sparked many fires within my belly. And I will try, hense forth, to conciously channel Delphernia's soul/singing throat as I go on my own journey to reclaim and trust and recover and follow the heart and answer the call to courage. To unlearn the voices not my own and sing!!!! ✨

A lyrical fairytale that will have you transported to an island where a girl must fight against all odds to be heard and be true to herself.

This book was extremely descriptive in the beginning almost to the point of slowing down the pace of the action. I really liked the lyrical nature of the prose as an adult but it may not keep the attention of younger readers who are used to an attention-grabbing beginning.

I felt the world was very unique and described in such a way that the reader is completely submerged. There are some moments of abuse towards the main character. There are themes of being told you are nothing and rising above. There are deep themes of identity, self-worth, and it is an overall empowering message.

Thank you to Netgalley and Candlewick Press for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Igazi borzongató gótikus tündérmese az Aranyfakasztók, amelynek egyik legkülönösebb eleme maga a történetszövés és nyelvezet. Hayley Chewins költészettel foglalkozott és ez az, ami kiemeli a regényt, igazán lírai és finom, sok okos megoldással, ismétléssel és összecsengő szavakkal olyan érzést kelt olvasás közben, mintha egy dallammal ismerkednénk.
Mindenesetre megadja azt a baljós hangulatot, ami miatt olyan szuggesztív lesz a mese, olvastatja magát és belebonyolódunk a motívumokba, de alig várjuk, hogy megtudjuk, mi is áll az egész mögött.

Részletesen: http://olvasonaplo.net/olvasonaplo/2021/05/17/hayley-chewins-aranyfakasztok/

Thank you NetGalley for this Advanced Digital Copy in exchange for my honest feedback.
This book was on my radar after one of the MG librarians that I follow gushed about this book. I also follow Hayley on twitter so when I was accepted for the Advanced Reader Copy I was super excited. My fear is that I’m not going to be able to fully convey how I feel about this book. I ADORED everything about this book. The writing style , the descriptions, the characters and the theme. It was just so good. Not only is this a book I would recommend for my nieces – it’s a book that I will re-read. Also – Hayley posted a song on twitter that goes with this book. I really wish I would have listened to the song before reading as I can just imagine Delphernia’s voice being like Hayley’s.

A beautiful analogy, if a bit heavy on the description. Very fully formed world that I want to keep exploring.

Twelve year old Delphernia has lived her entire life shut in a cloister in a cave with other girls where they make shimmer out of music. The people who live in the city depend on the gold made by the girls who have never seen the city or known freedom. Delphernia is unable to make shimmer and is mistreated by the sister who runs the cloister. When she is unexpectedly set free she learns that the world is not what she thought it was.