Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Review: Glimmerglass by Jenna Black

Glimmerglass 
by Jenna Black
Published: May 2010
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Available: Amazon

Blurb:

It's all she's ever wanted to be, but it couldn't be further from her grasp...

Dana Hathaway doesn't know it yet, but shes in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, again, Dana decides shes had enough and runs away to find her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the captivating, magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl, she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and the only person who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.

Dana finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone seems to want something from her, from her newfound friends and family to Ethan, the hot Fae guy Dana figures she'll never have a chance with...until she does. Caught between two worlds, Dana isn't sure where she'll ever fit in and who can be trusted, not to mention if her world will ever be normal again.

Review:

I have to admit, it's been a while since I read this book, and I can't remember a lot of specific things that made me give it a 3 originally over on Goodreads. What I do remember is that I was attempting to read it at the same time as another book that just seemed to drag on forever. Which incidentally I also rated a 3. I'm changing my stance on this one. I'd go 3.5, because I definitely found it better than that other book I won't name here. 

Faeries aren't really my thing. I don't know what it is, but I just haven't been able to really get behind them. Although I am reading a piece right now that is being work shopped over at thenextbigwriter.com that is absolutely hilarious. What did draw me into Glimmerglass was the cover. I absolutely love it. Now, I've been sucked in by covers before, but here I really do think the cover suits the story, no matter if I was vaguely dissatisfied with the writing. 


The world building was actually really well done. I had no trouble visualizing Avalon and I love how it is developed as an actual place that has not only Faerie laws but also a human government element controlling the boarders. Things made sense there even if there was a touch of magic. It didn't feel like some fairy tale land, but rather an alternate world that exists with rules that are logical.

Dana comes across as pretty selfish and annoying at first, but she did grow on me. I can remember being really frustrated with her instant attraction to Ethan and that she is quick to judge others despite being a horrible judge of character.


Ethan seems like the extra slick guy, and he is, but halfway through the book he turns kind of creepy by using magic to calm Dana into submission during a make out session. The saving grace of the situation - Dana flips and actually starts to respond in a sensible, normal way. Ethan's a bit less appealing than that, but since he's introduced way before the two other attractive guys that pop up in Dana's new world. Ethan's sister Kimber was plain annoying at first, even more judgmental than Dana, but once we get some back story on her, she becomes very likable.

There were a few nagging things for me. Like how Dana was constantly sleeping. It seemed like every time I turned the page she was just waking up or going back to bed. I wanted to tell the author that it's okay to imply that a day or even two had passed. And it was a bit bothersome how easily Dana's affections strayed. But that is typical of a teenage girl, particularly one who is completely surrounded by hot, HOT guys. 

I have to say that I loved the idea of a Faeriewalker. Being a non-Faerie  reader I don't know how original that concept is, but I loved how Black described it and what Faeriewalkers can actually see that is different.

I'm not sure if I ever realized that this was the first in a series. Maybe because I forgot to look, but it was actually the cover of the sequel that made me realize it. I am planning on reading the second book Shadowspell (now that I'm aware of it) and I hope that it sticks with me a bit better than Glimmerglass

4 comments:

  1. Too bad. It sounds kind of dull and not really that original. I'll skip it. It's so hard to find YA books now that don't seem like a collision of other books, even though I don't believe it's intentional, since there's usually an 18-month lag from the time books are signed and when they release. But still...it makes me kind of jaded and extra critical. I can't even write my review for Delirium because I read it so close to Matched, and the same things bugged me about both books. I can't split my thoughts and keep my review focused on the one book.

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    1. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't anything amazing. However I'm really not into faeries or fairies (however you spell it!)

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  2. I think this one and the Iron series both had the same issues- I didn't like the first book at all. The second and on are great, but the first books- not so great.

    Can't wait to see what you think of the next book!

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