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mygeekblasphemy's review against another edition
4.0
This is probably one of the most intentionally messiest books I’ve ever read. That’s not always my thing, but I liked this one. By the end, it all kind of brilliantly works together. It’s also very funny, although its sense of humor is uniquely macabre and has a lot to do with eating fairies alive, so, probably know if you’re into that kind of thing or not before you pick up this one. (I am, clearly, because I'm terrible.) The fairies, BTW, are fascinating, just, like, the biology of them. And actually, this book gets into some really interesting commentary about genetics and racism and how every side has a different history. You think ‘war book’ and you probably think a lot of battles and fight scenes (or maybe I just do), which this doesn’t really have. But A History of Glitter and Blood is very much a book about war, and it does a really good job examining how people act in war, what excuses they use to start one in the first place, how daily atrocities can just become your way of life, so much so you don’t even think of them as all that bad, etc. (Well, that last came before the war, but anyway.) It’s also a love story, and I find that I definitely ship Beckan/Scrap. Scrap is kind of my favorite. Beckan is a pretty great heroine (although sometimes her contradictory thoughts about certain subjects drive me a little nuts), but I fell for Scrap pretty much instantly.
A History of Glitter and Blood is a hard book to review with any real sense of coherence, but I didn’t find the book particularly hard to read. There were definitely times I wished for a bit more structure separating the past and present, and the intrusive narrator threw me for a loop for a while, but the more you read, the more it all seemed to work. I’d recommend this, so long as the person I was recommending it to was open to some serious narrative and structural weirdness.
A History of Glitter and Blood is a hard book to review with any real sense of coherence, but I didn’t find the book particularly hard to read. There were definitely times I wished for a bit more structure separating the past and present, and the intrusive narrator threw me for a loop for a while, but the more you read, the more it all seemed to work. I’d recommend this, so long as the person I was recommending it to was open to some serious narrative and structural weirdness.
momwithareadingproblem's review against another edition
4.0
I received an eARC of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.
Initial Reaction:
A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz was a pleasant surprise. I'll admit I had my doubts going in ESPECIALLY seeing so many DNF reviews on Goodreads. I can honestly say having read the entire book I don't know why people gave up! I loved it :D This book is nothing like I've ever read and this made it interesting and kept me on my toes. The book follows the story of three friends (Beckan, Scrap and Josha) as they navigate their way through a war.
As the title suggests the book is a history of the war, or at least it tries to be ;) At the beginning of the book I was slightly confused. The narration had a tendency to head hop, there were sentences that made no sense, and then there was an instance where the author told him/herself off! I didn't understand this! I thought surely it was a mistake and it was distracting to the narrative and quite frankly boring characters.
Then about 25% in I had an "ah-ha!" moment. This history was being written by one of the characters which explained the times in the story when things didn't make sense and as the author of the story wrote more he/she deviated from just the history and it became very similar to a love story! I LOVED this aspect. It was a story about friends who became family and the love they had for one another, what they did for each other, and what happened to each of them during the war.
The story begins with a hunt for Cricket one of the fallen members of their "family." Josha is mourning, refusing to leave his room, while Scrap and Beckan search for just a piece of their friend. You see they are fairies, immortal beings, and cannot die. Every piece of them, even the glitter they shed, is sentient. So begins the story.
I like the characters! Beckan is a strong leading lady. She's the glue of the family and the author's main interest. Scrap will do anything for his "family" even go down into the gnome mines. Josha is hurting and a bit on the selfish side in my own opinion. And Cricket, even though he is dead from the start of the story, his character shows up a lot and plays a prominent role. I fell in love with him and hurt for the friend he left behind.
Overall I enjoyed the story. I feel that if you gave up/DNF the book that maybe give it another go. If you can make it to the ah-ha moment of the book things really start to make sense and the writing gets better as the book progresses showing the progress of the character that is writing the story. I loved the paranormal/fantasy elements of the story as well. It was an interesting take on fairies and gnomes along with other creatures. And the war! Though it plays a large role in the background of the story it is over at the beginning.
Now there is a caveat to my review ;) While this book is billed as a young adult, I do not feel that it is appropriate for that age...maybe 16+. The characters have a very open relationships, along with two of the MCs being prostitutes to get by during the war. It can be graphic as far as the violence goes and there is quite a bit of strong language (the F-bomb being a favorite). Otherwise I enjoyed the book! It's not for the faint of heart and if you give it go, stick with it through at least 25-30% before you decide to DNF....pretty please :D I think anyone that enjoys fantasy, dystopians, and a little romance will enjoy this one. Plus the open ending has potential for more from these characters!
Initial Reaction:
A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz was a pleasant surprise. I'll admit I had my doubts going in ESPECIALLY seeing so many DNF reviews on Goodreads. I can honestly say having read the entire book I don't know why people gave up! I loved it :D This book is nothing like I've ever read and this made it interesting and kept me on my toes. The book follows the story of three friends (Beckan, Scrap and Josha) as they navigate their way through a war.
As the title suggests the book is a history of the war, or at least it tries to be ;) At the beginning of the book I was slightly confused. The narration had a tendency to head hop, there were sentences that made no sense, and then there was an instance where the author told him/herself off! I didn't understand this! I thought surely it was a mistake and it was distracting to the narrative and quite frankly boring characters.
Then about 25% in I had an "ah-ha!" moment. This history was being written by one of the characters which explained the times in the story when things didn't make sense and as the author of the story wrote more he/she deviated from just the history and it became very similar to a love story! I LOVED this aspect. It was a story about friends who became family and the love they had for one another, what they did for each other, and what happened to each of them during the war.
The story begins with a hunt for Cricket one of the fallen members of their "family." Josha is mourning, refusing to leave his room, while Scrap and Beckan search for just a piece of their friend. You see they are fairies, immortal beings, and cannot die. Every piece of them, even the glitter they shed, is sentient. So begins the story.
I like the characters! Beckan is a strong leading lady. She's the glue of the family and the author's main interest. Scrap will do anything for his "family" even go down into the gnome mines. Josha is hurting and a bit on the selfish side in my own opinion. And Cricket, even though he is dead from the start of the story, his character shows up a lot and plays a prominent role. I fell in love with him and hurt for the friend he left behind.
Overall I enjoyed the story. I feel that if you gave up/DNF the book that maybe give it another go. If you can make it to the ah-ha moment of the book things really start to make sense and the writing gets better as the book progresses showing the progress of the character that is writing the story. I loved the paranormal/fantasy elements of the story as well. It was an interesting take on fairies and gnomes along with other creatures. And the war! Though it plays a large role in the background of the story it is over at the beginning.
Now there is a caveat to my review ;) While this book is billed as a young adult, I do not feel that it is appropriate for that age...maybe 16+. The characters have a very open relationships, along with two of the MCs being prostitutes to get by during the war. It can be graphic as far as the violence goes and there is quite a bit of strong language (the F-bomb being a favorite). Otherwise I enjoyed the book! It's not for the faint of heart and if you give it go, stick with it through at least 25-30% before you decide to DNF....pretty please :D I think anyone that enjoys fantasy, dystopians, and a little romance will enjoy this one. Plus the open ending has potential for more from these characters!
plumeriade's review against another edition
1.0
update: finished it. still one star. the story could have been compelling but the writing just didn't work. also, loooooooove how lesbian sex is basically used to "heal" a woman enough to have real hetero sex.
DNF at 12%. and on my second attempt to read it. i just can't do it. i like weird, but this is more like "what random stuff can i throw together to make this unique and RaNdOm in the most bizarre order ever with no explanation." sorry!!!
DNF at 12%. and on my second attempt to read it. i just can't do it. i like weird, but this is more like "what random stuff can i throw together to make this unique and RaNdOm in the most bizarre order ever with no explanation." sorry!!!
knallen's review against another edition
4.0
At first, I really wasn't sure what to make of this book. It's dark and it's grim and it's unlike anything I've read before. The further I read, the more I liked it. I liked the way it's told a bit disjointedly and the characters in it are fabulous. The world is amazing and seemed so solid, so real. This is perfect for someone who loves fairies or fairy stories but it also different from any fairy story I've read. This is not a book for young teenagers. It's not graphic or anything, but it deals with some serious matters and issues.
bookfessional's review against another edition
This . . . is the most . . . chaotic mess of rambling nonsense I've ever encountered.
I've been told the narrator is unreliable, and maybe that's true. I don't know. I couldn't read it long enough to find out.
BUT.
Regardless of whether or not that's true . . . I don't care. This is awful. AWFUL. Like boycott-the-publisher-for-all-eternity awful.
There's some kind of fairy war, and the gnomes eat the fairies (YES, literally), but only parts of them, and the rest continues to live b/c immortal: the MC carries around her father's remaining eye, ear, and a tooth in a jam jar in her backpack, oh, and she also "turns tricks" for the gnomes, specifically the one who returned her father's remains to her.
The last thing I read before calling it quits was how he paid double to fuck her twice, and he always remembers to slide the money into her skirt before he slides it off . . .
And this is being marketed as YA fantasy?
I've been told the narrator is unreliable, and maybe that's true. I don't know. I couldn't read it long enough to find out.
BUT.
Regardless of whether or not that's true . . . I don't care. This is awful. AWFUL. Like boycott-the-publisher-for-all-eternity awful.
There's some kind of fairy war, and the gnomes eat the fairies (YES, literally), but only parts of them, and the rest continues to live b/c immortal: the MC carries around her father's remaining eye, ear, and a tooth in a jam jar in her backpack, oh, and she also "turns tricks" for the gnomes, specifically the one who returned her father's remains to her.
The last thing I read before calling it quits was how he paid double to fuck her twice, and he always remembers to slide the money into her skirt before he slides it off . . .
And this is being marketed as YA fantasy?
joaniesaltzman's review against another edition
4.0
I spent like 15 minutes writing a review last night before the app crashed and I lost everything so let me just say: The postmodernist style of this novel isn't for everyone, but the ending is so worth it. Don't let the sea of DNFs in the reviews deter you, especially if you value queer representation in a novel. This is not just a novel with a couple of gay characters thrown in, it is a story with a broken, beating queer heart at its center. It's an absolutely beautiful ending with a vision of love and family that I think queer readers will find very familiar, and one that we don't get to see very often. It's intense and I had to read it in pieces, but in the end it is so, so beautiful, and so worth your time.
ifthebook's review against another edition
4.0
This book is about so much more than war, though. It’s a jumble of love and loss and race relations and peacemaking and trauma and all sorts of things. It’s also, after glancing through the reviews on Goodreads, a book that causes strong reactions. This is not the sort of book that you should read if you’re looking for amazing world building and a plot that’s spelled out for you. This is, however, the sort of book you should read if you’re looking for novel prose and novel narration.
Full review here.
Full review here.
valhecka's review
2.0
This book was trying so freaking hard.
F/F sex is used as therapy and foreplay for straight sex. Yes, everyone's bi and everyone's poly and everyone is so progressive they spend the entire book killing themselves to facilitate a straight relationship.
The mythology is interesting and the politics are weird. The writing is the kind of stylized breathless prose that would result from shaking an urban fantasy magnetic poetry kit and spilling it onto the floor. It's studiously unprecious to the extent of pretension. The fourth wall is painted about nine different colors. It's a lot of trying for a straight supernatural romance.
F/F sex is used as therapy and foreplay for straight sex. Yes, everyone's bi and everyone's poly and everyone is so progressive they spend the entire book killing themselves to facilitate a straight relationship.
The mythology is interesting and the politics are weird. The writing is the kind of stylized breathless prose that would result from shaking an urban fantasy magnetic poetry kit and spilling it onto the floor. It's studiously unprecious to the extent of pretension. The fourth wall is painted about nine different colors. It's a lot of trying for a straight supernatural romance.
cocoafiend's review
2.0
I have loved Hannah Moskowitz's other works, and was so disappointed that I didn't enjoy this one as much.
This book was so strange. I'd have a hard time recommending it to anyone, because this book is WORK to read and for me, the ending was just... off.
Okay. So if you're going to take the "war is twisted and awful and does hideous, unspeakable things to people" premise SO far that you've got
A) Sexual exploitation of minors as a main plot point,
B) Constant threat/fear of literally being eaten alive, and
C) Bits of people get blown off/crushed/eaten AND people can still feel those bits LITERALLY FOREVER because that is how immortality works in your world
having the characters go off to live happily ever after in the end without suffering any consequences (mental or physical) that they had not sustained before the book even started... It just feels out of place. Unsatisfying. Like, why did I even read this book, because the characters really didn't seem to be affected by anything around them at all.
If you spend the whole book slogging through all this traumatic, emotionally wrenching, horrific stuff, you just have expect the characters in the book to be affected by it too! Like, beyond just banding together and realizing that war sucks. I don't know.
Maybe if we'd actually SEEN the awful stuff that happens (Cricket's death, the loss of Scrap's arm, etc), I'd feel more of a connection to those events and feel like the characters had been affected by the war. As it is, though, the disjointed style kept me from ever connecting to any of the characters in a meaningful way.
All this awful stuff keeps happening, and you spend the whole book wondering what horrible, traumatic thing it's building up to, and then... Happy ending!?!?!? It's not precisely a let-down, but it doesn't feel SATISFYING.
I have a hard time sorting through my feelings about this one. Obviously.
This book was so strange. I'd have a hard time recommending it to anyone, because this book is WORK to read and for me, the ending was just... off.
Okay. So if you're going to take the "war is twisted and awful and does hideous, unspeakable things to people" premise SO far that you've got
A) Sexual exploitation of minors as a main plot point,
B) Constant threat/fear of literally being eaten alive, and
C) Bits of people get blown off/crushed/eaten AND people can still feel those bits LITERALLY FOREVER because that is how immortality works in your world
having the characters go off to live happily ever after in the end without suffering any consequences (mental or physical) that they had not sustained before the book even started... It just feels out of place. Unsatisfying. Like, why did I even read this book, because the characters really didn't seem to be affected by anything around them at all.
If you spend the whole book slogging through all this traumatic, emotionally wrenching, horrific stuff, you just have expect the characters in the book to be affected by it too! Like, beyond just banding together and realizing that war sucks. I don't know.
Maybe if we'd actually SEEN the awful stuff that happens (Cricket's death, the loss of Scrap's arm, etc), I'd feel more of a connection to those events and feel like the characters had been affected by the war. As it is, though, the disjointed style kept me from ever connecting to any of the characters in a meaningful way.
All this awful stuff keeps happening, and you spend the whole book wondering what horrible, traumatic thing it's building up to, and then... Happy ending!?!?!? It's not precisely a let-down, but it doesn't feel SATISFYING.
I have a hard time sorting through my feelings about this one. Obviously.