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reddyrat's review against another edition
4.0
Glimmerglass takes place in just a slightly altered world. Unlike most faerie stories, the existence of faeries is widely known in the Glimmerglass world. However, faeries and humans only interact in Avalon, a mountainous area just outside of London. It's a country within a country, like the Vatican, complete with its own immigration. That's where the interaction stops: humans cannot enter the faerie realm and faeries cannot enter the human realm.
Dana Hathaway has always known she was half faerie, but she's never met her mother. Her mother hid her existence from her father and never set foot in Avalon with Dana. But after one too many drunken embarassments by her mother, Dana runs away to Avalon to find her father. As soon as she does, she finds herself at the center of a family and political war. Dana is a Faeriewalker, the first one in 75 years. She can exist in both worlds and any faerie that has Dana on its side will have a huge amount of power.
Dana makes a lot of fast friends and enemies in Avalon. There's her aunt, who is either trying to lock her up or protect her. There's Ethan and Kimber, who are either trying to protect her or use her for political gains. There's her father, who either needs her for political gains or loves her. Lots of politics here. Ethan and Kimber are great characters. Ethan is the typical hot, arrogant guy who seems to have some substance underneath his bravado shell, but the plot has him doing so many things that are questionable that it's hard for Dana or the reader to know if he's good or bad for much of the story. There's also Kimber, who comes off as a real ice princess, but then seems like a cute fun best friend too. Dana's father has a hard shell, but you also see his love for his daughter. I also really liked the characters of Finn and Keane, Dana's bodyguard and his son. Especially Keane.
I love how the characters are all three dimensional, for the most part. They all have flaws - realistic flaws - and you also can understand their motivations. The set of interesting characters made the story for me. The only character aspect of the story that bothered me was at the main climax at the end, when I thought some of the bad-guy dialogue was a bit too fake. Like a B-grade movie. Other than that, Jenna Black did a great job with the characters.
I would like to understand the fantasy world a little better. We learn about magic, the faerie realm, and Avalon as the book goes on, but I still felt like there were big gaps in the world building. Part of the problem with this is that the faerie world is not a complete surprise to Dana. While there's much she learns throughout the book, she has known about faeries her entire life. It's easier to introduce a fantasy world to readers when it's new to the character as well. That way, you have an excuse to include lots of background. I think the world will be better developed as the series goes on, but I still felt more confused than I would have like at times.
Rating: 3.5 / 5
Dana Hathaway has always known she was half faerie, but she's never met her mother. Her mother hid her existence from her father and never set foot in Avalon with Dana. But after one too many drunken embarassments by her mother, Dana runs away to Avalon to find her father. As soon as she does, she finds herself at the center of a family and political war. Dana is a Faeriewalker, the first one in 75 years. She can exist in both worlds and any faerie that has Dana on its side will have a huge amount of power.
Dana makes a lot of fast friends and enemies in Avalon. There's her aunt, who is either trying to lock her up or protect her. There's Ethan and Kimber, who are either trying to protect her or use her for political gains. There's her father, who either needs her for political gains or loves her. Lots of politics here. Ethan and Kimber are great characters. Ethan is the typical hot, arrogant guy who seems to have some substance underneath his bravado shell, but the plot has him doing so many things that are questionable that it's hard for Dana or the reader to know if he's good or bad for much of the story. There's also Kimber, who comes off as a real ice princess, but then seems like a cute fun best friend too. Dana's father has a hard shell, but you also see his love for his daughter. I also really liked the characters of Finn and Keane, Dana's bodyguard and his son. Especially Keane.
I love how the characters are all three dimensional, for the most part. They all have flaws - realistic flaws - and you also can understand their motivations. The set of interesting characters made the story for me. The only character aspect of the story that bothered me was at the main climax at the end, when I thought some of the bad-guy dialogue was a bit too fake. Like a B-grade movie. Other than that, Jenna Black did a great job with the characters.
I would like to understand the fantasy world a little better. We learn about magic, the faerie realm, and Avalon as the book goes on, but I still felt like there were big gaps in the world building. Part of the problem with this is that the faerie world is not a complete surprise to Dana. While there's much she learns throughout the book, she has known about faeries her entire life. It's easier to introduce a fantasy world to readers when it's new to the character as well. That way, you have an excuse to include lots of background. I think the world will be better developed as the series goes on, but I still felt more confused than I would have like at times.
Rating: 3.5 / 5
haleyelisereads's review against another edition
3.0
More Reviews and other fun stuff at: Ya-Aholic
Funny, quick, totally awesome read
Dana’s mother is a mess..she’s always drunk. So when Dana runs away to a mysterious father she’s never known in Avalon, the city between everyday earth and faerie world..she doesn’t expect anything that does happen to happen..she doesn’t expect to be kidnapped..she doesn’t expect to find out she’s a faeriewalker..a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, she doesn’t expect to have people wanting her dead, and she doesn’t expect to meet a hot fae boy named Ethan..as Dana gets lost in this crazy adventure she will learn how to trust, to forgive, and maybe even to love..maybe.
This was my first read of Jenna Black’s and can I just say it did not disappoint! Although Glimmerglass is a fae novel, don’t be fooled, it is not like all the other ones! Most fae books have the same storyline, but this one is quite different, which of course is oh so refreshing. Dana is a normal teenage girl, she likes to sing, she likes boys (a lot), and…her mom’s a drunk..okay so that part isn’t so normal. I found myself threw out the book being up and down with Dana, for the most part I liked her, she’s funny, she’s strong, but she is annoying at times..she has an obsession with boys…everytime there is a good looking guy she has to describe how they look and go all gaga eyes over it..and bring it up a few times..she did this for like 4 or 5 guys I think? And I mean don’t get me wrong I love me some pretty boys in books but really? Couldn’t there just be 2 pretty boys ? or 3? Or hell even 1?! Dana takes boy crazy to a whole new level.
Ethan is probably one of my least favorite men in a book, he is Dana’s number one man (out of the like 34234234 million) and to me it just feels like he is using her. I am sure plenty of people love him, I mean he is suppose to be gorgeous, strong and protective, but to me he is cocky, jealous, a player, and stupid? Ya that sounds about right.
Besides the characters immaturity, Glimmerglass really is a great start to a series. It has just the right amount of action, magic, love, family issues, and mystery. Jenna Black takes you into a whole new look at the fae world, you don’t wanna miss this read!
Funny, quick, totally awesome read
Dana’s mother is a mess..she’s always drunk. So when Dana runs away to a mysterious father she’s never known in Avalon, the city between everyday earth and faerie world..she doesn’t expect anything that does happen to happen..she doesn’t expect to be kidnapped..she doesn’t expect to find out she’s a faeriewalker..a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, she doesn’t expect to have people wanting her dead, and she doesn’t expect to meet a hot fae boy named Ethan..as Dana gets lost in this crazy adventure she will learn how to trust, to forgive, and maybe even to love..maybe.
This was my first read of Jenna Black’s and can I just say it did not disappoint! Although Glimmerglass is a fae novel, don’t be fooled, it is not like all the other ones! Most fae books have the same storyline, but this one is quite different, which of course is oh so refreshing. Dana is a normal teenage girl, she likes to sing, she likes boys (a lot), and…her mom’s a drunk..okay so that part isn’t so normal. I found myself threw out the book being up and down with Dana, for the most part I liked her, she’s funny, she’s strong, but she is annoying at times..she has an obsession with boys…everytime there is a good looking guy she has to describe how they look and go all gaga eyes over it..and bring it up a few times..she did this for like 4 or 5 guys I think? And I mean don’t get me wrong I love me some pretty boys in books but really? Couldn’t there just be 2 pretty boys ? or 3? Or hell even 1?! Dana takes boy crazy to a whole new level.
Ethan is probably one of my least favorite men in a book, he is Dana’s number one man (out of the like 34234234 million) and to me it just feels like he is using her. I am sure plenty of people love him, I mean he is suppose to be gorgeous, strong and protective, but to me he is cocky, jealous, a player, and stupid? Ya that sounds about right.
Besides the characters immaturity, Glimmerglass really is a great start to a series. It has just the right amount of action, magic, love, family issues, and mystery. Jenna Black takes you into a whole new look at the fae world, you don’t wanna miss this read!
bonbonsandreveries's review against another edition
3.0
Glimmerglass was entertaining. Dana runs away from home to Avalon, where her faerie father lives. When she arrives, she is kidnapped by her aunt. Following is a whole string of kidnappings, attacks, and betrayals. They all have to do with the fact that Dana is a faeriewalker which means that she’s either wanted to be used or wanted dead. Ethan and Kimber, faerie siblings, befriend Dana. Well, Ethan wants to be more than just friends. Then there is also Keane, Dana’s “bad boy” self defense coach.
I enjoyed reading this book. It’s not very long, but I was still absorbed in the world. There were a few things that bothered me. Although, none had to do with the writing-it was very well thought out. Many of them revolved around Ethan. I have such mixed feelings about him. I hated what he did to Dana (twice!) in the beginning. I wouldn’t trust him
again. But then what he did at the end kind of made up for his actions earlier-but still. I like Keane so much better. I actually hope she ends up with him.
Dana annoyed me with her stubbornness. First of all, her father is trying to help and protect her-she ran away so she didn’t have to act like the only adult in the family. So why is she just ignoring her father’s wishes? He wants her to stay put so she’s protected and what does she do? She runs away when there are faeries who want her dead...smart. I mean, her father definitely did some things that I (and Dana) didn’t like and has some opinions that I ( and Dana) seriously don’t agree with, but still he’s got her best interests at heart. I think Dana made a bunch of really dumb choices. But, she’s only 16, and making mistakes is all apart of being a teenager. Those mistakes will influence how she makes her future choices. Black did a great job writing the voice of a teenager who was forced to grow up too soon.
I was drawn into Black’s world of faeries. There is no way I’m leaving-I will definitely be reading the next book in the series.
I enjoyed reading this book. It’s not very long, but I was still absorbed in the world. There were a few things that bothered me. Although, none had to do with the writing-it was very well thought out. Many of them revolved around Ethan. I have such mixed feelings about him. I hated what he did to Dana (twice!) in the beginning. I wouldn’t trust him
again. But then what he did at the end kind of made up for his actions earlier-but still. I like Keane so much better. I actually hope she ends up with him.
Dana annoyed me with her stubbornness. First of all, her father is trying to help and protect her-she ran away so she didn’t have to act like the only adult in the family. So why is she just ignoring her father’s wishes? He wants her to stay put so she’s protected and what does she do? She runs away when there are faeries who want her dead...smart. I mean, her father definitely did some things that I (and Dana) didn’t like and has some opinions that I ( and Dana) seriously don’t agree with, but still he’s got her best interests at heart. I think Dana made a bunch of really dumb choices. But, she’s only 16, and making mistakes is all apart of being a teenager. Those mistakes will influence how she makes her future choices. Black did a great job writing the voice of a teenager who was forced to grow up too soon.
I was drawn into Black’s world of faeries. There is no way I’m leaving-I will definitely be reading the next book in the series.
bibliorobi_'s review against another edition
4.0
Dana Hathaway ha sedici anni ed è una mezzosangue: sua madre è umana, ma suo padre è un fae, cioè una fata, e vive ad Avalon. Avalon è un luogo dove i mondi umani e quelli fatati si incontrano, dove sia essere umani che fae possono vivere relativamente in pace. Non è però possibile per i fae spostarsi dal mondo umano a Faerie, il regno delle fate - possono farlo solo i Faeriewalker.
Quando sua madre si presenta al suo saggio ubriaca per l'ennesima volta, Dana decide di non poter più vivere con lei, e non riesce più a sopportare i loro continui trasferimenti, dato che la madre non vuole rimanere troppo tempo nello stesso posto per paura che il padre di Dana le trovi, la ragazza decide di andare da suo padre. Ad Avalon.
Ma non appena arrivata si renderà conto che Avalon non è affatto come lei immaginava, perché suo padre è stato messo in prigione con una falsa accusa. Dana si ritroverà allora a dovere fare affidamento su sua "zia" Grace e sui fratelli Ethan e Kimber. Ma chi è davvero suo amico, e chi invece finge di esserlo? E soprattutto, il confine tra bene e male è davvero così definito?
Mi sono approcciata a questo libro con un po' di scetticismo. Lo specchio delle fate, però, mi ha coinvolta praticamente da subito, tant'è che l'ho divorato in appena due giorni.
Jenna Black ha fatto un ottimo lavoro, creando delle bellissime ambientazioni e dei personaggi caratterizzati alla perfezione.
Dana, in particolare, mi è piaciuta tantissimo, soprattutto per il suo spiccato senso dell'umorismo, che mi ha fatta sorridere.
Inoltre, ho avuto la sensazione che l'autrice abbia posto le basi per un bel triangolo amoroso - Dana, Ethan e Keane - che si prospetta davvero interessante.
Il finale lascia abbastanza cose in sospeso e molte domande senza risposta, infatti Lo specchio delle fate è il primo romanzo della trilogia Faeriewalker, la cui pubblicazione è terminata di recente in patria.
Infine, lo stile dell'autrice è scorrevole e semplice - ma mai superficiale o banale.
Ho apprezzato in particolar modo che il romanzo fosse incentrato più sulle vicende politiche o comunque "d'azione" di Dana, più che sulle vicende amorose.
Quando sua madre si presenta al suo saggio ubriaca per l'ennesima volta, Dana decide di non poter più vivere con lei, e non riesce più a sopportare i loro continui trasferimenti, dato che la madre non vuole rimanere troppo tempo nello stesso posto per paura che il padre di Dana le trovi, la ragazza decide di andare da suo padre. Ad Avalon.
Ma non appena arrivata si renderà conto che Avalon non è affatto come lei immaginava, perché suo padre è stato messo in prigione con una falsa accusa. Dana si ritroverà allora a dovere fare affidamento su sua "zia" Grace e sui fratelli Ethan e Kimber. Ma chi è davvero suo amico, e chi invece finge di esserlo? E soprattutto, il confine tra bene e male è davvero così definito?
Mi sono approcciata a questo libro con un po' di scetticismo. Lo specchio delle fate, però, mi ha coinvolta praticamente da subito, tant'è che l'ho divorato in appena due giorni.
Jenna Black ha fatto un ottimo lavoro, creando delle bellissime ambientazioni e dei personaggi caratterizzati alla perfezione.
Dana, in particolare, mi è piaciuta tantissimo, soprattutto per il suo spiccato senso dell'umorismo, che mi ha fatta sorridere.
Inoltre, ho avuto la sensazione che l'autrice abbia posto le basi per un bel triangolo amoroso - Dana, Ethan e Keane - che si prospetta davvero interessante.
Il finale lascia abbastanza cose in sospeso e molte domande senza risposta, infatti Lo specchio delle fate è il primo romanzo della trilogia Faeriewalker, la cui pubblicazione è terminata di recente in patria.
Infine, lo stile dell'autrice è scorrevole e semplice - ma mai superficiale o banale.
Ho apprezzato in particolar modo che il romanzo fosse incentrato più sulle vicende politiche o comunque "d'azione" di Dana, più che sulle vicende amorose.
andreana_k's review against another edition
3.0
My first impressions of this book were it was gearing up to be quite good. An interesting premise, two worlds overlapping, the Fae and the Human, with one key doorway city, Avalon. However the more I read the more it was shaping up to be another very formulaic YA tale. Average Mary Sue with some hardships moves to a new area, suddenly finds herself irresistibly attractive to the natives and crushes on the hottest guy who, shock horror, likes her back. Mary Sue turns out to have some super power that will save everyone, cliff hanger ending, please wait 9 months for the next book in the series. Except the ending wasn’t so cliff hanger. In fact I’m still waiting for the story climax. I felt as if the entire book was an introductory chapter because nothing of any significance actually happened.
Parts of this book were just oddly bizarre and I wasn’t sure why they were included at all if not to shock. In one scene Dana and her friends are attacked by stick creatures reminiscent of something from Rupert the bear but more evil. An apt evil minion for a fairy book, a vaguely humanoid creature made from sticks and straw with sharpened stick fingers that glistened with blood. I understand how that came to be, one boy was attacked and we are told he had deep scratches on his chest. But then Dana goes on to describe another sharp pointy stick appendage between the creature’s legs also glistening with blood. What the hell am I meant to take from that? The stick creature brutally raped someone? What other conclusion am I to draw? Yet Black tells us of no rape victim, and no other mention is made of it. But it’s one glaringly disturbing visual that haunted me for the rest of the book. I couldn’t even really take in the rest of the next few pages and had to reread them. I went back over it looking for more explanation, a deeper understanding of what I’d read. Nothing. So why even include that in there? There was sufficient gore and description of the fighting wounded and illusion to the creatures menace already without the need to make reference to a pointy stick penis covered in blood that had probably just been used to stab a teenager girl through the uterus. Considering this is a book aimed at young adults I feel that was an unnecessary and cheap literary shock tool.
Also Ethan is quite possibly the creepiest male protagonist I have ever read. The guy can’t keep his hands off Dana. He’s up in her business flirting and groping her and just being generally disrespecting of the personal space bubble. The pièce de résistance however in his tirade of inappropriate was when he did the equivalent of roofying Dana by putting a chillax spell on her to make her compliant so he could make out with her. What a babe.
So what did I like about this book? Well a few things. As I mentioned before I really enjoyed the premise. The fairy world and Human world co-existing as sideways dimensions accessible through the portal of Avalon. There exists border patrols, kingdoms and politics that all have the positional to be a great infrastructure for a story. I’m hoping the next book does justice to this as this one seemed to fart around, skim the edges and go nowhere.
I really enjoyed the side characters. The broody quasi goth Keane and his hunky knight of a dad Finn, Lachlan the kind hearted troll and Kimber the new friend living under her brothers shadow. All very interesting secondary characters who pulled me in. Far more interesting than the main protagonists in my opinion, but then I’m known to fall for the underdogs, it’s my thing.
I’d recommend this book only to those who are into the genre of fae books. Not one I’d read again but I’ll give the sequel ago in the eternal hope there will be some improvement in the lead characters and the direction of the story.
Parts of this book were just oddly bizarre and I wasn’t sure why they were included at all if not to shock. In one scene Dana and her friends are attacked by stick creatures reminiscent of something from Rupert the bear but more evil. An apt evil minion for a fairy book, a vaguely humanoid creature made from sticks and straw with sharpened stick fingers that glistened with blood. I understand how that came to be, one boy was attacked and we are told he had deep scratches on his chest. But then Dana goes on to describe another sharp pointy stick appendage between the creature’s legs also glistening with blood. What the hell am I meant to take from that? The stick creature brutally raped someone? What other conclusion am I to draw? Yet Black tells us of no rape victim, and no other mention is made of it. But it’s one glaringly disturbing visual that haunted me for the rest of the book. I couldn’t even really take in the rest of the next few pages and had to reread them. I went back over it looking for more explanation, a deeper understanding of what I’d read. Nothing. So why even include that in there? There was sufficient gore and description of the fighting wounded and illusion to the creatures menace already without the need to make reference to a pointy stick penis covered in blood that had probably just been used to stab a teenager girl through the uterus. Considering this is a book aimed at young adults I feel that was an unnecessary and cheap literary shock tool.
Also Ethan is quite possibly the creepiest male protagonist I have ever read. The guy can’t keep his hands off Dana. He’s up in her business flirting and groping her and just being generally disrespecting of the personal space bubble. The pièce de résistance however in his tirade of inappropriate was when he did the equivalent of roofying Dana by putting a chillax spell on her to make her compliant so he could make out with her. What a babe.
So what did I like about this book? Well a few things. As I mentioned before I really enjoyed the premise. The fairy world and Human world co-existing as sideways dimensions accessible through the portal of Avalon. There exists border patrols, kingdoms and politics that all have the positional to be a great infrastructure for a story. I’m hoping the next book does justice to this as this one seemed to fart around, skim the edges and go nowhere.
I really enjoyed the side characters. The broody quasi goth Keane and his hunky knight of a dad Finn, Lachlan the kind hearted troll and Kimber the new friend living under her brothers shadow. All very interesting secondary characters who pulled me in. Far more interesting than the main protagonists in my opinion, but then I’m known to fall for the underdogs, it’s my thing.
I’d recommend this book only to those who are into the genre of fae books. Not one I’d read again but I’ll give the sequel ago in the eternal hope there will be some improvement in the lead characters and the direction of the story.
vikingwolf's review against another edition
There is nothing wrong with the actual book so don't be put off by the one star. I'm not a huge fan of fae stories and I really don't enjoy fae politics in my book so it was always a gamble picking up a book like this.
I did not connect with the story or the characters at all and was not really enjoying it. I quit after a handful of chapters. There is nothing wrong with the writing either-I am a fan of other books by Jenna Black, in fact. It just was not my type of book story-wise. For those who like fae YA books, you might very well like this one.
I did not connect with the story or the characters at all and was not really enjoying it. I quit after a handful of chapters. There is nothing wrong with the writing either-I am a fan of other books by Jenna Black, in fact. It just was not my type of book story-wise. For those who like fae YA books, you might very well like this one.
sleepgoblin's review against another edition
3.0
This started off pretty weak. It's written in first person, and that person happens to be a 16 year old girl that spends a lot of time thinking about virginity and bad influences. I wasn't even sure I wanted to finish it at first, because stories like this are starting to get old to me. But it picks up, and as I finished I found myself looking for the second one. There is a lot of action, and some unique (at least to me) twists on fae and magic. I still wish it didn't follow the over-used "I'm a teenage girl and super boring, but oh wait, I'm actually super special and in danger" plot, but it's readable and even enjoyable at times.
yungokssss's review against another edition
2.0
WHY????? WHY???? Why does once again the main character have to be a bitch and why why why does the romance suck??? She sees Ethan. He might be using her... But whatever, he's hot. So that makes everything ok... Right? Wrong, stupid!!! I hated how she didn't even KNOW Ethan, but every time she saw him she "melted" and couldn't stop thinking about him no matter what. Stalker. Whatever. The plot was badly put together, in my opinion. Many good possibilities but instead it was all crap.