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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
***The following rambling notes are for me. They may contain spoilers or no information at all. Rating are sometimes based on literary merit and sometimes based on vibes.***
Final book in the Glass Library series answers most long-standing questions but the pacing left me frustrated. Archer checks off resolutions like items on a list rather than giving them emotional weight - Sylvia’s father appears to talk, sacrifices himself, and dies all in one meeting with barely any impact on her. Gabe’s parents show up for literally a few minutes at the very end. The romance gets completely short-changed - Gabe and Sylvia spend almost no time together throughout the book, then he suddenly proposes in the last two pages. Well-written and readable, just wish Archer had spent more time on the emotional payoffs we’ve been waiting for across six books.
Final book in the Glass Library series answers most long-standing questions but the pacing left me frustrated. Archer checks off resolutions like items on a list rather than giving them emotional weight - Sylvia’s father appears to talk, sacrifices himself, and dies all in one meeting with barely any impact on her. Gabe’s parents show up for literally a few minutes at the very end. The romance gets completely short-changed - Gabe and Sylvia spend almost no time together throughout the book, then he suddenly proposes in the last two pages. Well-written and readable, just wish Archer had spent more time on the emotional payoffs we’ve been waiting for across six books.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fluffy romantasy that I had to read in order to complete the series. A bit predictable, as all of the books follow almost a perfect cookie-cutter pattern of plot twists and thematic elements. But satisfying.
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The start of this book feels a little jarring, as some development happens off-page, making it feel like a short story or novella took places between this book and the last. This book also feels a bit rushed overall - Sylvia meets her father properly and learns more about her family history and then promptly loses him . Sylvia's habit of running away pops up, despite having disappeared for three books. The kidnapper reveal feels like a stretch of a twist to make up for Thurlow and the Dobson teaming up . And there's a lot of pairing up at the end, including a proposal from Gabe . Some of these feel like they could have been developed better throughout the series or spread over the last two books rather than just confined to this one.
I'm especially not a fan of theredemption through death Sylvia's father experienced. I'm much more a fan of redemption through rehabilitation and I would have liked to see Sylvia learn more from him and for them to develop more spells or knowledge about their paper magic.
I'd also have liked a bit more exploration of the late Lord Coyle's rather eugenic experimentation in pairing different magical lineages together. It's an uncomfortable truth, but eugenics was absurdly popular in both the United States and Britain at the start of the 20th century and it was interesting to see it pop up as an aside. Especially since it seems confirmed by the Hendry journal that crossing magical lines provides some kind of hybrid vigour effect. There's also mentions of magical mutations and caution around blood transfusions due to an unknown factor (likely Rh factors, as they weren't discovered until 1939) that might be magical in cause.
Also of note of turning up in the last two books is the handful of queer or queer-seeming characters. I am not complaining by any stretch, butSylvia's father, Valentine Coyle, Willie (and Tilda) and the Professor (and Oscar?) all explicitly stated or strongly hinted at? Again, I would have liked this sooner, rather than all of this happening in the space of two books.
Overall, this is book that neatly ties up the plot lines of the series, but feels rushed and emotionally unsatisfying as a result.
I'm especially not a fan of the
I'd also have liked a bit more exploration of the late Lord Coyle's rather eugenic experimentation in pairing different magical lineages together. It's an uncomfortable truth, but eugenics was absurdly popular in both the United States and Britain at the start of the 20th century and it was interesting to see it pop up as an aside. Especially since it seems confirmed by the Hendry journal that crossing magical lines provides some kind of hybrid vigour effect. There's also mentions of magical mutations and caution around blood transfusions due to an unknown factor (likely Rh factors, as they weren't discovered until 1939) that might be magical in cause.
Also of note of turning up in the last two books is the handful of queer or queer-seeming characters. I am not complaining by any stretch, but
Overall, this is book that neatly ties up the plot lines of the series, but feels rushed and emotionally unsatisfying as a result.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love this series! The characters are well written and fun to get to know. I like the way the plot unfolded and the flow of the story. Fun read!
adventurous
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No