1.51k reviews for:

Glitterland

Alexis Hall

3.94 AVERAGE

melissa_king_reads's review against another edition

4.0

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I would give this a solid 4-4.5 stars. I was blown away by this book. I’ll admit, after reading the warnings and knowing so many other AH books, I was worried to start Glitterland. BUT I was so sucked into this one and couldn’t put it down. The imagery and beautiful, sparkly language used to describe Ash’s mindset on every page really was so wonderful. I loved Ash and Darian so much. And yes, the amount of anxiety and mental illness was hard to get through in some places, but it was just so beautifully done.
My only notes: 1. I wish all of Darian’s lines weren’t written phonetically. It was too much.
2. I got an arc digital copy so maybe other copies won’t be like this, but the conversational quotes weren’t spaced correctly at all so it was SO difficult to be able to tell who was saying what. So so annoying and ruined all the conversational flow.

amyreadsbooks3's review against another edition

5.0

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This was a beautiful portrayal of imperfection

bookandbarks's review against another edition

4.25

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

a_j0n_3s's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-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: Complicated

lilyheron's review against another edition

1.0

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Painfully self-indulgent and poorly researched. Patronising to people with mood disorders and people from Essex. One of the worst representations of mental illness I've read in time. Not even going to bother trying to give this one a balanced review because you should just steer clear. The way Darian's accent was written out phonetically, for every single line of dialogue, felt humiliating and nasty. You're not better than anyone else just because you went to Oxford, it just makes you come across like a dickhead (author and MC). Cruel protagonist does the bare minimum on the very last page and gets rewarded with a kind boyfriend who deserves so much better. Hope this gets scrubbed from my memory.

cw: bipolar disorder; panic attacks; abusive relationship; suicide attempt; depression

~read my tbr challenge ?? / 168~
1. Out of Salem 2/5
2. A Mark on my Soul 1/5
3. Glitterland 1/5

zoridia's review against another edition

3.0

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Pretty sure it's a good book, just not enjoyable to me personally. Great humour though. And descriptions of depression, though I prefer the humour.
I just don't get romance. I mean, yeah, everything ends well and happily ever after... doesn't it make anyone else feel like actual life sort of sucks?

guiltlesspleasures's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I went into this book blind, and let me tell you how delighted I was that the love interest was, in fact, the sparkly Essex lad with blindingly white teeth. I honestly don't think I've read a happier pairing than the acerbic, bipolar Ash and lovely, lovely Darian.

I don't know what kind of magic Alexis Hall conjured with this book, but he took what could have been an unremittingly bleak portrait of a man with severe mental health issues and turned it into a swoony, touching, blackly funny story of two odd ducks finding their perfect match. 

Ash + Darian 4ever

glitter_'s review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A great book if you’re feeling a moodier romance, where the protagonist is a little fucked up. I think I would have liked it if we got more depth from the love interest, as likable as he is. You’d almost want a different POV but I respect keeping it a one POV novel. I kind of wanted to read the end excerpt with the fictional writer’s writing but I’m toxic and lazy and did not do that. I’m sure it’s fun though! 

tioj's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

krakar's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes