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A review by fictionandfarming
Stealing Glass: A Cinderella Retelling by Liv Strom, Liv Strom
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
The blurb promises a Cinderella retelling, except our Cinderella is a thief, the fairy godmother is evil, and the prince has his own motives - and the story delivers. Elements from the fairytale are scattered throughout this novel, many with interesting or delightful twists.
Stealing Glass introduces us to Tal, also known as the City of the Dead, where spirits walk the earth and a small number of people have magical abilities. Numerous places outside of Tal are also referenced, giving the sense that there is a larger world outside of this city. This world is very intriguing, and left me wanting more worldbuilding - which I'm hoping we will see more of in the sequel.
Strom has written a strong cast of characters. Everyone is distinct and has their own motives and secrets that are slowly revealed over the course of the novel - or are left to be discovered in the sequel. This is a dual POV, switching back and forth between Vanya and Dimitri in a way that kept the story moving. Both our MCs grew naturally over the course of this novel, as did their relationship, paving the way for what should be a thrilling conclusion in the next book.
The story itself was intriguing and the pacing was fast. This novel knows exactly what it is, a YA Fantasy Romance, and it hits all the right notes. The twists were fun, the secrets and mysteries kept the pages turning, and the reveals were satisfying.
There were a handful of times where we would go from point A to point C in a scene without addressing point B on the page. It was typically small things that made me go "wait, I thought X was Y, but now they're Z." Just enough to pull me out of the moment and go back a few paragraphs to see if I missed something.
I knew going into this that it would end on a cliffhanger, and I am certainly looking forward to the sequel and seeing how this story ends. Strom shows a lot of promise, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for her other future projects.
Thank you to Liv Strom and BookSirens for making the DRC available to me. All opinions are my own.
Stealing Glass introduces us to Tal, also known as the City of the Dead, where spirits walk the earth and a small number of people have magical abilities. Numerous places outside of Tal are also referenced, giving the sense that there is a larger world outside of this city. This world is very intriguing, and left me wanting more worldbuilding - which I'm hoping we will see more of in the sequel.
Strom has written a strong cast of characters. Everyone is distinct and has their own motives and secrets that are slowly revealed over the course of the novel - or are left to be discovered in the sequel. This is a dual POV, switching back and forth between Vanya and Dimitri in a way that kept the story moving. Both our MCs grew naturally over the course of this novel, as did their relationship, paving the way for what should be a thrilling conclusion in the next book.
The story itself was intriguing and the pacing was fast. This novel knows exactly what it is, a YA Fantasy Romance, and it hits all the right notes. The twists were fun, the secrets and mysteries kept the pages turning, and the reveals were satisfying.
There were a handful of times where we would go from point A to point C in a scene without addressing point B on the page. It was typically small things that made me go "wait, I thought X was Y, but now they're Z." Just enough to pull me out of the moment and go back a few paragraphs to see if I missed something.
I knew going into this that it would end on a cliffhanger, and I am certainly looking forward to the sequel and seeing how this story ends. Strom shows a lot of promise, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for her other future projects.
Thank you to Liv Strom and BookSirens for making the DRC available to me. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Violence
Moderate: Death, Abortion