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A review by speculativeshelves
The City in Glass by Nghi Vo
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Such a beautiful, lyrical, and unique novella. I found the reading experience of this to be similar to This Is How You Lose the Time War,though I personally connected with the story/world/characters of this novella more. It's a slow, melancholy, and occasionally vague story that may not work for everyone (it's a weird little book, but I mean that affectionately). When I started, I wasn't sure how I felt about it and then after a few chapters I felt like a switch flipped and I was hooked.
It's a love story about a demon and an angel but first and foremost it's a love story about a demon and the city she cares for. The writing is evocative and I was impressed with how invested I became in this story with such a short page count. I loved the stories about the city of Azril and its people and I loved Vitrine and her complicated relationship with the angel who destroyed her beloved city. I also feel that this novella has one of the best depictions of immortal supernatural beings I've read in a while. I loved the contrast between the quick lives of the humans of Azril and the slow, centuries-long evolution of the relationship between Vitrine and the angel.
In the acknowledgements, Nghi Vo calls this her "pandemic book" and that is clear in the themes of this book. This is a story about isolation and grief amidst catastrophe and how to keep going when your world has been irrevocably changed. It's a story that really worked for me and I think it will also work for a lot of readers (particularly if they enjoy literary fantasy).
It's a love story about a demon and an angel but first and foremost it's a love story about a demon and the city she cares for. The writing is evocative and I was impressed with how invested I became in this story with such a short page count. I loved the stories about the city of Azril and its people and I loved Vitrine and her complicated relationship with the angel who destroyed her beloved city. I also feel that this novella has one of the best depictions of immortal supernatural beings I've read in a while. I loved the contrast between the quick lives of the humans of Azril and the slow, centuries-long evolution of the relationship between Vitrine and the angel.
In the acknowledgements, Nghi Vo calls this her "pandemic book" and that is clear in the themes of this book. This is a story about isolation and grief amidst catastrophe and how to keep going when your world has been irrevocably changed. It's a story that really worked for me and I think it will also work for a lot of readers (particularly if they enjoy literary fantasy).