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A review by erebus53
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was a title I first encountered when it was nominated for the Goodreads awards. I recognised the author from A Skinful of Shadows, and The Lie Tree, two dark and interesting stories that I found captivating in their own ways. I put in a request for the book at my local library and didn't even bother with the blurb. I often find that going in unprepared makes for a good reading experience. I'm gals that this book was worth the several months' wait.
My caveat going in, is that this isn't necessarily a title that everyone would like. There are some really strange and bizarre things happening in it. It has magical elements that don't line up nicely with science. The main character is called Neverfell; the names in this book have a lovely texture, reminiscent to me of Philip Reeve's work. The setting is primarily subterranean.
In an underground world, the people have no intuitive facial expressions. Every expression they use is something that needs to be taught, and performed by choice. This has implications for those in power having access to more faces to learn, and the underclasses not being given faces that would allow them to express their feelings.
Neverfell is brought up as an orphan who was discovered in the cheese-maker's tunnels. She is forced to wear a velvet mask because her face is disconcerting. She worries about this disfigurement, and has an isolated life as the cheese-maker's apprentice, unable to go out and with her only real friend being a message boy. Her first naïve foray into the wider cave system places her in dangerous situations as she is manipulated by people who she cannot comprehend.
As an Autistic reader, a lot of this resonates. The whole underpinning of a world where you can't interact intuitively, where people say things they don't mean, and you are a little lost in social situations, is a very familiar situation. Neverfell slowly begins to comprehend her difference from others and finds herself in the confidence of powerful people, some of whom are VERY strange indeed.
This is a powerful and adventurous story, with strange quirks and turns. There are secrets and mysteries, and some graphic violence. It is similarly dark and resonant to other books by the author; I'm really keen to see what other offerings I can unearth by Frances Hardinge.
My caveat going in, is that this isn't necessarily a title that everyone would like. There are some really strange and bizarre things happening in it. It has magical elements that don't line up nicely with science. The main character is called Neverfell; the names in this book have a lovely texture, reminiscent to me of Philip Reeve's work. The setting is primarily subterranean.
In an underground world, the people have no intuitive facial expressions. Every expression they use is something that needs to be taught, and performed by choice. This has implications for those in power having access to more faces to learn, and the underclasses not being given faces that would allow them to express their feelings.
Neverfell is brought up as an orphan who was discovered in the cheese-maker's tunnels. She is forced to wear a velvet mask because her face is disconcerting. She worries about this disfigurement, and has an isolated life as the cheese-maker's apprentice, unable to go out and with her only real friend being a message boy. Her first naïve foray into the wider cave system places her in dangerous situations as she is manipulated by people who she cannot comprehend.
As an Autistic reader, a lot of this resonates. The whole underpinning of a world where you can't interact intuitively, where people say things they don't mean, and you are a little lost in social situations, is a very familiar situation. Neverfell slowly begins to comprehend her difference from others and finds herself in the confidence of powerful people, some of whom are VERY strange indeed.
This is a powerful and adventurous story, with strange quirks and turns. There are secrets and mysteries, and some graphic violence. It is similarly dark and resonant to other books by the author; I'm really keen to see what other offerings I can unearth by Frances Hardinge.