A review by mgitelman8
The City in Glass by Nghi Vo

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It took me some time to get into it in the beginning, but once I built up a connection with the characters… wow. The prose was stunning, so beautiful. I wasn’t expecting the ending, but mostly because I thought it didn’t fit, rather than just being surprising. I think it’s funny that the author pitched this book to be about fucking a library, but

Vitrine turning the angel into the library during sex kind of felt like the easy way out to confronting their complex feelings for each other, romantic or otherwise. I think I would have felt much more satisfied if those feeling were clarified. For example, perhaps the angel had chosen to sacrifice himself in that way after what he had learned being stuck with Vitrine.

Regardless, I’m giving this book a high rating because even though I see some imperfections, the fact that it lingers in my mind for its story and unique prose makes it a good book in my eyes. Things were a bit more open ended and ambiguous than I prefer, but I suppose that’s what engenders the magic of interpretation. Will definitely be picking up this authors other work.