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A review by thegreatmanda
Glitterland by Alexis Hall
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Update from listening to the newly-released audiobook almost a year after reading the paperback: The audiobook is a much better way to experience Darian’s accent, and therefore this book. It was a whole new story. Easy five stars now.
—Original Review Below—
I enjoyed this book a lot, but I was hoping to love it as much as Hall's London Calling series, and I did not. This was Hall's first published novel, and it's clear that he learned a lot about writing between Glitterland and Boyfriend Material. Darian's phonetically-written Essex accent was wildly distracting, and it drew my attention away from what he was actually saying. I wish it had just been written as basic English and Ash's internal thoughts about the accent described instead. This book is not humorless, but it has considerably less humor than I was expecting based on having read London Calling. More humor could feel inappropriate around Ash's mental darkness, but I think the dogpile of angst would have benefited from having that level of humor to balance it.
Definitely check the content warnings on this book before reading it (there is also a helpful content warning included by Hall at the beginning of the book).
This series is sexually explicit where London Calling is not, which is fine with me, but worth noting if that isn't your thing.
Favorite Quotes:
—Original Review Below—
I enjoyed this book a lot, but I was hoping to love it as much as Hall's London Calling series, and I did not. This was Hall's first published novel, and it's clear that he learned a lot about writing between Glitterland and Boyfriend Material. Darian's phonetically-written Essex accent was wildly distracting, and it drew my attention away from what he was actually saying. I wish it had just been written as basic English and Ash's internal thoughts about the accent described instead. This book is not humorless, but it has considerably less humor than I was expecting based on having read London Calling. More humor could feel inappropriate around Ash's mental darkness, but I think the dogpile of angst would have benefited from having that level of humor to balance it.
Definitely check the content warnings on this book before reading it (there is also a helpful content warning included by Hall at the beginning of the book).
This series is sexually explicit where London Calling is not, which is fine with me, but worth noting if that isn't your thing.
Favorite Quotes:
He called it a last hurrah. For who, or what, I wasn't sure. The people we used to be, perhaps.
I felt unspeakably tired, but he was still talking, his interest flattening me like a cartoon steamroller.
I was nothing but a ghost hunter, chasing the wraith of the man I used to be.
"Well," I said, "if you're making an informed, conscious decision to oppress yourself, it's probably a feminist statement."
"Speaking of service," she added, "I've got a dress fitting. Don't suppose you want to come with me?"
I really did not. "I'm not that kind of gay."
"Dammit. Can I do a part-exchange?"
"A homosexual is for life, not just for Christmas."
There was little I feared more than happiness, that faithless whore who waited always between madness and emptiness.
We are all of us in the gutter, but some of us are enjoying ourselves down here.
Perhaps I should have told him: don't trust me with anything precious. But I wanted what he had given me too much to be anything other than selfish.
"I wasn't completely lying," I lied.
But, in truth, I would have told a thousand lies to have him, and a thousand more to keep him.
"Well, at least it wraps up with designer underwear. I'm not very interested in clothes, but I'm quite interested in watching muscular young men walk up and down in tight pants."
"That's our national sport, darling."
He kept making me feel things in ruined places.
I could not be that scarless, fearless boy again. But, for a little while at least, I had been someone I could almost stand. Pieces of a better self, reflected in someone else's eyes.
He catches my face between his hands, his painted fingernails twinkling like stars, and when he kisses me it feels a bit like fear and tastes a bit like tears, but it’s as bright and sweet as sherbet, and I decide to call it joy.
I'm so much less than I used to be. Seeing you reminds me.
I thought I'd long ago lost both the capacity and the desire to deal with the everyday pain of other people. There was nothing I could do that would make it better for him, but I wanted to stand at his side and let the world come, with all its minor setbacks and arbitrary cruelties. Maybe, in my frailty, I would flinch; maybe my strength would buckle; but maybe it didn't matter as long I was there.