A review by rachbarn98
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge

4.0

I received this novel from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I am currently having a slight writers block – so I apologize for how long this review took to write.

A Face Like Glass takes place in an underground world where faces are taught – in other words, babies are born with faces that cannot display any emotion. This place is called Caverna, and it is where a young girl lives in hiding with a cheese maker. This young girl thinks she is ugly, because the cheese maker will never let her leave the tunnels, and she must always wear a mask when others can see her. But the young girl is not ugly, just different, and that’s the most dangerous thing to be in Caverna…

This novel holds strong similarities to a popular tale that I will not name. I recommend not reading any other reviews on this novel, not because I am trying to gain loyal followers, but because that similar tale might be spoiled, and that would ruin a great surprise that you could come to later.

A Face Like Glass is an odd, odd book, but it comes with certain charms. The characters are not overly memorable, but the writing is exquisite and the plot is something that you struggle to imagine creating yourself. This novel is very long, but somehow it goes by quickly just by how interesting the plot is. You want to know what happens, even if you aren’t necessarily invested in the characters. Maybe that’s what good writing does?

I tend to not read novels that have characters that are younger than 15, but A Face Like Glass is an exception. I wasn’t reading it for the character, so it was really easy to get enraptured in the novel, even if the protagonist was immature.

I give A Face Like Glass 4/5 stars! I recommend this novel to those who just like reading a good tale every now and then.

A Face Like Glass will be published on May 9th.

You can find this review and more on my blog --> www.pinktorti.wordpress.com