Synopsis:
Wil Heidle, the only daughter of the king of the world’s wealthiest nation, has grown up in the shadows. Kept hidden from the world in order to serve as a spy for her father—whose obsession with building his empire is causing a war—Wil wants nothing more than to explore the world beyond her kingdom, if only her father would give her the chance.
Until one night Wil is attacked, and she discovers a dangerous secret. Her touch turns people into gemstone. At first Wil is horrified—but as she tests its limits, she’s drawn more and more to the strange and volatile ability. When it leads to tragedy, Wil is forced to face the destructive power within her and finally leave her home to seek the truth and a cure.
But finding the key to her redemption puts her in the path of a cursed prince who has his own ideas for what to do with her power.
With a world on the brink of war and a power of ultimate destruction, can Wil find a way to help the kingdom that’s turned its back on her, or will she betray her past and her family forever?
Rating: 🌟🌟
2.5 stars.
Red Queen, Throne of Glass, and Shadow and Bone called, and they said they'd like their plots back.
The Glass Spare reads like Lauren DeStefano played generic YA fantasy novel bingo one night, and then decided to shove it all into her novel. Main character is a princess? Check. Main character has unexplained special powers that no one else has? Check. She's forced to team up with a swoony male love interest who isn't affected by her powers? Check and check.
I didn't think it was possible for any novel's world-building to be even more of a clusterfuck than The Selection series. At least with The Selection, the whole thing was so bad that I could let my eyes glaze over and pretend I didn't see all glaring inconsistencies. But The Glass Spare isn't an overall trash fire. The writing is great, and I actually really enjoyed the way the characters interacted. So what the hell happened to the world-building?
At first glance, the world seems like your generic medieval fantasy Europe. But then Wil starts talking about trains and electricity and RIBOFLAVIN??? Y'ALL KNOW WHAT THAT IS?????? And the world-building just starts to collapse in on itself. How technologically advanced is this world? How easy is this technology to access for the average person? Why are alchemy and magical curses a thing, alongside 1900s technology? Why does every kingdom still have a monarchy? I have a lot of questions, but no answers even after 400 pages.
Which, speaking of the novel's length, this book is over 400 pages long but nothing really happens? It takes about 150 pages to even get to what's laid out in the synopsis, which already told me the pacing wouldn't be great. We spend those first 150 pages with Wil and her family, who are overall such generic archetypes that I didn't care about any of them. Wil's mother is the only vaguely interesting one, but gets discounted so often due to her "superstitious" nature that I could tell the novel wasn't going to let her be an interesting, complex character beyond the "crazy mom" trope.
So, why give it 2.5 stars then? Because I didn't hate it. The writing actually appealed to me a lot, to the point where I plan to pick up DeStephano's other novels. Her writing is more literary in tone, so I can see why it would turn off other readers, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made the novel quick to get through, even if I was bored much of time. I also enjoyed how Wil, Loom, and Zay interacted, again mostly due to how the writing shaped their relationships.
But other than that? The novel as a whole is just so unremarkable. If The Glass Spare had even a lick of originality, I probably would've really liked it.
Red Queen, Throne of Glass, and Shadow and Bone called, and they said they'd like their plots back.
The Glass Spare reads like Lauren DeStefano played generic YA fantasy novel bingo one night, and then decided to shove it all into her novel. Main character is a princess? Check. Main character has unexplained special powers that no one else has? Check. She's forced to team up with a swoony male love interest who isn't affected by her powers? Check and check.
I didn't think it was possible for any novel's world-building to be even more of a clusterfuck than The Selection series. At least with The Selection, the whole thing was so bad that I could let my eyes glaze over and pretend I didn't see all glaring inconsistencies. But The Glass Spare isn't an overall trash fire. The writing is great, and I actually really enjoyed the way the characters interacted. So what the hell happened to the world-building?
At first glance, the world seems like your generic medieval fantasy Europe. But then Wil starts talking about trains and electricity and RIBOFLAVIN??? Y'ALL KNOW WHAT THAT IS?????? And the world-building just starts to collapse in on itself. How technologically advanced is this world? How easy is this technology to access for the average person? Why are alchemy and magical curses a thing, alongside 1900s technology? Why does every kingdom still have a monarchy? I have a lot of questions, but no answers even after 400 pages.
Which, speaking of the novel's length, this book is over 400 pages long but nothing really happens? It takes about 150 pages to even get to what's laid out in the synopsis, which already told me the pacing wouldn't be great. We spend those first 150 pages with Wil and her family, who are overall such generic archetypes that I didn't care about any of them. Wil's mother is the only vaguely interesting one, but gets discounted so often due to her "superstitious" nature that I could tell the novel wasn't going to let her be an interesting, complex character beyond the "crazy mom" trope.
So, why give it 2.5 stars then? Because I didn't hate it. The writing actually appealed to me a lot, to the point where I plan to pick up DeStephano's other novels. Her writing is more literary in tone, so I can see why it would turn off other readers, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made the novel quick to get through, even if I was bored much of time. I also enjoyed how Wil, Loom, and Zay interacted, again mostly due to how the writing shaped their relationships.
But other than that? The novel as a whole is just so unremarkable. If The Glass Spare had even a lick of originality, I probably would've really liked it.
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