Glimmerglass by Jenna Black
Date Released: May 25, 2010
Published By: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 294
Date Released: May 25, 2010
Published By: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 294
Age: Young Adult
Overall: 
Dana Hathaway doesn’t know it yet, but she’s in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, Dana decides she’s had it with being her mother’s keeper, so she packs her bags and heads to stay with her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl—she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.
Soon, she finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone wants something from her, even her newfound friends and family. Suddenly, life with her alcoholic mom doesn't sound half bad, and Dana would do anything to escape Avalon and get back home. Too bad both her friends and her enemies alike are determined not to let her go . . .Synopsis via Goodreads
My Thoughts:
Jenna Black created a world that exists as an in-between for the human world and the faerie world, Avalon. A place where both kinds can exist. Her world included those who simply existed, the mundane. Then her world included those who were abnormally good looking with magic running through their blood, some in small amounts and others in impressive quantities. This world, to our main character’s disadvantage, also included the power struggle between those who were Seelie and Unseelie, and other power hungry individuals of Faerie. Did I forget to mention those afraid of Faeriewalkers?
With the parental roll reversed in Dana’s single parent home, she sets out to find her Fae father who she has been given contradicting stories about, time and drunken-time again. Never really knowing the reason why her mother ran with her, nor knowing if her Father was the horrible man her sober mother claimed, or the wonderful man her drunken-mind claimed, Dana sought out to find her own answers. Beyond answer Dana needed to take a much needed break from her emotionally draining alcoholic mother. With her mother Dana never stayed anywhere for long and her social life reflected so.
Jenna Black introduces the rest of the primary characters in quick and eventful ways once Dana hits the Avalon border. She is swept into a world of Fae politics leaving her a prisoner who is rescued, emotionally betrayed, physically assaulted by a dangerous living-pile-of-sticks, and unsure of who to trust all in a few days time.
I found myself connecting with the secondary characters more then the primary. There were two characters that were memorably real to me. A Knight and his un-knight son. These two characters had strong, even if quiet, personalities that helped form the underlying story adding action, silent compassion, and humor to this tale. I can only hope their small roles expand in the next installment of the series or at least that they still a close part of Dana’s life.
There was so much about this Glimmerglass to really enjoy but I found myself struggling to hold on and flip the pages several times throughout the book. I had a hard time connecting to the primary characters and their lack of common ground and relationships. There was so much distrust between Dana and those around her it was hard to see past her immature and pessimistic attitude. Dana herself, at times, was quite a contradictory character, claiming her maturity yet acting the opposite. Acting on impulse at the most inopportune times was one of the leading lady’s downfalls as was her inability to reason within herself clearly. At times she confused me as well as herself with her over analyzing personality.
Glimmerglass is just the start for the only known living Faeriwalker, Dana. Once I am able to get my hands on a copy of Shadowspell, the second Faerwalker book, I will be devouring the lines looking for the same action and the same Fae politics that Jenna provided us in the first of the books.
With the parental roll reversed in Dana’s single parent home, she sets out to find her Fae father who she has been given contradicting stories about, time and drunken-time again. Never really knowing the reason why her mother ran with her, nor knowing if her Father was the horrible man her sober mother claimed, or the wonderful man her drunken-mind claimed, Dana sought out to find her own answers. Beyond answer Dana needed to take a much needed break from her emotionally draining alcoholic mother. With her mother Dana never stayed anywhere for long and her social life reflected so.
Jenna Black introduces the rest of the primary characters in quick and eventful ways once Dana hits the Avalon border. She is swept into a world of Fae politics leaving her a prisoner who is rescued, emotionally betrayed, physically assaulted by a dangerous living-pile-of-sticks, and unsure of who to trust all in a few days time.
I found myself connecting with the secondary characters more then the primary. There were two characters that were memorably real to me. A Knight and his un-knight son. These two characters had strong, even if quiet, personalities that helped form the underlying story adding action, silent compassion, and humor to this tale. I can only hope their small roles expand in the next installment of the series or at least that they still a close part of Dana’s life.
There was so much about this Glimmerglass to really enjoy but I found myself struggling to hold on and flip the pages several times throughout the book. I had a hard time connecting to the primary characters and their lack of common ground and relationships. There was so much distrust between Dana and those around her it was hard to see past her immature and pessimistic attitude. Dana herself, at times, was quite a contradictory character, claiming her maturity yet acting the opposite. Acting on impulse at the most inopportune times was one of the leading lady’s downfalls as was her inability to reason within herself clearly. At times she confused me as well as herself with her over analyzing personality.
Glimmerglass is just the start for the only known living Faeriwalker, Dana. Once I am able to get my hands on a copy of Shadowspell, the second Faerwalker book, I will be devouring the lines looking for the same action and the same Fae politics that Jenna provided us in the first of the books.
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I gave it a 3, as well. We had similar reasons, I think. Great review! :)
ReplyDeleteOooo, it sounds good. I wanna read it now =)
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