The first in a new fantasy duology, The Glass Spare is a gorgeously told tale of love, loss, and deadly power from Lauren DeStefano, the bestselling author of the Chemical Garden series. Perfect for fans of Shannon Hale and Renee Ahdieh. Wilhelmina Heidle, the fourth child and only daughter of the king of the world’s wealthiest nation, has grown up in the shadows. Kept hidden from the world in … 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, though, 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 Wil’s 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?
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Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars
If I’m being honest, I probably would have skipped this book completely had it not been in the November 2017 Owlcrate box. Luckily for me, it WAS in the Owlcrate box and I ended up listening to the audiobook. Although it didn’t blow my mind, the world building was great and I had a lot of fun with it!
It took me a little bit of time to connect with the characters, so initially the universe is what captured my attention. It was so interesting!! There was such an interesting mix of old world ideas meeting new advanced technology. And the use of alchemy was really cool! Listening to Gerdie and Wil talk about alchemy and creating new inventions was really fascinating. Plus, DeStefano took some time in the beginning to showcase the great relationship Wil had with her brothers Gerdie and Owen and I really loved it. It was so nice reading a YA book that didn’t just immediately devolve into a romance.
Once the story got going, I really grew to love Wil too. She had a quiet kind of strength that I always appreciate in my female characters. And her power was so crazy cool to watch! I really felt for her after everything happens and she has to come to grips with her abilities.
That being said, this book was sloooooooow. A lot of it was was just world building and establishing the plot, which I can completely understand being the first book and all, but I felt only half invested the whole time. Plus, I really wasn’t feeling the romance between Wil and Loom at all. He was kind of an ass for half the book and then they’re suddenly all googly-eyed at each other. It felt a little too insta-lovey without enough substance for my taste.
↬ FINAL WORD
Despite being a little slow, this was a fun book! I can DEFINITELY tell there’s going to be loads of drama in the next book, so I’m totally here for it. I gotta see how this story ends.
The Glass Spare is a fantasy world that is beautiful in its violence with kings who hide in their castles, plotting with bloody ruthful vengeance along with kingdoms that each have their own peace of paradise inside of Hell. Inside of this vast world is a girl who tries diligently to gain her father the king’s approval and acceptance of her. This poor girl is an outcast that doesn’t fit in with her family; she doesn’t look like them, and her own brother calls her a monster. Even outside of the safety of the castle walls where she should be able to just be an ordinary girl, she is still an outsider, a freak of nature, not wanted and feared. At her lowest point when she is taken by surprise and thinks things cannot get any worse, fearing her demise, she finds an unlikely ally and possible friend in the one person who should be her sworn enemy.
Lauren DeStefano has done a wonderful job of mixing both magic and mystery together to bring a powerful story of overcoming life’s hardship and family struggles to find the person is destined to be. She portrayed how greed and power can corrupt a man to the point that he sees his children as pawns instead of his most prized achievement. The heartache and pain in this story are so true that you’ll want to reach in and hug the characters because no one should be treated the way they are treated by their fathers. But somehow, even with all that pain they show, they are powerful strong individual who are capable of greatness.
This was a tale of a beautiful terror of a girl who found a broken piece of a boy and helped piece himself together while finding herself at the same time.
Definitely had twists I did not expect, along with really interesting characters! I really want to read the next one and see where it will go!