The Glass Spare

"Of course this book started out great. A heroine making blood spew where ever she goes. I liked her brothers and the connection with them. As soon as she left though and found some captors it turned into another painful YA book. Where everything is perfect and annoying. I kept going though because I was past the halfway point. Just had to speed read the last Chapters getting glimpses of words skipping whole sentences. I just honestly can't stand when everything falls together there is no worry that a friend might die everything becomes predictable. You have the curse on one had and of course you have a blessing on the other which neutralizes it. With the technology near the end I did get a Mortal Engines vibe which I liked but it came in to late and not nearly as good. Can't really say much more it just needed substance if that makes any sense."

"Such a good book and the sequel is great too. Would suggest as your next YA fantasy read!"

"I love this book. I’m unsure why the negative reviews don’t like the love interest. Good grief it’s a YA book. What teen doesn’t want to read about a sexy, brooding sensitive guy. Wil is a strong, intelligent character that is engaging and adding love to her character only shows how she wrestled with the uncertainty of wether or not it is real. Is this the center of her story? No. It is one of many paths the story takes. I love the creative characters that DeStefano developed. I look forward to her new addition to this series. Just too bad I have to wait a year to read it."

"I adored this novel. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did, but I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with the story, characters and plot. It ended a bit abruptly, so I’m glad there’s a second book. That being said, it didn’t feel like a complete story, as a book within a series should. Regardless, it was a good start to a story and a good read. I have ordered book 2! There was also some weird grammar/spelling mistakes in my version of the book, I’m not sure if they’re universal but it threw me off a bit. 3.5/5 stars."

"<a href="http://laughinglistener.com/"><br/>The Laughing Listener</a><br/><b>July 2018</b><br/><b>Format:</b> Audiobook<br/><b>Narrator:</b> Billie Fulford-Brown<br/><b>Length:</b> 9 hours & 36 minutes<br/><br/><b>Story Rating:</b> 3 Stars<br/><b>Performance Rating:</b> 4 Stars<br/><b>Overall Rating:</b> 3.5 Stars<br/><br/>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!<br/><br/>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. <br/><br/><img src="https://media2.giphy.com/media/ZmFRMf6hGMnf2/giphy.gif" width="" height="" alt="Family Vibes"><br/><br/>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. <br/><br/>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. <br/><br/><img src="https://media2.giphy.com/media/13cwA6tNZHQ4rS/giphy.gif" width="" height="" alt="Oh brother"><br/><br/><b>FINAL WORD</b><br/><br/>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."

"This book isn’t a bad book. However, I wouldn’t call it a great one either. It has a good premise, I liked the main character, shes a breath of fresh air to me, tough but isn’t quite “not like other girls”, and in the beginning, it had me emotionally invested. <br/><br/>I was intrigued by the daddy issues and the mommy issues, I loved reading the sibling dynamic, but I think it all went south after Owen died. She’s now forced to leave her tension filled home, and leave her moody brother Baren with the last brother we care about, Gerdie. <br/><br/>I don’t know about you guys but my heart broke when Owen died, there’s a bit of a plot hole there but I digress. When Owen died my heart splintered for Wil, like to know that you accidentally killed your brother while he tried to save you, has to hurt. And I expected these emotions to be expanded upon in addition to her feelings toward the rest of her family. But they aren’t. <br/><br/>Every so often Gerdie or Owen or their mother is brought up but I thought Owen’s death would tear her apart, but it didn’t. Everything from there just felt very anticlimactic. Zay is angry for like no reason, Loom expects to solve his country’s problems by killing the royal family of the opposing country as if he didn’t just rant about how terrible his own father is as king, and he hasn’t even realized that he would have to get rid of his father and sister to become king. <br/><br/>It’s like the time spent developing characters in the beginning is different from how it is after Owen dies. I think it’s because in the beginning while there are certain facts from the past told to you, these are reflected throughout the story as the characters interact. Meanwhile, Loom’s past is told but he doesn’t seem affected by his past meanwhile Zay is shrouded in mystery even though I can’t really think of what she could’ve been through because I get it your dad tried to kill you under the kings orders, that doesn’t explain why you think every single person is out to betray you. <br/><br/>Overall the story feels subpar and I’ll be reading the next book only because I want to know who put this curse on Wil honestly."

"I love this book. I’m unsure why the negative reviews don’t like the love interest. Good grief it’s a YA book. What teen doesn’t want to read about a sexy, brooding sensitive guy. Wil is a strong, intelligent character that is engaging and adding love to her character only shows how she wrestled with the uncertainty of wether or not it is real. Is this the center of her story? No. It is one of many paths the story takes. I love the creative characters that DeStefano developed. I look forward to her new addition to this series. Just too bad I have to wait a year to read it."