thewritebooks's review
3.0
This started out really promising and I loved the setting- drizzly grey island full of weird and wonderful creatures.
Ultimately, the story and relationships didn’t capture me which was a shame. I didn’t feel for either of the love interests despite the ‘doomed love story’ vibes. My favourite part was the pure bizarre nature of a girl turning to glass- I’ve never read something even remotely close to this idea!
Ultimately, the story and relationships didn’t capture me which was a shame. I didn’t feel for either of the love interests despite the ‘doomed love story’ vibes. My favourite part was the pure bizarre nature of a girl turning to glass- I’ve never read something even remotely close to this idea!
the_sassy_bookworm's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this one, but found it really hard to get through.
saragibson's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
pagesofpins's review against another edition
4.0
A whole cast of characters irrevocably stuck in their own lives: Midas, who is paralyzed with fear that he is going to become like his coldhearted father; Henry Fuwa, who desperately loves Midas' widowed mother but cannot summon the courage to be with her; Carl, now obsessively in love with the dead woman he always thought would someday return to him; and Ida, whose carefree existence has changed dramatically now that she is inexplicably turning to glass. The sense of place in the novel is perfectly drawn: a marshy island where few visit and few except longtime locals stay, where the woods hide creatures of magic and legend, and Ida is not the first to begin to turn to glass. Though this story of love and death ends with tragedy, the journey was well worth it.
Each character struggles with ghosts of the past, cowardice, and the ability to take control of their own lives. A few summon the bravery to conquer their demons, some do not. The perpetually stuck characters may frustrate readers, especially Henry Fuwa and Mrs. Crook, who seem to have very little logic behind why they are frozen in a past time, but I really enjoyed Midas' transformation throughout the book, and the supporting cast of his best friend/friend's daughter, who help him learn to love and summon courage through their own losses.
Each character struggles with ghosts of the past, cowardice, and the ability to take control of their own lives. A few summon the bravery to conquer their demons, some do not. The perpetually stuck characters may frustrate readers, especially Henry Fuwa and Mrs. Crook, who seem to have very little logic behind why they are frozen in a past time, but I really enjoyed Midas' transformation throughout the book, and the supporting cast of his best friend/friend's daughter, who help him learn to love and summon courage through their own losses.
cjenningspenders's review against another edition
3.0
Slow start.
Didn't turn out the way I anticipated.
Didn't turn out the way I anticipated.
little_worm's review against another edition
1.0
I did not enjoy this book.
The blurb and the cover drew me in, the promise of albino animals and glowing jellyfish and a girl slowly turning to glass. I am not a fan of romantic fiction, not in any sense at all, and so this was a novel that was never going to be for me, and did not realise how much of this was going to be based on the romances of every character introduced when I picked it up.
Overall, it feels so flat. I found myself unable to connect with any of the characters or to really care about anything that happened to them, it felt that there were each missing the sort of depth that would make them seem real. The ideas seemed half-fleshed out too, the moth-winged bulls, the animal that turns things white, the jellyfish that glow. If they were intended to signify or mean something, then the symbology was completely lost on me, they felt like things thrown in to give credence to the idea that the island was magic.
There was one particular part that irritated me so much that I raged out loud. The book takes place in Winter, the nearing of Christmas is repeatedly mentioned, and yet from the descriptions in the book it seems as though the island is bursting with life, that one cannot turn a corner without seeing some small animal. This was most frustrating when puffins were mentioned. The birds are seen onshore, yes, certainly, but between May and August when it's breeding season. Otherwise they are pelagic, that is, spend most of their time in the open ocean and even then certainly not in the frozen North. Something small, unimportant? I guess so, but it's the kind of thing that instantly draws you away and jerks you out of the story with its sheer wrongness, like seeing a treasured phrase misquoted and mangled.
The most disappointing thing about this book was the ending, the final chapter. In that single page it felt as though any personal growth that Midas could have gone through was in some way negated, that he was going to spent the rest of his life trying to reach that glass body of Ida, rather than actually going out and living it.
The blurb and the cover drew me in, the promise of albino animals and glowing jellyfish and a girl slowly turning to glass. I am not a fan of romantic fiction, not in any sense at all, and so this was a novel that was never going to be for me, and did not realise how much of this was going to be based on the romances of every character introduced when I picked it up.
Overall, it feels so flat. I found myself unable to connect with any of the characters or to really care about anything that happened to them, it felt that there were each missing the sort of depth that would make them seem real. The ideas seemed half-fleshed out too, the moth-winged bulls, the animal that turns things white, the jellyfish that glow. If they were intended to signify or mean something, then the symbology was completely lost on me, they felt like things thrown in to give credence to the idea that the island was magic.
There was one particular part that irritated me so much that I raged out loud. The book takes place in Winter, the nearing of Christmas is repeatedly mentioned, and yet from the descriptions in the book it seems as though the island is bursting with life, that one cannot turn a corner without seeing some small animal. This was most frustrating when puffins were mentioned. The birds are seen onshore, yes, certainly, but between May and August when it's breeding season. Otherwise they are pelagic, that is, spend most of their time in the open ocean and even then certainly not in the frozen North. Something small, unimportant? I guess so, but it's the kind of thing that instantly draws you away and jerks you out of the story with its sheer wrongness, like seeing a treasured phrase misquoted and mangled.
The most disappointing thing about this book was the ending, the final chapter. In that single page it felt as though any personal growth that Midas could have gone through was in some way negated, that he was going to spent the rest of his life trying to reach that glass body of Ida, rather than actually going out and living it.
alex_wordweaver's review against another edition
4.0
Midas' personality rubbed me the wrong way, but feel like a lot of my friends will enjoy this book. Especially with the naming conventions. I liked the mysteriousness of the creatures that appear in the book as well, although part of me wishes there was just a bit more explanation, or at least something to hint at confirmation of the theories I formed while reading as to why certain things happen to certain characters and their glass transformations.
irine_elle's review against another edition
2.0
For fuck sake this was so unsuccessful in its delivery. Bad character development, nonexistent world building, very weird story structure. You could cut 98% of this book and it would still have the same impact. The premise sounded too good for it to disappoint so bad.
There are some people who are gonna say this is a good metaphor, but it doesn't excuse the lack of work put in any other category.
There are some people who are gonna say this is a good metaphor, but it doesn't excuse the lack of work put in any other category.
carlandlouise's review against another edition
5.0
ali shaw really creates a new fairy tale. he introduces us to real people, and a real, modern setting. only, he weaves magical creatures and events into his story in such a way as to make you really believe in them.
after reading this book, i immediately bought his second novel and am halfway through it -- and i am loving that one as well.
after reading this book, i immediately bought his second novel and am halfway through it -- and i am loving that one as well.