A review by graceheartsbooks
Glitterland by Alexis Hall

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is my seventh Alexis Hall book as I’ve been trying to get through all of his catalog after reading and falling in love with Boyfriend Material last year (and Husband Material/Mortal Follies/Something Fabulous/Something Spectacular and 10 Things that Never Happened).

It was interesting to read his debut novel after reading so many others. And maybe because I’ve read so many of his other works that I’m not really sure how to feel about this one.

I really appreciated how Glitterland covered mental illness and the self loathing you can feel while going through that (especially as someone going through her own mental health journey as I learn to cope with social anxiety). However, I don’t know if I really felt the connection between the two leads but Ash and Darian both grew on me (even if Darian’s accent was a bit distracting to decipher…then again, I am an American and I barely know the distinct differences between British accents let alone American ones lol)

I also really liked the annotations and seeing Alexis Hall’s insights through the writing process—it’s interesting to read about what makes an author tick, you know?

Fair warning: Ash is an unlikable protagonist although unlike a lot unlikable protags, I did not get annoyed by him as much—although I did say aloud ‘Ash no’ when he f’ed something up lol

I do kind of wish we saw some of Darian’s POV. Not that I would’ve expected it because Alexis Hall doesn’t seem to do dual POVs but for some reason, sometimes I wanted to know what Darian was thinking.

I didn’t really have an strong reaction to most of the side characters (I say most because one in particular got on my nerves near the end for reasons I cannot reveal except in a spoiler👀)

Still everyone needs to start somewhere and I appreciate this novel for exsisting because without it would not have a new favorite author to enjoy❤️

So I was pretty neutral towards Niall, right? He’s a bit overprotective maybe but I didn’t really have an opinion of him…unlike chapter 12 that is. I hated Niall after he outed Ash’s mental illness. Like WTF? He wanted to Darian in his own time NIALL. Why the hell would you do that in public🙃 I already have strong feelings on outings, I didn’t realize I had strong feelings about someone’s mental health being outed was a trigger for me as well😅 I just can’t imagine doing that to someone, especially if this is a close friend of yours (granted Ash/Niall’s relationship is complicated). I’m a person who highly values her agency/privacy so I can’t imagine how violating this would feel


Chapter 19…my god chapter 19. Ash and Darian were doing so well and then Ash opened his mouth and said something stupid at the wedding. Alexis Hall mentioned in his annotations that this was one of his most awkward scenes and I have to agree. Like the Blackwood garden party in Boyfriend Material was pretty awful—I hate parents that try to control their kids—but this scene crushed my heart. Just straight up stabbed in the chest with how brutal it was. Like Ash, why? What are you doing talking about the man that you love that like that🥲 I mean, obviously he did it because the judgement of people at the wedding made him panic but still hurts, okay? lol
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