Book Review: The Glass Spare

"The Glass Spare" by Lauren DeStefano(The Glass Spare #1)

Publication Date-October 24, 2017

Genre-Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling, Romance

Hardcover Edition-402 Pages

Rating-5/5 Lily Pads

 Would I Recommend It? Yes!

Some Spoilers!!

Introduction

Hey everyone! I am back again with a review. Today I am reviewing a new release book which is "The Glass Spare". This is Lauren's new fantasy novel. I read "Wither" by her earlier this year and really enjoyed it. When I found out she was writing a Fantasy novel and read the synopsis, I was so excited! I actually pre-ordered this book and I never pre-order books. This book was really good! I really enjoyed it. Let's get on to the review. 

Goodreads Summary

Wil Heidle, the only daughter of the king of the world’s wealthiest nation, has grown up in the 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, 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 her 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?

Plot-5/5

Like I said before, the plot is what made me want to read this book in the first place. I loved the plot! It is so unique and different. Wil can kill people or living things by turning them into gemstone. It's so cool! I never read a book like that before. Also, the fact that this book takes place in kingdoms made me love it even more. I love anything that's set in a royalty setting. It's my favorite type of fantasy to read about so of course I loved the plot of this book. 

Setting-5/5

I love books that take place in castles and I just love fantasy worlds in general so obviously I gave it a perfect rating. The setting was absolutely perfect!

Writing-5/5

I love the author's writing style. When I was reading "Wither" I remember loving her writing and the way she writes is just beautiful. 

Pacing-5/5

The pacing was perfect in this book. It kept me interested the whole time. 

Cover-4/5

I like the cover but I'm not in love with it. It's pretty but I feel like it could've been better. 

Characters-5/5

I really liked all of the characters in this book. They were developed really well and I like that she threw in some diversity. One character is physically disabled and another character has OCD. 

Let's discuss our main protagonist, Wil. I really liked Wil. She was a really strong, awesome girl. She has three older brothers so she's pretty tough and she's really good at fighting and defending herself. She has a kind heart, and is really close to her family. I love how the main plot revolves around Wil's family and I love how protective she is for the people she loves. She's a great character and I really love her. I feel so bad for her since she's stuck with her bad power, I would hate to be her. I like that even though she has a deadly power, she's not a monster, she's a good person. 

I love her Mom, she's very kind and loves her family. I don't really like her Dad. He's not in the book that much but I don't like him because his intentions aren't good. I love Owen, he's such a good older brother. Spoiler- I was so sad when he died, I thought he would come back to life but he didn't. It broke my heart because I loved Owen. 

I didn't like Baren at all. He was a mean brother, he didn't love any of his siblings and he just wasn't a likable character at all. 

I loved Gerdie so much!! He's definitely one of my favorite characters of this book. He's so intelligent, kind and sweet. I love how much he cares about Wil and I just love their relationship. It's refreshing to see a brother and sister have a close relationship in a YA book. I feel like that's not common. 

I like Zay. At first I didn't like her because she didn't like Wil and didn't trust her. But she becomes nicer as the book goes on and by the end, I really liked her. I really liked Loom too. He was a great guy, he really wanted to help his kingdom and make the world a better place. I kind of shipped him and Wil. This book doesn't have a lot of romance, it's a very minor part of the book. So if you want a Fantasy book with a lot of romance, this isn't the book for you. There's a reason why there's not a lot of romance but it's explained at the end of the book. 

Ending-5/5

Since this book isn't a stand-alone, I can't really judge the ending. It was good. I didn't think it ended on a cliffhanger. I can't wait to read the next book to find out what happens. It stinks that I have to wait a whole year for the next book but I can live because there's no cliffhanger. 

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I loved this book. It was a great and refreshing Fantasy book. I loved everything about "The Glass Spare". If your wondering, I never continued the "Chemical Garden trilogy" because something happens in the second book that I don't like. So I'm not planning on finishing that series even though I really liked "Wither".  I definitely want to read the next book when it comes out next year. This book is so worth a buy, you should go out and buy a copy of this book right now because it's amazing and underrated. This book seriously needs more recognition. I haven't seen this book anywhere around booktube and I don't understand why. Please go read it and give this book and the author some recognition. She deserves it. So yeah, that was my review. Thank you guys so much for reading. I have no idea what book I'm going to read next, but stay tuned for my next review. Bye and happy reading! :)