Description from the Publisher (St. Martin’s Griffin):
It’s all she’s ever wanted to be, but it couldn’t be further from her grasp…
Dana Hathaway doesn’t know it yet, but she’s in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, again, Dana decides she’s had enough and runs away to find her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the captivating, magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn’t just an ordinary teenage girl—she’s a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and the only person who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.
Soon, Dana finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone’s trying to kill her, and everyone seems to want something from her, from her newfound friends and family to Ethan, the hot Fae guy Dana figures she’ll never have a chance with… until she does. Caught between two worlds, Dana isn’t sure where she’ll ever fit in and who can be trusted, not to mention if her world will ever be normal again…
Book: Paperback (304 Pages)
Published: May 2010
Date Read: August 12 2010
Book Source: Library
My Thoughts:
I have tried out a few books about faeries this year with varying results. I loved Ballad and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater and Cyn Balog’s Fairy Tale, but some others have fallen short for me. Happily, Glimmerglass is a promising debut in a new Faeriewalker series.This is Jenna Black’s debut novel for the young adult market.
Dana is a witty, spunky heroine. She decides to leave behind her alcoholic mom and seek out the powerful Fae father she’s never met. It is not the happy reunion with her dad that she’d hoped for when she is immediately taken and put in the middle of fairy politics. She is courageous and manages to deal with the obstacles in Avalon well, while in a realistic way for a sixteen year old. Along the way she meets Ethan and Kimber, who show her the ropes in Avalon and give her the basics she needs to know about Avalon and the political landscape. She starts to fall for Ethan, but can’t believe he could fall for her. She also discovers why she is being hunted in Avalon – she is a Faeriewalker. These are rare and sought after beings, prized for their ability to walk in both the fairy and human worlds to share magic and technology. This power can be really dangerous if put into the wrong hands. Dana will need to figure out who she can trust while she is learning to use her powers.
Glimmerglass is a fresh voice in the young adult fantasy genre. I liked learning about the politics in Avalon, and seeing the old-world mixed with the modern. There is also a little romance thrown in, with the possibility of a love triangle. Glimmerglass sets up the series very well, it feels like there are a lot of stories to tell in this world. I’m curious to see how Dana’s mother fits in to the situation, how her relationship with her father develops, and how she decides to use her Faeriewalker abilities. As well as seeing if she decides to have a relationship with Ethan, or bad boy Keane.
I hope that Avalon is shaped out a little more in future books, and what it means to be a Faeriewalker. Glimmerglass is an ambitious series debut, with strong side characters and lots of potential stories to tell. I’m looking to finding out more with the next book Shadowspell, due out January 2011.
3 Stars
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