Review: The Glittering World

The Glittering World by Robert Levy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I almost bailed on this one, not because of the fairy elements, which has been enough of a reason for previous bailings, but because the writing is so clunky at the beginning. Here's an example:

"Elisa settled on her sit bones in the passenger seat. She whipped out her vintage Konica—her constant companion of late—and shot a picture of her husband behind the wheel. Jason bopped his head and tapped his square, well-manicured nails....

I kept scowling at the page thinking, really, she settled on her sit bones? Why not just say she is in the passenger seat? And for much of the beginning, the author makes the mistake of spending too much time on the details that don't matter, to the extent that it is difficult to focus on what is important. Unless this is just some fae magic, I'm not sure. What I'm sure of is that this is a first novel, because passages like this give that fact away.

For some reason I picked it back up, giving it the benefit of the doubt, and found I somewhat enjoyed the story. The stakes seemed higher than in many faerie stories and I liked the complex relationships between the four major characters. I wanted to know more about Blue and I wanted to know about the "other folk" in the forest. I love the setting, Nova Scotia, so that may have saved it for me more than anything. Also this is one of the more beautiful book covers I've seen in the last few years.

I think if you are into urban fantasy or the fae, this will be more of a book for you than it was for me.

Thanks to the publisher for providing access to the title through NetGalley.

View all my reviews