“‘Get the guy. Get the shoes. Get revenge.’ Born under a hunter’s moon, abandoned as a child, I was raised to be a powerful sorceress—okay, a mediocre sorceress. All right, I’m good at glamour and can make things sparkle, if my spells don’t backfire. It was foretold long ago that I was a child of prophecy that would unite the fae and humans of Candor. The only problem, no one told me, and now the king wants me dead. For I am Eden, one of the adoptive daughters of Lady Eville, and I have to attend the royal masquerade ball—not to win a prince, but to avenge my parents. Even if it means pretending to be a fairy godmother and wreaking a little havoc.”
What is the book about?
Eden Eville was born under a hunter’s moon, the brightest full moon in the month of Nochtember, and, when she was abandoned as a child, Lady Eville took her in and raised her to become a powerful sorceress. However, despite Eden’s attempts to strengthen her powers, she has always just been a mediocre sorceress, not yet able to form many spells without making some mistakes and having them backfire on her. But there is one thing that she excels at – glamour. Despite Eden’s lack of skill and power, somehow she was chosen by her mother to go to the kingdom of Candor and try her hand at getting chosen to marry the prince, however the reason for her being chosen had nothing to do with ability and everything to do with her parents and the prophecy that was told about a girl born in Nochtember who would use her powers to unite the fae and humans of Candor, kill the prince and become queen. And everyone knows of the prophecy, including the king, who will do anything in his power to keep his son safe. So now, while evading being killed by the king, Eden must find out the truth of what happened to her parents and get revenge for herself, her adoptive mother and her real parents, and the way to do that is to go to a ball and try to catch herself a prince.
What were your initial thoughts on the book?
After reading Of Beast and Beauty (the first book in the Daughters of Eville series), I was really interested in reading Of Glass and Glamour and discovering what adventures the other sisters would get up to. I really enjoyed the first book in the series and so by default I believed I would also enjoy this book, and, though I was right about that, I fully understand now that the books have barely anything to do with each other as they are about different sisters with different adventures and romance, so it’s kind of like a series of standalones. Because of this I know that I can’t assume I will enjoy a book and I will also not be choosing a favourite book in the series or saying which I liked best because I don’t think I should compare such different stories. Anyways, after reading the blurb of this book I was even more invested in reading it as I wanted to get answers to the many questions spiked by the blurb. Once I stared to read, I started to really enjoy it and got into it a lot quicker than I thought I would and I was soon reaching the end.
Who was your favourite character and why?
My favourite character in this book would probably have to be Eden Eville. I know it’s unsurprising as she is the main character of the book, however I really did like her. The biggest reason for my choice was because of her personality. She didn’t have much self-confidence and often doubted herself and her powers, comparing herself to her much more talented sisters and believing herself to be inferior just because she took longer with spells. However, my favourite thing about her was how she never let those feelings show to anyone other than those she felt safe around (her sisters). The reason I liked this was because she didn’t let anyone step all over her, as they probably would if she had shown her lack of confidence and self-worth. Instead she let herself act like her older sister, Rosalie – who I had gotten familiar with in the previous book – and she made sure everyone knew to fear her and that she was a sorceress who shouldn’t be messed with as she was strong, even though she didn’t feel that way. I liked how she gained confidence throughout the book and just admired the fact that she didn’t let what she thought about herself stop her from fighting.
What was your favourite part of the book and why?
My favourite part of the book is definitely the main battle scene because of the way that Eden changed and showed her strength and power. I don’t want to say much because I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone who hasn’t read it, however I do want to explain what I liked about this part. During this part of the book, Eden was trying her hardest to fight for her safety and the safety of someone she loved and she was also trying out a plan to avoid what she was being forced into doing. In order to do this, she had to use a lot of her own magic and she had to step out of her shell and believe in herself, and she actually did it. She always knew deep down that it was up to her and she was going to have to fight by herself, without any help, but she never wanted to believe it because of her lack of confidence. She thought she couldn’t do it herself, however at this point of the book she pushed down those feelings and used her powers to fight and I was just so impressed and loved this part.
What was your overall impression of the book?
Overall, Of Glass and Glamour was a really good book and I enjoyed (nearly) every part of it. One thing that I really liked about the book was how different it was from the real Cinderella tale; however the main parts of the tale were still there. This book literally kept me on my toes the whole time as I never knew what was going to happen next and there were so many new twists and secrets discovered. I think that this will probably happen with a lot more book in this series due to the fact that these girls are all adopted so they know nothing about their real families and have so much to discover, so it gives the books deeper secrets to being up and a more different retelling of the fairy tales. I was never once bored reading Of Glass and Glamour and I just loved this. Another thing I really enjoyed about the book was the fact that the villain and the hero (or prince) weren’t who Eden and I initially thought them to be. I loved this because it made the story much more interesting and meant that the ending was exactly what I wanted and not what I thought would happen. I also really liked how Eden fell for their act like me because it showed me how realistic the book was and showed me that even the most powerful people can fall for the promise of love and safety for it is something that everyone wants deep down. One last thing I enjoyed about the book was how fast-paced and easy to read the book was. I found reading this book so easy because of the fact that it moved so quickly and there wasn’t a single moment where I was bored – there was always something happening. I have no doubt that the book was fast-paced, however I have a strange suspicion that the fact that I am reading the book on my kindle may be affecting the speed I’m reading the book at. I think that because I don’t see how thick the book is and all I see is how long I will take to finish the chapter and what percentage of the way through I am I find myself reading it quicker. This is because the size doesn’t deter me and the percentage makes me want to end up over 50% quicker. Either way I loved this and it made the book much more enjoyable (I may have to move to being a kindle reader, but I don’t know if I can give up my physical book buying addiction). Of Glass and Glamour was a great read and I can’t wait to read the next sister’s adventure.
Would you recommend this book?
Of Glass and Glamour is a perfect book for any reader that loves romance, adventure, fantasy and fairy tale retellings, and I do recommend it, specifically to those over 14. I also recommend reading the first book in the series (Of Beast and Beauty) first, as there are a couple spoilers.
Summarise the book in one sentence. (Verdict)
A very magical, twisted retelling of Cinderella that will keep you on edge through new secrets and twists.
Reviewed by Jimena Gutierrez Reviriego
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