Glass Heart
Amy Garvey


ISBN-10:
0061996246
ISBN-13: 978-0061996245
Publisher: HarperCollins
Line: HarperTeen
Release Date: Sep 18, 2012
Pages: 320
Retail Price: 17.99



Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Heat Level: Inspy
Rating:

Wren can do things that other people can only dream of. Make it snow on a clear, crisp day. Fly through an abandoned tunnel. Bring a paper bird to life.

Wren knows her abilities are tinged with danger—knows how easy it is to lose control—but she can't resist the intoxicating rush. And now that she has Gabriel by her side, someone who knows what she can do—what she has done—she finally feels free to be herself.

But as Wren explores the possibilities of her simmering powers, Gabriel starts pushing her away. Telling her to be careful. Telling her to stop. The more he cautions her, the more determined Wren becomes to prove that she can handle things on her own. And by the time she realizes that Gabriel may be right, it could be too late to bring him back to her side.

 

Review

The author takes you on a heartfelt journey with Glass Heart. The story is the sequel to Cold Kiss and further explores the relationship between Wren and Gabriel. Wren is a shy teenager dealing with deep rooted emotions, family drama, and her own talent for magic. On the home front she struggles with her heritage and the way it directly affects her relationship with her Mother. Issues about their past and the conclusions they reach in the present slowly come together on an emotional playing field. Wren's interaction with her younger sister, Robin, is also strained and causes repercussions  that they all must deal with as a family.

Her relationship with Gabriel, who has the power to read minds, is intrinsic to the story line and sets the premise for the conflict that develops in this small town. Feeling isolated from the rest of the world and very much aware of her own need to practice the magic that is now such a part of her, Wren, although hesitant at first, befriends a boy and a girl who she feels understand her. In the process, she grows further from Gabriel who is hesitant to tell her about his past yet keeps a silent and strong opinion about hers. It's hard for Wren and Gabriel to communicate about the genuine and sensitive issues that are mostly felt but hardly spoken. When things finally come to the surface, consequences are set in motion that have a direct effect on Wren and her ability to do what she knows she must before it's too late.

My thoughts:

Although the book did keep my interest, it didn't enthrall me. The plot line was not as evident as it could have been, thus leading me to flounder a bit as to the actual point of the story.

The author writes in a very descriptive and slow fashion with lots of adjectives and adverbs which eventually depicts the setting very well. I actually felt like I was in a small town in the middle of winter with all the anticipation of Christmas. The characters are relatable in the sense that they are teenagers dealing with home life, their past, and family drama. The difficulty for me was the repetitiveness. We are repeatedly taken through Wren's thought processes, and since the book is written as a first person narrative, I sometimes felt I couldn't get away from it.

When we step into the side plots and interact with the secondary characters, we are faced with drama that, for me, became somewhat tedious. Over all, I could see where the author was taking me, a journey through Wren's struggle with magic and how it effects all aspects of her life. Wren is torn between using magic or not, she is hesitant in fully embracing something that she has so many mixed emotions about yet at the same time feels she can't let go of. Although the book wasn't my favorite, between the adorable antics of Wren and Gabriel and the lessons learned in the end I would say the author ties everything together fairly well.

Reviewed by Elisabeth


READERS COMMENTS