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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Book Review: Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication date: December 2009
ISBN: 9781599904306
Source: Library

Magic Under Glass

Nimira is a music-hall performer who left her home country behind for a new life.  When Hollin Parry, a sorcerer invites her to perform with a unique piano-playing automaton, she thinks it can only be an improvement to her current life.  But, Nim is surprised to discover the automaton is housing a cursed fairy prince and she is determined to save him.  Will she be able to save him in time to prevent an imminent war from erupting?

Things I Liked:
It really was a unique story.  I've never read a love story where the heroine falls in love with a fairy prince trapped in an automaton's body.  It was pretty refreshing to not have a typical paranormal love story.  I liked Nimira and Erris, though I think I liked Anni the most.  There were a lot of details about the world Dolamore created that I wanted to know more about.  I was intrigued by the different races, the different countries, and the magical elements.  Here are some interesting tidbits:

"Every person has a reason to walk the earth, Mother always said.  Sometimes the path leads in strange directions." p 93
"Some old women you can never imagine young, but you could picture Miss Rashten in an awkward sort of youth.  I guessed she had not been happy, probably the type who couldn't flirt and never seemed to dress right, who came into her power when she got past the time when such things mattered." p 167
Things I Didn't Like:
I think it could have used more details.  I thought there were unique things that she could have developed more, particularly the romance which was sweet, but not much else.  The writing was just ok for me, but I definitely will be reading more from Dolamore in the future.  I liked it and it showed lots of potential.  


Read-alikes:

It had a bit of a Beauty and the Beast feel to it, so maybe Beauty by Robin McKinley

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
a few (I think)


mrg-factor: X
some minor implied things


v-factor: none

Overall rating: ***

Do you sometimes like to wait until all the hype about a book has died down before reading it?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

3 comments :

  1. I keep coming back to wanting to read this one. I've held off on buying it but now I think it may be time. Thanks for the review as I trust your opinion and am looking forward to reading it.

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  2. I wait all of the time on reading books with lots of hype. I actually didn't read any of the Harry Potter books until after they were all published...and I haven't even begun The Hunger Games yet. LOL! I'm not sure why other than I'm not good at waiting especially when it comes to books in series :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Angie, awww I'm blushing. I sure know I trust your opinion!

    samantha, I can see why you would want to wait until they are all out! I didn't start HP until the 4th book was out, but those last three were such a pain to wait for!

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