Official Review: Girl In The Glass by Zoe Brooks

[jhollan2]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Girl In The Glass" by Zoe Brooks.]

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“I am Anya…Rosa…Judith and I am nothing.” Girl in the Glass by Zoe Brooks is a haunting story about two women trapped in the cycle of abuse and the angels they meet along the way that help them in unexpected and different ways. It is a fantasy novel in that it is set in a desert world with a strongly male-dominated society. Shadows, people with autistic tendencies whose lives are bound to Mistresses, are regarded as subhuman and treated with disdain and loathing. It will appeal to not only those who enjoy fantasy, but those who are drawn to women’s issues as well.

For Anya, the tragedy begins when she loses her parents at a young age and is sent to live with her father’s sister, a cruel woman who torments and abuses her. She has only her Shadow Eva for solace, and the stern but kind housekeeper, Marta. After saving the life of her cousin, he repays her by trying to rape her. Anya is blamed for encouraging him and flees when her family seeks to marry her to a man who threatens to kill her Shadow. Anya and Eva make their way through the desert to a large city, where they find that prejudice and poverty are crueler teachers yet. Now calling herself Rosa, she finds love and loses it, only to get swept back into the arms of someone who will nearly succeed in breaking her spirit in ways that her Aunt never could. Her resilience and her quick wits once again save her, and her Shadow, eventually leading her to someone who can offer her what she truly needs: the ability to heal herself.

In the archaic patriarchy of her world, there is no greater crime than being a strong beautiful woman, which Anya learns through hard lessons. Intelligence in a woman is akin to witchcraft and beauty is an invitation that cannot be refused. It is always the woman’s fault. Brooks explores the harsh realities of prejudice, misogyny, rape, racism, abortion, and abuse. She approaches these difficult topics unflinchingly and uses them to create a beautiful tale of triumph over brutality and circumstance.

I am giving this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. It was well written and thought provoking, but Brooks could have done much more world building. Readers are left with many more questions than answers when it comes to the nature of Shadows and their relationship with their mistresses. Where do they come from? How are they bonded to their mistresses? What is their function? These lingering questions and the vagueness of the world in which the characters live took away from my enjoyment of the tale. There were also some minor typos that should have been caught by the book’s editor, which distracted me from the plot.

As the first book in a series, I recommend reading Girl in the Glass. It is not overly long and a quick read that will really give you a lot to think about. Anya’s narration of her plight will leave readers feeling her desperation, her pain, her fear, and ultimately her joy at the defeat of her demons. Though things get better for the heroine, there is no happy ending. Readers are left with the knowledge that there will be more struggles and more pain, but also with the knowledge that Anya, now called Judith, will survive them.

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Buy "Girl In The Glass" on Amazon

[gali]

I purchased the book a few days ago while it was free on Amazon. I will give it a shot.