Review by kelseydwf -- Looking Glass Friends by E L Neve

[Kelsey Hatch]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Looking Glass Friends" by E L Neve.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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“A sacrifice only occurs when you give up a higher value for a lesser one.”

This is one of the many lessons Neil learned about himself and his life when a stranger named Ellie gave him a novel at his work. This book, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, changed his life forever. It just happened to be the favorite book of Ellie, who came into the bakery every other Friday. Her gift softened the hardness that had surrounded Neil for the past six months and brought him into the real world.

This is only the beginning of E.L. Neve’s captivating novel, Looking Glass Friends. Neil has been miserable in his life for months, feeling stagnant and numb inside. He holds up in his room every night playing video games as an only release, while his wife Fay is starting to feel neglected. Ellie, meanwhile, is married to a lucrative antique dealer and loves her comfortable life with her five-year-old son, Johnny. Still, she senses something is missing.

After Neil and Ellie exchange email addresses, their friendship blossoms. Neil considers her his soulmate of the mind, and Fay is understandably worried. She can only express her concerns to her friend at the glassblowing studio where she works. Ellie’s husband, Jake, quickly becomes jealous of the friendship and swoops in to intervene. What happens next can only be told by E.L. Neve.

Looking Glass Friends is full of philosophical discussion and questions about life and love. Ayn Rand is the leading voice in the novel, other than the main characters, so we as readers get to experience Neil discovering a new philosophy for the first time. Neve includes several passages that add to the lyricism of the novel and also embraces poetry, as Ellie does calligraphy work on the side. This adds a truly poetic feel to the book, which constitutes the part I liked most. Passages such as the following really stick:

“The heat of the glassblowing furnaces, the heat of Neil’s passion, both had set around her heart like strips of cooling glass. But Neil kept cooling, hardening, turning to ice.”

Additionally, the characters in this novel are extremely well-developed. It is easy to picture frizzy-haired Fay, solemn but thoughtful Neil, passionate Ellie, and conniving Jake. The relationships built throughout the novel feel careful, decisive, and realistic. All characters try to preserve themselves and their marriages while also being purely and truly themselves.

There are some profanity and violence in this book and it definitely has mature themes. I would advise this novel to an adult audience who appreciates romance and literacy. This would not be suitable for a younger audience. I noticed very few errors in the book, only commas that I would personally place but that are not necessary for the flow of the novel. There is honestly nothing I disliked about this book. Happily, based on the profound themes and excellent character-building, I rate Looking Glass Friends a full 4 out of 4 stars.

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Looking Glass Friends
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[tristenb]

I enjoyed your review! I can only imagine that something bad is going to happen between Neil and Jake. I'm curious to see what happens. Thank you!

[Kelsey Hatch]

I enjoyed your review! I can only imagine that something bad is going to happen between Neil and Jake. I'm curious to see what happens. Thank you!

Thank you for stopping by! Yes, the character relationships and interactions are so genuine and do get intense at times. I would highly recommend this book!

[kdstrack]

These sound like some complicated relationships! I loved the quotes you included in the review. This is one book I want to read. Thanks for the insightful review!

[Kelsey Hatch]

These sound like some complicated relationships! I loved the quotes you included in the review. This is one book I want to read. Thanks for the insightful review!

If you like complicated relationships, this is a great read! Thank you for commenting.