Glorious Broken Glass!

To my delight, I was recently asked to review the just-released Corroded Thorns which is the sequel to Broken Glass, Emma Clifton’s contribution to the Five Glass Slippers anthology. Said collection had been languishing on my Kindle app, collecting pixel-dust for longer than it deserved, so needing to read Broken Glass in order to read and review the sequel was the perfect excuse to actually start reading it!

Below you will (hopefully) find some semblance of a review for Broken Glass (if you can successfully read between the lines of fangirling… Ahem).

---

Broken Glass

by Emma Clifton

(in the Five Glass Slippers anthology)

5 soaring stars!

Though I was not actually required to review Broken Glass (and in fact don’t tend to review books on my blog unless I’m “supposed” to), I found I loved it so much that I simply HAD to review it and tell the world about its amazingness because OH MY GOODNESS, SO MUCH LOVE. ❤

It may tell you something to say that I adored it so much that I read it aloud to my younger siblings after reading it the first time, just to have an excuse to read it again. (Not to mention the immense fun of getting to narrate such a delicious cast of characters and witty lines aloud! Scrumptious.)

I had not a single complaint about this story. Which, lately, is indeed a rare find among the books I read! I loved everything.

As a novella, it was a quick read that I devoured in a sitting (both times). A nice bite-sized story that held SO much in it, despite its relative smallness. It felt neither too short nor too long; neither stretched nor squished. It was just perfect!

The writing was amazing, brilliant, and witty — every word was intricately yet effortlessly woven together with its neighbors, creating sentences that packed a punch and I was just staring in awe half the time because of how simply fabulous it was.

The characters. THE CHARACTERS!!! They were such a glorious bunch who often had me hysterical with laughter! All the humor and snark and banter and gaaah I loved these characters so much! The three princes were so awesome to read about, different as they were! I just loved reading about that entire messed-up family. It was a delight! Spoiled, full-of-himself Marius, dark and shadowy Darcy, endearing and wonderful Henry… All favorite characters in their own right! (Despite certain failings on the part of some… ;)) Rosalind and the cinder-girl and the (quite surprising!) fairy godmother were all great too! Each were distinct and fully real. I LOVE THEM ALL. The whole story was bursting at the seams with this spontaneous crackling cast of characters. I can’t even EXPRESS how much I loved the characters and the humor and their interactions!

The story itself was awesome. I loved how it feels like a Cinderella retelling, and yet at the same time like its own tale, especially how it starts in an unusual place — when the slipper is being tried on . . . and fits the wrong girl! The twists were wonderful. I was just amazed at how many different story threads were going on, weaving together seamlessly. It was fantastic!

I loved the setting! It’s fantasy with a dose of magic and some fabulous steampunk — surprising, but actually incredibly well fitted to the tale! It just all felt so awesome and I loved feeling a part of this lovely world.

The story and characters had a “British” feel to me, which is basically the highest compliment I’m capable of giving a book, and I really can’t describe it any other way. (If that makes sense to not a single person in the world besides me, I do apologize…) But something about the writing and style and dialog reminded me in some indefinable way of beloved books like Entwined and Howl’s Moving Castle.

Between a twisty retelling, a beautimous setting of steampunk and magic, a cast of colorful characters that you’ll find yourself falling in love with despite their bickering, some mad schemes and uproarious disasters, a touch of superb EPICNESS by the end, hoards of humor and wit and snarky dialog that just begs to be quoted aloud, not to mention the tea and cucumber sandwiches — why, what is not to love about this, quite simply, incredibly fabulous, rollicking, hilarious tale?

I have yet to read the other four Cinderella tales that share space with Broken Glass in the Five Glass Slippers collection (though I look forward to hopefully enjoying them as well), so I don’t know if they’re any good or not . . . But I can tell you that the collection is well worth grabbing a copy of if only for this one story.

Keep an eye out for my review of the sequel, Corroded Thorns, in a day or two!