Review: A History of Glitter and Blood

A History of Glitter and Blood

Author: Hannah Moskowitz
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Genre: YA Fantasy
Format: ebook
Release Date: August 18, 2015
Source: egalley received from publisher via Netgalley
Rating: 3 Stars
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***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way changed my opinion of the book. The review below is my open and honest opinion.***

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Beckan and her friends are the only fairies brave enough to stay in Ferrum when war breaks out. Now there is tension between the immortal fairies, the subterranean gnomes, and the mysterious tightropers who arrived to liberate the fairies.

But when Beckan's clan is forced to venture into the gnome underworld to survive, they find themselves tentatively forming unlikely friendships and making sacrifices they couldn't have imagined. As danger mounts, Beckan finds herself caught between her loyalty to her friends, her desire for peace, and a love she never expected.

This stunning, lyrical fantasy is a powerful exploration of what makes a family, what justifies a war, and what it means to truly love.

My Review:

I’m kind of torn on this book. On the one hand, it sucked me in. When I first started reading, I really wasn’t feeling the writing style. Enough that it made me want to put the book down. But I pushed through just to see if it would get better and the story completely sucked me in. About a group of fairies who remain in a city under siege during a war when the rest of their species runs. The city isn’t exactly safe for fairies with the gnomes prowling around ready to slowly rip them apart and devour their body parts. Yeah, this book was a bit graphic. There were a lot of things I liked about it. Like the fact that it sucked me in. The characters had me glued to the pages and I honestly enjoyed each and every one of them. They each had their own distinctive personalities and I enjoyed getting to know them and seeing how the war had affected them each in similar, yet different ways.

I also really enjoyed the sense of family that this book brought to the table. Even if they aren’t blood-related, the ties between these characters were strong. They were a family and they stuck by each other no matter what. They were always there for each other even during the darkest times. Even when one of them was being shitty, they stood by each other for better or worse and I loved that.

Another thing about this book that I enjoyed was the discussion of race and the stereotypes amongst each race which included the fairies, the gnomes and the tightropers. It was interesting to see the dynamics between each group and then to watch a mismatched group come together and try to change the preconceived notions existent in their world. It was a great way to connect an issue still going on in our present day world to that of the fantasy world we were in.

But what I didn’t like about this book was the writing style. I guess eventually I got used to it, but it was choppy and kind of all over the place. The storyline was a bit out of order so you had to really pay attention to follow it. There were constant breaks where the story would be told and then the author of the story would randomly write himself notes on how to improve the story or tear his own writing apart saying how horrible it was. It was different and not entirely bad, it just didn’t really work all that well for me because I felt like I kept getting pulled out of the story.

The other issue I had was the prostitution and sex in general which were both a huge focus of this book. The fairies prostitute themselves to the gnomes in order to get money and food to live during the war. My problem wasn’t really with the prostitution, it was with the blasé attitude they went about it. No one was really affected by their experiences and I had a hard time believing that everything was just all swell down there in the tunnels. And sex was just given out freely like it wasn’t a big deal. And I guess to some people it’s not, but it was just foreign to me. Because to me, it is a big deal. That’s not to say that I’m a prude and don’t want to see it in books (um, hello huge fan of the Original Sinners series here) but for some reason here it felt out of place. Like maybe it was just put there for the sake of having sex be a part of the book. I don’t know. I’m probably not making any sense. If you’ve read the book please comment; I’d love to get someone else’s opinion on the matter.

And finally the world-building wasn’t all that great. I was a little lost on what the goals of each group were, how they came to be in Ferrum, etc. I just think that it could have used a bit more so I could feel like I was more solidly in the world. But overall, a pretty good book. If you like fantasy and don’t have a problem with violence, then this might be worth checking out.

Have you read this book yet? What were your thoughts on the writing style? The sex aspect of the book?