Review: The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano

The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this latest installment from Lauren DeStefano. If you've read the Chemical Garden series or The Internment Chronicles, you will already be familiar with her writing style and this is no different. I actually think this is my favorite of all of her works that I've read. Much like in all of her works, she does an amazing job of blending science and technology while keeping that dystopian feel to the word she is building. This world has alchemy and airships, but they still don't use telephones or cars widely.

I felt like the characters were fairly well developed. It is a YA fantasy, so it has all of the requisite elements that you would expect. That being said I really liked the unique take on the main character Wil's "power". Wil is a spare, or an extra heir to the throne. She is another one of her father's children that will never inherit the throne like her 2 older brothers Baren and Gerdie. Their father only cares about their oldest brother Owen, the actual heir. Owen is actually a pretty good older brother, and each of Wil's siblings has their talents, good or bad. Wil gather's ingredients for Gerdie's alchemy experiments and acts as a spy for her father. One evening her adventure to gather ingredients goes wrong, and she discovers she can turn a man into a gemstone. As you can imagine, Wil doesn't want to hurt anyone else and is anxious to find out how to fix herself. Some things happen and Wil finds herself banished from the kingdom and travelling with Loom a banished prince from an enemy nation. Wil and Loom are as you can imagine instantly drawn to one another (I told you it was YA fantasy). There is a little bit of a love triangle, but not really.

I'm anxious to see if we get any more of the political stance from each of the kingdoms in the next book, especially with Wil returning home to investigate her abilities. There was never really much explanation as to why the North and the South were fighting other than they had both done some horrible stuff to each other. I'd like to learn more about Owen's travels, but I'm not sure we'll get that information. Clearly I want to see where Wil's adventures take her as she finds out more about her ability and how she came to have it.

Overall, this was a solid read for me and I can't wait to see what happens next.

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