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A review by verymom
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
5.0
Okay I think I can finally wrap my head around writing a better review. This popped up as a Goodreads recommendation, I'd never heard of the author but the book sounded interesting so I took a chance. I am so glad I did.
Hardinge is an incredible world-builder, this is like nothing I've ever read before. I read someone else compared it to Alice and Wonderland, and I get where they were coming from - the whole 'down the rabbit hole' experience, but that's just the tip of the iceberg, and doesn't do the book justice. I am quite fond of the concept behind [b:The City of Ember|307791|The City of Ember (Book of Ember, #1)|Jeanne DuPrau|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397931596s/307791.jpg|2285229] - the cataclysmic event, the city underground, the drive to get out - A Face Like Glass is sort of similar but on an entirely different level of awesome.
The world Hardinge builds for us is wonderfully weird and fully fleshed out. The culture and politics alone is astounding. The characters leap off the page, and there is enough magic and wonder to make people draw comparisons to Harry Potter - though it's nothing like the Potterverse. There you've got wands and here we've got killer cheeses and wines. Yes, seriously.
I've just finished [b:Fly by Night|710437|Fly by Night (Fly By Night, #1)|Frances Hardinge|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390878594s/710437.jpg|198421] and [b:Fly Trap|478040|Fly Trap|Dina Anastasio|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1175099533s/478040.jpg|466478] and [b:Gullstruck Island] and Hardinge does not fail to impress. She is the real deal and I can't believe she's not getting more attention. I imagine her books are somewhat hard to categorize - they're children's books but they aren't like anything else out there. The writing isn't dumbed down, but is fullbodied and bursting with vocabulary. Precocious pre-teens to adults will really get a kick out of Hardinge's writing, and A Face Like Glass is my favorite so far (though they are all amazing). I eagerly await her next...
**Original review (if you can call it that):
Incredibly brilliant. I want to go back to the beginning and read it all over again. Highly, highly recommend. 10 stars!!
Hardinge is an incredible world-builder, this is like nothing I've ever read before. I read someone else compared it to Alice and Wonderland, and I get where they were coming from - the whole 'down the rabbit hole' experience, but that's just the tip of the iceberg, and doesn't do the book justice. I am quite fond of the concept behind [b:The City of Ember|307791|The City of Ember (Book of Ember, #1)|Jeanne DuPrau|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397931596s/307791.jpg|2285229] - the cataclysmic event, the city underground, the drive to get out - A Face Like Glass is sort of similar but on an entirely different level of awesome.
The world Hardinge builds for us is wonderfully weird and fully fleshed out. The culture and politics alone is astounding. The characters leap off the page, and there is enough magic and wonder to make people draw comparisons to Harry Potter - though it's nothing like the Potterverse. There you've got wands and here we've got killer cheeses and wines. Yes, seriously.
I've just finished [b:Fly by Night|710437|Fly by Night (Fly By Night, #1)|Frances Hardinge|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390878594s/710437.jpg|198421] and [b:Fly Trap|478040|Fly Trap|Dina Anastasio|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1175099533s/478040.jpg|466478] and [b:Gullstruck Island] and Hardinge does not fail to impress. She is the real deal and I can't believe she's not getting more attention. I imagine her books are somewhat hard to categorize - they're children's books but they aren't like anything else out there. The writing isn't dumbed down, but is fullbodied and bursting with vocabulary. Precocious pre-teens to adults will really get a kick out of Hardinge's writing, and A Face Like Glass is my favorite so far (though they are all amazing). I eagerly await her next...
**Original review (if you can call it that):
Incredibly brilliant. I want to go back to the beginning and read it all over again. Highly, highly recommend. 10 stars!!