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writings_of_a_reader's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. Girl under Glass is a dystopian, sci-fi blend and I loved the first half of it. The main character Rachel, reminded me of the mother in Not a Drop to Drink. She was a very strong, resourceful person in the first half of the book who was determined to protect her child. I enjoyed the bond she had with her daughter and I thought that was the best part of the book. Unfortunately in the second half of the book we are taken to a different setting and she is separated from her daughter, which puts a big hole in the story because they are separated for too long and the element of the book I liked best is missing. It feels like she just gives up and becomes a much weaker character at this point, and I had a hard time liking her. She is still very stubborn, but in the wrong way. She is pretty much reduced to a weepy, angry mess. And I get that she would probably be upset with Ehtishem for not telling her the whole story, but she took her distrust of him way too far.
I liked Ehtishem, whose name kind of sounds like a sneeze. He was patient, considerate, compassionate, and understanding of her emotional issues that were brought on by traumas in her past, and he believed in her. But I thought the romantic relationship happened kind of sudden. I saw that they had started to respect each other and maybe even the beginnings of love feelings were there, but then suddenly they weren't just sharing a first kiss, they were making love. I didn't feel like it or the next big love scene blended into the story too well. They both came on too sudden like they suddenly had an attack of hormones or something. None of the love scenes were overly graphic or anything, but the way they were written sort of felt like I got pulled out of the book I was reading and dropped into the middle of a romance novel. And why is it that characters in books/movies/TV go from point A to point B so quickly now? Can we not have them share just a sweet kiss or two first?
There were two villains in this book. The first was Cyrus. He is the leader of the compound they are imprisoned in. He and a few others that are called Elders were given instructions on how to lead and run the compound they are imprisoned in by the Alien race that took over the earth. But Cyrus has taken the instructions that were given to them to a twisted level. He has made himself a cult leader. I thought he was written very well. But I also thought that once Rachel left the compound he should have been left behind as well. Unfortunately he keeps reappearing at all the most opportune times throughout the rest of the book and I felt it was just unreal.
The second baddie in this book is the Alien leader. I think he should have been allowed to take over as the only villain in the second half of the book. I found him rather inept and not scary at all through most of it. He was too eclipsed by Cyrus, even if Cyrus ended up under his control.
One other thing that bothered me was near the end of the book when Rachel agreed to mark her face with a permanent type of tattoo that will denote her as Ehtishem's property. It was a pretty large tattoo that marked pretty much one whole side of her face. It was done to protect her, not because he wanted her marked as his property, but it still bothered me. Then after it's done and she has permanently marked her face, we pretty much find out that they did it for nothing because now it isn't going to protect her anyway! I just thought it was a needless part of the story and couldn't really see either of the characters going along with this idea. And maybe they could have just put a fake tattoo on her that would have fooled everyone into thinking she was marked, I'm not sure why they couldn't have thought of that. I also find it a weird coincidence that this is the second book in a row I've read where something like this is done to a woman's face.
Ultimately though, I would have to say my main gripe about this book is all the cursing. I can ignore quite a bit of cursing in a book, but I have issues with the use of a deity's name with the f word, and this was done quite a few times in this book. I know most people probably don't care, but it bothers me. Even if it wasn't Christ and it was some other deity, it would still bother me. I feel it's disrespectful and I think people should think about what they are saying, or in this case making a character in a book say.
The first half of this book was good enough for me to give it 4 stars. The second half made it a 3 star book. However, the use of so much cursing in the book was enough for me to take my rating down to 2 stars. There will be sequels to this, and I would like to know what happens next, but I haven't decided whether I will read more.
I liked Ehtishem, whose name kind of sounds like a sneeze. He was patient, considerate, compassionate, and understanding of her emotional issues that were brought on by traumas in her past, and he believed in her. But I thought the romantic relationship happened kind of sudden. I saw that they had started to respect each other and maybe even the beginnings of love feelings were there, but then suddenly they weren't just sharing a first kiss, they were making love. I didn't feel like it or the next big love scene blended into the story too well. They both came on too sudden like they suddenly had an attack of hormones or something. None of the love scenes were overly graphic or anything, but the way they were written sort of felt like I got pulled out of the book I was reading and dropped into the middle of a romance novel. And why is it that characters in books/movies/TV go from point A to point B so quickly now? Can we not have them share just a sweet kiss or two first?
There were two villains in this book. The first was Cyrus. He is the leader of the compound they are imprisoned in. He and a few others that are called Elders were given instructions on how to lead and run the compound they are imprisoned in by the Alien race that took over the earth. But Cyrus has taken the instructions that were given to them to a twisted level. He has made himself a cult leader. I thought he was written very well. But I also thought that once Rachel left the compound he should have been left behind as well. Unfortunately he keeps reappearing at all the most opportune times throughout the rest of the book and I felt it was just unreal.
The second baddie in this book is the Alien leader. I think he should have been allowed to take over as the only villain in the second half of the book. I found him rather inept and not scary at all through most of it. He was too eclipsed by Cyrus, even if Cyrus ended up under his control.
One other thing that bothered me was near the end of the book when Rachel agreed to mark her face with a permanent type of tattoo that will denote her as Ehtishem's property. It was a pretty large tattoo that marked pretty much one whole side of her face. It was done to protect her, not because he wanted her marked as his property, but it still bothered me. Then after it's done and she has permanently marked her face, we pretty much find out that they did it for nothing because now it isn't going to protect her anyway! I just thought it was a needless part of the story and couldn't really see either of the characters going along with this idea. And maybe they could have just put a fake tattoo on her that would have fooled everyone into thinking she was marked, I'm not sure why they couldn't have thought of that. I also find it a weird coincidence that this is the second book in a row I've read where something like this is done to a woman's face.
Ultimately though, I would have to say my main gripe about this book is all the cursing. I can ignore quite a bit of cursing in a book, but I have issues with the use of a deity's name with the f word, and this was done quite a few times in this book. I know most people probably don't care, but it bothers me. Even if it wasn't Christ and it was some other deity, it would still bother me. I feel it's disrespectful and I think people should think about what they are saying, or in this case making a character in a book say.
The first half of this book was good enough for me to give it 4 stars. The second half made it a 3 star book. However, the use of so much cursing in the book was enough for me to take my rating down to 2 stars. There will be sequels to this, and I would like to know what happens next, but I haven't decided whether I will read more.
raven_morgan's review against another edition
2.0
DID NOT FINISH.
The generally positive reviews gave me hope for this, but said hope was crushed fairly early on.
Way, way too much telling and not showing - about the world, about characters, about traumas, which ended up with very little emotional impact, even when a character was flashbacking.
Read to about 40% and decided to abandon. There are too many other books to read, I'm not sticking with one that's only meh.
The generally positive reviews gave me hope for this, but said hope was crushed fairly early on.
Way, way too much telling and not showing - about the world, about characters, about traumas, which ended up with very little emotional impact, even when a character was flashbacking.
Read to about 40% and decided to abandon. There are too many other books to read, I'm not sticking with one that's only meh.
kim3100's review against another edition
4.0
I received this ebook in exchange for an honest review on Netgalley
I really want to write this review without spoilers, so I will do my best. The story is about Rachel. A girl who was raped when she was young. This caused her to be an outsider in the community where she is in. The book tells the story about her strength and the way how she handles life. This is mixed by fighting a known 'alien' enemy, but she gets aid from a surprising place. I found it a very interesting and beautifully written story. The world was beautifully build and sometimes I really felt like I was there.
I really want to write this review without spoilers, so I will do my best. The story is about Rachel. A girl who was raped when she was young. This caused her to be an outsider in the community where she is in. The book tells the story about her strength and the way how she handles life. This is mixed by fighting a known 'alien' enemy, but she gets aid from a surprising place. I found it a very interesting and beautifully written story. The world was beautifully build and sometimes I really felt like I was there.
foxy_roxy's review against another edition
4.0
Interested enough that I read it through
Review to follow
Review to follow
reading_rainy's review against another edition
4.0
First of all, this book cover is awesome! This is a sci-fi dystopian, kinda romance? The first half of the book was so good, the world building reminded me a little of that M. Night Shyamalan movie The Village where everyone has reverted back to Puritan behavior. A six hour Sunday sermon, shunning people, public beatings?!
Our heroine, Rachel has survived the killing of her parents when she was fourteen. Her father was an interrupter between humans and the alien race when they first came to Earth. Her parents believed the aliens meant Earth no harm, then all hell broke loose.
The book begins with Rachel and her daughter, they are living alone with two dogs for protection. You learn early on that Rachel was raped and her daughter is the product of that. Rachel adores Pearl. They have been ostracized by the village (because the rape and subsequent child showed that Rachel was not a pure woman), and are allowed to stay because Rachel is a medic of sorts.
One day a wounded alien appears and Rachel takes care of him. The romance aspect was odd and felt forced. One minute Rachel’s taking care of this alien man, Ehtishem, and the next, he’s admitting he has feelings for her and they start making out? I get that his culture doesn’t show many emotions, but something to hint that he was interested, or some kind of build-up to that would have been nice.
The second half of the book fell flat for me. There were too many characters, plot lines flying all over the place and I was confused. It doesn’t help that Rachel has these traumatic flashbacks, so the reader can’t really trust what’s going on.
There is a moment towards the end that Rachel has to get a huge facial tattoo to show that she ‘belongs’ or is owned by Ehtishem. There is zero point to this as two second later the plot changes. Maybe the tattoo will have more significance in the second book…which I will be reading since I purchased book one and two together.
This story is clunky, doesn’t flow well, felt disorganized and fragmented, but I still really enjoyed all the ideas here.
Our heroine, Rachel has survived the killing of her parents when she was fourteen. Her father was an interrupter between humans and the alien race when they first came to Earth. Her parents believed the aliens meant Earth no harm, then all hell broke loose.
The book begins with Rachel and her daughter, they are living alone with two dogs for protection. You learn early on that Rachel was raped and her daughter is the product of that. Rachel adores Pearl. They have been ostracized by the village (because the rape and subsequent child showed that Rachel was not a pure woman), and are allowed to stay because Rachel is a medic of sorts.
One day a wounded alien appears and Rachel takes care of him. The romance aspect was odd and felt forced. One minute Rachel’s taking care of this alien man, Ehtishem, and the next, he’s admitting he has feelings for her and they start making out? I get that his culture doesn’t show many emotions, but something to hint that he was interested, or some kind of build-up to that would have been nice.
The second half of the book fell flat for me. There were too many characters, plot lines flying all over the place and I was confused. It doesn’t help that Rachel has these traumatic flashbacks, so the reader can’t really trust what’s going on.
There is a moment towards the end that Rachel has to get a huge facial tattoo to show that she ‘belongs’ or is owned by Ehtishem. There is zero point to this as two second later the plot changes. Maybe the tattoo will have more significance in the second book…which I will be reading since I purchased book one and two together.
This story is clunky, doesn’t flow well, felt disorganized and fragmented, but I still really enjoyed all the ideas here.
kellyhitchcock's review against another edition
4.0
I don't typically read genre fiction, but I'm a firm believer that good writing is irrespective of genre. And make no mistake - Girl Under Glass is well written. Pierce has both an eye for detail and a gift for plot development that come across beautifully in Girl Under Glass. Naturally, it's also a plus that her strong female protagonist has a fierce spirit and a feisty attitude that both get her into trouble and keep her alive.
I often tend to read over action scenes in books because they are too boringly procedural for my taste, but I found the opposite to be true in Girl Under Glass because Pierce focused so heavily on how the characters experienced the action instead of on the action itself. Bravo -
I found some of the science fictiony stuff hard to follow, especially toward the middle where the plot began to drag a bit after Rachel and Pearl leave Suffer to wander the planet. But then, as I said, genre fiction isn't something I typically pick up so that's more a matter of personal preference. There was plenty to keep my interest piqued between the growing civil war, the other worlds, and of course a forbidden love just to make things that much more interesting.
My only other point of contention with this book is that it often uses an invented Ohnenran language in dialogue, and the index of terms used in the Kindle edition comes at the end. This would have been useful to have at the beginning, though I was able to suss out simple Yesses and Nos pretty easily.
I look forward to grabbing the sequel to Girl Under Glass as soon as my palate is ready to dive headfirst back into some scifi!
[a:Kelly Hitchcock|5322812|Kelly Hitchcock|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1328755713p2/5322812.jpg]
Author of [b:The Redheaded Stepchild|13438623|The Redheaded Stepchild|Kelly Hitchcock|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328823780s/13438623.jpg|18197340]
I often tend to read over action scenes in books because they are too boringly procedural for my taste, but I found the opposite to be true in Girl Under Glass because Pierce focused so heavily on how the characters experienced the action instead of on the action itself. Bravo -
I found some of the science fictiony stuff hard to follow, especially toward the middle where the plot began to drag a bit after Rachel and Pearl leave Suffer to wander the planet. But then, as I said, genre fiction isn't something I typically pick up so that's more a matter of personal preference. There was plenty to keep my interest piqued between the growing civil war, the other worlds, and of course a forbidden love just to make things that much more interesting.
My only other point of contention with this book is that it often uses an invented Ohnenran language in dialogue, and the index of terms used in the Kindle edition comes at the end. This would have been useful to have at the beginning, though I was able to suss out simple Yesses and Nos pretty easily.
I look forward to grabbing the sequel to Girl Under Glass as soon as my palate is ready to dive headfirst back into some scifi!
[a:Kelly Hitchcock|5322812|Kelly Hitchcock|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1328755713p2/5322812.jpg]
Author of [b:The Redheaded Stepchild|13438623|The Redheaded Stepchild|Kelly Hitchcock|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328823780s/13438623.jpg|18197340]
emiliana_soy_22's review
4.0
Really enjoyed this action packed, suspense, romance, page turner novel. It work's well together with everything that's going on. The start of a new series that I can't wait to read. It's a cliffhanger though so be ready.
haramis's review against another edition
2.0
Since I knew I was going to read this as Apocalypse Whenever's August selection, regardless of content, I willfully skipped any description of the novel. Based on the title and cover, I guessed that it would be Space Snow White, which isn't that odd given that we read [b:Cinder|11235712|Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1)|Marissa Meyer|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1317794278s/11235712.jpg|15545385] in June. Imagine my surprise when I actually started to read it and discovered that it was Space [b:Scarlet Letter|12296|The Scarlet Letter|Nathaniel Hawthorne|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327879100s/12296.jpg|4925227] told with the grittiness of [b:Flowertown|13031388|Flowertown|S.G. Redling|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1343780463s/13031388.jpg|18194725].
Pierce isn't subtle about it; she named Rachel's daughter Pearl Pryne for goodness sake, and while the circumstances behind her birth are dissimilar, the shunning is all the same. I like that it was set initially in the Pacific Northwest; I was on vacation there in May, so I was really able to picture the forest and such.
The first wrong step for me was the romance plot. Blah, I wasn't aware insta-love was popular outside of YA, and yet here it rears its ugly head. There is no groundwork laid for the leads to fall in love, and so that whole bit could just die for me. Two, the book seriously loses its way when the location changes. It goes from pretty well-grounded to a flighty mess. I like politics done well, but this is politics done stupid.
Three, I hold to that comparison to Flowertown. Rachel has a lot in common with that crazy thug Ellie, except, you know, the charm. I liked Ellie in spite of herself; I wanted Rachel put down like a rabid dog. She spits venom and rage like a petulant, immature brat, and I can't imagine why Ehtishem (whose name I imagine is pronounced like a sneeze) doesn't keep her tranquilized all the time. I almost lost it when he praised her self control. Her lack of self discipline is epic. Oh, and there's that bit where Cyrus has almost magical abilities of popping out of nowhere for no better reason than he's the bogeyman.
Also, the more I think about it, there are some real logic fails. Take a moment and try to imagine the supply chains the Ohnenrai must use. They're clearly eating human food and using Terran supplies, but they've destroyed the existing infrastructure, and there's no suggestion that they've rebuilt it or that they've collected humans in agriculture camps or whatever. Or big
This was bad. I will not read the sequel.
Pierce isn't subtle about it; she named Rachel's daughter Pearl Pryne for goodness sake, and while the circumstances behind her birth are dissimilar, the shunning is all the same. I like that it was set initially in the Pacific Northwest; I was on vacation there in May, so I was really able to picture the forest and such.
The first wrong step for me was the romance plot. Blah, I wasn't aware insta-love was popular outside of YA, and yet here it rears its ugly head. There is no groundwork laid for the leads to fall in love, and so that whole bit could just die for me. Two, the book seriously loses its way when the location changes. It goes from pretty well-grounded to a flighty mess. I like politics done well, but this is politics done stupid.
Three, I hold to that comparison to Flowertown. Rachel has a lot in common with that crazy thug Ellie, except, you know, the charm. I liked Ellie in spite of herself; I wanted Rachel put down like a rabid dog. She spits venom and rage like a petulant, immature brat, and I can't imagine why Ehtishem (whose name I imagine is pronounced like a sneeze) doesn't keep her tranquilized all the time. I almost lost it when he praised her self control. Her lack of self discipline is epic. Oh, and there's that bit where Cyrus has almost magical abilities of popping out of nowhere for no better reason than he's the bogeyman.
Also, the more I think about it, there are some real logic fails. Take a moment and try to imagine the supply chains the Ohnenrai must use. They're clearly eating human food and using Terran supplies, but they've destroyed the existing infrastructure, and there's no suggestion that they've rebuilt it or that they've collected humans in agriculture camps or whatever. Or big
Spoiler
if a shock round kills Adam, why didn't one kill Audie? Let's just assume that the soldiers are much better at adjusting their charges for the weight of the being in question?This was bad. I will not read the sequel.
justenjoy's review
4.0
I won a copy of this book at a giveaway and I’m really glad that I got a chance to read this one.
Our MC is Rachel Pryne, a woman shunned by everyone in her village, who makes it her life’s mission to protect her seven-year-old daughter, Pearl. The story opens with an injured Ohnenrai soldier appearing in her yard. Normally Rachel would have killed the soldier at first sight, but something about him seems different. Rachel decides to help him and so the story starts.
This book was unique with a great science fiction romance set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian world. I admire the author’s imagination in creating this new society and race of people. The world building was excellent, and Monica definitely knows her way with words.
If you are looking for action, strong character development, a lovely romance, suspense, angst, a lot of twists and turns, and a killer ending, this book is definitely something for you. It ends on a little cliffhanger, though which makes me even more excited for the next two books to appear on my “to read” shelf.
Our MC is Rachel Pryne, a woman shunned by everyone in her village, who makes it her life’s mission to protect her seven-year-old daughter, Pearl. The story opens with an injured Ohnenrai soldier appearing in her yard. Normally Rachel would have killed the soldier at first sight, but something about him seems different. Rachel decides to help him and so the story starts.
This book was unique with a great science fiction romance set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian world. I admire the author’s imagination in creating this new society and race of people. The world building was excellent, and Monica definitely knows her way with words.
If you are looking for action, strong character development, a lovely romance, suspense, angst, a lot of twists and turns, and a killer ending, this book is definitely something for you. It ends on a little cliffhanger, though which makes me even more excited for the next two books to appear on my “to read” shelf.
aggiew3thrgirl's review against another edition
4.0
I'm going through a little bit of a dystopian and sci-fi kick at the moment. GIRL UNDER GLASS definitely fit the bill to feed my book addiction. This book veered from my usual YA reading, focusing on slightly older characters in a different head space than most of the YA characters I'm used it. It was a refreshing change.
The whole idea of this book, Earth having been invaded by aliens already a long time prior to the beginning of the story, was intriguing. We weren't taken to other worlds, but the world building was necessary nevertheless, as GIRL UNDER GLASS certainly doesn't take place in the world as we know it. Enderle Pierce did a good job giving us enough of the backstory early on that we weren't completely lost, but help back some as well, so we were still left asking questions about the backstory through the book. That said, there were some areas where I felt like I could have used a little more information to fully engross myself in the world, and the answers I asked early on (that would have been useful to know early on) weren't given until closer to the end of the story.
The story really centers on the main characters Rachel and Ehtishem, the circumstances under which they meet, and the trust/relationship that builds between the two of them. Rachel has not had a good life, but she does have her daughter, who she will stop at nothing to protect. Ehtishem is guarded (that's an understatement) and mysterious. I love how the characters evolve over time, but they do not lose their past...it is always there haunting them to some extent. In fact, it was almost annoying how much Rachel's past haunts her until I stopped to think about her motivations for her actions. Enderle Pierce does a good job staying true to the characters and allowing their actions to be dictated by realistic motivations, whether that be something from their past or the people they love.
The relationship between Rachel and Ehtishem unfolds within a fairly action packed story, particularly toward the end of the book. The main characters are faced with prejudice (another understatement), what can only be described as evil characters, forced escape, and basically saving the world. I enjoyed the glimpses of post-alien-invaded Earth as well as the alien vessels orbiting Earth at different levels. The underlying mysteries were what sealed this book for me. Like I said earlier, Enderle Pierce gives enough information to keep the reader guessing and questioning what is going on in the story, and this lasts from beginning to end.
I definitely hope her next book in this series (or what I hope is a series!) comes out soon!
The whole idea of this book, Earth having been invaded by aliens already a long time prior to the beginning of the story, was intriguing. We weren't taken to other worlds, but the world building was necessary nevertheless, as GIRL UNDER GLASS certainly doesn't take place in the world as we know it. Enderle Pierce did a good job giving us enough of the backstory early on that we weren't completely lost, but help back some as well, so we were still left asking questions about the backstory through the book. That said, there were some areas where I felt like I could have used a little more information to fully engross myself in the world, and the answers I asked early on (that would have been useful to know early on) weren't given until closer to the end of the story.
The story really centers on the main characters Rachel and Ehtishem, the circumstances under which they meet, and the trust/relationship that builds between the two of them. Rachel has not had a good life, but she does have her daughter, who she will stop at nothing to protect. Ehtishem is guarded (that's an understatement) and mysterious. I love how the characters evolve over time, but they do not lose their past...it is always there haunting them to some extent. In fact, it was almost annoying how much Rachel's past haunts her until I stopped to think about her motivations for her actions. Enderle Pierce does a good job staying true to the characters and allowing their actions to be dictated by realistic motivations, whether that be something from their past or the people they love.
The relationship between Rachel and Ehtishem unfolds within a fairly action packed story, particularly toward the end of the book. The main characters are faced with prejudice (another understatement), what can only be described as evil characters, forced escape, and basically saving the world. I enjoyed the glimpses of post-alien-invaded Earth as well as the alien vessels orbiting Earth at different levels. The underlying mysteries were what sealed this book for me. Like I said earlier, Enderle Pierce gives enough information to keep the reader guessing and questioning what is going on in the story, and this lasts from beginning to end.
I definitely hope her next book in this series (or what I hope is a series!) comes out soon!