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A review by haramis
Girl Under Glass by Monica Enderle Pierce
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.