I received this book via Edelweiss. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.
A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz Published by Chronicle Books on 2015-08-18
Length: 280 pages
Reviewing eARC from Edelweiss
Rating:
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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.
Initial Reaction:
A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz was a pleasant surprise. I’ll admit I had my doubts going in ESPECIALLY seeing so many DNF reviews on Goodreads. I can honestly say having read the entire book I don’t know why people gave up! I loved it 😀 This book is nothing like I’ve ever read and this made it interesting and kept me on my toes. The book follows the story of three friends (Beckan, Scrap and Josha) as they navigate their way through a war.
As the title suggests the book is a history of the war, or at least it tries to be 😉 At the beginning of the book I was slightly confused. The narration had a tendency to head hop, there were sentences that made no sense, and then there was an instance where the author told him/herself off! I didn’t understand this! I thought surely it was a mistake and it was distracting to the narrative and quite frankly boring characters.
Then about 25% in I had an “ah-ha!” moment. This history was being written by one of the characters which explained the times in the story when things didn’t make sense and as the author of the story wrote more he/she deviated from just the history and it became very similar to a love story! I LOVED this aspect. It was a story about friends who became family and the love they had for one another, what they did for each other, and what happened to each of them during the war.
The story begins with a hunt for Cricket one of the fallen members of their “family.” Josha is mourning, refusing to leave his room, while Scrap and Beckan search for just a piece of their friend. You see they are fairies, immortal beings, and cannot die. Every piece of them, even the glitter they shed, is sentient. So begins the story.
I like the characters! Beckan is a strong leading lady. She’s the glue of the family and the author’s main interest. Scrap will do anything for his “family” even go down into the gnome mines. Josha is hurting and a bit on the selfish side in my own opinion. And Cricket, even though he is dead from the start of the story, his character shows up a lot and plays a prominent role. I fell in love with him and hurt for the friend he left behind.
Overall I enjoyed the story. I feel that if you gave up/DNF the book that maybe give it another go. If you can make it to the ah-ha moment of the book things really start to make sense and the writing gets better as the book progresses showing the progress of the character that is writing the story. I loved the paranormal/fantasy elements of the story as well. It was an interesting take on fairies and gnomes along with other creatures. And the war! Though it plays a large role in the background of the story it is over at the beginning.
Now there is a caveat to my review 😉 While this book is billed as a young adult, I do not feel that it is appropriate for that age…maybe 16+. The characters have a very open relationships, along with two of the MCs being prostitutes to get by during the war. It can be graphic as far as the violence goes and there is quite a bit of strong language (the F-bomb being a favorite). Otherwise I enjoyed the book! It’s not for the faint of heart and if you give it go, stick with it through at least 25-30% before you decide to DNF….pretty please 😀 I think anyone that enjoys fantasy, dystopians, and a little romance will enjoy this one. Plus the open ending has potential for more from these characters!
Final Conclusion:
I have heard so many conflicting reviews of this one! I may just need to give it a whirl myself!
Kay @ It’s a Book Life recently posted…Review: The Invasion of the Tearling
I had too so I went into the book hesitantly. I can see why many DNFed the book. It is uniquely written in that a character is meant to be the voice of the author so the mistakes, plot holes, and head hopping/odd narration at times are a part of the story. Once I realized this it just added to the book for me 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
Lovely review! One of the common things I’ve seen people say in reviews of this (so far) is that it’s quite strange. Which I am quite looking forward to. And as I love faeries, I think this one is right up my alley. I’ll definitely keep in mind to push on with this one, though.
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