Short and Sweet:

I adore this action/adventure story, and I especially love the unique premise!

To Elaborate…

Imagine a world where the lands aren’t all in the same time period. From lands in an ice age to lawless barren strips, the world of The Glass Sentence is truly spectacular. The different operations and lifestyles of the different ages are absolutely fascinating, and this first book just scrapes the surface. The story opens with a debate on border closing in one of the ages, and it feels extremely realistic. It shows that no matter the time, humankind often wrestles with the same dilemmas.

There are so many good things to say about this book, but next to the world building, my favorite aspect of the story is the complex female characters. From gun-toting lady pirate captains to the heroine Sophia and especially to the antagonist, the women simply rock in this book. They have superb agency and really make the story shine. While I love middle grade stories, I sometimes feel like there is a heavy presence of male protags with a girl or two thrown in as a sidekick or a mother. This definitely isn’t always the case, but I am nevertheless surprised when a story like this perfects a balance and offers so many dynamic characters of all shapes and sizes.

What made me frantically flip the pages of this book is the conflict. You have Sophia/Shadrack’s ‘good’ side and Blanca’s ‘evil’ side, but of course, the best villains are the ones that deep in their soul believe they are doing something good, and that is exactly what Blanca is like. She is so convincing at times that I nearly forgot about all the horrible things she does without apology or guilt. Naturally, she also has a truly heartbreakingly tragic background that made me nearly cry when I realized what it was.

I can’t rec this book enough! Luckily, I have the sequel handy and ready for me to devour. :)

Originally posted at The Forest of Words and Pages: http://www.forestofwordsandpages.com/2015/07/review-the-glass-sentence-by-s-e-grove/