Storm Glass

Set in a world with a totally different class system, but which has a Victorian feel to it. This feels like a dystopian mix of steampunk Golden Compass and maybe a little Handmaid's Tale. The young female protagonist is enjoyable without getting too Mary-Jane-esque powerful. The world-building is fascinating, but raises a lot of questions about “how this all works” as there are some magical elements to it.

My sense is that this book intentionally sets the scene, raising those questions to be worked out later. It's mostly fast-paced with a couple of areas where it gets bogged down a tiny bit. In this one you get to know the protagonists Cettie and Sera and their separate worlds which do eventually come together to no reader's surprise.

This is, by far, one of my favorite Kindle Unlimited finds... Started reading, having low expectations, and the story captivated me so much that I finished reading this in just two days.

The story, in general, is a little bit cliche, and there is a lingering of familiarity in the back of my head of another book I've read but can't remember which one, but other than that, it has an interesting story and characters. Overall the story was inundated with emotions and the inner thoughts (some really deep ones) and feelings of the main characters.

I enjoyed the mix of a period piece with fantasy, which included minor elements of steampunk without making it the central focus. The magic system is still a bit mystifying even by the end of the book. It seems to be a mixture of science and willpower, but hard to say how much of a role it has yet to play in the series. The fine line between societal success, acceptance, and ruin is startling. Also, I find myself most curious about resolving the more paranormal aspects of the story and feel a bit disappointed that I didn't see more of those.

Can recommend

Like the world that the author created and his characters, but this book really didn't do much for me. It felt like a long build-up with no resolution other than ‘check out Book 2'.

I probably shouldn't have read this at the same time as another YA book, because I tend to get burned out on young lead character quickly.