The concept sounded great. And the world building was interesting and solid.

But man, the story and the characters...just couldn't hold it up. Mainly the characters. I'm a huge YA fan, I read a lot of it. And I'm fairly forgiving with characters being painted as younger than they are (because let's just ascribe adult and mature outlooks to pre-teens with no reason as to why they may have developed them, just to say they teens and make it YA...). But these characters just didn't ring true. And the writing was overly didactic. And that combo is just too much for me. I finally had to just stop because no matter how interesting the concept is, poorly written characters and subpar prose is not worth slugging through.

I did not get the chance to read this book for review, but I did go ahead and acquire it for my library's collection.

In this new debut series Ink, Iron and Glass, Clare creates an interesting and unique story where books don't just contain words, but worlds with actual people living in it. And although these worlds and people were "scripted" into existence, they are as real as anyone in the real world. The story not only revolves around Elsa finding her mother but the political agendas that have a deeper connection to Elsa's world and the people she cares about.

While the first half of the book is a little slow to start, the action and excitement in the second half picks up and draws you into the story a lot more. I liked that the romance between Elsa and Leo was not insta-love. They actually disliked each other at first. The action, drama, and plot twists at the end will definitely keep readers interested in finding out what happens next. A unique blend of steampunk, romance, and historical fiction! Recommended for ages 14 and up!

Book 2: Mist, Metal, and Ash (February 19, 2019)
*A DRC was given for an honest review.

Elsa is a scriptologist. With a specific pen and a certain notebook, a scriptologist can create new worlds and expand on existing worlds. But those worlds exist between the covers of the notebooks and when some of the books are damaged, it could mean the destruction of the worlds.

Elsa comes from a scripted world - a world that her mother, a respected scriptologist herself, is constantly writing and expanding. But when Elsa's mother is kidnapped and the very existence of her world is threatened, Elsa realizes that she will have to call on her own talents, cross into the 'real' world, and find some friends to help save her world.

I absolutely loved this concept. Author Gwendolyn Clare drops us into this wondrous world right off the bat and we are quickly introduced to magic of scriptology and the dangers inherent in a world made from paper and ink. The development of the dangers proceeds nicely and this story is very well told.

The problem I had was with the characters.

Elsa, as the main protagonist, has some depth to her, but she's pretty innocent and relatively gullible, but part of this might be to appeal to a specific YA audience, and I hope we'll some growth in this area as the series develops.

The rest of the characters in the book are mostly dull figures used to move the plot forward but don't come off as very real. Leo, Elsa's love interest, is about as two-dimensional as the words on a sciptologist's page. And because he's flat, the romance that is suggested seems more a distraction from the story than an interesting plot or character development.

I started off liking this a lot but the further in I got the more ambivalent I became toward the story, because of the characters.

Looking for a good book? <em>Ink, Iron, and Glass</em> by Gwendolyn Clare is a YA fantasy with a great, clever premise, but the characters don't live up to the world created for them.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Elsa's mother wrote their world into creation, and she's constantly altering it to fit their needs. As a Scriptologist, a person with the ability to alter the world through the written word, Elsa's mother is powerful. When Elsa's world is attacked, her mother kidnapped, Elsa must venture into the real world and discover her own abilities as a scriptologist.

With a team of geniuses, Elsa is determined to get her mother back, and with the help of Leo, it just might work out, but an Assassin is after them, and they're racing against a ticking clock.

As a fan of Inkheart, I immediate grabbed onto this book. I love any sort of book where the world is crafted from the minds of writers. After all, what does a writer do, but create and alter a world to be exactly what they wanted. This was a great book and I put it on my booktalking list after I finished it.

I wanted so much to love this book, with all the hype around it and OMG this cover, but sadly I didn't enjoy this one. I had to force myself to finish it.

Fun adventure with colorful characters, spectacular machines, and lots of twists. Love the alternative historical settings and the whole idea of scriptology. Unique in many ways.

I was really enjoying this at first but then quickly lost interest. I'm not sure what it was about it that didn't keep me going but if i find myself dreading picking it up, then I DNF.

Great premise, I loved the idea and the beginning was great, just lost me half way through.

**3.5 Stars**

Can we take a second to just appreciate how incredibly gorgeous the cover of this book is? This is a book I would insta-buy on sight alone, with no idea of what the book is about. Oh and the second book in the series is just as pretty.

This is very much a fantasy, with a teen girl leaving her safe (fictional...created?) world to try and find her kidnapped mother. Along the way, she learns the truth about her mother's background, what she herself is capable of and the wonders of the outside world, all while set in a steampunkish-Victorian world with a cast of magically talented orphans.

The world building was fantastic, magical and creative and I was lost in the concept of the World Books and the talents that each kind of person can have. The fantastical elements of the book were 100% the star of the book, for me at least. I loved learning about the new, totally strange and unique creatures that showed up in the story. The almost steampunk devices and inventions were fun, including Casa, a sentient house that takes care of everyone's needs as well as tries to manipulate people, and that brings me to the coolest part of the story- the World Books. A World Book could contain whatever the writer wanted it to- be it a fantastically stocked laboratory or an entire world with living people. Each one was detailed and interesting and could house any number or inventions, creations or details that I was excited when an opportunity would come up in the book for the characters to jump in.

Some times the plot was uncertain and lost a little bit of it's point and I was not certain what was actually the purpose of the story. Don't get me wrong, the details the author brought to life were fantastic, but I was not sure what the end game was of if I really cared. By the end of the book, I was pretty sure I understood the plot and a concrete purpose was formed.

All that being said I would like to see where the story will go next and what sort of cool new inventions, creatures or worlds will show up next. The ending created a new sort of conflict and adventure, just waiting for the character to embark on and I am interested to read the next book.
Find more bookish thoughts at https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/

Have you ever wanted to love something so much that you just keep trying to no avail?! Well, that was my experience with Ink, Iron, and Glass by debut author, Gwendolyn Clare.

I tried, guys! I really did! I was really excited about this read because the synopsis sounds amazing and the cover is absolutely gorgeous! This book fell short for me, though.

NOTE: I feel like my review is going to come off a lot more negative than I intend. I am just struggling to express specifics for this book. There were things that I enjoyed, but the bad definitely outweighed the good, in my opinion.

Ink, Iron, and Glass is the first book in a YA Fantasy duology set primarily in 19th century Italy and full of steampunk elements and alternate history. A crime committed in the scripted world of Veldana leads the main character, Elsa, to Earth. There, she enlists the help of others like her, gifted youth, who are skilled in different areas of science — mechanics, alchemy, or scriptology — while trying to save her mother and her home.

The premise held a lot of potential to be creative and enthralling, but it ended up being fairly predictable and boring, unfortunately. There is a twist that I didn’t see coming, but I had to get to the very end before it happened. I feel like a lot more action needed to happen at a much faster pace, especially because this is only a duology and not a larger series. On a positive note, I loved the idea of the world books; that a scriptologist can create and edit a world. It would have been fun to spend a little more time in Veldana!

I found the world-building to be just okay. There are historical inaccuracies, beyond the alt history, and inconsistencies (i.e. the narration weaved modern language into the formal language of 19th century Europe). As I previously mentioned, the scripted worlds fascinated me, and I wish I got to know more about them.

I am a character-driven reader, so to say that I never connected with any of the characters is really disappointing. I loved the idea of the characters having special talents and intriguing backgrounds, but I didn’t think there was much growth or development. It seemed that any time a question or problem arose, someone in the group always had the answer or solution. People learn from mistakes and trial and error, even in fiction. Plus, the main characters are teenagers, so they definitely shouldn’t be full of infinite wisdom.

Overall, I obviously didn’t love Ink, Iron, and Glass. I am positive there are readers who will adore it, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

**To demonstrate how much I wanted to like this book: I was provided a review copy via Netgalley that I struggled to read. I blamed my difficulties on poor formatting of the galley. In my opinion, the format of a book affects the reading experience. Digital ARCs that lack structure make it difficult to enjoy reading. This might just be me, but it’s a big pet peeve. I liked the premise so much, though, and the cover is STUNNING, so I purchased a physical copy when it released. The struggle continued; I was too bored for too much of the beginning. I really had a hard time giving up on this, so finally, I got the audiobook to listen to as I read along. This helped a little, and I was able to make it through the book. The problem with all of this is most readers won’t go through this trouble! And that is perfectly fine. I normally wouldn’t, either, but I try to finish review copies and I truly thought the story would pick up.**

Not only was this cover amazing, but so was the story inside of the cover! I loved the synopsis immediately after reading it. "A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology." Sign me right on up with that line right there! The world building was amazing and detailed and I was really able to dive right into it with no problems. This was a very solid beginning to the series and I can't wait to see where it goes from here!

I went into this with a lot of anticipation, which might have been a mistake because it reallllly wasn't what I was expecting. The overall execution definitely could have been more exciting and I felt like the writing style was blocking me from getting into the story. So my enthusiasm vanished pretty quickly, BUT I still liked some parts. The diverse characters, wonderful quotes at the top of each chapter, and the clever way to make an alternate history were great.

This book reminded me a bit of The Reader by Traci Chee at times, so if you liked that then maybe you'll have fun with this one too. I did not like The Reader, so maybe that was my downfall. It's definitely a slow start, though, so maybe knowing that could help you get into the story more.

I just couldn't get into this book at the time I tried to read it. I'll probably try again at another time in the future and see if I like it then. It has a really cool concept and the writing wasn't bad, I think I was just in the wrong mood for this specific story when I tried to read it. (I also thought I had reviewed it months ago, oops).

Elsa must her scriptology gifts to cross into an alternate world and rescue her kidnapped mother. Her story is exciting and full of twists and turns. Readers will be intrigued by this unique storyline full of dynamic characters.

I think I wanted a bit more from the story than what I got, but that could be down to personal reader preference more than quality of story.

This was a fantastic read. I enjoyed the story line and the characters. This will make a great addition to our library collection.

It feels like Clare had a general idea of what she wanted to write in Ink, Iron and Glass. Perhaps even a set of rough character sketches, since the characters are fairly well fleshed out. It just didn't feel like it was ever hammered into anything solid. There were a lot of fabulous concepts in this story but, truth be told, they didn't follow a cohesive path. For instance, worldbooks were a really cool concept to me. The ability to create an entire functioning world, simply by scribing it into one of these, sounded like something I'd normally fall in love with. The problem was that the descriptions of this process only skimmed the surface through the whole story. I never saw deeper than the idea itself, and that was the case for most of what would have normally caught my interest.

The pace feels maddeningly slow for most of the book, and then picks up in a mad rush to the end. It was really hard to feel invested in the story. Each time that I thought something was starting to peak my interest, the book would meander away on a tangent and my questions went unanswered. I was left holding a handful of story threads, rather than the tapestry that I know they were trying so hard to weave.

So 2 stars to this book, because I only 1 star books I didn't finish. I finished this, but it was a rough road.

I DNF'd this book at 40%. The concept., cover, and the mystery are what intrigued me but the story failed to engage me. For starters, why does she keep referring to her mother by her actual name? That writing choice immediately distanced me from the mystery. From there it was just downhill. The references to people who were passionate about their interests as being "mad" didn't intrigue me at all. I have no plans to continue with this series. Best of luck to Gwendolyn Clare.

Rating: 2/5



Genre: YA Fantasy



Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, death, confusion, historical inaccuracies, plot holes, and weak writing).



Pages: 336



Author Website


Amazon Link


I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.



Synopsis: A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology. Elsa comes from one such world that was written into creation, where her mother―a noted scriptologist―constantly alters and expands their reality.

But when her home is attacked and her mother kidnapped, Elsa is forced to cross into the real world and use her own scriptology gifts to find her. In an alternative Victorian Italy, Elsa finds a secret society of young scientists with a gift for mechanics, alchemy, or scriptology―and meets Leo, a gorgeous mechanist with a smart mouth and tragic past. She recruits the help of these fellow geniuses just as an assassin arrives on their doorstep.

In this thrilling debut, worlds collide as Elsa unveils a deep political conspiracy seeking to unlock the most dangerous weapon ever created―and only she can stop it.



I am really disappointed in this book. I like steampunk and I liked what I heard about this book, so I was really hyped to read it. But avast, it was not so. The story is great and the use of the Oxford comma in the title was a plus for me. But sadly, that’s where the fun times end.



This book is really hard to get into. Not counting the fact that the e-arc had a lot of issues with how it was displayed (random chopped up words and random spaces in words) this book was really boring for me. The book was confusing from the get go and I read at least every other chapter twice because of how confused I was. There are numerous plot holes in this book and when you think about it, this world doesn’t make any sense and neither does the main characters actions. The book had little character development and the world building was missing. This book needs world building and it’s just not there. It also took a bit for me to figure out the time period this book was set in. Also, some of the book takes place in Sardinia but there’s no mention of the native, main language. The point of a steampunk novel is to have modern day inventions with a twist, but there’s none of that for a lot of the items like flamethrowers for instance. The core drive of a steampunk is to be a technophobes dream, but this book had little technology building to it (which I don’t include on every review, but for a steampunk I believe it’s important).



Verdict: It was a skip for me for several reasons, but if you’re looking for a Last Magician esque book then by all means please read this one. This book did not do it for me sadly.

"A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology. Elsa comes from one such world that was written into creation, where her mother—a noted scriptologist—constantly alters and expands their reality."

All of this was a Yes! The world building is amazing in how the scriptologists actually create their worlds by writing it into being. The historical and steampunk elements are so much fun! The characters, especially Elsa, are intelligent and just really fun to read about.