*eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

DNF @ 22%

I tried to read this book, I really did. 7% of the way in, I was already forcing myself to go ahead. And at 22%, I realized it just wasn't worth it. Still, I almost never DNF books (as in this is the first I've discarded since last year at least). Normally this is hard for me to do, but it wasn't this time.

The underlying narrative seems simple enough, Thalia is a stage magician but also a real shapeshifter, whose powers attract dangerous creatures called manticores that would drain her magic. This is a world of people with abilities- Traders (shapeshifters), Solitaires (normals), and the so-far unexplained Sylvestri (perhaps nature powers?). Thus, Thalia should know how the magic system works, but she and her mentor have to go to a professor of 'Trader Literature' for help, which ends up being a chapter I like to call "information dump." Also revealed there, by the mentor, is that Thalia's parents perhaps could be Traders, which makes the whole point of them going to the professor for information about why she shapeshifted a little bit pointless!

And folks, it just doesn't better (at least in the first 22%). I liked the behind the scene glance into stage magic, but it also seemed to take away from what I feel is the more important plot- the whole shapeshifting thing.

Oh, and the characters have nothing that draws me to them. Not compelling at all, despite Thalia claiming it is one of her best skills.

For the parts I read- 2 stars.

A fairly slow-paced historical fantasy mystery with a hint of light romance. I liked it a lot, it had a bit of everything and decent characters I cared about. It lacked a little action maybe, and magic and world building details were not made particularly obvious so I can see why some may have felt a bit lost at times, although it didn't bother me all that much and I felt I had just enough information most of the time to follow what was happening. Definitely a more 'comfort read' type for me, I'd read another set in this world.

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

I received a digital advance review copy of The Glass Magician by Caroline Stevermer from Netgalley, in exchange for a review.

I want to preface this review by saying that I read this book in several chunks with days between them and was very stressed out the entire time, so my overall reading experience was disjointed and I wasn’t able to fully get into the narrative. Your experience of this book may be very different from mine. With that disclaimer out of the way, I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. The description on Netgalley was intriguing and from it I assumed that this book would involve a stage magician discovering the ability to shapeshift and using it to trick and con her way into high society. I was so excited for that story, which is very much not what happens in this book. Instead, in a moment of terror and life-threatening danger, stage magician Thalia Cutler discovers that she may have the abilities of a Trader, people who have a second, animal form they can transform into. This separates them from Solitaires, which seem to be normal people, and Sylvestri, a third group whose characteristics aren’t as clearly explained. From there, the plot follows two main storylines: in the first, Thalia tries to determine if she merely hallucinated that moment of transformation and must learn more about her abilities and her family history before the monsters who stalk and kill young Traders can hunt her down. The second focuses on Thalia’s professional struggles after another magician with a non-compete clause in his contract puts her out of work and then dies under mysterious circumstances that implicate Thalia and her manager. While these plots do connect, the book teeters between a murder mystery and a magical coming-of-age fantasy and occasionally feels like it could have worked as two separate novellas. There is also a romantic subplot that really did not work for me. The main reason I struggled with this book is because the world building is very gradual and at many points I found myself utterly confused by terms thrown around by characters and aspects of the world that wouldn’t get explained until much later in the narrative. By the end of the novel most things have been explained, but it would have been so helpful to have even a paragraph or two of exposition at the beginning to clarify the basic premise of this version of the United States. On a more positive note, the writing is amazing and the stage magic parts of the story are fantastic. Stevermer manages to write about the magic in a way that lets readers know what’s going on and picture the act without getting bogged down in trying to translate a highly visual experience into the written word. I also loved Thalia as a character. She’s funny, introspective, and the perfect character to follow around in this version of Gilded Age New York. The parts of the book that focused on Thalia in her element as a stage magician were far and away my favorite and I would love to see a prequel following Thalia’s life as a travelling vaudeville performer. I’m hoping more of that backstory will appear in the sequel that book’s end is clearly anticipating.

First, I would like to thank Netgalley & Tor Books for approving me for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book focuses on a female stage magician in a world that contains magic, transformations, and monsters. I fell in love with the world and the potential of the plot, but this book stumbled in its attempts to get me to fall in love with the characters. I'm not sure if it's the unfinished aspect of the ARC, but I found the characters and the plot logic to be a bit disjointed and choppy.

However, I did fall in love with the world. I wish I could return to it on different terms. I'm torn on if I would want to pick up a second book in this series but since this is far from Caroline Stevermer's first book, I'm not sure the second would have an improvement.

Quite honestly, I was hoping I would love this book, and it fell short for me. We started off strong with an incredibly intriguing premise, and very interesting delineation of the different classes/castes (Solitaire, Traders, and Sylvestri). However, I felt a bit lost being dropped right into a situation that felt as though I had missed valuable information in, and the book overall felt a bit... lacking.
I was disconnected from the characters and overall just kind of disinterested, which really disappointed me. I am also disappointed in the fact that the magic system, though really cool, was not well developed/explained.
Thanks for the arc anyways, Netgalley!

This book ticked a lot of boxes for me. I loved the world building. I loved the magic. I loved the murder plot. But it didn’t quite come together for me. It lacked emotion. Throughout all the different scenes, I never felt any tension or fear or even shock from Thalia being a trader. I wanted more feelings. I would have settling ANY feelings.

I read The Glass Magician in a little over 24 hours, I definitely really enjoyed reading it. I ended up giving it a four out of five stars, I really like the main characters. I'm hoping this is a series because I have some theories but I also want to read more from these characters. With the ending though it could be a stand alone but I have some unanswered questions and so does the main character. The ending did feel a bit anti-climatic but I still really enjoyed it.

Transformations are at the heart of all magic — the stage magician kind, the fantasy-novel kind, and the kind that happens when a human being goes through a fundamental change in their character. The Glass Magician contains all three!

Cover, The Glass Magician
Book Cover for The Glass Magician
Stevermer has done a skillful job here of creating a fantasy alternate-world New York City with a turn-of-the-19th-century feel. The magical and non-magical denizens of this world mix to a certain extent; but the wealthy, powerful Traders, who can shift back and forth between an animal and a human form, are clearly the elite of this Industrial Revolution society.

When Thalia Cutler, stage magician, discovers a magical skill she had no idea she could access, she and her stage partner and mentor, David Nutall, try to track down information about whether or not non-magical Solitaires such as herself could possibly have Trader capabilities. Coming upon what seems to be a dead end, they find themselves facing another problem — a stage trick of theirs has been stolen and to add insult to injury, they’ve been locked out of performing their act anywhere in New York City.

The events that follow are one part mystery and stage magic, one part adventure and spy story, and one part musical theater (think Hello, Dolly, with a sprinkling of My Fair Lady on top.) Thalia discovers secrets about her family and her dear friend and mentor Nutall, fights off a raging manticore, attempts to navigate her place in Trader society, and develops a stunning new stage performance, all the while unraveling the mystery that she has found herself in.

The Glass Magician has a richly-drawn, theatrical world and enjoyable, complex characters. While the plot is predictable at moments, and the protagonist’s final success is never really in doubt, Stevemer writes deftly, and the story is engaging and enjoyable. I particularly appreciated reading an alternate-history New York City that acknowledges how multicultural that city has always been.

Recommended for readers of historical mystery in particular.

Stevermer's short novel places readers behind the curtain with a young stage magician whose career is upended by another magician's malice. In this world there is real magic, although it is not described as such. There are three human races, Solitaires, Traders, and Sylvestri, and the last two have special powers. Solitaires are just ordinary folks. All of them seem capable of interbreeding. Our heroine is a Solitaire...or so she thinks.

A veteran writer of historical pieces in collaboration, Stevermer is very careful about avoiding anachronistic speech and technology, which I appreciated, but there were a few things about this novel which left me unsatisfied beyond the ability of quality historical research to ameliorate. For one thing, it was jarring to me to have nearly every character's skin color stated. It is clearly an effort to make it clear that skin color has less meaning in this world, where people are more accurately divided according to whether they can shapeshift (Trade), have an affinity for the elements, or are regular human beings. At least that's how I interpret it. But it still took me out of the narrative every time, like Stevermer didn't feel like spending further time describing the character.

It wasn't that the books' characters lacked depth and development. None of the principle characters felt two dimensional. They just weren't all that interesting. The world itself would have been very interesting to read about, but the reader is not let in on the information, so we're left to wonder how shapeshifting and an artistic temperament translate into wealth, as almost all Traders seem to be astonishingly wealthy. I find it hard to imagine where being able to turn into a seal at will is all that lucrative, even in a shipping family. Almost nothing is explained about the Sylvestri, as if Stevermer is waiting to see how the book is received and then present a sequel which will involve our heroine going off among them on her mentor's account.

For the first part of the story the pacing is good, things move along quickly enough to keep a reader interested, but not so so much so that things blur. And then everything wraps up abruptly. For a book of less than 300 pages, there was definitely time for a less hurried conclusion, although by the time it was reached there wasn't a whole lot more to describe, I suppose. Having everything sorted out in a Holmesian magic show reveal didn't really work in that respect. Not to mention it was an implausible plan for persuading the police to begin with.

If a person is craving very slightly post-Gilded Age magic and theatre, this is a quick read, but it doesn't really feel particularly worth the time even so, which is disappointing given Stevermer's collaborations with Patricia C. Wrede were pretty entertaining throughout. (Finally, why are so many books set in this era about female stage magicians? Why is that a thing?)

Set in the early 1900s, this fantasy of manners reminded me of The Prestige with its storyline about stage magicians and their rivalries.

Thalia, is a young woman who inherited both her father’s act and his manager, Nutall. Her livelihood is threatened when a rival gets her fired. She discovers that the rival stole his big illusion from her father. Determined to set things straight, Thalia and Nutall attend the rival’s performance, only to see him murdered on stage. Nutall’s arrested and it’s up to Thalia to clear his name.

Things get complicated when she discovers that she’s not a simple Solitaire, a non-magical human but a Trader, a two-natured person with an animal shape. She needs to figure out her new powers before her magic is devoured by a Manticore.

Lots of world building and historical research on display. And the author gives a fascinating look behind the curtain at the life of a Vaudeville magician.

Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for an ARC.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. First of all I wanted to thank Macmillan-Tor/Forge- Tor books for the chance to read this book

In the New York of 1905, Thalia Cutler doesn't have important family connection, but she's talented in stage magic and able to capture the audience's attention with her gift. Until one day when one trick goes wrong she discovers her ability in shapeshifting. Now she has the chance to be part of the rich society, if only she would be able to control her new found gift and avoid the dangers.

I really liked this book! The writing style is evocative and intense, the characters well built and well written, complex and interesting. Thalia was captivating and I was really involved into her story. I liked reading about the classes in the New York of 1905, the Traders, the Solitaires, the Sylvestri and the magic system, the worldbuilding, everything was engaging and captivating, I loved being in this world. It's a book about magic, friendship, love, discovery, learning what and who you are and the place in the world.

I really enjoyed Stevermer's writing a lot. She is a talented writer, and a gifted storyteller. The premise was right up my alley, and the writing was mature and thoughtful. However, I felt The Glass Magician left somethings to be desired. I really wanted more world building, and a more in-depth explanation of the magic system. It was hard to get really invested in the story because of this, but I liked the premise a lot and I am looking forward to the next books in the series and an expansion of the world!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for the ARC. Goodreads review to follow.

I enjoyed the build-up behind this book! I loved learning about the Solitaires, Traders, and Manticors. These things seemed really interesting and imaginative! I enjoyed the writing style and thought it flowed well from climax to climax. While the story took a little time to get going for me, I had a hard time putting it down at about 50%. I had to know the conclusion! I really enjoyed the intertwining of mystery and magic!

I was thoroughly expecting The Glass Magician by Caroline Stevermer to become a new favorite. Unfortunately, it didn't end up being for me in the end. Of course, there were a few elements I enjoyed, but I ended up preferring the description and concept to the final product. Thanks anyway, NetGalley.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I will be posting my review on Amazon, Goodreads, Instagram, and B&N.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

Despite how well written this book was, I just couldn’t get invested in the characters. I made it about half way through the story before I realized I didn’t particularly care what happened to the characters.
The magic/cast system was confusing and it took me a while to understand what each magic class did. Obviously this story just wasn’t for me, but I would recommend it to others; hopefully they will give this book the love it deserves.

Thalia Cutler is a stage magician, which was her fathers profession as well, In the magician society there are Traders – who can trade from being a human to an animal they closely relate to, a Solitare – which is a normal human, a Sylvestri – who are the rich, high class people, and Manticors – who normally eat young traders magic.

Thalia is a Solitare, her father was also a Solitare. Thalia also discovers that her mother was a Trader, and therefore she may have some additional magical qualities that the book further develops.

This book then takes you on an adventure of magic tricks, dangerous acts, loss, friendship and courage. I found the last half of the book too good to put down to take any kind of break. The writing gripped me and I was very invested in the characters and what was happening to them in the story.

This was definitely a case of "it's not you, it's me." The elements for this book were all there, but I just couldn't connect with the narrative. Perhaps it's because I'm less interested in the subject material than others might be, but it felt lacking to me. I will be recommending this to others with an interest in the subject, though, as I expect they'll get more out of it than I did.

I was so intrigued by this novel about Thalia, a young stage magician set in the late 1800's. Unfortunately, it was a struggle for me to really get invested in her story. It felt a bit fragmented and I just couldn't invest. Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for the ARC.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

Thalia is a state magician and it's the early 20th century New York. When she loses her job because the new trick her boss and herself used is currently in use by another magician and said magicians is murdered the next day, things start to go pear shaped for Thalia. She will make new friends, learn more about herself, and try to solve a crime while fighting for her life.

I liked the magic system in this one even though it was underdeveloped. Even after reading the book, I don't really have a clue. Solitaires are normal people? Traders have an animal form? And sylvestries are...connected to nature? Not sure. Loved that First Nations Peoples rule vast parts of the United States. That was really nice. Thalia is okay, Nell is okay, Nutall remained blunt, Ryker is good guy Greg but annoying, the crime story was boring, and I didn't really care for Thalia's family background. Also parts were a bit repetitive. Things that were said on the page before are repeated and you can skim-read parts without any problems whatsoever.

3 Stars because I liked the stage magic parts & the magic system.