While this book wasn't for me, I do think The Glass Magician by Caroline Steverner entailed what most young readers want in a fantasy novel. An original magic system. A gripping plot that doesn't falter or tease but follows through with it's suspenseful prose. A travelling Magic Show, and characters with a unique history. The writing itself was simplistic and smooth, it felt natural as I read through the chapters.

My biggest issues with the novel were little things: First, the title had seemingly nothing to do with the novel itself or its themes (however, there's the possibility that it's just me.). I also think some of the plot pieces and character arcs could have been better developed but the novel didn't offer the capacity for that to happen (this doesn't speak to the author's ability to weave an amazing sentence however).I think I spent more time wanting more though, and I'm sad about it. This book had everything it needed to be successful, I just needed stronger characters, a better description of the alternate year of 1905 (I didn't feel like I was there), and more description where it matters (such as the manticores.).

I was offered a copy by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

All in All, 2.5

Sadly this was a dnf for me...

What I liked:
The pictures were beautiful.

What I didn’t like:
I know we’re supposed to read a draft that hasn’t been published yet but the format was absolutely awful.
It stopped me from even having a fluent reading and enjoying the story.

This book has a dash of The Night Circus mixed with a bit of My Lady Jane! The main character, Thalia, is impressive! She speaks her mind, doesn’t take crap, and she cares deeply for those who are there for her. She is a stage magician that discovers she truly does have magical powers she never knew, which puts her and the people she cares about in danger. It was a fast paced book, not bogged down by unimportant details. I thought the magic system was explained early so I never felt confused. And even though I enjoy a good love interest it was refreshing to read a book without a romance! I would be happy with a sequel to show where some of the loose ends of the story lead.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley for an honest review.

First things first, this was not a super engaging book for me but it most definitely had some good aspects to it. I could tell almost immediately that the actual writing was excellent in terms of a glowing narrative. Thalia was also a nice character who definitely developed as the story went on. The idea behind this was excellent, but I'll also admit I'm a sucker for anything that's historical fantasy. The magic system/hierarchy had so much potential, but I felt like that lack of development of that bogged the story down a little bit. So, overall a story that's a solid read, it just unfortunately didn't wow me.

I was disappointed by this one. It has a cool concept, with significant potential, but there was so little world-building and so little action that I found it difficult to truly fall into the story. The characters are not terribly well developed, the whole thing feels like you've been dumped in the middle of a life story, without much background, stage setting, or explanation of the various categories of citizen that exist within this magical world. It's an unusual thing for an author to present her own magical society and then not spend a lot of time laying it out or explaining its structure, and the story suffered for it because it made it difficult to understand the magnitude of the struggles Thalia encountered. The story dragged and I just never engaged with it...

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor for sharing this ARC in exchange for a review. The opinions in this review are totally my own.

I found this to be a likable story about Thalia Cutler, who has followed her father into a career as a stage magician. It takes place in an alternate universe of 1905 New York with a basis in magic. There are three types of beings in this universe. First there are the Sylvestri which aren't given a much explanation in the book. Separately there are the traders, magical beings who are able to shift from human to some animal being at will, and solitaires who are totally non-magical and are also not Sylvestri. This part of the universe isn't explained terribly well although it's mostly enough to understand the story. I think it's possible to be left with lots of questions at the end due to the minimal framework provided.

As the story begins Thalia is involved in a magical act on stage that goes wrong but is suddenly able to escape her situation due to some unknown change happening. The shift in her person is quite brief and doesn't happen again any time soon but she's always understood herself to be a solitaire and thus has questions. Soon her life and those of other traders who haven't been through a trial are in danger.

Essentially this is a coming of age story based within this alternate universe. There's a lot to like of the story and it reads easily and characters are quite interesting. But the framework is a bit weak and for some this might be a big problem. It seems likely there will be other stories in this universe and hopefully this aspect of the series will be strengthened with more background to understand it all much better.

I give this three and a half stars overall. I will publish the review for publication day.

What a fun read!
The excitement starts up quickly with Thalia's Vaudeville act taking a strange twist that changes her life. The rest of this book takes place in NYC during the fast-paced early 20th century.
Full of magic not only in the writing but also in the beautiful pictures throughout the book.
Very enjoyable!

This is an experienced author, and it shows in the smooth and assured writing. Unlike most period pieces, it isn't full of obvious anachronisms (with an exception I'll mention later) or regrettable vocabulary glitches. However, the plot, the characters, and especially the setting all fell a bit short of excellence for me.

There's nothing really wrong with the plot. It's more or less mystery with a chance of romance, though there's a dash of coming-of-age in there as well. The protagonist must deal with the discovery that she isn't who she thought she was, that her family situation is not as she's been told, and that her mentor isn't who she thought he was either. Meanwhile, she's prevented from working as a stage magician, which brings a brief threat of economic difficulties, quickly averted. She ends up the house guest of a man who both attracts and annoys her, caught up in the murder of a rival magician, and under threat from what amounts to a force of nature because of her newly discovered identity.

It's probably a bit too much for a book this length, and some of the elements don't really get the development they need. The denouement to the mystery is a painfully awkward attempt at a villain reveal which, rather against the odds given how badly it's done, succeeds in flushing out the murderer. The pursued-by-manticores plot at least has a level of tension that's largely missing elsewhere. There are a few conflicts ("I must clear my mentor's name, but doing so risks my life") set up by the interweaving plots. It's not outstanding, but it will do.

The characters are all right. There's nothing really wrong with them either. They're not complete cardboard cutouts or straight out of central casting, not quite. But they don't have an uncommon amount of individuality or depth either. You can describe each of them in a phrase (the rich young man, the rich young man's dilettante sister, the mentor, the monster hunter, the Romany magic shop proprietor, the landlady) and there's not a lot to add to that brief capsule description. The protagonist and viewpoint character has the most to her, of course, and she does develop and change in the course of the story.

There were a couple of things about the setting that tripped me up and challenged my suspension of disbelief. We're in an alternate 1905, similar to our own 1905 in many ways (including some prominent people), but different in many other ways. Firstly, as well as baseline humans ("Solitaires") there are shifters ("Traders") and people who have some kind of nature affinity that's never really made completely clear ("Sylvestri"). The three can interbreed. In order to shift forms, you have to be a Trader on both sides of your family, but if Traders intermarry too much they produce manticores, monsters that can shift into apparent human form in order to stalk young Traders who are not yet in full control of their shifts and eat their magic, killing them in the process.

For some reason that is never made clear, pretty much everyone who is prominent and successful is a Trader, and vice versa. The lack of an explanation for this was one of the things that tripped me up. I couldn't figure out a history in which the ability to turn into an animal (and the loss of human thought and memory beginning around the age of 70) translated automatically into becoming rich and powerful. Several of the actual historical figures mentioned are Traders, and the impression one gets is that nobody can just rise to prominence on their talents (as some of those people did in our reality); they have to be a Trader. Why?

Most Native Americans are Sylvestri, and they have a treaty with the other Sylvestri that has kept the centre of the North American continent theirs, while the coasts are apparently colonised - both seem to be part of the United States, though that isn't said explicitly - and a railway runs between the two. Again, this seems unlikely; it doesn't play a big role in the plot, except that the Sylvestri ambassador is a minor character. (He is stationed in New York. Is New York the capital, then? Ambassadors are posted to capitals, consuls are posted to non-capitals.) And yet the Gilded Age is in full swing on the Eastern seaboard, unsupported by the resources of the central US. (The wealthy in the real Gilded Age often had extensive holdings in those central states.)

It's hard to resist the idea that Native American sovereignty over a large portion of their land is simply something the author put in because she thought it should be that way, especially given other indications. There are black people in this alternate world, but they have a much higher status than was the case in our 1905 (40 years after the Civil War, let's not forget); a black woman is a prominent lawyer, and two other black women form two-thirds of the influential Board of Trade, who rule on certain important Trader matters. (The status of women seems a little higher, too.) Race is something that's constantly highlighted; the viewpoint character is a white woman, yet every person she meets, most of whom are white, is described by their race as well as whether they're Solitaire, Trader, or Sylvestri (which she generally seems to be able to tell as easily as their ethnicity). I'm not a conservative person and am mostly sympathetic to liberal viewpoints, but this does read to me like conspicuous 21st-century white liberalism projected intrusively onto an earlier age.

Overall, then, I found this book fell short of being fully satisfying. The plot, while servicable, lacked the momentum it could have had, and the mystery resolution was painfully bad; the characters stuck mostly to type; and there were, for me, big holes in the worldbuilding that distracted me from the story.

I received a copy via Netgalley for purposes of review.

This story was set in late 1800s to early 1900s, when women’s rights to vocational pursuits was very limited. A girl named Thallia Inherited her father’s magician show business. She was doing great until her supernatural powers manifested during one of her dangerous acts, she would have died had she not found her powers. The problem however is, until she has control over her powers she can be spotted and hunted by Manticores.
On top of that her business rival, more powerful than she, stole some of her act, accused her of the theft. Authorities forced her to halt her work while they battle the issue with the law.
As if that was not enough, her business rival died and Thallia’s business partner was one of the prime suspect.
The rest of the story was focused on proving her partner’s innocence, finding whodunnit and getting her power under control, so she’s not manticore’s lunch. She accomplished her goals, the end.
The storyline was lukewarm, I don’t hate it but I also don’t love it. So it is a firm 2.5 stars for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for the ARC.

DNF @50%. I tried really hard with this one. I stopped at 20, took a break then tried to come back at 40, but I just couldn't get much further. The premise while not original still seemed interesting but the book was just so slow/unimaginative. The characters weren't dynamic and the plot padded on slowly without anything interesting happening and then world was never built out properly. And the writing was kind of off, the language they were going for never really came off as right.

I picked this out because the concept of it seemed really awesome. Magicians? History? Sign me up! I love a good story like this.

However, I didn't love this book. I struggled to get into it from the very beginning. I was having trouble connecting with the characters and getting into the plot. I just felt so underwhelmed. I didn't feel as if I cared about the characters or the troubles they were having. And the plot felt like it go lost.

I did think the writing was excellent though -- I really believe that Stevermer is a talented writer. The descriptions were absolutely vivid and made it very easy to imagine the era and the places and what was occurring. I was highly impressed with that.

However, I think overall, this book just wasn't for me.

'The Glass Magician' is both smoke and mirrors and gilt and glamour magicked into one dazzling story set in 1905 New York City. It follows a young stage magician Thalia Cutler who after a stage trick goes wrong, discovers she has the ability to shapeshift, causing her to question everything she thinks she knows about her family. This book is set in an alternative NYC where there are 3 distinct groups/races of people, Traders who can shapeshift into animals and have a lot wealth, Solitaires who are ordinary people, and Sylvestri who are stewards of nature. Along the way she meets some other Traders who are willing to mentor her. The only problem is, there is a beast known as a Manticore who is hunting down young inexperienced Traders…Thalia being one of them. If that wasn’t enough, a murder mystery begins to unfold with Thalia and her mentor needing to put on the performance of their lives to prove their innocence.

Like a well staged magic trick, this story has many different elements going on, all the while maintaining a captivating interest in what will happen next. There’s Thalia’s journey of self-discovery, the deadly lurking of the Manticore, an innocent romance trying to blossom, and a suspicious murder-mystery. There’s no vanishing act in this book…all of these different elements come together to create a whimsical story that is well paced and evocative. I liked how the deeper you got into the story, the more secrets were revealed. It seems the characters themselves were part of a grand illusion that they weren’t even aware of.

I believe there will be a sequel which I’m hoping will delve deeper into the bloodlines and the alternative magical world Stevermer has created.



*I know the synopsis mentioned that fans of ‘The Golemn and the Jinni’ would enjoy this book, but I think fans of the circus genre or the film ‘The Prestige’ would enjoy this book more

A light and easy-to-read book - I would describe it as a post-Victorian murder-mystery novel with elements of fantasy, rather than a fantasy novel. The title also feels incorrect, as the idea of the 'Glass Magician' is only briefly touched upon so it doesn't make the most sense as a title. It feels as though that should be the title of the second book. It was a nice book though, and I enjoyed the mechanics of the world as well as the era it was set in. It has enough real world elements that it feels believable yet enough fantasy to make it exciting. I liked Thalia as a character, and I like the discoveries she made along the way.

I'm not sure I would read a second one as it did feel slightly exhaustive after a while, it lulled in the third quarter and I was hoping for a respite soon. That being said it did have a good ending.

3/5 stars.

Lovely book with unique concepts and stage magicians as well as a class of people that are similar to Animorphs. Cannot wait to see what happens next!

The Glass Magician was a fun, magical read. I enjoyed the characters and the premise. Once or twice I would have liked a little more explanation/world building, but on the whole there was enough information for me to immerse myself in the world. The prose was smooth and the pacing good, and overall this was an easy, pleasant read. It perhaps didn't thrill me beyond words, but it was a solid piece of writing and I closed the final page thinking I would be interesting to read on in the series.

(Review will go live on GR and at the blog link provided on 9 March 2020)

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for sending me an e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Glass Magician by Caroline Stevermer was enthralling and absolutely magical.

In Thalia's world there are Solitaires, those without magic, Traders, who have the ability to "trade" into animals and the Sylvestri whose magic is attuned with nature. Thalia grew up believing she was a Solitaire, happy to continue on her family's business as a stage magician until she traded during a dangerous performance.

From that day on Thalia is questioning everything she knew about her parents and about her father's friend who looks over her like an uncle. If she is indeed a Trader and not a Solitaire she isn't safe until she's gone through the Trader rite of passage called "the ordeal" where she proves that she can trade safely and willingly. One problem. There is an awful Trader beast called the Manticore that is looking to steal the magic of young inexperienced traders who haven't passed their ordeal.

The synopsis promises magic and shape-shifting which the book has in spades, we get to see Thalia trying to find herself within her ability to trade while grappling with the fact that she doesn't know much about her family or her friends at all. Then when you peel away the main plot there is also a murder mystery which is carefully woven through the story without missing a beat. It felt like a whimsical Agatha Christie novel all the while that Thalia is trying to keep herself safe from the Manticore.

The story was well paced and never dragged. You're guided through this world fairly quickly and it does take a little time to pick up what the Solitaires, Traders and Sylvestri do, but once you get the idea you're set.

I'm not entirely sure what age group this book is for exactly, it was shown as a plain Sci-Fi & Fantasy, but I did get a bit of a YA feeling at some points of the story. Other than a few mentions of gore (a few manticores were harmed in the making of this book) but other than that it felt rather safe for a YA-ish age range.

It was a fun read and I really enjoyed it.

When I first saw the description and cover for this book I was hooked. I enjoyed reading the first magic act that they main character, Thalia, preforms. It was dramatic and I found myself drawn into what was happening. Unfortunately after this first act, my interest from the story withdrew. I found myself confused with the surroundings of the characters and some of the terms that were used to describe them. I had a hard time connecting with the characters, and lost interest in what was going on. I will say there are great descriptions that allow the reader to visualize what is going on. I just found that without really connecting with the characters I had a hard time pushing through the rest of the story.

This story features a young woman named Thalia who is a stage magician who experiences a strange transformation when her most dangerous trick goes wrong - her hand turns into a feathered appendage for a moment. This strikes her as odd, as she is a Solitaire, not a Trader - she shouldn't have any magic in her. After a tumultuous arrival in New York involving a lost job and a murdered competitor, Thalia must learn to deal with her new understanding of herself as well as clear her friend and mentor's name.

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I really enjoyed the writing style of the book. It was descriptive without being flowery or overdone. The city felt alive, the conflict felt well orchestrated and drove the plot. Thalia's character development was fun. I also loved the female friendship between Thalia and Nell within this story and appreciated that there wasn't a heavy romance in this story.

The book was strong enough as a stand alone if a reader didn't want to continue, but definitely left the reader curious to know what would happen after the big reveal in the final pages.

One thing I wish that had been better explained was the magic system in the world. There are three groups of people (races?) but they aren't well explained until well into the book and I felt a bit confused about these titles and what they meant as I began reading.