I was really excited by the premise of this book and liked the unique idea of Eli's life being created and her magical knife belt, but that is were the excitement ended for me. I struggled to connect with any of the characters and found myself skimming through the book waiting for something to happen or draw in my interest. The writing style didn't flow for me and it jumped from ideas without enough development. I do love the cover, which is what drew me into the book in the first place.

On the struggle bus with this one.

I feel like this reading this book was like eating a half baked cake. The ingredients are there but the author did not stir the batter long enough and lumpy bits were left throughout. I liked the premise of the two worlds but time was not taken in the development of the City of Eyes World. At times I was left thoroughly confused. Additionally, characters seemed to appear one minute and are gone the next. Overall, I felt like some more ironing out was needed.

DNF at 20%

I couldn't get myself to read any further as nothing about this book kept my attention.

When I first noticed the cover of 'The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass', I was immediately captured by its beauty! I think the cover is not only appealing and right to the point for its genre, but also captures a bit of mystery that makes me wonder what the story will bring me. The premise of the book sounds amazing and I was ready to begin in this witchy assassin book!

For me, the story unfortunately did not enchant me as much as I hoped it would. The characters felt a little flat, because I thought there was a bit of a lack of personality development throughout the book. I couldn't really connect with them, even though I really wanted to. And it wasn't like the characters were the only ones not sure which way to aim for, because in my opinion, the plot itself had also a little trouble telling the story in an understandable way. It did get confusing at several points and I wasn't really committed to the story anymore at one point. I feel like the world building could've been so much stronger, due to what the premise would suggest, but the execution was done a bit dissapointing, unfortunately. After (finally) finishing the book I didn't exactly know what I had read or how to feel about it, but it did not feel satisfying at all to be honest...
I did really like the LGBT+ theme and that really earned a star for me, because it also had non-binary characters and I wasn't familiar with those at all. So that gave a really refreshing feeling on the over-all reading experience. I did like Eli, but the other characters were a little meh to me.
The other star is definitely for the mystery in the book. The ending makes me wonder whether or not I still want to know what happens in the second book. And, the concept of the book is fine, but the story needs editing to really emerge as good as it could be.
So, 2 stars for me.

I still want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC of the Girl of Hawthorn and Glass.

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

trigger warning
<spoiler> racism, homophobia, deadnaming, transphobia, manipulating mother </spoiler>

Eli is an assassin, sent to the human world to eliminate a special kind of target - ghosts.
This is why she is puzzled as her current victim dies a very human death, something she never wanted, never was prepared for.

The title refers to Eli's making. She is not human nor witch, but something else entirely, containing both hawthorn and glass. She is stronger than any human, but has to follow certain rules, especially when it comes to her "mother", the manipulating witch who made her.

A main character is Tav. It's not clear, which label Tav prefers, but they use singular they pronouns without anyone making a big deal out of it, and not ignoring how hard it is to be shut out from the non-queer community.

While the first part of this novel felt perfectly paced, the second part felt rushed up to a point at which a scene confused me. Another surprise was the open ending, which left me wondering if this is done on purpose, if this is a standalone or a series.

The execution of this might not have been perfect, but every they made my heart sing.

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited for this book, I wanted to like it, I gave it so many chances. But this book, in my opinion, is not even close to be ready to be published. This reads like a first draft. I like the overall concept, which is why I gave it two stars, but everything else needs work. The plot is confusing, not completely thought out, lacks any kind of direction. Even after finishing this book, I don't know what actually happened. I couldn’t explain the storyline at all.
I really appreciated the non-binary characters (overall good LBGTQ+ representation), but none of the characters seemed complete. I couldn’t connect or relate to any of them and they lacked character building. No one seemed to have their own personality.
Overall, I didn't like this one at all. I feel like this book is far from being ready to publish, regardless that I read this as an ARC. With some editing, I think this book could be good.

Thank you to Dundurn and NetGalley for providing me with an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I should also note that I have a personal connection with the author.

I really enjoyed The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass and flew through it in less than 24 hours. (I even read it standing on the subway!) I found Jerreat-Poole’s writing unique in the way they captivated my senses with their use of rich smells, colours and elemental ‘ingredients’ like the hawthorn and glass, obsidian and granite.

I found some of the settings really intriguing - the junkyard, the labyrinth and especially the Children’s Lair. Clytemnestra (my favourite character) reminded me of a creepy twin from The Shining or one of the kids from Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

I’ve never read a book with a non-binary character before, so this was an exciting first for me. I feel like a lot of YA authors in particular are invested in and committed to writing diverse characters. I love that because I think it’s important for readers, particularly young people, to see themselves in the stories they’re consuming.

I’m looking forward to getting my physical copy of this book in the mail and can’t wait to read the sequel!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I have given up on two books in my entire life. Unfortunately "The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass" makes three. I made it 30% into the book and I am completely lost. I don't know what is going on and I don't care about any of the characters. First some good things. The story features binary characters in a real and positive way. I love this. Also the cover is simply beautiful and the general plot synopsis sounds like the book should be fantastic.. However I was completely confused by the plot. Sometimes I didn't know if something was currently happening, happened in the past or maybe was dreamlike imagery that didn't happen at all. Because of this I didn't connect with plot I couldn't connect with the characters. I think this book is going to be split amount ardent fans and readers like me who are just left confused and underwhelmed.

2.5 ⭐️ “My existence is marked by empty spaces, she though bitterly.”

Arc provided by netgalley.
I was really excited to read this book because of the synopsis and cover (pretty af), and the promise of queer characters. I liked the writing, and the parts were it shifted back to the past and we could learn a bit more about Eli’s and her friendship with Kile. But I felt that the world building was kind of weak, mostly about the city of eyes and the magic system. And the beginning was so rushed, like the way the characters met and suddenly became friends and bound on the mission, also I didn’t see their development, cause it felt rushed for me too. Unfortunately the only character I’ve felt attached to was Kile that appeared only in the beginning and the ending.

I received this advanced readers copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. So I’m about to get honest. The premise for this book was exciting. I was eager to dive into this world. However, the world was really complicated and confusing. I didn’t understand what was going on. More time should have spent explaining things. A lot of things were short handed and that left me wanting. This could be amazing if it was just set up better. I didn’t understand the characters or what they were doing or what the motivation was. Or how anything was related to another. I didn’t really care for anyone. Like I had no affinity for any character. The use of neutral pronouns for one character was really confusing. I often didn’t know if that person was being referred to or if it was multiple people. It took forever to read this book and I had to reread whole chapters to even follow what was going on. I felt I really slogged through and it felt like a chore. Which was really disappointing because like I said, it really sounded promising. It’s clear this is set up for a sequel and I hope the author takes time to explain things better in the next one.

Unfortunately, I have to DNF this.
Honestly, I'm not sure what is going on in this book at all, it was all over the place. It got confusing and hard to follow. The author is definitely imaginative and the idea of the story sounded really good but I don't know about the execution. It felt a little rushed, chaotic and the world was not explained very well. I also didn't connect with the characters.

"Eli isn’t just a teenage girl — she’s a made-thing the witches created to hunt down ghosts in the human world."
The story follows Eli, a made-thing, created to kill and to be a tool in the witches' hands.
I got hooked from the beginning, intrigued by what I think is a very unique concept. The world-building is masterful but not too explanatory, it leaves you just enough of this wtf sensation that I really enjoyed.
Character development was very well done, you really get to see Eli grow and understand her journey from being a thing to more of a someone.
I appreciated the representation of queer discrimination, even if brief.
To be completely honest, I was in love with the author from the Dear Reader page:
"Dear Reader, I want you to know it’s OK to be angry. Your anger is important. This story is about a girl whose anger will change worlds."
This introduction had so much promise and unfortunately I feel like it wasn't fully accomplished, but I will look out for the sequel.
I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sorry this book was a no for me. I got two chapters in, but had to dnf. This book is a young adult book, but it talks down to the reader and the story is cheesy. It gave off The Shadowhunter vibes but cheesier. I couldn’t read anymore of this book. I guess if you like The Mortal Instruments series, this could be for you.

#MetamorphosisBooks #NetGalley
Interesting read. Not exactly what I was anticipating with the summary that was given.

Very creative book! Some of the scenarios were a bit too much. At times it was over the top. I enjoyed the storyline. I just wish it had been a little more realistic in some areas. Over all it was a good book. I finished rather quickly unfortunately.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

Ok...DNF this 20% in. I felt very lost in this book. Everything was very jumbled and hard to keep straight. I finally had to give up after trying to read it for 2 days. I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone.

I loved this book.
It's a tale of loving yourself before you can love others, and of thinking of yourself as something other than just a 'thing's.
When Eli screws up on a mission to kill a ghost she bands together witha group of humans and witches to steal the Heart so Eli can get back to her world.
But when Eli falls in love with the person shes supposed to kill, things get a lot more complicated.

Thanks to @netgalley and Metamorphosis books for the free book in exchange for my honest review. This book is a dark fantasy thriller that centers on Eli, a witch-made assassin that starts to question her assignments in the human world. She falls in with a couple of humans (including a non-binary character) which join her on a quest to find out more about her origins and her purpose. Overall, I found the story compelling, and I am excited to see what is in store for these characters in the future!
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At first, the story took time to develop and set up, and it seemed like too much detail and information was being thrown at the reader. Mixed in the the poetic prose, it was confusing at first. Once she started introducing her characters, their dialogue and story took over, and the plot moved along. It reminded me of The Starless Sea in that there were lots of moments of story and prose that seemed to be out of context, then the story snapped back to the present. It also gave me Hazelwood vibes with its dark undercurrents. I gave it a 3, as I feel some editing might help it to be more streamlined, but I enjoyed it and I was happy to see more representation of both minority and LGBTQ characters.
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This was a DNF for me. 19% in and I just couldn't keep going. I try not to DNF, but I was NOT feeling it at all. A shame, because the synopsis sounded really interesting. Take this with a grain of salt, obviously.