The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass consists of two parts crisp metaphor, four parts ethereal boundaries between realms, three parts identity story, and seven sprinkles of magically attuned blades.

Eli is an assassin crafted by her Witch mother, Circinae, and used by a ruling body of Witches known as the Coven to assassinate various targets. When the opening mission goes horribly wrong, Eli gets drawn into a sprawling sequence of events full of questions about all she’s ever known.

My favourite part about this novel was the beautiful language and descriptions. Reading portions of this book felt dreamlike at times, beautiful and fleeting imagery described and vanishing in the next blink. Some sentences I would pause to re-read, savouring their particular taste or vision or metaphor. There’s a definite feel of unreality to the novel’s story—it makes it quite clear how otherworldly (and deadly) the place Eli was made truly is. The on page depictions of Kite in particular were some of my favourites.

The secondary characters of Cam, Tav, and Kite were intriguing and interesting in their own unique ways. Of course, the delightful Tav, who is both Black and non-binary, can’t go without mentioning as my favourite. I will always and forever be a sucker for non-binary folks with purple hair and delightful, motorcycle-loving swagger. There’s no much left unsaid about Tav in this installment, but given that an upcoming title by Jerreat-Poole is The Boi of Feather and Steel, I have a feeling some of my questions about them might be answered.

Unfortunately, although I absolutely LOVE the premise of this story and the enchanting language with which it’s told, technical issues prevented me from getting fully absorbed and thus giving more than three stars. In particular, some portions feel hurried or rushed; other sections are incredibly detailed but confusing temporally (i.e. flashbacks that seem to have little connection to the current events). The dialogue at times reads as stilted and stiff. It’s difficult to put my finger on why, but I feel like I was looking at a puzzle that was 75% completed—what I saw was absolutely beautiful, witchy, and sharp, but I still didn’t have the whole picture.

Imperfect though it may be, I still enjoyed reading The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass for the engaging characters, supernatural worlds, and diverse representation it provided.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Dundurn Press for the advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. First of all I wanted to thank Netgalley and Dundurn for this copy.
I was attracted by this book because I fell in love with the cover and the plot. It was suggested for readers of Nevernight and The hazel wood and since I love both I couldn't not request this book! I was so happy when they accepted my request and I wasn't disappointed in the book!

Eli was created by witches to hunt down ghosts and she's an assassin, but after an assignment she starts to question everything. She decided to do anything in her power to get earn her freedom and to try to understand and get some answers.

This book is unique, very peculiar. The story is engaging, captivating, able to capture the reader's attention and never let go, until the very end. Eli is a fantastic main character, smart, brilliant, sassy and I really liked her. I enjoyed the story and the LGBT rep in it. The characterization, the plot and the writing style are really well done and written. If you like a really well written fantasy, with witches, humans and assassins, this is the right book for you

I really wanted to like this book. The idea and the plot really had a lot of potential. Unfortunately the writing geeky very erratic and choppy. Like reading someone's broken thoughts.

The world building was unfortunately too far fetched for me. I can see that others will probably like how creative it is.

I didn't feel much connection with the characters either. I feel like this is a case where maybe this entire book just wasn't my cup of tea

I did like that there was a non binary character who preferred them/they. We need to see more of that!

Well... the imagination was sure going strong in this story. Unfortunately, for me, it was too much. There was just so much going on, and it was kind of hard to follow. It all felt a little forced. Trying to put too much in. Not a fan.

I received an ARC of this book from netgalley. I wanted badly to love it, and there were many things I did love. The world building was excellent, thorough, well thought out. Eli was a compelling character, as were many of the others we got to know. The premise was good, and this had the potential to go so far into the right direction but somehow it just. . .didn’t. I wish I could pinpoint where it lost me, but there seemed to be many pages of filler that weren’t entirely necessary and didn’t move the plot along at a pace fast enough to keep my attention.

That said I would give this another shot as a series. Many authors struggle to find their voice with the first book, and with a world this strong, and characters this finely managed it has the potential to be amazing. So, not my favorite read of the new year, but I wouldn’t give up just yet.

This book was so beautiful...and so messy. I really have no idea what to think about it.

Eli was made, not born, by the witches of the City of Eyes - another world not so very far from our own. Eli's task is to hunt down ghosts in the human world and kill them with her seven magical daggers, each of which has its own special power - and Eli is very, very good at what she does. But one day a hunt goes wrong, starting Eli on a road that will uncover the darkest secrets of the City of Eyes and entangle her in the cause and fate of an underground rebellion.

There's so much to love about The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass; the world Jerreat-Poole has created is weird and wonderful, full of fierce and otherworldly magic. There's the living Labyrinth that overlays the City of Eyes, the Children's Lair, the gemstone books in the Coven's library and Eli's daggers of pearl and glass and thorns. When Jerreat-Poole turns on the descriptions, they're lovely and different, not falling back on familiar similes but making strange and dazzling new ones. And there's so many bits of the worldbuilding that I adored; the wild, feral children hiding in the depths of the Labyrinth, the truth about the ghosts, the fact that witches have to go on quests to the human world to steal themselves names, since they're born without any of their own. And Hawthorn and Glass is casually but powerfully queer, with non-binary characters at the forefront and a deeply important f/f relationship in Eli's past - not to mention Cam, who was drawn into the world of magic when he fell hard for a male witch.

But...

It feels like this book just isn't finished. It moves too quickly, and too much goes completely unexplained. The mysteries presented to the reader aren't the kind that make you want to keep reading to get answers; they're just frustratingly confusing, and the answers, when they come at all, aren't satisfying. Vital pieces of the worldbuilding are dropped into the narrative without explanation - the Heir, the Heart of the Coven, the Warlord; I still have barely any idea what any of them are or how they work, despite all of them being intrinsic to the plot and its conclusion. None of the character motivations/drives felt very developed, except maybe for Tav's; Eli requires almost no convincing to turn on everything she's ever known, and I honestly have no clue whatsoever what the hells Kite was up to the entire time.

And there's just. No explanation for why, or how, Tav breaks all the rules about magic. Maybe that's meant to be explained in the sequel, but as-is it was just maddening, and came out of nowhere.

I wish there'd been more introspection, more description. I wish the book were longer, so that it could have moved more slowly; the plot feels so rushed, which is such a shame when the bones of a really incredible story are there beneath everything.

I still think that a lot of readers are going to enjoy the hell out of this one; there's enough here to really appeal to readers who aren't as obsessive or nit-picky as I am. But for me, this one was a disappointment.

I thought this was a really interesting book but I did however think this book was all over the place. There was times when I was like wait how did we get here. I kinda wish there was some more world building and more character building as well. and more background information The main character Eli was interesting but one thing I hate when it comes to protagonists is when they think they don't need any ones help. It seemed like throughout the whole book she just kept mentioning how she didn't need any help. It was hard to get through the first couple of chapters but when she meets the other two protagonists it gets a little better. Speaking of the other two characters, Cam and Tav, I thought it was really nice how they were LGBTQ+ characters and like they're story line wasn't just around on how they were LGBTQ+ which was nice. Overall this book is very promising if there was better execution of the plot.

This was exhausting. It felt like trying to communicate with someone underwater, which, even when possible, isn't worth the effort.

** spoiler alert ** I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars
The concept is unique, the magic system is lovely and as a bonus all characters are LGBTQ+. Jarrett-Poole writes in this tactilely delicious way that makes you want to read more. She’s created a world where the ugly is shown for its beauty which is really wonderful.
I love Eli and was ready to watch her rip the world apart. Unfortunately, I feel like the tension falls apart and we lose the urgency and energy the book begins with. I wanted stronger relationships developed between the characters. For me, Cam & Eli’s relationship read stronger than her relationship with Tav even though they were the love interest.
I didn’t like the plot devices—using a dead name particularly, probably because I called that twist as soon as Tav mentioned Octavia from the movie. I will say this, Tav being the target makes me want to read book 2. I want to know who they are and what they can do.
There’s actually a lot in TGOHAG that makes reading a second book appealing. Jarret-Poole has created some very interesting characters and introduced stakes for the next book. This magic system is beautiful. I just wish the second half of this story had been stronger.

I received this title in exchange for an honest review, so here goes!

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but unfortunately it’s just not for me.

Pros:
The premise was engaging.
The cover was absolutely beautiful.
The overall world the author created was unique and vivid.
This story featured non-binary characters, which I found to be incredibly well executed.

Cons:
The storyline becomes quite chaotic.
The overall timeline of events is at times hard to follow.
I did not enjoy the ending, and will unfortunately not be continuing this series.

I truly don’t want to be too critical, especially because I believe that if this sounds right up your alley, it may very well be! And we’re already given the title for the second book with a tentative early 2021 release!


Overall I rated this title 2.3678 ⭐️’s out of 5.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

The book is all over the place. It often meanders off and pauses the plot for flashbacks and scenes that add nothing to characterization or world-building. The plot is the basic steal-the-object quest, but it gets side-tracked a lot with obstacles that come out of nowhere and it just feels like padding. The stakes were high, but I wasn’t invested in it in the first place.
The magic in this world thrives on chaos. That makes for a really cool setting, but it also means the author can add random stuff for plot reasons and it shows. It’s a very strange world, but not as whimsical as it tries to be. It would’ve worked better if it didn’t seem like it was designed around the plot, instead of both mutually influencing each other.
To me, the most important thing in a book is compelling characters. That’s why I keep reading. But these characters were mostly meh.
Eli is an assassin created by a witch, and she lives in terror of being unmade. She’s part monster, made to kill, and part human, so she can travel to their world. She grows a lot by being around the humans, but besides liking coffee, she doesn’t have much of personality and I didn’t connect with her at all.
Like all the witches, Kite has a sort of Orange and Blue Morality, and she’s easily the most interesting character of the lot. She’s a bit of a wild card and it’s never clear which side she’s on. I loved that about her.
Tav is clearly the creator’s pet. Eli is immediately attracted to them upon meeting them and they mysteriously have powers no one else has. Perhaps because of that, I found them underwhelming.
Cam is one of my favorites. An average human in a magic world and way out of his depth, he’s both the comic relief and the not-powered character we can relate and root for. His sense of humor is amazing and he’s the most human and real character of them all.
This book had so much going for it, but it fell flat. The premise sounds awesome but the execution doesn’t deliver.

The queer rep here is really cool: Tav is non-binary, Cam is gay, and I think Eli and Kite are sort of exes.

I was anxious to read this and a bit nervous due to the reviews, but I liked it more than I thought I would! I think that in reality this is a 3.75/5 when it comes to stars. I liked the world building and the story itself but the pacing of this one really threw me for a loop. I also wanted more from the relationships between the characters (the LGBTQ rep was well done and I wanted more!). The magic system was really neat. Honestly I feel like I'm down for anything with witches no matter what! The background for this story was really intriguing for me, but I can see where, in places, the overall story struggled.

So yes. A 3.75/5 for me.

This felt like someone trying to write a book based on a really long detailed movie and just skipped over a lot of the good stuff, leaving only the skeleton of the story and characters.

Eli, an assassin, was created by a witch. Her job was to go into the human world and kill ghosts The Coven told her needed to be killed. Eli didn't ask questions and did her job well. That is, until she kills her latest ghost and finds out it isn't a ghost at all. Eli starts to question everything she has been told. Eli makes some friends in the human world and with those friends goes on an adventure of a lifetime to stop The Coven and of course, save the world.

I really wanted to like this book. The idea of it is great! Witches, ghosts, assassins, warlords, and magic... what isn't there to like?? Well, for me this story fell short and honestly was not well written. I felt that the character development was poorly done. There was little to no background information on the characters and I just couldn't connect to them. Eli has a best friend, Kite, who by the time the book was done I still knew nothing about. The setting was awesome and I loved it but again, there was really no detail so I feel I missed out a lot there.

Maybe an unpopular opinion - one of the characters is trans (which is totally fine) - but I found it difficult to read because of the "they, their, them" pronouns used. There wasn't enough detail in the story so these pronouns often were confusing and I didn't know who the author was talking about. This just threw me off throughout and ruined the overall flow of the story for me.

I just feel disappointed after reading this. I feel that the story had so much potential and just didn't follow through. All the characters had aspects I enjoyed but because of the lack of detail and background I couldn't get into them.

⭐⭐/5

** Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

When I saw that this book was being compared to Nevernight, I was excited for a dark, gritty, intense story. However, the writing felt really juvenile and cringey at times (example :Eli wasn’t just a teenage girl with heavy bangs falling over round glasses, fighting with her mother and writing bad poetry in her journal (although she did some of that, too). Eli was an assassin.) If I wasn't going into this book expecting it to be dark and intense like Nevernight, I might have been more open to the story but the comparison hurt this book in regards to my expectations in my opinion.

I enjoyed this book while I was reading it but upon finishing it, I feel like it was just okay. If this was a book I rated on just enjoyment I’d give it 4 stars but based on the actual content itself I have to give it a 3. I will probably continue on in the series and see how these characters grow and the world progresses.

“Even teenage assassins have dreams.

Eli isn’t just a teenage girl — she’s a made-thing the witches created to hunt down ghosts in the human world. Trained to kill with her seven living blades, Eli is a flawless machine, a deadly assassin. But when an assignment goes wrong, Eli starts to question everything she was taught about both worlds, the Coven, and her tyrannical witch-mother.

Terrified that she’ll be unmade for her mistake, Eli seeks refuge with a group of human and witch renegades. With the help of two humans, one motorcycle, and a girl who smells like the sea, Eli is going to get answers — and earn her freedom.”

The premise of this book is incredibly interesting and it had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it didn’t live up to that potential and I found myself disappointed to a devastating degree. What originally seemed to be a fast-paced and enticing story ended up being an incredibly slow burn that I wasn’t all that eager to continue.

While I enjoyed the uniqueness of the plot, the writing style often felt chaotic and I found myself struggling to clearly grasp what exactly was going on. It felt over and underdeveloped at the same time, and there were several times where I had to go back and reread entire chapters because I was extremely confused.

If there’s anything positive I have to say, it’s that the character development and the diversity and representation within the characters was wonderful. Had the rest of the plot been as well-written, this would have easily been a five-star read.

I wish I had more to say about this book (it’s not often I find myself lost for words), but I honestly just felt no connection towards this book. I think much of my speechlessness has to do with the fact that even after finishing the book, I still don’t understand it.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!*

What a shame, I really wanted to enjoy this story, but if anyone asked me what this was about I would have nothing to say! The story was chaotic and I could not get into it at all. The only thing I liked was the fact there were non-binary characters within the story, which was a first for me. The premise was quite exciting, and the reason why I picked it up in the first place.
However, at some point I found myself confused to the point that I did not know if I was reading about something from the past or present, it seemed to intertwine, and which characters were actually there and which were a memory, or in the main character's mind. Just a chaotic mess overall I'm afraid. Unfortunately, I will not continue with this series.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

I loved, loved, loved this book! The story is absolutely fantastic and I couldn't put It Down, I needed to know what would happen! Eli is an Amazing main character and I loved the plot and the writing style!

I really enjoyed this intriguing fantasy. The world the author created is unique and exciting.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I absolutely loved this!! This was such an interesting book with a great premise; kind of like Frankenstein meets The Hazel Wood. My heart was racing and throbbing and I was left breathless. There were some parts that were shocking but it just added excitement to the story plus relevant to the plot! Just so beautiful and that cover 😍