Member Reviews
“Love,” I said. “What is it? What does it feel like?”
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Mountains Made of Glass follows Gesela as she is forced to live with the 7th elven prince as punishment for unknowingly killing one of the other elven princes. There, Gesela is offered a deal, if she can guess the prince’s true name in 7 days, then she can gain her freedom. However, nothing is ever as it seems. In this case Gesela also needs to say his true name with love in order for the prince to gain his freedom as well.
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St. Clair started with a promising fairytale retelling. I enjoyed the darker side to the fae creatures compared with much of the literature today. I also really enjoyed the mirror and Wolf as characters. Wolf was a nice edition allowing Gesela to have someone on her side. The mirror added some much needed hilarity to conversations. I really love books that are based or heavily based around riddles. I like being able to play along with the main character in trying to solve the riddle, in this case the prince’s true name. However, I was expecting more from the mountain story line. I think I struggle with shorter books in that I just want more from them than what’s feasible to achieve in a shorter page count. I do feel I need to mention the cover. It is stunning. The number of Easter eggs incorporated from the story is also pretty remarkable.
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Overall Rating: 3.5 ⭐️
The book is a mix of different fairytales. Although I enjoyed these elements, the romance beteen the characters laked a bit of development. Still, it was a short and enjoyable read that left me wanting more. If you're a fan of Scarlett St. Clair's books, you'll likely enjoy this one too. It's a quick and cute story with a bit of insta-love, but it's fitting for the length of the book. I'm definitely interested in reading the next book in the series.
UMMM. How is this the first Scarlett St. Clair book I’ve read?!
Yes. I own a lot of her books but I planned on getting to them eventually.. after reading Mountains Made of Glass though?? Wow. 😍
Not only was her writing superb but the storyline, the character development, the romance! I finished this book in two quick sittings & I could not get enough of it.
I for sure love retellings & this story was like a mash up of several Grimm-like fairytales that made this book all the more interesting to read. Thank you so much to @read_bloom for sending me an e-galley of this book!
“She makes me feel like it won’t matter if I have a name or not. So long as I know her, I will know myself.”
I was blown away by the way that Scarlett St. Clair was able to seamlessly fit world building, romance, tension, backstory, and plot into a novella the way she did. As per usual, she wrote another addicting book that had me completely captivated.
Mountains Made of Glass is a retellings of all retellings. It has a little bit of countless classic fairytales that are either shown subtly, or boldly but easy to pick out. And for extra fun, St. Clair threw her own fun spin on a few of them. I enjoyed the world that was built in this story, magical yet also very terrifying, a nod to most fairytale themes, and Scarlett nailed it. The love/hate relationship between Gesela and Casamir was well written and not too fast or too slow, it flowed really well and grew at a pace that made sense with the story. And of course, the spice between the two is hot hot hot.
I truly enjoyed how unique, dark, and magical this novella was. I never found myself wanting to take a break from it because I was so swept up in the characters and world itself.
Thank you so much Netgalley for the ARC.
I loved this story! St. Clair took amazing ideas from so many fairy tales and wove it all together into a new fairy tale for the masses. Well, maybe not the "masses" (the spice is strong and fiery), but a great new fairy tale to be sure. He ability to create and make you love the morally grey anti-hero surpasses many others within her genre, and the typical fairy tale prince is just as useless as many that have come before him-- even though the world expects them to save the day. However, most importantly, her portrayal of what is typically the damsel in distress turns that idea on it's axis. She might be a woman, and she might be in distress, but I don't think there is ever a question about if she can handle herself or the situation she is in. This was a quick and enjoyable read that makes me excited for the next 6 books in the series!
This book had great potential and I usually really enjoy anything Scarlet St. Claire. I liked the idea of this book and it had some great aspects see - Enemies to lovers, a nonsensical yet vengeful fairytale magic system, fairies galore. This one was just too short for everything she was trying to achieve. I didn’t have enough time to get fully immersed in the story. She did say in the authors note that is was meant to be a novella so if I knew that going in my I would have had slightly different expectations. It was still a fun quick read. I was just left wanting more
Well I mixed this author up with the author of Once Upon a Broken Heart and was shocked when things got so sexual 15% into the book.
My bad.
So this is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but our leading lady, Gesela, has to not only fall in love with him, but also discover and speak his true name with love.
Booktok will eat this one up for the smut.
It’s a pretty short book and honestly a bit rushed. There’s not a whole lot of plausible character development , but if you’re just wanting a romance with lots of steam you’ll enjoy this.
I will read anything that Scarlett St. Clair writes. I absolutely loved this. This is a mash up fairytale retelling which I absolutely love how she can incorporate various aspects from the tales we have heard and read of. The romance was a slow burn and I really enjoyed that. What also makes the novella amazing is it has a MAP, a glossary of mythical beings, and a really beautiful art piece. I don’t think this has become a paperback copy or I would totally buy that as well. I can’t wait to see what other stories Scarlett had in store for us. If you are a fan of her Touch of Darkness series, or a fantasy romance lover, mythology lover, you would probably enjoy this! Thank you so much for the chance to read this!
I will be posting on my Instagram as well @thunderingnight_reads
Well if you enjoy twists on fairytales than this should be a series on your wish list. The premise of young Ella being sent to the home of an Elven Prince following her murder of his brother was an interesting one but I have to say its definitely lust at first sight, so you have been warned ! What I found interesting was the slight Beauty and the Beast vibe twisted with shades of Rumpelstiltskin because Ella has to learn his true name and time is definitely an issue. She finds a truly unique way to get the Prince to begrudgingly give her some of the letters and this is most certainly a grown up read if you catch my drift ( waggles eyebrows ! ). Add in supporting characters that truly add to the fun although not everyone is as honest or heroic as you would hope. I thoroughly enjoyed the humour that crept in occasionally and it was fun trying to work out which other fairytales the author was inspired by. With six more Princes to get a happy ending and yes that does seem to suggest that Ella’s initial crime might somehow not be quite as it seems and if you want a short read that is steamy then this certainly fits the bill.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️➕🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 I love a great shorter book as well as a revamped fairy tale. Scarlett St. Clair does not disappoint with her Mountains Made of Glass fantasy. This ultra-spicy rendition of Szklanna Góra’s Polish fairy tale is a smorgasbord of fae, woodland creatures, selkies and even a talking mountain. Main characters are Gesela and her Elven prince who get down-and-dirty throughout but chef’s 💋 to the vivid imagination of author St. Clair. I’m about this book and can’t wait for more sassy prose from this series! Goodreads descriptions is as follows: “All Gesela's life, her home village of Elk has been cursed. And it isn't a single curse—it is one after another, each to be broken by a villager, each with devastating consequences. When Elk's well goes dry, it is Gesela's turn to save her town by killing the toad that lives at the bottom. Except…the toad is not a toad at all. He is an Elven prince under a curse of his own, and upon his death, his brothers come for Gesela, seeking retribution.As punishment, the princes banish Gesela to live with their seventh brother, the one they call the beast. Gesela expects to be the prisoner of a hideous monster, but the beast turns out to be exquisitely beautiful, and rather than lock her in a cell, he offers Gesela a deal. If she can guess his true name in seven days, she can go free. Gesela agrees, but there is a hidden catch—she must speak his name with love in order to free him, too.
But can either of them learn to love in time?” Thank you NetGalley. Scarlett St. Clair, and Bloom Books for this ARC. #scarlettstclair #netgalley #mountainofglass #booktok #bookstagram #fantasybooks #fantasyretelling #spicybook
I think this has been my favorite from Scarlett St. Clair! It was super fun and entertaining. The romance was fast, but it's a short book so understandable. Pretty spicy, which also comes with the author!
I loved the fairytale elements and all of the different fairies! It felt very magical. The plot was easy to follow, and unpredictable for me.
If you're looking for a quick and spicy fairytale to read purely for entertainment, this could be for you!
To preface, I am a huge fan of Scarlett St Clair's work so when I saw that I was allowed to read this book I was jumping up and down. Loved it as I do all her other works! Just cannot wait for more and more. Pleaseee give us more re-tellings!
This was a spicy twist on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. It was a short read full of entertainment and spice. I loved the world – it was dark, gothic and enchanting filled with mythical creatures and the passion between Gesela and Casamir was on fire. I can’t wait to see what the author comes up with for the next book!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
"Mountains Made of Glass" is the latest book from Scarlett St. Clair, the first in a series of novellas centered around fairy tale retellings. The description was what initially drew me to this story, but it unfortunately fell a bit flat for me. Due to the length of the book, there was a lack of character development and the plot felt rushed. Great premise, but would probably be more "my thing" if it was longer and some more content.
Normally I really like st.clair’s books but something about this one isn’t landing for me. I just didn’t connect with characters at all and I was so confused trying to figure out what was going on for the whole first half. It just wasn’t for me unfortunately.
I had heard good things about this author and so was eager to read this short story to get a taste of their writing. However I dnf'd and determined it isn't for me.
The character progression was too fast due to the fact it is a short story and the flow of the narrative made no sense cause everything was going so fast. It was like this was a short story based on another of their books that I should have read before reading this one.
I really liked the atmosphere the story describes and how the “retelling” party was portrayed. Only part I didn’t like was how the romance was played out. It felt like they didn’t have a full love story, like we missed pieces for them to actually fully fall in love! They didn’t have the time needed to connect. I was also upset with how they seemed to not take the situation seriously if they were so set on falling in love. If I was trying to get someone to love me, I wouldn’t call them a creature😂
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.
I am so conflicted about this one. It had so much promise before I started reading it, I was so excited!
Things I liked:
- All of the fairytales that were included. It wasn’t just one, there were loads of classic fairytales all intertwined which I thought was really clever.
- I like that it was more based on the original Grimm style dark fairytales rather than the Disneyfied versions.
- The descriptive inner and outer world building.
Things I didn’t love:
- Too many graphic explicit scenes that just took away from the plot.
- The dialogue wasn’t great.
- It was quite slow moving.
Yeah…I’m just not sure how I feel about this one.
"They believed I was cursed to lose everyone I loved, and I was not so certain they were wrong."
Gesela is an outcast in her town, and the people finally cause her to draw the attention of the Elven princes who rule the nearby enchanted forest. For killing their brother, they curse Gesela to live with their seventh brother, the recluse Thorn Prince, who is also cursed unless he can find someone to fall in love with him and speak his true name. Too bad Gesela hates his guts.
We don't really see much more of the brothers after the beginning, which I'd have liked. I feel like they have a bigger part to play in this story. Being a novella, it was quite fast-paced, following the enemies-to-lovers formula at a rapid rate, resulting in just a huge smutfest towards the end.
This is not to say I didn't enjoy it. I did. I liked Gesela's jaded and acerbic nature. I liked the prince's complete lack of knowledge in the romance department. I liked how everything was awful, and curse begot curse begot curse. And yet, there was still beauty to be found.
As a sucker for a fairytale retelling, this was great. It combined elements of many traditional fairytales, where happy endings were not guaranteed.
Fans of Cruel Beauty will enjoy this one!
I really love a fairytale retelling, and the naming of all the different fairytale characters and creatures at the start of the book was very promising.
However, the story here is very thin. And though yes, it's more a novella than a novel, but still I would have liked to have a bit of plot with the spice.
The spice starts at 12% of the book and then every scene seems to be an excuse for more spice.
This book was good testing if the author is for me or not, and I can safely say it's not.