Mountains Made of Glass by Scarlett St. Clair
4/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

Gesela has spent her whole life in a cursed town. It is one thing after another with the local villagers needing to help break these curses one by one. When she is finally chosen to break a curse of her own, she ends up more cursed than ever. Trapped in a castle with an Elven prince known as the beast, she must complete his task if she ever wants to be free. Inspired by multiple different fairytales, Mountains Made of Glass will have you rooting for Gesela from the beginning and falling in love with the beast along the way

Read this book if you like:
- spicy novellas with a clear plot
- fae princes
- happily ever afters
- enemies to lovers

Mountains Made of Glass is already out but the audiobook will be released June 6th and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
.
.
.
Special thanks to Tantor Audio for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you for this audiobook, NetGalley!

I love Scarlett St. Clair and this did not disappoint! This is a delightful, dirty take on Beauty and the Beast. The narration of the Beast vibes with the Disney Beast on so many levels! Our main female is sometimes a great heroine and sometimes a naive young girl but overall a fun character to get to know. If you’ve read any of St. Clair’s other books you’ll live this one.

“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.”

I LOVE a good retelling, particularly one with deep characters, lush landscapes, and feminist leanings.

This book had the lush landscapes, and I liked that it touched on different magical beings, but really fell flat on the rest.

F!uck you! I hate you! Wait. Pixie dust? Never mind. F!ck me! I love you.”

The main characters experienced little growth, the path to love was non-existent, the more interesting characters got very little page time, and I found the vocabulary/speech patterns incongruous with the world.

Now, I know this author is super-popular, and this particular book has almost a 4.0 rating, so I’m definitely an outlier. I think I will pick up another of her books, to see if this was just a one-off.

3/10

Thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for this ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to receive both an ebook copy and the audiobook to review.

I'll start with the audiobook experience first. I absolutely adore the duel pov with voice actors changing for both the male and female's POV. The female voice actor, Lulu Russel, was exquisite. Her voice is extremely sexy to me, which is good since this book is smutty.

The book itself was meh to me. I liked the world and creatures chosen to be used in the story. This was easily inspired by Beauty and the Beast with its heavy enemies-to-lovers trope. The trope was very morally grey for both characters. However, there wasn't much external conflict other than him hating her and vice versa with reasonable motives.

I would recommend this to anyone who needs a short smutty fantasy book.

4.5⭐️ 3🌶️ 5🎧

- Fairytale Retelling, like all of them
- Curses, so many curses
- Quest
- Enemies to Lovers
- Touch Her and Die
- Phantom Hands
- Breath Play

I really enjoyed this story. Scarlett wasn’t kidding when she said it wasn’t a retelling of just one fairytale. I lost count of how many I recognized and after reading the author’s note at the end I know I missed a few. It was so much fun seeing what she incorporated and what she didn’t.

I loved Gesela. She was smart, resourceful, and stubborn. I loved how she and Casamir butted heads from the very beginning and yet were drawn to each other.

Casamir, AKA The Beast, was hilariously bad when it came to wooing a woman. He was constantly putting his foot in his mouth and saying the exact wrong thing that was sure to get Gesela to threaten him with bodily harm.

I loved the quest elements of this book and had so much fun struggling right along with Gesela as she tried to discover Casamir’s true name. I was ecstatic when I figured it out.

I did feel like the beginning of this book was a little slow and that is where it lost half a star. But once it picked up I couldn’t put it down and I can’t wait for the next six novellas!

I just finished the audiobook and it was fantastic. I loved Javi Wilder and Lulu Russell’s voices. They really brought Gesela and Casamir to life.

Thank you to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook ARC!

First up, I was not aware that this author was known for their erotic novels when I downloaded the audiobook, but I sure twigged to the style of the book when there was a euphemism for a particular male body part that is also a word for a male chicken used in the first ten minutes. I thought I was going to be listening to a standard, if dark, fairytale retelling. Nope! This book is SPICY! If you didn't know, now you know!
This book is what it is, and if you enjoy more than slightly tropey, mid level smut, then give it a go. I found it simply okay. The characterization of the two main characters was two-dimensional, parts seemed a bit "Ooooh, dark fae, aren't they ruthless and scary?" at times, and I wasn't even particularly impressed by the sex scenes themselves. There were a few interesting ideas (a broken mirror fated to be unified, a town that is continually cursed with small problems, story bits that are meant to tie the books of the series together) but they didn't outweigh the 'meh'. Not my cup of tea.
As to the audiobook, the dual narrators was an interesting idea, but it didn't feel well executed. The male lead narrator seemed like he was playing up the camp factor and it always threw me a every time the POV changed and he began speaking as the Beast.
Knowing what this series is, I may pick up the following books in the series (as this is marked as #1 in the Fairy Tale Retelling series) if I'm in the mood for something like this again. But I'll be particular with who I recommend it to in my library.

I knew going into reading this it was going to be short.

Shorter books a great as novellas in between a serious but telling a story in one book, I just wanted more. I do understand the timeframe was shorter, so it did make sense for it to be a shorter book. I just wanted a little more character development.

Overall I did enjoy this short story and as always love Scarlett’s writing style.

This will in fact be my last Scarlett St. Clair book. It's a lusty smutty Beauty and the Beast retailing.

If you're looking for romance, this book is not it.

4.5/5 ⭐
2.5/5 🌶️
5.0/5 🎧

I really loved this fairy tale novella. Scarlett wasn't joking when she said this wasn't a retelling of one tale, but a mash up of lots of different ones, and she spun them together so beautifully. There were so many little elements here and there that made me go OH OH THAT'S XX and I loved it. Don't forget to read the author's note at the end where she explains a lot of them, it was really fun to hear her inspiration.

The audiobook was really great too, I loved the voice actors for both characters, Javi Wilder and Lulu Russell really did a great job of embodying Casamir and Gesella. It being a short listen at just over 6 hours means it'll end up being a go to re-listen for me.

The beginning felt a little staccato to me, it wasn't super smooth story-telling... But as we moved along and got Gesella and Casamir together, it really started flowing well and the pace was really great. The world-building and imagery was incredible, I loved picturing the fauna and flora in my mind. And then the illustrations that accompanied the story were just stunning.

I loved Gesella and Casamir; their chemistry and banter were so good. I loved how much they tried to hate each other and how dense Casamir was about love and flattery, only for them to slowly fall for each other. I really enjoyed Gesella and her attitude. She had so much gumption and wasn't afraid of anything but wishes. Her interactions with the selkie and Wolf were some of my favorites.

I'm really excited we are getting a story for each brother. I'm loving this world and can not wait for more.

Thank you @netgalley and @tantoraudio for this ALC!
I was so excited to read this book! I'm a sucker for retellings!
Unfortunately it was just okay. & The plot was there but this book was very short (kindle edition is 219 pages), and I think there definitely could have been more story there. It all felt really rushed.
The male narrator was amazing, loved him and wished that he had more opportunities to read the book. The female narrator was difficult to listen to. She speaks very softly but has a whistle to her "s" sounds and it made it hard to find a good volume because the whistle was a bit shrill. Also, everyone in the book had an American accent except the FMC and I'm curious if that was an artistic choice or if the author requested it
Overall, decent if you're looking for a quick read/listen!

I’m a sucker for fairytale retellings especially beauty and the beast. I liked the plot line and it had me sucked into the story from the start. Not a ton of world building but enough that I wasn’t confused

This was really fun! Mountains Made of Glass is a fantastic smorgasbord of fairytale elements. There are curses, princes being turned into frogs, and prisoners who must discover their captor's true name in order to be released. As with all of Scarlett St. Clair's books, this is sexually explicit and not intended for YA readers. While I really enjoyed the fairytale elements of this story, I didn't completely buy into the love between the main characters. With the amount of detail about the attraction between them, it would have been nice to understand more why they loved each other. Yes, okay, they're both hot - what else?

All in all, a fun, easy read. I've been enjoying the fairytale kick I've been on.

Did not realize this was smit. I just got done reading a great fantasy and wanted something f with depth. Could not bring myself to finish this one.

A decent attempt to a retelling but the romance just wasn't it for me, it really fell flat.
The main character didn't feel very developed and unrelatable as a result.
Overall the book just felt like it needed to be longer, have more to it.

Tropes: Dark Fantasy, Fae Royalty, Age Gap, Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Prisoner/Captor, Lust at First Sight, Morally Grey MMC, Touch Her and Die vibez

Kinks: Choking, Dub-Con, Oral Sex, Pining

TW: Death, Murder/Violence, Kidnapping, Attempted SA, Emotional Damage

Thank you to NetGalley and Tanter Audio for providing me with an early copy audiobook in exchange for my honest review!!

This spicy novella is a fairytale retelling of a mixture of Beauty and the Beast, Grimms' Tales, and a hint of Alice in Wonderland. This was my first Scarlett St Clair book, and I DEVOURED it. This book is filled with magic, monsters, beasts, demons, fae, elves, etc. Super-fast paced book, but it's filled with spicy scenes, tension, and all the emotions. The world building was incredible, and I loved Casamir & Gesela. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook when it releases! The narrators for this audiobook were PERFECT.

3 1/2 stars
I liked this book it was very interesting and the world building was amazing. I'm not familiar with this fairytale but it was very interesting and with this book being on the slightly shorter side you would never guess it by the detail and the world Scarlett St. Clair creates for us.

Gesela is picked to be the next person in her village to pay for the curse, but when she thinks her world has ended a toad help saves her in her fury she kills the toad only to find out the toad is not a toad at all but one of the seven faire princes, and now his brothers have come to seek revenge. Taking Gesela to their brother who is called beast for a reason. All seven brothers have been left with a task to complete to become the next king and Casamir the beast has only a few days to fall in love or enter into madness.

There were many aspects about this book I very much enjoyed and some I was confused how I felt. At times Gesela was not the most likable but I saw her grow up in the book and turn into who she should be. Casamir is seen as the villain times but grows into the hero and while I knew this from the start I found myself at time not sure if I liked them and the at the end is all comes together for me. I will say the romance was rushed and I felt like it needed more time for the reader to see them fall in love. And just a note this leans closer to eroctica for me and I was hoping it was more romance.

Now saying all that I was really invested in the world she created and thought it was very fascinating. And I did enjoy this book, it was one you have to finish to see the whole picture for it all to come together, or thats how it was for me and once I was finished I was glad I read it and did like it.

3.75⭐, 3🌶️
.
"I wanted to beg for his touch just as much as I wanted to bury an ax in his chest."
.
This was a short, fast-paced fairy tale fantasy book, where a curse threatens to destroy Casamir's future - to save himself he needs someone to tell him he loses him while speaking his true name. Too bad he was gifted Gesela from his brothers who essentially kidnapped her - enter forced proximity and enemies to lovers torpes! I enjoyed the storyline, and liked both of the characters independently, I just felt that the romance/ love plot wasn't there for me. I liked the spicy scenes, but by the end I didn't feel the love grow enough to be my view of a happily ever after. But also, because is was a shorter, novella-esque plot, I need to not compare it to S.S.C's full length novels.
.
Plot: From a town constantly battling curses, Gesela much restore the water of the well. But in working to do so, she kills a toad, who's not a toad at all. But an Elven prince, and his brothers want justice. She she is handed over to Casamir, who says she has 7 days to learn hid true name, and she is free. But there us more Casamir isn't telling her that could be more than just learning name, especially when the two can't stand each other, and can't keep their hands off each other!
.
Tropes:
💙 Fairytale Retelling - Beauty and the Beast x Cinderella x Snow White
💙 Forced Proximity
💙Enemies to Lovers
💙Short (6 hour Audiobook, 219 pg. book)
.
Thank you NetGalley and Tanto Audio for an eALC copy of the audiobook version of Mountains Made of Glass, written by Scarlett St. Clair, and narrated by Javi Wilder and Lulu Russell. This is my honest review!

Yes if-
You are looking for fast-paced book with fun sex scenes, plot sprinkled in, and you are curious about prison/captor romance.

No if -
Repetitive pet names bothers you and you do not like enemies-to-lovers/prison-captor dynamic with characters who are aggressive. OR if you are sensitive to SA topics and depictions.

Mountains Made of Glass is, to me, a dark romance retelling of Beauty and the Beast. As an enemies-to-lovers/prisoner-captor dark romance story I would encourage any potential readers to look at trigger warnings and decide if this is a book that you are in a mental headspace to read.

Content warnings for this book:
Toxic Relationship, Violence, Non-Consensual Sexual Content, Blood, Murder, Animal Death, Vomit, Death of a Parent, Death of a Sibling, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Grief, Emotional Abuse, Injury/Injury Detail

I can totally see why this book would be enjoyable to people. It has stories elements that we know well enough to allow for the book to move faster and have less exposition. It provides characters that are going to infuriate you with the way they interact and miscommunicate. There is an ease to reading it that helps to lend itself to be an enjoyable experience and to let you not realize how long you have been reading.
Because it uses story lines and fairy tale aspects that we know well as readers, it is easy to fill in the stakes and story elements that a novella doesn't always lend itself to providing.

At the same time, I can see why someone might not like it as well. It was fast-paced, which is not a bad thing, but that pace lends itself to the stakes of the story being lost in the smut. This leaves the story with a feeling of moving from sex scene to sex scene without much else impacting the characters.

I want to make it clear that I do not think this book was bad, it just wasn't my cup of tea. I realized while reading that I was in no way warned by the tags or description that this was a dark romance. (I now know that I should assume that of the author, but as someone who had never read her before the description doesn't give away that it is a dark romance.)

And don't get me wrong, I am not averse to a dark romance and have read them in my time... even enjoyed quite a few. I think a lot of why this one didn't vibe with me is that it includes quite a lot of non-consensual interactions... not rape, but also things where Gesela isn't given the option to say no, going so far as to have her accept that she do this thing or she will be killed or harmed by fae creatures.

I cannot say if it would have vibed better with me if the plot devices around the character interactions felt more defined and developed. I definitely prefer my smut to have more plot aspects and this was a balance that just didn't work for me.


SPOILERS on my thoughts on why I think that this is a toxic relationship being shown to us.
Casamir needs Gesela to fall in love with him to break his curse. He is not shown to us to be a likeable guy. He immediately makes it clear that he does not care about her and is not going to respect what she wants or needs.
We are immediately thrust into a space where she is given no choice but to be naked and vulnerable with him on threat of death.
As the story moves forward she is provided with the option to gain letters of his true name every time that she makes him cum. Meaning she is not doing this because she wholeheartedly wants to... but because he is manipulating her to benefit himself. This breaks his curse and gives him the interactions with her that he wants.
Sure, there are times she goes to him, but it is under the guise of this plan.
We are shown this idea that he is a bad guy who is fighting his natural instincts to try to be good to her... but then puts her in danger in order to be the hero to manipulate her into loving him.
It feels very much like 50 First Dates in that aspect... 'let me manipulate you into liking me even though I know that you do not like me'... except... she is at risk if she doesn't follow his plan.


***I was provided a copy of this book via NetGalley. This review is my honest opinion and thoughts about what I read.***

I think this is one of the most mid books I've ever read. The characters are boring. The plot is predictable. And the climax definitely could have been better.

The characters were so flat and plain. They have no depth. The romance was excruciating. I understand that they have to fall in love; the story requires it. But, having her crave him as soon as she lays eyes on him? It's absurd. There's no real "will they, won't they" if they're both horny for each other from the beginning. And I'm not even sure they loved each other. I think they just wanted to bone. Which makes the ending make absolutely no sense. Why was she suddenly unbothered by death and destruction? I get that these people did bad things to her, but wanting they to die a horrible, painful death doesn't really fit her character. She didn't have that much character development to change her entire morals.

The smut, which doesn't generally affect my ratings, was sub-par. It was definitely smut, but it was too short for how graphic it was. If you're going to have smut talking about his cock and her clit, them bruising and biting each other, then please make it last longer. It makes the fae prince seem like the lasts two minutes. And maybe he does, but I'm judging the magical being if that's the case.

The climax was my biggest issue. It wasn't nearly as tense as I think it could have been. If you're going to put the character into a life-or-death situation, then actually make her life in peril.

TOUCH HER AND DIE VIBES HERE!!

This was such a quick audiobook, I finished it in an afternoon. The characters are easy to tell the difference between and the Narrorators truly were made for this kind of story. Totally worth the listen.