This short standalone follows a demon and an angel as they oversee the city of Azril throughout their immortal lives, watching it rise and fall through plagues, renaissances, and everything in between.

The writing and narration are beautifully lyrical, with some really vivid and poetic imagery. But the story itself lacks a clear plot, character development, or much world-building. It felt more like a dreamy back-and-forth between the two immortals.

I struggled to stay invested and found it hard to care about what was happening. I really wanted to understand why the characters were at odds and what was driving their actions, but that never came through for me. By the end, I was left feeling pretty indifferent. Even though it’s a short read, I just couldn’t bring myself to finish it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio!

This might have been the slowest book I’ve ever read. And it’s not that it wasn’t good, it’s just this slow, sort of meandering story, very melancholy and full of grief.

So, this is the story of Vitrine, a demon, and the city of Azril, which she helped to build over hundreds of years. Until the angels come and completely destroy it. In her grief and anger she curses one of the angels and because of this he is not allowed to returned to his brethren anymore. So, he sort of hangs around and helps Vitrine to rebuild Azril.

Throughout most of the book, probably the first 75% or so, it’s mostly Vitrine grieving for what she’s lost and trying to figure out how to recreate it. There are many flashbacks to the past when Azril was thriving, with Vitrine looking at all of the people she’s loved and lost.

I feel like this book is saying a lot, but I wasn’t necessarily understanding it all. There are the obvious themes of grief, and of family, as well as all different kinds of love. Though I think the main thing that I got from the book is that, regardless of how difficult it can be to let go of something you love, it’s important to remember how it was, to remember the love and the joy, but that it can never be the same again. And that even if it’s not the same, that doesn’t mean it’s not as good or important, it’s just different, and that’s okay.

The way that Vitrine was written was really interesting; not at all how you would expect a demon to behave in some things, but then absolutely demonic in others.

I had a really difficult time understanding the relationship between Vitrine and the angel. And I did not understand the ending at all, so if someone would like to explain what exactly happened, that would be great. 😅

If it weren’t for the ending, this likely would have been a 5 star read. Maybe as I sit with it, and turn it around in my mind, it will make sense and I’ll change the rating, but for now, this is a really solid 4 star read.

Beautiful, and pulls you into a fantastical world weaving you into a beautiful melody of words. Not what I expected but we'll done

Vitrine is a demon who has devoted years to curating her perfect city, Azril. However, her vision is shattered when angels descend and lay waste to it. Amidst the chaos, she curses one of the angels, setting her on an unexpected path of rebuilding. Over the next 300 years, Vitrine works to restore her city, often with the reluctant assistance of her cursed angel. Along the way, she encounters a vibrant cast of characters who help her reimagine Azril.

While the plot may not be action-packed, the depth of the characters and their stories offers a captivating experience. I found the unexpected conclusion particularly compelling. Overall, it was a delightful journey that I enjoyed.

Narrator Review: I think the narrator did a good job of bring the story to life. Highly Recommend.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC

The City of Glass is a story that only grew. It begins as a city in ruins asking us what we will make from the ashes. How can we rebuild? For Vitrine she mourns the ghosts and we see snapshots into their lives. Tied together, Vitrine and the angel are doomed to never escape each other. Throughout the years this relationship evolves from hate, to resentment, to uneasiness, to more. But could this forced proximity, this forced confinement with our enemies, make us realize the things we share? Susan Dalian did a great job at infusing this novella with heart and tension. We can feel Vitrine's emotions and frustrations.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ACR Audio Copy!

I was interested in the book form the moment that I saw the cover. I though it was going to a mythology story and it definitely read like mythology at times. Following a Demon and the city that she loves that gets destroyed by biblically accurate Angels, such an interesting concept. I enjoyed it for the most part but I also spent a lot of time confused, which may be a me problem. It felt like there were times that we would go back in the past with no warning, and suddenly there are characters that came out of nowhere. It was interesting and definitely worth the read, I just wish I walked away understanding what exactly I just read. Regardless, the writing is beautiful, and the characters are hauntingly strange.

This gives me major This Is How You Lose the Time War vibes. Which might mean this is a great book for you! But honestly so boring and annoying for me. DNF @ 47%

The writing here is incredibly removed and honestly my biggest hurdle. It's not got the purple prose that I absolutely hate in Time War, but it's also not straightforward. It's kinda like... flowery without being flowery? In that weird, literary limbo. Not a single line stands out as beautiful or meaningful, but I feel like they're supposed to be both of the above. I'm just... probably too neurodivergent for that style of prose, to be perfectly honest.

But I'm like 99% sure that the draw here is the writing. Because this doesn't have characters, doesn't have plot, doesn't have atmosphere, doesn't have world-building. It's this nebulous blob thing that I don't have a name for, but would probably rank it highly on lists of 'Things That Put Me to Sleep.'

Audiobook Notes:
The voice is pleasant enough, but lends a slightly mournful tone to the entire book. It's also very, very easy to fall asleep to-- even when not tired!

A sensual delight, author Nghi Vo presents in this story the unusual dance between a demon, Vitrine, and a damaged angel, who, along with this brothers, destroyed Azril, the shining city Vitrine had nurtured and grown over three hundred years.

The prose sparkles, no matter the situation, whether of Vitrine soothing the heartbreak of one of her citizens, or contemplating what her rebuilt city could be, or the slow development of her relationship with the angel.

As a massive fan of this author’s work, I was excited to listen to this gorgeously constructed and characterized tale of the life of a carefully tended and beloved city, and of two enemies, Vitrine and the unnamed angel. Vo masterfully handles the relationship between the two, then ever so delicately begins transforming it, first from the fury felt by Vitrine, then to her frustration with the angel's attempts to help her rebuild, then tolerance by her for his caring for the inhabitants, to prickly friendship as they raise a child together, then finally to something much deeper.

I particularly appreciated the way the author played with the idea of preservation, and displaying collections in glass. Vitrine's name hints at the demon's keeping precious objects close and the way Vitrine needed to preserve the city itself, and the bittersweet, perfect ending for this story.

The narration is wonderfully handled by Susan Dalian, allowing the listener to experience Vitrine’s joy, rage, and love for her city and the people who live there, over the narrative.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Macmillan Audio for this ARC in exchange for my review.

This book was beautiful. The struggle between good and evil, the complexity of how just because a person seems evil doesn't mean they are, and the depth that Vo was able to portray was just perfection. I really enjoyed this story, and think everyone should add it to their fall tbr.

Fans of Nghi Vo will be very happy with this story about angels, demons, and the fall and rebirth of a city. Vo's signature style, detailed and cutting descriptions of beauty and tragedy, and strong characters really capture the devastation and heartbreak at the core of the narrative, and invite readers to sit with our somewhat otherworldly protagonists and experience this loss as they do. If I had any complaints, it would be that due to the ruin of the city that it takes quite some time for more established characters to be added to the tale, and I found myself wanting more active people instead of memories. While this choice feels very much intentional, given what happened to the city and how our main point of view character is also actively wishing that society would just come back already, it did make for some slow reading at the start.

I wish I could tell you what this book was about. From the get go I was very confused and couldn't follow the story at all. I really enjoyed Siren Queen by Nghi Vo, so that's why I picked up this book. Unfortunately, I felt like I'd missed the first part of the story. The story was so convoluted and I felt a great detachment from the characters. I wanted to like this book, but I did not enjoy it at all.

Nghi Vo’s writing is gorgeous and that stayed true for this novel in which we follow the demon Vitrine as she watches over her beloved city. This is a generations spanning novel that shows the interplay between Vitrine and an angel who is also drawn to the city.

The plot of this novel was its weakest point to me and I’m not sure if that was due to me listening to it on audiobook. I never felt fully connected to the city Azril, the inhabitants, or to our main leads. I stayed purely for the prose in this one. I would recommend picking this one up physically as I feel the story can be lost while listening.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Fantasy • Angels and Demons • Novella
Publication Date • 1 October 2024

Thank you @tordotcompub and @macmillan.audio for the free audiobook.

“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙂𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙬.”

I had only heard great things about this Hugo-decorated author and have wanted to read one of her books for a long time.

At only 6 hours/224 pages, this is a short standalone about a demon and an angel’s existence over their immortal lifespans. Together they make up the overwatch of the city of Azriel, as it is destroyed and rebuilt again, following plagues, famines, renaissances, and all manner of events.

The writing and audio narration is lyrical, evoking vivid scenes and imagery, however this is a nonlinear story with no plot, character building, or world building. It’s more like a poetic dialogue between the two immortals.

I found it hard to care about what was happening. I would have liked to have understood how the characters came to be at odds, and in doing so understand their motivations and actions. The ending left me with a so-what.

I did enjoy the audio book narrator who had the removed aloof quality of a demigod demon watching events unfold from above in a lofty position.

Despite it being short, I struggled to finish. However, with over a 4⭐ rating on GoodReads, I am in the minority here. Fans of Masters of Death by Olivia Blake and This is How You Lose the Time War will undoubtedly enjoy this one.

4.5 stars rounded up

The City in Glass is a slow, thoughtful examination of many lifetimes in a city through the perspective of the immortal demon who loves it and watches over the people who inhabit it. And the angel who once destroyed it and is now trapped by a part of the demon. He also will learn to love the city and love her. By turns melancholy and biting, I would definitely call this literary fantasy. It's filled with evocative prose, and the bittersweetness of time. Cycles of life and death, destruction and rebirth. It's not going to be for everyone but I thought it was beautiful. I'm not a fan of the audio narrator for this one. I started listening to it, but ended up deciding to just read it physically. I received a copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own.

Wowza! Seriously, this was a beautifully written book. Demon and Angel making the world anew. Is it a love story? Not really between the FMC and MMC but a love story of the FMC and her city. This is a story of death, destruction and what it takes to resurrect a love, a memory, and make it into something new without forgetting the past.

The story starts out with the city of Azril which is haunted by the demon Vitrine. But haunted in the way that she moves through the city shaping it to her liking. She meets and loves the people and she keeps them in a cupboard in her heart.

Then one day angels come and destroy her city. Defending her city she hurts one of the angels. And in this wound she pours a piece of herself in. And because of this he cannot go home. He has to take that part of her out of him to be accepted again by his people.

Throughout the book the demon and the angel have long and short interactions. They sometimes spend years apart but I feel they are both trying to make up for what has happened. Throughout it all Vitrine writes the story within herself and her book.

It was a beautiful story. I really enjoyed reading it.

"I love you so, I love you best."

As always Vo is smart af.

This was a short but tight and full speculative scifi with angels and demons and a city as a character.
I enjoyed this a lot.
I did find myself having to go back because I drifted a bit it might work better as an eyeball read but it was a great book.

Thanks to netgalley and Macmillan for an alc

Thank you, NetGalley, for an audio copy of “The City in Glass” by Nghi Vo in exchange for a review.

I didn’t realize Nghi Vo has such a following. It’s my first novel by her. I saw this was picked up by Aardvark Book Club, and the premise peaked my curiosity. Unfortunately, it ended up not being for me.

2.5 ⭐️

Rating reasons:
-Short book, but felt so. long.
-No character development or world building
-Leans heavily into the beautiful prose and not into the actual storyline
-Found myself bored through most of it
-Was there supposed to be romance? I think so but it didn’t work

If you’re into beautiful, atmospheric writing, this could be for you. Sadly, it didn’t work for me.

I was hooked from the first interaction between Vitrine and her angel. Vo has given us a dynamic plot and layered characters. I have always loved to read of demons and angels that do not conform to the accepted. With behaviour that is familiar and not, we follow Vitrine and Angel as their relationship changes and grows, as their feelings twist and twine, as one searches to understand what he has wrought and the other yearns for the return of what was destroyed.

Vo's creativity will always delight which will keep me coming back to her work.

I had such high hopes for this book. The premise sounded incredible.

The narrator did an incredible job. Her performance was immaculate and absolutely deserves five stars.

The story is hard for me to give a rating to because ultimately this is a “it’s me not you” situation. For me personally I give it two to three stars. But, for its beauty, depth and prose I can easily see other readers giving this five stars.

The story itself, unfortunately, just wasn’t for me. I can see how others would love this book. Its prose is lyrical, the plot was deep and moving while also being unique in the way in which it was told. It just felt so slow.
The point of the novella is clearly not for a fast paced epic adventure but instead the slow building foundation of home and love. That can be perfect for many readers, I just wasn’t one of them.
The book is also advertised as a romance between an angel and demon but this is absolutely not a romance. If you go into this story hoping for a romance, you will be let down.
There is this beautiful message of caring for what you love, of working through hatred and anger, hope and forgiveness. It takes you on an adventure of the heart, just not one of fast paced adventure. It’s slow and nurturing and beautiful but for me, personally, I just didn’t connect with the story as much as I was hoping.
I think if it were advertised differently I wouldn’t have gone in with the expectations I did and ultimately would’ve enjoyed it more.
For a novella, I really was expecting things to be just a little more fast paced.
Lastly, that ending….it was extremely disappointing and if it ended differently I think I would’ve felt differently about this book as a whole. But, that ending was, in my opinion, not how I was hoping the story to be wrapped up.
This feels similar to writing style and the execution of Piranesi by Suanna Clarke.
Overall, I think this was a beautiful story and a novella many people will love. This was just not the story I was expecting it to be and the false advertising left me disappointed in the novella.

Thank you NetGalley for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beautifully written, but a touch too distance for what I wanted from the premise. I also finished this a week ago and I forgot a lot of what happened.