This second book picks up after the events of The City's Son, but the main focus of the story switches to Pen. It opens with Pen's attempts to deal with the aftermath of her trauma, but she doesn't have time to get too self-involved before she is caught up in a dangerous new turn of events in the mirror world of London-Under-Glass.

As before I was so impressed by the sheer inventiveness on display here. While Pollock doesn't quite match Frances Hardinge's singular prose, the scope of his creativity and imagination certainly approaches hers. It was no surprise to reach the end and see Hardinge's name in the Acknowledgements.

The Glass Republic is an impressive second book that easily equals the quality of the first.

I hadn't heard a lot about this series before going in, so I wasn't really sure what to expect!

This book was overall extremely unique, and that was one of its great strengths. I really enjoyed the characters in this one, and I really liked that the POV switched to Pen in this story, as I really liked her from the first book. I also really liked the concepts that the world this story takes place is built on, and it really is the style of urban fantasy that works for me. I always really like when fantasy plays with the ideas of mirrors and reflections, and the mirrorworld was fascinating because of it.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book, and I can see myself reading more by this author!

The Glass Republic is the second the series of The Skyscraper Throne by Tom Pollock, and written from Pen's point of view, you don't need to have read the first book. It will probably help with your reading of this novel, but it isn't necessary.

Well written, this novel has unique characters, though the Mirror world is an echo of an old novel I read when I was a kid about a girl whose reflection took on a life of its own.

It just didn't interest me. Which isn't to say it wouldn't interest others.

If you are looking for a truly unique take on urban fantasy, in the YA world, this is a good book to give a shot to. Magic lizards, hidden orders, girls who look like cement, it is a unique place.

I haven't read something this weird since Gaiman's Neverwhere and that's saying something! A Face Like Glass comes close and now it's interesting that this type of book can be considered a "type'. But I highly recommend it for those that like weird fiction and sci-fi/fantasy that leans a little towards the horror!

SO GOOD. One of those rare sequels that's significantly better than the first book.

Gone entirely are the things that I did not like about the first book (e.g., the tedious 1st person ramblings of Filius and his vaguely budding romance with Beth; the hamfisted yet muddled messaging regarding urban decay VS urban renewal; the lack of follow-through on important plot points). Beth's best friend, Pen Khan, was one of the stand-out characters in The City's Son, and this 2nd installment is very much her story.

This book takes place largely in "London Under Glass," the domain of the mirrorfolk introduced previously. It's a kind of alternate world within the already-alternate world of the series, which of course posits a hidden fantasy London existing as part of the "real" London. Beth still gets a few chapters on "our" side of the glass -- which is cool, because we get to see how her story continues absent Filius -- but most of the POV comes from Pen, who is still recovering from her ordeal with the... Barbed Wire, let's say. She's a complicated character (and -- as a modern teenager in London who just so happens to be from a Muslim family -- not a type seen very often in Fantasy genre or any of its subgenres) and one can understand her difficulty and alienation, and her desire for the seemingly wonderful mirrorworld. Which, she finds, has both wonders and horrors of its own.

Pollock is obviously full of ideas, and this time around he uses just as many of them as before but also manages to keep them on a tighter leash, much to the benefit of the story.

I loved this book so much. I didn't want it to end!

This was just confusing for me since I haven't read the first one

This was an amazing follow up to THE CITY'S SON. An intricate world full of action, adventure, and actual, astounding imagination. I read this in one sitting, hooked from the very beginning!

This was such a creative and innovative read. So enjoyable and constantly entertaining!

Admittedly, I didn't read the first book, which meant as I read this book I realized it was essential that I did. I read on and found myself utterly lost, confused and if someone asked me what the book was about I'd have grimaced and scratched my head as I did my best to sum it up.

That was my fault, partially. It's not written in a way to give you a glimpse of what happened in the prior book.

I still don't grasp the entire story, but what I did come to learn is that this book is about Pen, a disfigured teenage girl who knows the truth of the world - that there is another world behind the mirrors. The Mirrorstocracy. Something happens to her mirror-sister [her reflection,] and Pen is willing to do whatever it takes to get her back, even make a dangerous deal.

The world aspect to the book is really amazing. Detailed, its own entity and the oddities and laws of the world versus the harsh and cruel reality of the world we live in. I have to applaud Pollock for his world building and the developments because he breathed a life into the world behind the mirror.

As far as the characters went I found myself wanting more from them. I became confused and often between Pen and Parva - they're mirror-sisters but I kept having to remind myself who was who and who was from where. It also didn't help that all of their personalities were interchangeable and maybe that was what stopped me from truly connecting with the characters, or maybe it was because I missed the first book, whatever it was there was a disconnect for me.

The overall idea was so unique and weird, a little creepy but delightful! I just wish I could have gotten into this story more than I did. I believe fans of Gaiman, Pratchett, and Carroll - or basically all things creeptastically adventurous would enjoy this.