(4.5 stars.)
"You are fragile, like glass, Fenella. I want to see what is underneath when you shatter."
Crown of Glass is a clean romance retelling of Cinderella with a faerie twist. Here, our main character is Fenella, who has a freaking BEAUTIFUL name. Her and her sisters are all half human, half kelpie, which puts them in an awkward position. After all, their parents have been banished from the faerie realm, and the humans don't trust the fae. Ever. Naturally, Fenella and her family have tried their best to keep their kelpie selves a secret. Yet, that doesn't stop Fenella from getting nabbed by an unreasonably handsome and deceptive fae and brought back to the faerie realm. Form you see, there's more to the banishment story than what Fenella knew. And while Fenella has three chances to slip away at a faerie ball and return home, there is no escaping the responsibility that has been thrust upon her. Nor is there any escaping the love triangle our girl gets caught up in.
Um, excuse me. Who gave this book the right to dominate my very EXISTENCE the day or so it took me to read? This book is positively enthralling.
We start off with Fenella in the human realm, where she's honestly a bit of a goody goody. She is obsessed with the rules, is constantly trying to protect her sisters, and refuses to touch her kelpie form after a mysterious incident that happened before this story takes place. I was honestly expecting her to be a bit of an annoying protagonist because of this. Yet, very quickly, Fenella's love for her sisters and her inner turmoil not only endeared me to her, but also created a fantastic form of intrigue. Fenella is an extremely capable protagonist, even when she is at her weakest and most uncertain. That being said, I loved getting to watch her become bolder, more confident and outspoken. This girl might start out as a bit of a doormat, but oh boy is that side of her gone by the end.
I would also like to give massive props to the worldbuilding going on here. The fae kingdom Fenella is brought to is literally underwater. It's full of magical sea/water creatures from mythology, flawlessly integrated into the Cinderella tale. I also love the magic system, specifically the focus on different types of threads having different effects. I won't spoil anything and say what they do, but I feel like that is such a creative magic network, and it does a great job of making some of the more unrealistic/unbelievable aspects of fairytale magic feel more plausible and logical. Oh, and don't get me started on how BEAUTIFUL the three ball gowns Fenella wears are. I'm honestly jealous, and I'm not a huge dress person.
The one thing I will say, though, about Crown of Glass was I don't think I was really feeling the romance. I don't know what it is, but something felt off about Fenella and Alick's chemistry. Or maybe not off, but missing? I really don't know what. I feel like if this was a spicier romance it would bother me more, but this is completely clean, (what does it say about me that I forgot clean romances exist?).
Regardless, normally, not feeling the romance would mean more than a half star being chopped. Yet, the plot and characters and world and concept are just so good. The romance is more of a subplot than prominent plot anyways, so really, it's not hugely detrimental to the story.
Overall, I love this book so much. I fully anticipate reading it multiple times. Fenella has such a smooth, well-established arc, I love the glitz and decay of the faerie world, I love how perfectly the Cinderella fairytale fits into it all. Such a good read.