The Glass Casket

by McCormick Templeman

Death hasn't visited Rowan Rose since it took her mother when Rowan was only a little girl. But that changes one bleak morning, when five horses and their riders thunder into her village and through the forest, disappearing into the hills. Days later, the riders' bodies are found, and though no one can say for certain what happened in their final hours, their remains prove that whatever it was must have been brutal.
   Rowan's village was once a tranquil place, but now things have changed. Something has followed the path those riders made and has come down from the hills, through the forest, and into the village. Beast or man, it has brought death to Rowan's door once again.
   Only this time, its appetite is insatiable.

A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Pick

[STAR] "With stylish prose, richly developed characters and well-realized worldbuilding, Templeman plumbs archetypes of folklore to create a compelling blend of mythic elements and realistic teen experience."-Kirkus Reviews, Starred

[STAR] "This has both the stylish beauty of those [classic fairy] tales and the chilling darkness that makes them timeless."-The Bulletin, Starred

“The legion of Maggie Stiefvater fans out there ought to look this way.”- Booklist

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Horror, Fairy Tales, Romance, Mystery

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 25, 2014

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Mixed feelings on this one.
On one hand, it got off to a really slow start, and it was all over the place with weirdness.
But.
On the other hand, once it got going, it was interesting. Still weird, but at the same time, different than what I was expecting.
Enjoyably different.

Alrighty. Fairytale retelling called The Glass Casket.
It's Snow White, right?
No.
Yes.
Sorta.
There's a stepmother, a girl in a glass casket, and something in the woods ripping people's hearts out. So, yes, there's some pretty obvious elements of the Snow White fairytale in this sucker.
Mainly, though, what you'll be reading is a more like the Snow White and Rose Red fairytale.
You know, the two sisters who befriended the bear, who turned out to be an enchanted prince. There was a goblin, yadda, yadda... One sister married the prince, the other married his brother.
Only it's not a straight-up retelling of that story, either. It's a mish-mosh of both, with a few extras thrown in for good measure.

Warning: Spoilers? Ish?
I don't think these are spoilers, but people tend to bitch over the weirdest things...

The chick who ends up in the Glass Casket, should be Snow White, right? Well, yes. But for the purposes of this story, she's also the Rose Red half of the other fairytale.
She also wears a red hooded cloak, peeks fearfully out of her house, and heads into the woods a la Red Hiding Hood.
And if that's not enough, her stepmother recalls that when she first met the child, she was sitting by the hearth covered in ash, mourning the death of her mother.
*cough* Cinderella *cough*
Kinda neat, no?

Then again, this story isn't even really about her.
Say what?!
Nope, this is (the other) Snow White's story.
Rowan Rose is her name, translating dead languages is her game!
Huh?!
It makes sense in the story...

Here are the 3 stand-out things that I really liked about this one:

1. The above mentioned twisty-turny use of fariytales. It was confusing in a fun way!

2. The stepmother. I loved her!
Not only was she not wicked, she loved Fiona with all her heart. She was truly a wonderful example of what a step-parent should be. Also, I loved that she was not stupid or blind to her new husband's intentions toward Fiona. And as soon as she saw him looking at Fiona in a way he shouldn't, she kept her eyes on that bastard. Not only did she bust in on him trying to get his freak on with Fiona, but she immediately tried to get Fiona out of there.

3. The Love Quadrangle
That's right, you heard me. There were THREE guys I thought Rowan might end up with. And, no, it wasn't even the least bit annoying. Templeman did such a good job with this part of the story!
I swear, I had no clear idea who it was gonna be for quite a while.
The handsome Duke, who liked her mind?
The sullen brother of her best friend, who seemed to hate her?
Or would it be her best friend, Tom, who didn't seem to know how she felt about him?
Well, I ain't tellin' you!

Ok. The ending?
Yes, while the author does wrap things up nicely, I wasn't quite satisfied for some unknown reason. I just... No idea why I felt that way.

I recommend this one to Hardcore fariytale fans only. And even then, it's not gonna be one that everybody likes.
Know going into this that it's a dark retelling, and not every single character is going to get a Happily Ever After.

You've been warned...

[Evie · Rating 5 out of 5]

To win a finished copy of the book stop by Bookish any time between today and February 10th!

Fantasy is a genre that doesn't always work for me. If the world-and-character-building aren't thorough enough - or, in some cases, if they're so detailed, they end up being overwhelming - I probably won't enjoy it. If the writing is too descriptive and too wordy - or if it's too plain and straightforward - I won't be able to get fully immersed in the story. Then there's also the pacing, the setting, the fantastic elements such as magic or supernatural creatures, and of course, the plot line itself. So many things that could go wrong! That being said, I am thrilled to report that The Glass Casket didn't miss a single mark! McCormick Templeman's latest novel is the perfect combination of a tragic love story and a gorgeously imagined, skilfully weaved, often times completely shocking fantasy tale, sprinkled with elements of horror and macabre. I absolutely loved it and it's definitely one of my top five favorite books I've read this month.

"One bleak morning in the eye of winter, five horses and five riders thundered into the remote mountain village of Nag's End. Without ceremony or respect for local custom, they charged through the square and up the steep alpine trail that lay just beyond. Hazarding the rocky terrain, they wove their way between snow-shrouded pines, climbing ever until they reached the icy plateau of Beggar's Drift - a place, it was said, that the Goddess had forsaken."

With these words, starts the magical tale of love and sacrifice, family secrets and dark prophecies, deception and revenge.

The Glass Casket had me glued to its pages from the opening lines. I loved everything - or almost everything - about it, from the isolated and creepy snow-covered setting, wonderfully charismatic characters, to the completely absorbing and unpredictable plot line. This book has so much going for it! It's filled with unique and highly imaginative elements, such as different kinds of witches, magical and cultural rituals, local superstitions and folk tales, unstoppable evil. There's also mystery, family drama, passion and thoroughly bone-chilling, brutal murders. The thing I loved the most about it, though, is Templeman's writing style. The story reads more like a classic fairy tale than your typical fantasy novel. The dialogues are very sharp and full of sparkling chemistry (especially the interactions between Rowan and Tom, and Rowan and Jude), the descriptions - evocative and rich. Overall, though, the prose has a vibe of vagueness and fogginess that sort of requires you to suspend your disbelief, stop questioning every development and just take things at face value. And honestly, I thought that worked really well here, adding to the mysterious atmosphere and creepiness of the tale.

As far as the pacing is concerned, The Glass Casket is not a very fast-paced book and I'm afraid some readers will find it too slow for their taste. Personally, I didn't mind that at all. To be honest, I loved the fact that the author took time setting the atmosphere and slowly building the tension. And the build-up really is amazing! Once we reach the tipping point (which is about 1/3 of the way), things start happening fast, and they are sure to send a cold chill down your spine and make your toes curl! Templeman is not one to hold back. She is not afraid to kill-off characters - even the important ones - and she often does it in a beautifully cruel style. I loved that about this book - the fact that you could never predict what will happen next, who will be the next victim of the mysterious, blood-thirsty beast.

The mystery plays a great part in this story. From beginning to end, this book had me wrecking my brain for answers. I had no idea what was really going on, no clue as to who the evil culprit was and what their motivations were (even though, at one point, I was suspicious of literally every single character in the story - including the heroine herself!). Templeman did a fantastic job keeping me intrigued and guessing, and I am not ashamed to admit that I was completely clueless most of the time. The plot line was very well thought out - intricate and complex - and made for an entertaining guessing game.

All in all, McCormick Templeman's The Glass Casket is an amazingly imaginative book. Well-plotted, inventive, dramatic, and absolutely dazzling, it's a gorgeously dark fairy tale that will keep you enchanted and intrigued all the way through. If you're craving an engaging, atmospheric mystery set against a well-developed medieval-ish background and filled with different kinds of magic and otherwordly creatures, this should be your next pick.

[Isa · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the sleepy village of Nag's End, nothing much ever seems to happen, so Rowan's life is one of study. She dreams of being a scholar like her father. She spends her free time with her best friend Tom, swimming, playing, daring each other.

But, one day, five riders bearing the King's crest ride by Nag's End, and when their horses return sans riders a search party is organized. One of the riders shows signs of having been mauled by some kind of beast... the other four are untouched and lie dead in the snow.

The superstitious villagers insist it was all the work of a wolf and are quick to rid themselves of the bodies.

Shortly afterwards, Fiona arrives - she's too enchantingly beautiful: hair black as a crow's wing, ruby red lips, skin white as snow.
Rowan's father forbids her to speak to Fiona, but once she learns Fiona is her cousin, and with a little insistence from Tom (who wishes to court Fiona), Rowan ends up meeting her cousin.

The title and blurb were very misleading to me. The actual Glass Casket appears for only one scene and has no particular significance to the plot. And all that talk of Death not having visited Rowan, etc., made me believe that a personification of Death would appear in the book, when it's merely referring to the deaths that occur within the story.


It's an imaginative world: the villagers believe that goblins steal children to feast upon their flesh, fairies bewitch people to drown them in the lake, and the nixies who live in a cave beneath that lake, when a man would swim under moonlight, they'd tear the flesh from his bones.
There are several types of witches: the greenwitches who heal, the redwitches who draw their power from passion, the woodwitches who live in forests, the bluewitches who drew their strength from water and divined the future, and of course, the greywitches who were said to be wicked creatures who hoarded silver.

There is an old fairytale tone to the whole story, weaved with terror and tragedy. There is a wintry atmosphere, with the falling snow covering the horrors that happen in the forest.

We never really know where this is happening, a made up world which is a mix of Old Europe and Colonial America? Either way, they use the word "okay" in dialogue which never fails to pull me out of the story. "Okay" has been used from the mid-nineteenth century forward. Don't write about witch-hunts then use "okay" to go with it, please.

And it's a very, very slow book. Within the first 100 pages nothing of particular importance happens - you'd think they could have been used to develop the characters, but they were all collections of traits, I never really felt as if they were real. All the effort that went into keeping the mystery just made all the character act oddly, since nothing in the dialogue or their actions could be revealed.


And to be honest, it got a bit tedious. All the talk of wickedness this, wickedness that, and the death rites, and the superstitions. The writing is fine, but there is something missing... how can you write about a bestial force slaughtering people in a superstitious village full of people who believe that fairies are out to get you... and make it boring? I don't know.

[Mauoijenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmmm.... Where to start.
This was an interesting book.
Held my attention but I believe that was due to the weirdness of it. Something for someone who likes different takes on fairy-tales. Okay book for me.

[Wendy Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm. I liked, but didn't quite love this, although I may bump up the rating to 3.5 stars.

Review to come.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a world where daughters were married off as soon as possible, with no chance of being anything but a helpmate to a husband, Rowan knows she is lucky to have a father who values a girls mind, seeing her equally as great as any scholarly son.

With dreams of journeying down the mountain pass to see the palace city for her own eyes, Rowan knows her secret longing will one day be fulfilled, as she uses her studies as a key to the palace. So when five palace riders, on horseback, thunder through the village on their way up the mountain, Rowan knows her destiny is about to change. However, destiny can’t be pre-determined, and when an enchanting stranger, instead of the riders, emerges from the forest, destiny is about to take shape. Changing Rowan’s life in a way that even she can’t be prepared for, when the dead bodies of the riders are discovered. Rowan’s destiny is about to intertwine with something so vile and sinister, no one is considered safe.

So, when Fiona, a scarlet hooded beauty, with raven hair and snow white skin appears in the village, Rowan starts to lose that of which she holds most dear. When she learns that her best friend Tom has been enchanted by the beauty of Fiona, leaving him vulnerable to the allure that befalls her, opening the door to wickedness itself.

Soon, Rowan is plagued with images, as if they were “painted on the back of her eyelids by a wicked hand.” As death rips out the throats of those that are close to her. Like two words etched in the snow, “it’s starting,” death silently ravages the night, like a vile creature creeping over her. Fear is suddenly awakened with a rumble deep in the woods, of something too large to be any animal. A scream pierces the dead of night, sharp and beyond recognition, ripping a new pain of loss through the village. Where the stench of crimson blood can be tasted in the air.

Bringing with it a sinister beast, that comes to rest upon the village, feeding with its insatiable appetite upon the villagers. A beast that can only be described as one that has gaping wounds for eyes, needle sharp teeth, with a rotting breath smelling of dirt and death. Where the forest suddenly becomes a place in which the devil stalks between the trees. Leaving Rowan the only person to discover how to save the village and kill the beast.

In a story where secrets are meant to be kept, The Glass Casket, reads like a classic horror straight from the Brothers Grimm. Like a tale that was meant to be told, a door opened and life began. Where secrets resurface in the face of a beauty, and death lingers in the shadows. Horrific and gruesome at times, McCormick Templeman knows how to deliver in the world of horror.

you can find more of my reviews and giveaways in my newspaper column For the Love of Books-Dixon's Independent Voice, or the online newspaper: http://dixon.patch.com/blogs/for-the-... / and my horror book reviews in the magazine Dark Discoveries

[Tammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death hasn't visited Rowan Rose since it took her mother when Rowan was only a little girl. But that changes one bleak morning, when five horses and their riders thunder into her village and through the forest, disappearing into the hills. Days later, the riders' bodies are found, and though no one can say for certain what happened in their final hours, their remains prove that whatever it was must have been brutal. Rowan's village was once a tranquil place, but now things have changed. Something has followed the path those riders made and has come down from the hills, through the forest, and into the village. Beast or man, it has brought death to Rowan's door once again. Only this time, its appetite is insatiable.

3.5 stars.

I've had this book on my to-read list for a long time and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. This was different, and I thought that was mostly a good thing. There is a paranormal element, but it also has a fairy tale type feel to it, and a mystery. Another reviewer pointed out that it has elements from several different fairy tales in it, especially Snow White. I didn't think of that while I was reading, but now that she pointed it out, I can see it. There's the glass casket, and the way that character is described among other things.

The main character Rowan is the daughter of a scholar. Her father doesn't believe in the town folklore of fairies and witches and such, so neither does Rowan, but she's about to have some eye-opening experiences. There are mysterious deaths in the woods, and an ominous presence is felt there, but not seen. The mystery continues to ramp up when the deaths start happening within the village itself. I liked the mystery that surrounded the woods and the village, and it took me a little while to figure it out.

I liked most of the characters in this book, and even the multiple possibilities of a love interest for Rowan was well done. I did however get annoyed with the instalove between two of the characters. It didn't really make sense and I thought for a while that it would be explained as some sort of enchantment, but unfortunately it wasn't. There was just no real substance there, and as far as I'm concerned, those characters were just infatuated with each other. I honestly never really liked either of those characters very much in the first place. That's really the only negative part but it's why I'm giving it 3.5 stars instead of 4.

If you like dark, creepy fantasies with a fairy tale feel, then you might like this book.

Review also posted at Writings of a Reader

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lately, for some reason, I have been having some huge misconceptions about books before I read them. I have an idea of what they're going to be going in, and end up reading a story I hadn't expected at all. Based on this cover, I was expecting a creepy paranormal, but instead got a thrilling fairy tale that was both dangerous and enchanting at the same time.

Rowan Rose has been used to living a quiet life in her quiet village with her father. But one day, when five riders come thundering through the village on their horses, disappear into the forest, and never return, the villagers decide to look for them. Up in the snowy hill, they find death and destruction, a bloody sight no wild animal could have caused. Upon the villagers' return, death seems to have followed them as people from the village begin to die gruesome, inexplicable deaths. Rowan's father seems to know something, and when her best friend starts acting strange, Rowan knows it's time to get down to the bottom of whatever is lurking in the darkness of the village.

Like I said, this one was much different than I was expecting. The whole setting and storyline reminded me of the movie Red Riding Hood, where there's mysterious magic going on that's affecting the once quiet, innocent village. The characters, though, are what made the story for me. I really liked Rowan and the village she lived in- everyone knew each other and the way things were just worked for them. But when tragedy struck, their relationships were put to the test. Also, Tom and Jude were polar opposites, yet they both intertwined in Rowan's life in such perfect ways.

The whole mystery behind the killings was so creepy and you really have no idea how to explain anything until the very end. While the build up is a little slow, by the time Rowan really gets into trying to figure out what exactly the beast is, the story picks up and you won't want to put it down. Also, I didn't mind the little romance that was going on. With so many possible romantic interests in Rowan's life, it's interesting how she deals with listening to her heart versus listing to her head.

Overall, The Glass Casket was a creepy fairy tale that will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat. I wish the story was more fast-paced near the beginning, but the character and plot development worked for how things escalated so quickly near the end. The mystery and scary nature of this book keep things intriguing, giving the reader a chilling story they won't forget anytime soon.

[Reynje · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

So, this was good. Templeman has taken various elements and symbols from original fairytales and blended them into something intriguing and quite dark (though it's no Tender Morsels). While I initially found the writing slightly distancing, the worldbuilding, strong mystery, and well developed characters made the story compelling.

* * * * *
A thousand WTFs at this horrible cover.

[Marquise · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of mashing up Snow White with Little Red Riding Hood was a brilliant one, but as is the sad truth for many brilliant premises, something got lost in the actual execution, so the result is an odd story that's rather confusing and not quite appealing.

[Bang Bang Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overview
The Glass Casket is a horror retelling of several fairy tales. Rowan is the daughter of the town scholar when one day a mysterious family including a beautiful girl moves into town. People start dying horrible deaths and the small mountain town panics.

Dang, That was Good
*The cover is beautiful. Not quite sure which girl is on the cover but it is eye-catching.
*It is a loose retelling. It is dark, almost Grimmesk. It’s bloody and makes no apologies-YES.
*It’s very unpredictable. Just when you think you have it figured out, you’re wrong! It is a mystery and the reader has to figure out the identity of the killer but Templeman does give small clues along the way.
*I’ve seen several readers who didn’t like Rowan. I liked her. I thought she was strong. She had ambition and she wasn’t too clever. By that I mean people explained things to her; she didn’t magically figure it out on her own like Harry Potter. Now I LOVE Harry Potter but I thought at times it was convenient that he happened to figure things out on his own-being raised by Muggles and all. People complained that Rowan through tantrums when she was upset but she is 16 and her tantrums were valid. I think if you were 16 and were forced to marry someone instead of leave your boring little town to study, you would throw a tantrum too.
*It is written well. Templeman paints a beautiful world surrounded by a mysterious forest.
*I read some complaints about the 3rd person aspect and the back and forth between character points of view. I didn’t find it confusing. I thought it was pretty clear who was talking.

That’s Too Bad, Dang
*I was ready to give it a 4.5 but there was a love interest that I wasn’t feeling. I know these teens were young, 15 and 16, and this takes place in the Victorian Era (???) which means they don’t have good entertainment like TV, but the love between this particular couple-wasn’t feelin’ it.
*The ending wasn’t hard to follow but the logic of the killer wasn’t strong. I felt like the motive could’ve have been better.
*Nit Pick-There were like 10 characters in the first chapter.

Overall
It was a good retelling, a good mystery, and a good horror book. The main character was likable, unexpected things happened, and it was well written.

I’m pretty bummed that I haven’t heard about this book until now. I’m shocked that Harper hasn’t given it as much PR that it should be getting.

I will definitely buy this book for my library and I will recommend it to my teen patrons. I hope Templeman writes more horror fiction.

Book Clubs for Tweens/Teens-
Please stop reading if you don’t want to see spoilers!!!

I do this b/c I am a librarian that runs a book discussion group for 5th-7th grade. Parents of younger teens are expecting librarians to pick clean books and it is helpful to know if the book is okay for middle school. Otherwise, I am all for Intellectual Freedom.
* No bad language
*There is a subtle sex scene but I didn’t even know the characters had sex until the character said they did (in his own way).
*There is drinking
*There is a beginning of a sexual assault but nothing happens.
*Appropriate for 12 years and older.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Glass Casket has a great opening line,"One bleak morning in the eye of winter, five horses and five riders thundered into the remote mountain village of Nag's End." It caught my interest and kept me reading until the very, very end, without a single break. For the record, I do NOT like horror novels. I do NOT like thrillers. Witches. Monsters. Vampires. Not my thing AT ALL. Yet, for some reason, I found myself unable to walk away from this fantasy novel. In other words, I found myself LOVING it.

After these strange riders fail to return, several men go up into the woods and investigate. What they found shocks them to say the least. One man is bloodied and his eyes and tongue are missing. The remaining four were found NAKED and frozen. One could reason that wolves might have killed one of the five men. BUT what would lead four men to strip off their clothes, fold them up, and allow themselves to freeze to death?! And what was up with the last journal entry found in their belongings that reads: It's starting. Tom Parstle is, I believe, the one who finds that journal entry. And he also removes something else from the scene, something that any fan of Pirates of the Caribbean could warn him against, a coin or medallion. "It was a circle enclosing a smaller circle. They were linked by seven spokes, empty spaces between them. He was leaning in to examine it more closely when he found himself suddenly queasy, as if beset by a noxious force" (19). The men return with some answers but more questions.

Rowan Rose is our heroine. She is Tom's best friend. She's super smart. She doesn't only know how to read and write, she knows how to read and write in several languages. She assists her father in his translating work. In fact, she is BETTER at translating than her father is. She does not want to marry. She wants to be a scholar. She thinks her father is supportive of her plans for the future.

Jude Parstle is Tom's brother. Jude has long been thought to be the lesser of the brothers. No one expects much of him, Tom, well Tom is "the good brother." Jude, well, Jude is allowed to do whatever. Rowan and Jude have a tense relationship: they are ALWAYS bickering. Everyone thinks that Jude hates Rowan, that he perhaps hates her because she's so brainy, though that is more Tom's theory. (Tom thinks his brother is only interested in one thing from a woman.)

Those five riders weren't the ONLY strangers to come to town. There were three other strangers: a glassblower, his wife, and a young woman that is OH-SO-EXTRAORDINARILY-BEAUTIFUL. Her name is Fiona Eira. Not everyone is pleased with these strangers. Rowan's father, Henry, is the most opposed. He insists that Rowan have NOTHING AT ALL to do with Fiona.

So what is Rowan to do when her best friend, Tom, falls madly, deeply in instant-love with Fiona? He HAS to meet her. He just HAS to. He begs and pleads with her to be the go-between, to seek her out, to introduce herself, to speak well of Tom, to arrange a meeting for them the next day. Rowan is creeped out by Tom's obsession in all honesty. But. She dares to disobey her father. She'll do it for her friend. At the very least, her helping Tom may help him calm down a bit.

But this wouldn't be much of a horror novel if Tom and Fiona live happily ever after...

The Glass Casket is definitely packed with action and suspense. There is a big mystery to solve. It is intensely violent. The scenes depicting violence--murder--are very graphic. It is also graphic when it comes to passion. Yet despite the fact that this one is in many ways plot-driven, I feel Templeman did a good job with characterization. I definitely had favorite characters.

Rowan and Obsessed-Tom talking about LOVE:

"Rowan," he said, "do you think it possible to love someone upon first laying eyes on them?"
"Well, the poets certainly thought it so if they're to be believed, a woman's eyes can know a future lover upon seeing him, and if the man sees the fire in those eyes, sees himself there, then he can fall in love before they've even spoken a word."
"But what do you think? Do you think it's possible?"
"I don't know. I suppose I like the idea of some part of our bodies knowing and recognizing our futures even if our minds cannot. That appeals to me. But no, I don't think it possible."
"You don't? Really? If your future husband came riding into the village one day, you don't think you'd recognize him immediately?"
"I don't think that's how it works."
"How does it work, then?"
"I think in order to love someone, you must know their heart. You need to witness their goodness, and you can't know something like that unless you've known someone for a while. I think familiarity breeds love."
"That's not very romantic of you."
"Isn't it?"
"I'm talking about love, grand love--that thing that makes you feel like your knees are about to give way, that certainty that you've seen the essence of your future in a pair of red lips."
"Tom, beauty isn't the same thing as goodness; it isn't the same thing as love." (52, 53)

Rowan on Jude:

Staring at him, she felt rage burning in her chest. How was it that he could make her so angry? How was it that he always seemed to know how she felt without her saying a word? It was unfair. He had no right to her feelings. Her temper getting the better of her, she strode over to him, her hands clenched into fists, and took a single wretched swing at him. The force she'd put behind the blow was intense, but she never connected, for he caught her forearm gently in his hand, and looking deep into her eyes, he held her gaze. (75)

Sample of atmosphere:

The funeral should have been the next day. It ought to have been. The village ought to have gathered in Fiona Eira's home and the elders ought to have performed the rites. She should have been covered in the funerary shroud, hiding the sight of human flesh so as not to offend the Goddess. Her body laid up on Cairn Hill at the Mouth of the Goddess, stones carefully arranged atop her resting spot. These were the things that ought to have been done. But sometimes things don't go as planned. (117)

It was a coffin. A glass coffin, intricately carved, and set out in the yard for all to see. Inside it was the girl, her black hair splayed out around her, her lips like rotting cherries set against a newly ashen complexion. (129)

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4 of 5

An entertaining fairytale-inspired dark fantasy!

The Glass Casket surprised me - I did not expect to discover (for the most part) such a refreshingly unique story. Sure it's based on a mashup of age-old fairytales, along with tried-and-true fantasy elements, but it was original in its own way. Familiar yet different, like catching up with a lifelong friend who'd been away for years and had transformed into someone new.

I loved the story's pace: a slow build to a brutal climax. The atmosphere was also genuinely creepy: isolated in winter, up against an unknown assailant, an underlying layer of deceit and distrust. The mystery was so well written I was never 100% sure where the story was going or who / what would be the "bad guy." Sure I had a list of suspects, but I was always just shy of feeling totally confident with my pick for whodunnit. And I loved that no one was safe, including Rowan.

While other reviewers tend to point out Templeman's (obvious) influence - Snow White and Rose Red - there were several others, such as Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, and those were just the in-your-face references. Woven into the fabric of this story were numerous other tales and their elements - a literate female character, repeated mention of an egg, the Black Forest, wild beasts / wolf, fairies, witches, ancient demons, Hell and on and on - but with SO many influences, the story was sometimes too broad. (I wonder what Templeman could do if she focused the world-building a bit more?) And like a traditional fairytale, the characters were quite simple. Had this one aspect of the story been changed, and the characters given more depth, I would have rated The Glass Casket 5 stars.

My only complaints would be about the romance - as is often the case with young adult books nowadays - and a young person refusing help from an adult. The romance seemed to dominate the middle of the story, which could've been filled with something deeper. And Rowan, described as "scholarly" and smart on more than one occasion, repeatedly ignored people who could actually help.

Recommended to diehard fairytale fans and open-minded dark fantasy readers.

[Jessie Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was eerie, lovely, haunting, evocatively Gothic and full of lovely prose.

Review to come but color me impressed.

[S.E. Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

So creepy. So good. So fantastical. Don't read in bed at night or you'll regret it.

[Lenore Appelhans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enticing, compelling fairy tale horror. I got goosebumps reading this, but I couldn't look away.

[Heather A · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings on this book. The idea was appealing, I noticed it listed amongst fairytale retellings, but I can't quite figure out what fairytale is being retold. It felt more like an original fairytale on its own.

The writing was pretty good, it was very visual, easy to picture the setting and the characters. My problem with this book was that the characters were dull and the plot was boring for the first half of the book. It was well over 150 pages before anything really got my attention. (The only reason I finished rather than giving up was because the book was a gift).

I didn't really connect with any of the characters, I found them all rather flat with the exception of Jude, the guy no one really liked or listened to and seemed to be shoved off to the side a lot, but knew more about what was really going on in the village than anyone, but no one really paid attention to him. The heroine was irritating. She just rubbed me the wrong way, can't even really say way. She came across as a little snooty, she was smarter than everyone else in the village, dreaming of being a scholar and heading off to the royal city rather than being stuck in a dull town by the mountain. At least she had an idea of what she wanted to do with her life, but its a time where women don't get to decide for themselves, (which royally sucked, especially when she had the brains to do something). But her attitude annoyed me.

A few horrible things happen right away, and a mysterious family of new comers arrive. But it seemed to take so long before anything else interesting happened. To be fair, the latter half of the book was much more action packed. Violent deaths start occurring, and the heroine's best friend Tom, takes a turn for the worst.

The twist at the end was a good one, didn't see it coming. But the end was spoiled by a stupid twist on the romance angle which was really irritating. It was okay, there were some good things about it and some bad things. Not entirely sure I would really recommend this one.

[Holly Hearts Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an awesome book! I don't quite understand why this books rating is where it's at but it definitely deserves a 5 star from me. It's gorgeously written and is a dark tale that stabs you in the heart and constantly throws all new levels of craziness into the mix.

It was one of those rare books that literally glued my eyes to the page, had me devouring each sentence in a mad need to find out what the hell was going on and what would happen.

[Steph Sinclair]

Want to win an ARC of The Glass Casket? Hop on over to the official cover reveal for a chance to win!

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well crafted, fast paced, fairy tale of a story in a sinister, gory, evil sort of way. The Glass Casket has Irish/English/German fairy tale elements, but this book is definitely not a simple retelling of a familiar story. Templeman has a winner on her hands.

[Kimberly (Book Swoon) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Starting

With those words, The Glass Casket sends a delightful shiver down our spine. The book and cover promises a mystery filled with dark and evocative writing and lush imagery, and it completely does that. The story is a fairy tale retelling of sorts, and brings to mind immediately the Grimm's fairy tale Snow White with it's glass casket, but it is much more than that. McCormick Templeman has taken symbols and themes from various fairy tales and interwoven them into an dark and enchanting mix. This story is really a fairy tale lovers delight, especially for those who enjoy the darker, unsanitized versions.

ONE BLEAK MORNING in the eye of winter, five horses and five riders thundered into the remote mountain village of Nag's End. Without ceremony or respect for local custom, they charge through the square and up the steep alpine trail that lay just beyond. Hazarding the rocky terrain, they weave their way between snow-shrouded pines, climbing ever higher until they reach the icy plateau of Beggar's Drift-a place, it was said, that the Goddess had forsaken.

Not all secrets stay buried

The Glass Casket opens with five riders thundering through Nag's End on some seemly important adventure, but three days later the horses return, petrified and without their riders. Once a tranquil village, one that still clings to the old ways,  the mountain people of Nag's End find their village beset by something darker and more dangerous than any of their lore and beliefs could have imagined. Something insatiable has brought death to Nags End.

This book was pretty much a perfect match for me. I loved it. The plot itself has a mystery in it that really kept me guessing as it skillfully wove a cast of characters and events that made you suspicious, yet unsure until the end. There's prophecies, superstitions, and folklore as well as family secrets, revenge and murder.

The writing is chilling, lush and yet not over the top. The supernatural elements to the story thrilled me as my heart beat faster at some of macabre scenes in The Glass Casket. As far as pace goes, it is a slower read as you absorb the writing detail and clues.

The remote setting of Nags End with its snow laden village and dark forest lends perfectly to the stories atmosphere. There's funeral processions to a remote cemetery that I could not put out of my mind. Lakes rumored to be inhabited by hungry, flesh eating water nixies. Ancient forests that breed wolves and more.

Rowan, her cousin Foina Eira, Tom, and Jude are the main cast of characters with the story told mostly from Rowan's point of view. The narration/action gives the reader a great sense as to what everyone is thinking and feeling without giving away the mystery. Rowan and Tom are best friends and have grown up together. They share just about everything and are very close. Suddenly everything begins to change for Rowan. Her best friend seems to be only fascinated with the new arrival of her exotic cousin Fiona, and as death and murder seem to surround all else, Rowan fears for the life she use to have. When someone close to her is murdered, Rowan must use all the knowledge her father has taught her in order to try to stop the evil descending on her family and friends.

Rowan is very book smart, and has been taught by her father many languages, and reads ancient texts. I could easily feel her conflict as she is torn between wanting to leave Nags End and go to the palace city to become a scholar and staying, marring and becoming a wife. You can feel her resentment, anger and frustration that she had no real say in her destiny when her father takes her hopes away from her. The murders actually bring out the toughness in Rowan as she takes charge, no longer settling for being simply a girl-weak and useless. No, she changes all that. Tom, Fiona, and Jude all add to the mystery and my heart went out to them as they each struggled with their own secrets.

Romance is interwoven into the story between more than one set of characters. There's a sort of forbidden romance, and an unforeseen, slow romance that was my favorite. No love triangles to worry about. Readers will have thrills and chills in unexpected ways.

The Glass Casket is a stand alone book which makes it nice since everything is wrapped up nicely, the end concludes the mystery. This was my first read by McCormick Templeman and I'm definitely keeping her on my watch list. If you are a fan of darker, fairy tale inspired retellings, then this book is for you. Rich and atmospheric, McCormick Templeman transports you to her realm until the last page.

My Rating: 5 stars. I loved it.

Notable Scene:

     IT WAS A COFFIN. A glass coffin, intricately carved, and set out in the yard for all to see. Inside it was the girl, her black hair splayed out around her, her lips like rotting cherries set against a newly ashen complexion.
     Her body had been swaddled in white mourning cloth, but it was possible to see that she was no longer a full person. Flowers of blood bloomed where her chest should have been, and there was a dip to the torso that intimated she'd been all but hollowed.
     Arlene's hand flew to her mouth.
     And then the world seemed to spin, and a deafening cry rose up in Arlene's ears, surrounding her, threatening to swallow her up, and she lost her balance, her feet faltering in the snow. It was only when she caught herself that she realized that the scream had been her own.
     Fighting back tears, she turned and hurried out of the yard.

page 129, The Glass Casket  by McCormick Templeman

[Louisa]

This book was dark and atmospheric, and I had such a fantastic time reading it!

[Lexie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just to lay this out there - its always the good ones who suffer. Its always the good ones who have to sacrifice for another's adventure.

Starting THE GLASS CASKET it was, to be blunt, not entirely engaging. It had an interesting premise, and I certainly enjoyed the fairy tale-esque vibe, but not a whole lot happened. The soldiers died, the village was troubled, mysterious people showed up...by in large we followed Rowan who was only mildly interested in the mystery. Rowan wanted to make something of herself by way of being a scholar and while she spent as much time running around with her friend Tom as she did studying, she had very little interest outside of her life.

Until about page 100 or so it was a whole lot of daily to do'ing going on with very little driving me to keep reading. Tom was your basic "good boy" (so good that everyone kept saying that about him. If I read "You've always been such a good boy Tom" once I read it a thousand times) with insta-love complex, Fiona Eira was so beautiful it hurt to look at her, but she's also insecure and terribly uncertain of things, Rowan wants to be a scholar and wants to never marry, Jude is...sardonic and sarcastic and seems to know things....

And then page 100 happens and suddenly BAM the story decides it needs to actually start itself.

Templeman does weave a good tense horror book. The deaths that occur are, as Rowan at one point reflects, only connected by their manner and even that is suspect as the soldier died only superficially like the others (that superficially part being that it was gruesome). It took me much longer to catch on then I liked, but I applaud Templeman for weaving in the Greywitches (which sound as like Baba Yaga in many ways) without beating that plot point home. I suggest you pay attention to the subtle clues throughout, which the characters more then happily give you, but as rather insignificantly mentioned at times.

There's a couple mysteries to unravel and not all of them unravel in pleasant ways. There's something to be said about self-fulfilling prophecy in this book, as well knowing when to listen.

The romance...its also not a terribly fluffy cuddly thing. Love is used almost as a weapon here, with several characters claiming to be doing horrendous things for love. Templeman got me the most with the pain. Rowan bewildered and trying to remind herself that reality is reality and some things will never happen again. Or Tom, poor good Tom trying desperately to make sense of his feelings even as he admits to Rowan, his oldest and best friend, that they can't possibly be right. These are things that caught me.

The ending is open-ended insofar as Rowan's future holds, so Templeman could continue her adventure, or it could end with this book and its tragedies and its small comforts. In the end the reader has to decide whether they are more like Tom or more Rowan...and whether that is a good thing or not.

[Madly Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

REREADING 2024-25

Oh, well, I did read it in one afternoon!

And it's certainly not what I expected. And I am not ever going to forget it or any of the characters.

How to describe this book. Hmm. It's a fable, really, a powerful fable about family, sisters, and love, and well, death. And there is so much subtext, I could write a college thesis on it. Because don't all pretty girls end up in a glass casket??????? Why yes, they do!!!!!!!!!!! I wish there was a sequel! Because in my mind, I know that Rose and Jude are going to have some wild adventures.

But seriously, this is a wonderful book that some readers are just not understanding. If you want to read a great review of it, go to The Book Smugglers and read their review, because it is so right on. This book is damn near perfect!

I am not going to retell the story. But it's about Rowan (Rose) and her family and friends, who all live in the village of Nag's End. One day a group of soldiers come riding through the village and off to the mountains where they die. Yes, death has come to Rose Rowan and is about to change her life.

The writing, the actual prose is compelling. I read this book in one afternoon and if anyone knows me, I NEVER do that, maybe a few times, but I can count the times I do this on my two hands. It's a really dark read, because it is about life, love, and death. How all that changes us. This book is mythic in its structure and that makes it layered. In other words, what you are reading on the page is only half the story. It is what the story implies. Hence the glass casket.

This is a story about girls and goblins, oh yes, my kind of girls and goblins, where girls are faced with dead mothers and cruel thoughtless fathers, and uneasy romances, the real kind, where love is bought and carried with a cost.

I might come back and write a different review for my blog. But for now, I would say that this book is my favorite read of 2014 (along with 2013's The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, which I just read, too). It's powerful storytelling, not perfect, but so brave a book that I cannot and will not measure its weaknesses. I loved it. I loved Rose and Fiona, I loved Tom and Jude. I loved the village and their superstitions. I loved many things about it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

[Kait · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last year I was really tempted to read McCormick Templeman's debut novel, The Little Woods, but for some reason, I put it off. I'm glad I didn't do the same thing with The Glass Casket. After reading this one, I'm definitely going back and reading The Little Woods because The Glass Casket was fabulous.

The Glass Casket is a chilling, atmospheric read that captivated me from the start. Admittedly, it does not have the quickest start but if you're willing to get past that (and you should be) the story that's held between these pages is worth it. The story is the perfect mix of fantasy, romance, and horror. It's easy to see from the very first pages that The Glass Casket is not your typical fantasy story. While I wouldn't compare it to The Near Witch in the typical way, it has a similar feeling to it, if you get what I mean.

The writing is fabulous. It's probably one of my favorite parts about the book and the reason that I definitely will be checking out more from McCormick Templeman. It's not overly descriptive but definitely is not lacking in that department. It's the perfect style of writing for this kind of story. It gives the book an added sense of creepiness and mystery.

The characters were amazing. Rowan is not the easiest person to like at the start and neither are Tom and Jude but they did grow on me. The interactions between all of them were wonderful and it's easy to see the relationships between them all. No matter what the relationship was, they all had a certain chemistry to them.

Overall, I would definitely recommend The Glass Casket to fans of fantasy with a hint of horror. McCormick Templeman does not hold anything back with this book.

[Morgan (The Bookish Beagle) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Not what I expected at all, I'm very unsettled. I knew it would be dark but I thought it was more of a traditional fairy tale retelling. It was darker that I could have possibly imagined- my immediate impression while reading was a mixture of an original Grimms fairy tale, The Village (the setting, the creepiness, the characters), and that Red Riding Hood movie with Amanda Seyfried (which I haven't actually seen). It's a fantasy set in an unremarkable village that believes in folklore such as witches, goblins, and fairies. I really enjoyed the author's writing style; it was tense, immediate, and descriptive. The characters were archetypal but well-imagined; I really liked Rowan and Jude reminded me of Ronan from The Raven Boys. The best part though was that almost every character filled me with suspicion and dread; that's something you want in a mystery. I was also SHOCKED at how much grisly death permeates the book, and how often deaths occur. It was gruesome and certainly upped the ante.

I was very impressed with The Glass Casket; it was magical, macabre, frightening, bleak, and enthralling. It was a horror story wrapped in a mystery inside a fairy tale coating. There were some subtle Snow White allusions, which I enjoyed. But this isn't for the faint of heart or for anything looking for a happily ever after kind of retelling, although it's not *all* doom and gloom. It's very dark and brutal but has an appealing heroine and an enchanting mythology. It keeps you turning the pages with the kind of slow burn dread that is unique to murder mysteries. I took off the star because I think it was so far from the impression I had of the book going in but I was impressed and ended up really liking it once I got over my initial shock!

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an exciting, thrilling read! It kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened next. The beginning was a flurry of confusion as I was introduced to not only the world and its rules, but also nearly every village resident. I finally decided to plow through, and I'm glad that I did because the town elders and their titles weren't really important. The writing was vivid and brought to mind images of a beautiful frozen landscape.

The village folks were written so well they could have stepped into the pages from any small community. There are always those in the bunch who are revered, those who are afraid of change, those that follow blindly, etc. Templeman writes with a clarity on how villages work and their members.

I didn't really buy the insta-love for one couple. They meet and bam they want to spend eternity together. It was never explained why they felt like they had known each other before. I wanted an explanation for why this connection ran so deep and was instantaneous and some other connections as well, not just the boy-girl kind.

I felt like the answer to the mystery was well thought out, and that all of the pieces fit together in the end. There was such a delicious build to the finale, that I felt the finale needed to be drawn out a little bit. It was over within a chapter or two. I really enjoyed not knowing what was coming. I sort of had my suspicions, but I just wasn't certain.

I would love to see more of this world in other books. I will also be checking out more works by this author.

[Kat Heckenbach · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to put my finger on what I didn't like about this book. It simply didn't grab me. I would possibly have given it three stars despite that, because there are some interesting things and the writing is competent--but there was never any life to the story. The characters remained flat, and the story seemed to be trying to weave too many different elements in without really getting deep enough into any of them.

That's it--everything was only surface deep. The characters, the emotions, the descriptions. I never felt part of the story. The writing voice was a bit formal, which suited the setting (which seemed an odd cross between medieval Europe and colonial America--not a bad thing, just different), but the formality was a barrier for me. Also, the voice wasn't distinctive enough between the different point-of-view characters.

I really did read with an open mind, but the tipping point came at the end of Part 1, when a relationship had been built up in literally less than one day and then ends in tragedy, and there was nothing there to make me care.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rowan Rose has lived her whole life in Nag's End and has not experienced death since her mother died when she was a baby. This all changes when five men head into the mountains on an unknown mission only to be returned as corpses. Their deaths herald the start of mystery and tragic horrors as the village tries to protect themselves against an deadly evil, unknown and unseen.

It is a rarity that I find a horror YA book that actually hits just the right tone. The Glass Casket is one of those sacred gems and one of my favorite books of 2014 thus far. Templeman manages to pull the reader into the story and tapping into the fear of the unknown. The story uses all the right horror elements to send a chill up the reader's spine. One of my favorite aspects is how the story alludes to several fairy tales, while creating it's own unique story.

[নিটোল · Rating 5 out of 5]

Random fangirling because I don't know how to write a review:



I decided to read this because of the cover. I'm so glad I took the chance.

This was AMAZING. It's been so long I've read a book this good, and I'm clearly mesmerized. I was up almost the whole night to finish this one, and it was so worth it!

I love everything fairytale, and their retellings, so of course I knew what to expect, but this surprised me a lot. I don't even know how to connect the dots between the retellings since it's kind of all jumbled up. The Snow White essence is there, but I couldn't fathom the rest of it.

How come this has such small number of ratings and reviews? This needs more exposure, like right now.

Oh and this will make such a good movie!