The Glass Voice

by Olivia Snowe, Michelle Lamoreaux (Illustrator)

When Chantellas mother died, she thought it couldn't get much worse. But now she is bullied by her stepfamily, and her dad has done nothing about it! Her one chance out is a singing competition. Chantella has a beautiful singing voice, but her stepsiblings are jealous. In this modern retelling of the classic fairy tale Cinderella, can Chantella prove that she has what it takes before her one chance is taken from her?

Genres: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Retellings, Cinderella

129 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2014

Reviews

[Melody · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only other time I have given such a poor review of a book is for John Grisham's king of torts, but this is possibly more awful. It's a smart idea, with terrible and shallow execution. I usually love retellings of fairy tales, but this was just horrendous.

The Cinderella replacement, "Chantella" is just as whiny and annoying as her siblings. Also, there is nothing wrong with doing housework. Being a maid is good honest work, (not being paid for it is something else entirely) but the author made it sound like it is something to be ashamed of. Every single character was 1 dimensional, and the only redeeming thing about it was the illustrations were expressive, and the layout was fun.

For Cinderella retellings, read Cameron Dokey's Before Midnight for a far superior read. Dragon Slippers is a fun similar styled story, though not explicitly a Cinderella story.

Robin McKinley, Merrie Haskell, Shannon Hale, Gail Carson Levine, Jane Yolen, Mercedes Lackey, all have options for different fun fairytale retellings. I recently read the 7th Bride, by T Kingfisher, which was also wonderful retelling of the Bluebeard story. All are better options than this tripe.

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The Glass Voice” is like “High School Musical” meets “Cinderella.” Chantella must win a singing competition to escape her unkind stepmother and stepsiblings. Mara, the new stepmother, removes Chantella from school to serve as an unpaid servant in her own home while Mara’s twin children, who may remind the reader of Sharpei and her brother in HSM, treat Chantella shabbily. Fortunately, with the help of her former nanny, Chantella captures the attention of the director of “The Next Teen Star,” and becomes a recording star in Hollywood.

The tired, predictable plot, combined with two-dimensional characters, does not stand out from myriad, similar fairy tale knockoffs currently being produced by the publishing industry.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, 2nd book that I've read in this series and I'm still not sold. What is the name for it? High interest/low comprehension? Something like that.... That's who these books would be great for--teens who are struggling readers or for people whose first language isn't English. (Though the girls in these books can be summed up best by this paragraph from page 107:

"But Chantella didn't care. The day had been too much: too much emotion, too much work, too much remembering her mom and dad and how their family had once been. She burst through the doors of Riverview High School and hugged herself tight. The snow blew through the parking lot, blinding her, so she huddled against the side of the building and sobbed."

If that style of writing appeals to you, then go for it!

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one worked better than the Beauty and the Basement book in the series. It was more plausible without the romance. I still didn't love it and feel like the whole dad zombie thing was never really addressed. I mean, he basically told her to be a maid to her face and then acted like it kind of didn't happen?! And the ending was so fast and unsatisfying. Mara and the twins walked away with everything which didn't teach them a lesson at all.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! This is the second book I've read by Olivia Snowe and I've found that she's a great author.
It was so sad to see Chantella being treated horribly by her stepmother. Then I was so excited that she got to audition successfully and grow in her relationship with her dad. Great book and was pretty fast-paced.

[Riley · Rating 2 out of 5]

While not a very fleshed out retelling it's a moderately okay one. I feel like there's specific points that don't really ever get addressed or explained (Chantelle's father for example) but it was cute and flighty nonetheless.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Granted I'm a rabid reader, esp. of retold fairy tales, and an adult, but I still think this is pretty dumb. Don't talk down to tween or teen reluctant readers, please. Concept interesting, but wtf are these people and what is going on with their attitudes and is there magic or not and omg lame.

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a cringe retelling.

[Jasmine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically a retelling of the Cinderella story.

[Evie]

Abrupt ending. Needs a sequel.

[Melanie Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loves this book and how she get her revenge on her evil step mother win she wins the talent show and going on tour and that her father finally remembers her

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A re-telling of Cinderella but Chantella has a beautiful singing voice, clear as glass, rather than a glass slipper in this modern day version of the classic fairy tale. Interspersed with black, white and red illustrations, this is a quick and fun read. In the back of the book are suggestions for writing your own fractured fairy tale.

[Tabitha]

I thoughts this book was great.I would recommend this book because it was like a twist on ''Cinderella''

[Palinta]

I think that she is going to be just fine in the end and that he will get along with her new family