The Glass Mountains

by Cynthia Kadohata

Mariska couldn-t be happier. Living an almost fairy-tale life, she is popular, adored by her parents, and is engaged to be married to the most attractive man in her village. But her world is torn when war approaches the peaceful village of Bakshami. Mariska risks everything she has in order to search for her parents who left to negotiate and find peace. With a young warrior as her companion, she travels beyond the safety of her village. Together they search for Mariska-s parents and peace for their village in a time of terrible uncertainty.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Cynthia Kadohata is a Japanese American writer known for her insightful coming-of-age stories about Asian American women. Her first published short story appeared in The New Yorker in 1986. As she spent her early childhood in the American South, the author set both her first adult novel and her first novel for children in Southern states. The former became a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and the latter--her first children's book, entitled Kira-Kira--won the 2005 Newbery Medal.

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favorite book genre is fantasy. I especially don’t like to read about dystopian societies. Those novels are unsettling. This book falls into that category. It is well written, but was not my cup of tea. I would rate the first half of the book maybe a 1 ½, but the second half was better- once the romance started. For fantasy lovers, you may enjoy this. For me, I give it 2 ½ stars at best.

[feux d'artifice · Rating 3 out of 5]

the novel took a while for me to warm up to, but I started getting invested once moor comes into the picture. (I'm weak for romance I know) Mariska warmed up to me after a while once she started growing up throughout the course of the novel.
I can see Cynthia Kadohata's signature stylistic choices in this book, an emphatic narrative voice, portrayal of dogs, coming of age. now I would die for a Cynthia Kadohata MG fantasy series *_*

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book grew on me over time.

[Agerius · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not the sort of book that I would typically write a long review for. The Glass Mountains is very bad- terrible, even- but typically a very bad fantasy or sci-fi novel, the kind that litter used book store shelves for a dollar a piece (what my copy cost) don’t necessitate a rigorous critical examination. This one is different, though. For one, The Glass Mountains is fascinatingly weird, be it in the incoherent yet evocative graphic design of the printing, its rare position as a wholly new first printing on Polaris, the White Wolf fantasy publishing imprint, or in its near nonfunctionality as a book. It is a novel that can barely be described as such, perfectly readable in terms of spelling and grammar but seemingly entirely unedited beyond those concerns, with pacing both rushed and tortured, prose at once purple and spare, and a fixation on almost exclusively the wrong details in a story which manages to go basically nowhere despite its flurry of activity. It is a work that is genuinely difficult to quantify in its failure- its pages are littered with bizarre writing decisions that lack the laugh-out-loud absurdity of most truly dire, amateur works; its failures are subtle but numerous, adding up to a reading experience that I can say is truly unlike any I’ve had before.

Review too long for Goodreads, view the whole thing here: https://hideousrecollection.substack....

[Aeslis · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book written by someone who didn't follow the normal formula, which I found refreshing. I found the lead girl to be promising, but she then often confused me; her personality, morals, and ambitions did not seem to be set. They wavered, and not because of character growth. However, at the same time I feel like I might have acted the same way she did.

I found Moor to be a stronger, more reliable character, as it were. And the dogs were a wonderful, unusually written addition to the main cast.

Would I read it again? Maybe, but it didn't leave a deep impression on me. The ending was extremely hurried and dissatisfying, which I found unfortunate.