Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: December 22, 2009
Goodreads Description:
Nimira is a foreign music-hall girl forced to dance for mere pennies. When wealthy sorcerer Hollin Parry hires her to sing with a piano-playing automaton, Nimira believes it is the start of a new and better life. In Parry's world, however, buried secrets are beginning to stir. Unsettling below-stairs rumors swirl about ghosts, a madwoman roaming the halls, and Parry's involvement with a league of sorcerers who torture fairies for sport. Then Nimira discovers the spirit of a fairy gentleman named Erris is trapped inside the clockwork automaton, waiting for someone to break his curse. The two fall into a love that seems hopeless, and breaking the curse becomes a race against time, as not just their love, but the fate of the entire magical world may be in peril.
Review:
One of the hardest parts of becoming a parent, in my opinion, is having to crystallize in words what it is that we believe, to articulate with precision that which we have only vaguely felt to be true before. To have to look into the eyes of a child who trusts us and answer a question like, "Why do we have war?" One thing that has become clear for me in the past few years is that I do not believe in "Good Guys" or "Bad Guys." We each of us make a thousand decisions every day that slowly shape us into the person we are - dynamic, not static. Sometimes we make good decisions and sometimes we make bad ones, but at the end of the day, we are still all people. It may not seem like this has anything to do with Magic Under Glass, but it does! I promise!
The world in which Dolamore has created is rich in cultural texture. The story is fast paced and intriguing. However, where I feel Dolamore really shines is in her characterizations. So often in YA we are given villains who do bad things because they are just evil. Not so for Magic Under Glass. The characters are weak and strong. They make bad choices for good reasons and good choices for bad reasons. There is room for redemption. I appreciate the shades of grey. Without ever becoming preachy, Dolamore shows how racism can come from a place of smug superiority, or from a place of fear. She shows how people who want the same thing for their country can come to diametrically opposed positions on how that can be achieved. There is more than one way to be courageous. She shows how passion can be good - and how it can lead to zealotry. Dolamore's characters are neither "good guys" nor "bad guys," they are simply people who have made good choices and people who have made bad ones, but they all had their reasons. I can not wait to see where they go from here. I will absolutely be reading her next book.
I Borrowed a Copy from my Local Library
