So this book came out in May of 2012 but the new hardcover is coming out later this year. I loved the cover and the summary sounded interesting so I requested a copy from Netgalley. I've also read one of his other books, Cuckoo Song, and I found it incredibly enjoyable so I thought why not give this book a try. In the end, I'm very glad that I did.

When I started this book I honestly thought it was going to be all about a guy and his cheese and that kinda made me less excited to read it. But then I decided to keep reading in the hopes that it would get better, and it did!

This book takes place in an underground city where the citizens have to learn how to show emotions on their face. Those who can make a multitude of faces are among the rich and powerful. I found this concept incredibly interesting and even though you aren't told why they cannot form faces naturally it makes for an interesting plot device.

The main character, Neverfell, is young and it definitely shows. She can be immature and causes disruption throughout the book. If this was done repetitively then it would have been incredibly annoying but the author took care not to make her an annoying young teen. Neverfell is thrust into situations that she has no control over and she handles them just as well as you would expect a 12-14 year old would, if not better.

I'm not going to spoil anything in this review because I think that it will take away from the novel and doesn't really need to be discussed, at least not now. I will say that I found the ending a little predictable. That doesn't mean that I didn't like it, though, it was a good ending to a good novel.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy and wants a quick read that they don't have to become incredibly invested in. This is the kind of book that you can read while reading another series, which is what I did. It doesn't require much thought and while sometimes that won't work for a book, it definitely does for this one.

A Face Like Glass strangely enough reminded me of the novel Perfume by Patrick Suskind (which I loved). It took me a while to realize this, and when I did, it just fit perfectly in terms of A Face Like Glass focusing on underground master crafters that manipulate wines, cheeses, perfumes, to things that bring humans to a completely different level of being for a brief period.
This wasn’t a necessarily quick read but an engaging one, and at least for me – thought provoking. What would a human look like without having facial expressions? Babies having to learn their expressions from nurses wearing limited masked facial features, humans never leaving an underground world ruled by an insane centuries-old man.
It’s a dark world in the city of Caverna, and Neverfell, a young girl navigating in this world seems to be the only bright spot. Somehow she’s able to cling to her naiveté among murderers, plots, and a world without sun all the while figuring out how to lead a revolution.
I'd definitely read other books by Frances Hardinge.

While this book is very imaginative and creative, I found this book very hard to follow. Because of this, it could not hold my interest. I may try reading it again though so that I can like it.

This book was way weirder than I expected.
A Face Like Glass starts off in cheese tunnels (I kid you not) and it only gets more and more odd from there. With sentences like "the cheeses were Grandible's only friends and family, their scents and textures taking the place of conversation" and "The child was thriving on the perilous splendors of the cheese kingdom", I just couldn't take this book seriously. Maybe it's just me but I couldn't get through one page without laughing at something that was said. It felt like a small children's book about a mouse that loves cheese rather than a Young Adult book.
I've seen tons of 5 star reviews for this book so I'm probably the only one who doesn't love this book.
Honestly, this book just wasn't for me. I loved the synopsis but I just couldn't get past the weird cheese talk.

Oh wow, I liked this one but it started off on a fit of whimsy (and slight confusion) that really didn't seem to end. I liked the author's writing style and the use of prose and word play wasn't unwelcome. I'd say it's almost lyrical in certain ways and points.

It only adds to the whole plot of people having blank faces and being unable to show emotion in Caverna. The words that are used only enhance the plot in this book because the world created is one in which things are consistently distorted and perceptions also change just as easily. Hardinge proves this in her writing all of the characters including Neverfell, Zouelle, and Erstwhile among them in various different POV's which adds to the perception of the world for the reader but most of it is through Neverfell's focus.

It gives off an air of Alice in Wonderland and that's definitely not a bad thing, in fact it was refreshing and welcome.

NetGalley Review
Disturbing.
I could not think of a better word to describe this book.
When I first began reading, I found the plot to be inventive. The characters purchase new faces. How could that <i>not</i> interest you?
Well, let me explain why it didn't interest me. Don't get me wrong, I was completely hooked after reading the synopsis. But my enthusiasm waned after finishing the first chapter.
The main character, Neverfell, annoyed me to the point of wanting to throw her against a wall. But I couldn't because it would only create more damage on my end than her own. I did admire Hardinge for keeping her humble and innocent after what goes down in this book. However, her cluelessness was beyond annoying.
One thing you will definitely want to make while reading this book is a character dictionary. If you don't things will start to get real confusing real fast. Not to mention the new items introduced to us as if we should already have an idea of what they do.
Overall, A Face Like Glass was painstakingly slow. There were too many plotlines to follow and once you did choose one you were lost on the others. In my opinion, this book is a little dark for a middle grader.