THE GIRL OF HAWTHORN AND GLASS is about an assassin named Eli who was created to kill on behalf of a witches' coven. But when she is sent on an assignment that goes against what she's been taught her entire life, she begins to question both her purpose and the authority that runs her life.

I'm torn about this book in many aspects, and rather than trying to craft a review that ties it all together, it may be easier just to list these out.

The writing is beautiful. Jerreat-Poole has a lovely way with words, and this seems like a modern-day fairy tale with how the story is spun....but, at times, the prose almost grew *too* fanciful, and it was hard to follow the actual narrative. Some parts of the story were straight-forward and made perfect sense, but then other parts felt confusing with how they were described - and eventually my brain just had to fill in "Okay, magicky stuff happened" in order to continue.

This is one of the first books I've read that features a non-binary central character, which seems great for both representation and education. After the initial introductions, the "otherness" of the characters self-identification becomes less vital, and they just become people. I think that's something that's done very well....many times minority or LBGT characters only have that part of themselves as their personality, but Jerreat-Poole created well-rounded, fleshed-out people who don't just have one dimension. ....but because I (and I think other readers) don't have a lot of insight into non-binary individuals, I found myself wondering more about how Eli knew instantly what pronouns to use for Tav, and why Eli called Tav "boi" sometimes, and what a deadname was. Part of this is my own ignorance, I'm aware, but there may be value in including a brief introduction or explanation of these terms in the book's intro. (I'm aware this is just a personal preference and it opens a potentially interesting dialogue about an author's responsibility to educate while they entertain... and I don't know the answer to that.)

The story itself had several layers to unwrap - Eli's journey to self-discovery, Eli + the Human's adventure, Eli + Kite, Eli + Tav, Eli, Tav's secret backstory, the child witches, the battle to save the world, the set up for the next book.... it's an ambitious novel. But I think so many subplots gives it a sense of disjointedness, and rather than firmly establish and make the reader care about one thing, they have to race along quickly to the next event in order to fit it all in. I guess I can see the use in this if all these subplots are being set up to pay off in future books, but just having the one book to look at, it feels like too much is happening at times.

My favorite subplot was the relationship between Kite and Eli - and I was disappointed with how it turned out. (SPOILERS AHEAD, STOP READING HERE) The first betrayal made sense. The second betrayal.... it felt too quickly forgiven. Even if the compulsion had forced her (and this seems to have a strong counter-point made against it).... she freaking stabbed someone in the heart with intent to kill them. And then it was just glossed over and the plot moved on. It felt too neat for me - like Kite was required to move the plot along so forgiveness was required. And then the third betrayal - again, there was this hint of "well maybe she didn't mean it" from Eli with the slight hint about the heart, but it felt like it was a betrayal required by the plot in order to make the love triangle choice easier for Eli and Tav. Love triangles are one of the most difficult things to pull off well - they rarely are done right in YA/NA books because authors subconsciously don't want their MC to seem like a bad person for hurting one of the options who did nothing wrong. It easier to have one of the options do something unforgivable (like in this case, betray her three times) rather than it just be a case of "I'm sorry, you're not the one for me" and the MC breaks a heart to go with someone else. This may be just a personal preference in my case, but it's something to consider.

Thanks so much for letting me read and review!

**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.**

Title The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass (Metamorphosis #1)

Author Adan Jerreat-Poole

Description

Even teenage assassins have dreams.

Eli isn’t just a teenage girl — she’s a made-thing the witches created to hunt down ghosts in the human world. Trained to kill with her seven living blades, Eli is a flawless machine, a deadly assassin. But when an assignment goes wrong, Eli starts to question everything she was taught about both worlds, the Coven, and her tyrannical witch-mother.

Terrified that she’ll be unmade for her mistake, Eli seeks refuge with a group of human and witch renegades. To earn her place, she must prove herself by capturing the Heart of the Coven. With the help of two humans, one motorcycle, and a girl who smells like the sea, Eli is going to get answers — and earn her freedom.

Release Date May 16, 2020

Initial Thoughts

Witches and assassins? This book had so much going for it! I was really excited to be chosen to receive an ARC on NetGalley.

Some Things I Liked

Rich descriptions. Adan Jerreat-Poole created a lush fantasy world filled with descriptions that made you feel like you were sitting and watching the story unfold with your own eyes. The language reminded me of the way Shea Ernshaw describes witchcraft and the human / witch relationship in her novels, The Wicked Deep and Winterwood.
Strong premise. I really liked where the story started. I thought the idea of witches “making” assassins do to their bidding was an interesting concept and I interpreted Eli’s struggle as a crisis of identity. I thought it was a well-crafted metaphor for finding your place in the world.
One Thing I Wasn’t Crazy About

While the story had a strong start, the plot fizzled in the middle for me and really took a dive near the end. I was confused at certain parts of the story and I found myself questioning some of the fundamental concepts of the world building that were introduced at the beginning of the novel.
A Note About Language

This was the first book I had ever read with a nonbinary gender character. This character identified with the pronouns “they/them”. At times, I found that because of the language, I was a bit confused over how many characters were in a scene. As a reader, it was a challenge to un-train my mind to think of “they” as a plural pronoun, as it can now be used to represent a single person, such as in this context. I thought this was an interesting language element of this story and I applaud the writing style for incorporating it so well.

Series Value

I won’t say that I wouldn’t continue with this series. But, it’s not a drop everything and pick up the next book kind of series, for me. The ending of this installment left me curious but not desperate for the next volume.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed several aspects of this book. I loved that I could explore an aspect of language that I was previously unfamiliar with. I thought the descriptions were lush and filled with detail. And, lastly, I love books about witches. The story fell short for me, but there are some good bones here.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

Furyborn by Claire Legrand – if you liked the ideas of converging worlds and characters who are trying to find themselves, give this series by Claire Legrand a try.

Two stars may be a stretch.

“Girl of Hawthorn and Glass” follows Eli an assassin made by witches for the sole purpose of hunting ghosts as she runs into a mission that leaves her feeling as though she’s been set up. Unable to return home a failure she finds herself aligned with a group who are looking for something that belongs to the Coven and if Eli wants the truth behind her creation she has no choice but to join them.

I really couldn’t tell you what this book was supposed to be about. I guess I relied too heavily on the promo of it being about an assassin so the lack thereof was kind of upsetting and the entire dynamic between the witches and their political order was hard to follow. This book is one big quest that never really manages to make you care about he characters were following behind which makes the entire journey a drag to the point that I had to force myself to finish.

The only thing I enjoyed was the bloodthirsty little monsters who lurked below the witch world as they were cruel and cunning and leaned heavily into their mischief making their sections the strongest but sadly it was few and far between.

I really don’t feel any way concerning this book I managed to get it down but overall the feeling is far from satisfaction.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

The cover art and premise are amazing, but unfortunately the story itself fell short due to lack of substance and heart. It felt like the plot was having an identity crisis, trifled by misdirection and confusion. For the most part the writing style was interesting and original. Character development and world building were very close to being finely polished. Due to the storyline having an excruciating flawed execution, I had to give this 2 stars.

I couldn’t put this down. The action within the book was brilliant and it was well paced. The author explained the world very well and I was able to keep up with the ever changing action.

This book was received as an ARC from Dundurn in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Wow! I was a loss for words in the best way possible when I finished this book. This book has it all. Really eccentrically cool characters, high power drama, and a conflicting dilemma that will put you on the edge of your seat. I totally loved Eli and her unique persona she brought to the story and from reading Jerreat - Poole's letter to the reader, she said that it was OK to be angry and from that line I knew I was in for quite the ride. When parts zigged, they zagged and just when you thought you knew what was coming next, a whole new twist happens. My favorite thing about this book was the fact that it was unpredictable and that made it more exciting. I know our teen book club will go crazy for this book and I can't wait to hear the discussions that will come from it.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

An interesting read! I loved the coven-setting; the use of witches has become extremely popular and it is done really well in this book. The cover is also gorgeous and the ruthlessness of the MC is phenomenally done! It is a bit rushed and boring at certain points, it took me a long time to get into.

I thought this book was so good and full of adventure!! I was enthralled in this book the whole time and finished it in a day. If you love adventure and danger you will love this book. I thought the plot was very thought out and easy to follow. I will be purchasing this book for my libraries YA collection.