2.5 ⭐️ “My existence is marked by empty spaces, she though bitterly.”

Arc provided by netgalley.
I was really excited to read this book because of the synopsis and cover (pretty af), and the promise of queer characters. I liked the writing, and the parts were it shifted back to the past and we could learn a bit more about Eli’s and her friendship with Kile. But I felt that the world building was kind of weak, mostly about the city of eyes and the magic system. And the beginning was so rushed, like the way the characters met and suddenly became friends and bound on the mission, also I didn’t see their development, cause it felt rushed for me too. Unfortunately the only character I’ve felt attached to was Kile that appeared only in the beginning and the ending.

I received this advanced readers copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. So I’m about to get honest. The premise for this book was exciting. I was eager to dive into this world. However, the world was really complicated and confusing. I didn’t understand what was going on. More time should have spent explaining things. A lot of things were short handed and that left me wanting. This could be amazing if it was just set up better. I didn’t understand the characters or what they were doing or what the motivation was. Or how anything was related to another. I didn’t really care for anyone. Like I had no affinity for any character. The use of neutral pronouns for one character was really confusing. I often didn’t know if that person was being referred to or if it was multiple people. It took forever to read this book and I had to reread whole chapters to even follow what was going on. I felt I really slogged through and it felt like a chore. Which was really disappointing because like I said, it really sounded promising. It’s clear this is set up for a sequel and I hope the author takes time to explain things better in the next one.

Unfortunately, I have to DNF this.
Honestly, I'm not sure what is going on in this book at all, it was all over the place. It got confusing and hard to follow. The author is definitely imaginative and the idea of the story sounded really good but I don't know about the execution. It felt a little rushed, chaotic and the world was not explained very well. I also didn't connect with the characters.

"Eli isn’t just a teenage girl — she’s a made-thing the witches created to hunt down ghosts in the human world."
The story follows Eli, a made-thing, created to kill and to be a tool in the witches' hands.
I got hooked from the beginning, intrigued by what I think is a very unique concept. The world-building is masterful but not too explanatory, it leaves you just enough of this wtf sensation that I really enjoyed.
Character development was very well done, you really get to see Eli grow and understand her journey from being a thing to more of a someone.
I appreciated the representation of queer discrimination, even if brief.
To be completely honest, I was in love with the author from the Dear Reader page:
"Dear Reader, I want you to know it’s OK to be angry. Your anger is important. This story is about a girl whose anger will change worlds."
This introduction had so much promise and unfortunately I feel like it wasn't fully accomplished, but I will look out for the sequel.
I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sorry this book was a no for me. I got two chapters in, but had to dnf. This book is a young adult book, but it talks down to the reader and the story is cheesy. It gave off The Shadowhunter vibes but cheesier. I couldn’t read anymore of this book. I guess if you like The Mortal Instruments series, this could be for you.

#MetamorphosisBooks #NetGalley
Interesting read. Not exactly what I was anticipating with the summary that was given.

Very creative book! Some of the scenarios were a bit too much. At times it was over the top. I enjoyed the storyline. I just wish it had been a little more realistic in some areas. Over all it was a good book. I finished rather quickly unfortunately.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

Ok...DNF this 20% in. I felt very lost in this book. Everything was very jumbled and hard to keep straight. I finally had to give up after trying to read it for 2 days. I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone.

I loved this book.
It's a tale of loving yourself before you can love others, and of thinking of yourself as something other than just a 'thing's.
When Eli screws up on a mission to kill a ghost she bands together witha group of humans and witches to steal the Heart so Eli can get back to her world.
But when Eli falls in love with the person shes supposed to kill, things get a lot more complicated.

Thank you to Dundurn Press for sending me an e-ARC.
The premise for this book was amazing. I loved the colorful world-building as well as the unique writing style and metaphors you could feel all around. Unfortunately, I felt lost during most of the plot, which started out great, tumbled a lot on the way, and found an interesting ending, that does actually make me want to find out what happens next, but didn’t manage to grab me until the end.

Nevertheless,a big plus were the characters. In contrast to the plot, the characters were fleshed out nicely and had great character arcs that developed interestingly. And lots of lgbt and poc representation always makes everything better.

I had high hopes for this book and I’m slightly sad that it didn’t meet them.

Thanks to @netgalley and Metamorphosis books for the free book in exchange for my honest review. This book is a dark fantasy thriller that centers on Eli, a witch-made assassin that starts to question her assignments in the human world. She falls in with a couple of humans (including a non-binary character) which join her on a quest to find out more about her origins and her purpose. Overall, I found the story compelling, and I am excited to see what is in store for these characters in the future!
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At first, the story took time to develop and set up, and it seemed like too much detail and information was being thrown at the reader. Mixed in the the poetic prose, it was confusing at first. Once she started introducing her characters, their dialogue and story took over, and the plot moved along. It reminded me of The Starless Sea in that there were lots of moments of story and prose that seemed to be out of context, then the story snapped back to the present. It also gave me Hazelwood vibes with its dark undercurrents. I gave it a 3, as I feel some editing might help it to be more streamlined, but I enjoyed it and I was happy to see more representation of both minority and LGBTQ characters.
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This was a DNF for me. 19% in and I just couldn't keep going. I try not to DNF, but I was NOT feeling it at all. A shame, because the synopsis sounded really interesting. Take this with a grain of salt, obviously.

The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass consists of two parts crisp metaphor, four parts ethereal boundaries between realms, three parts identity story, and seven sprinkles of magically attuned blades.

Eli is an assassin crafted by her Witch mother, Circinae, and used by a ruling body of Witches known as the Coven to assassinate various targets. When the opening mission goes horribly wrong, Eli gets drawn into a sprawling sequence of events full of questions about all she’s ever known.

My favourite part about this novel was the beautiful language and descriptions. Reading portions of this book felt dreamlike at times, beautiful and fleeting imagery described and vanishing in the next blink. Some sentences I would pause to re-read, savouring their particular taste or vision or metaphor. There’s a definite feel of unreality to the novel’s story—it makes it quite clear how otherworldly (and deadly) the place Eli was made truly is. The on page depictions of Kite in particular were some of my favourites.

The secondary characters of Cam, Tav, and Kite were intriguing and interesting in their own unique ways. Of course, the delightful Tav, who is both Black and non-binary, can’t go without mentioning as my favourite. I will always and forever be a sucker for non-binary folks with purple hair and delightful, motorcycle-loving swagger. There’s no much left unsaid about Tav in this installment, but given that an upcoming title by Jerreat-Poole is The Boi of Feather and Steel, I have a feeling some of my questions about them might be answered.

Unfortunately, although I absolutely LOVE the premise of this story and the enchanting language with which it’s told, technical issues prevented me from getting fully absorbed and thus giving more than three stars. In particular, some portions feel hurried or rushed; other sections are incredibly detailed but confusing temporally (i.e. flashbacks that seem to have little connection to the current events). The dialogue at times reads as stilted and stiff. It’s difficult to put my finger on why, but I feel like I was looking at a puzzle that was 75% completed—what I saw was absolutely beautiful, witchy, and sharp, but I still didn’t have the whole picture.

Imperfect though it may be, I still enjoyed reading The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass for the engaging characters, supernatural worlds, and diverse representation it provided.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Dundurn Press for the advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. First of all I wanted to thank Netgalley and Dundurn for this copy.
I was attracted by this book because I fell in love with the cover and the plot. It was suggested for readers of Nevernight and The hazel wood and since I love both I couldn't not request this book! I was so happy when they accepted my request and I wasn't disappointed in the book!

Eli was created by witches to hunt down ghosts and she's an assassin, but after an assignment she starts to question everything. She decided to do anything in her power to get earn her freedom and to try to understand and get some answers.

This book is unique, very peculiar. The story is engaging, captivating, able to capture the reader's attention and never let go, until the very end. Eli is a fantastic main character, smart, brilliant, sassy and I really liked her. I enjoyed the story and the LGBT rep in it. The characterization, the plot and the writing style are really well done and written. If you like a really well written fantasy, with witches, humans and assassins, this is the right book for you

I really wanted to like this book. The idea and the plot really had a lot of potential. Unfortunately the writing geeky very erratic and choppy. Like reading someone's broken thoughts.

The world building was unfortunately too far fetched for me. I can see that others will probably like how creative it is.

I didn't feel much connection with the characters either. I feel like this is a case where maybe this entire book just wasn't my cup of tea

I did like that there was a non binary character who preferred them/they. We need to see more of that!

Well... the imagination was sure going strong in this story. Unfortunately, for me, it was too much. There was just so much going on, and it was kind of hard to follow. It all felt a little forced. Trying to put too much in. Not a fan.

I received an ARC of this book from netgalley. I wanted badly to love it, and there were many things I did love. The world building was excellent, thorough, well thought out. Eli was a compelling character, as were many of the others we got to know. The premise was good, and this had the potential to go so far into the right direction but somehow it just. . .didn’t. I wish I could pinpoint where it lost me, but there seemed to be many pages of filler that weren’t entirely necessary and didn’t move the plot along at a pace fast enough to keep my attention.

That said I would give this another shot as a series. Many authors struggle to find their voice with the first book, and with a world this strong, and characters this finely managed it has the potential to be amazing. So, not my favorite read of the new year, but I wouldn’t give up just yet.

Thank you Dundurn and Net Galley for the advanced readers copy to read and review.

It is with a heavy heart that I announce this book was a huge disappointment. I gave this book 2 out of five stars. The first star was earned by the LGBTQ+ main cast and the second star was earned by the unique concept of the story. However the sad fact is that while the concept itself was intriguing the book lacked any coherent world building and magic systems. I also had a hard time connecting with any of the characters and it is usually pretty easy for me to emotionally connect with characters. Overall this book felt...dry...like it was missing something. The book felt like it fell flat, like the idea of the story was good, but there was no follow through. It was a struggle to finish this because I did not care about the characters I had no motivation to find out what happens to them. I feel like the author could have given the characters more backstory and personality and it would have been easier to connect with the characters and therefore the story.

This book was so beautiful...and so messy. I really have no idea what to think about it.

Eli was made, not born, by the witches of the City of Eyes - another world not so very far from our own. Eli's task is to hunt down ghosts in the human world and kill them with her seven magical daggers, each of which has its own special power - and Eli is very, very good at what she does. But one day a hunt goes wrong, starting Eli on a road that will uncover the darkest secrets of the City of Eyes and entangle her in the cause and fate of an underground rebellion.

There's so much to love about The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass; the world Jerreat-Poole has created is weird and wonderful, full of fierce and otherworldly magic. There's the living Labyrinth that overlays the City of Eyes, the Children's Lair, the gemstone books in the Coven's library and Eli's daggers of pearl and glass and thorns. When Jerreat-Poole turns on the descriptions, they're lovely and different, not falling back on familiar similes but making strange and dazzling new ones. And there's so many bits of the worldbuilding that I adored; the wild, feral children hiding in the depths of the Labyrinth, the truth about the ghosts, the fact that witches have to go on quests to the human world to steal themselves names, since they're born without any of their own. And Hawthorn and Glass is casually but powerfully queer, with non-binary characters at the forefront and a deeply important f/f relationship in Eli's past - not to mention Cam, who was drawn into the world of magic when he fell hard for a male witch.

But...

It feels like this book just isn't finished. It moves too quickly, and too much goes completely unexplained. The mysteries presented to the reader aren't the kind that make you want to keep reading to get answers; they're just frustratingly confusing, and the answers, when they come at all, aren't satisfying. Vital pieces of the worldbuilding are dropped into the narrative without explanation - the Heir, the Heart of the Coven, the Warlord; I still have barely any idea what any of them are or how they work, despite all of them being intrinsic to the plot and its conclusion. None of the character motivations/drives felt very developed, except maybe for Tav's; Eli requires almost no convincing to turn on everything she's ever known, and I honestly have no clue whatsoever what the hells Kite was up to the entire time.

And there's just. No explanation for why, or how, Tav breaks all the rules about magic. Maybe that's meant to be explained in the sequel, but as-is it was just maddening, and came out of nowhere.

I wish there'd been more introspection, more description. I wish the book were longer, so that it could have moved more slowly; the plot feels so rushed, which is such a shame when the bones of a really incredible story are there beneath everything.

I still think that a lot of readers are going to enjoy the hell out of this one; there's enough here to really appeal to readers who aren't as obsessive or nit-picky as I am. But for me, this one was a disappointment.

I thought this was a really interesting book but I did however think this book was all over the place. There was times when I was like wait how did we get here. I kinda wish there was some more world building and more character building as well. and more background information The main character Eli was interesting but one thing I hate when it comes to protagonists is when they think they don't need any ones help. It seemed like throughout the whole book she just kept mentioning how she didn't need any help. It was hard to get through the first couple of chapters but when she meets the other two protagonists it gets a little better. Speaking of the other two characters, Cam and Tav, I thought it was really nice how they were LGBTQ+ characters and like they're story line wasn't just around on how they were LGBTQ+ which was nice. Overall this book is very promising if there was better execution of the plot.