Thank you, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, for the chance to read and review this book.

Charity is a fairy godmother and she does make sure the deepest desires of the Jack Lond High School students come true. She knows how, because she can glimpse their perfect, but one day, after fulfilling a desire, everythings goes wrong. Charity starts to question her action, if she's really helping people or not and to make her personal crisis worse, Noah, the ex of one of Charity's past clients, blames her for sabotaging his prom plans. When Noah demands she stop granting wishes and helping him getting his girl back, Charity agrees, Slowly they try to understand more about the glimpses and about themselves. Will Charity be able to get her dreams come true too?

Glimpsed was an absolute pleasure to read. Funny, original, witty, with amazing characterization and an intriguing plot. Charity is a brilliant main character and I've never read a book with a fairy godmother as main one, so it was really awesome. Besides she's great and I love her interactions with Noah and how she starts to question herself, her actions and if she did more right than wrong and so on.
The story is wonderfully written and I loved everything about this book, that I recommend to everyone who love a good story, funny and brilliant characters and the chance to dream a bit about happily ever after.

Story: 4 ⭐️
Steam: 1 🔥 (YA)

This book was a classic cute YA romcom. The beginning on the story starts a little slow but once the leads met, it picked up pretty quick! I enjoyed watching Charity discover herself and learn to open up. The book had a good balance of angst and sweetness. I enjoyed our geeky male lead as well. He was perfectly adorkable.

The fantasy aspect of this story was really cute and unique. Our female lead comes from a family of fairy god mothers. Although I know Charity didn’t know much about the inner-workings of being a FGM, I do wish we could have learned a bit more about that since I think it’s super interesting.

Overall I enjoyed this book and think it’s perfect for those who love YA romance/fantasy!

Tour stop: https://tbrandbeyondtours.com/2020/12/01/tour-schedule-glimpsed-by-gf-miller/

I adore this book! Seriously, this is so cute!

Charity is a teenage fairy godmother. She catches glimpses of people’s wishes, then strategizes ways to make them come true. From winning homecoming Queen to getting a spot on the Pom squad, Charity makes it happen.

But then it all starts to fall apart. First, someone discovers her secret and blackmails Charity to try to get her to stop. Then one of her Happily Ever Afters goes terribly wrong. Finally, she may be falling for the boy she’s trying to set up with someone else.

I love Charity’s character. She has such a good heart! And I love that she keeps a closet of hair dye so she can dye her hair to match her mood (though a very small part of me cringed at the damage that would cause).

And Noah! He starts out making me cringe - their meeting in the park ends with them both pepper spraying each other? What? - but he turns out to be so perfect! And his Trekkie family is fun. I got super invested in who he would end up with.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I actually loved this book way more than I thought I would! I knew I would enjoy it because hello, fairy godmothers, but this book was extremely cute and geeky. It was filled with Star Trek references, funny moments, a lighthearted romance, and a fairy godmother figuring out if she deserved her own happily ever after and a few other things along the way.
Charity is a teenage fairy godmother who absolutely loves her job, but doesn’t think too much about her Cindies outside of what she sees in her glimpses. She has a huge heart, don’t get me wrong- it’s just that she makes their “wishes” come true even if it might not be exactly what they wanted. I loved the colors that she dyed her hair and it gave me some inspiration for my own, but honestly, how does her hair not fall out? Although Noah went about things wrong, he actually made Charity think about what her Cindie’s might have wanted along the way to their HEA, how it affected other people, and if she was doing more harm than good. He was extremely geeky and cute and I thought he was good for Charity.
Noah and Charity’s relationship was funny and adorable- I enjoyed watching them go from enemies to friends to lovers. I thought this was an amazing debut book and I look forward to reading everything else that Miller writes. I’ve never read a Cinderella retelling like this before and it had all of the warm and fuzzy vibes to cheer you up!

Every fairytale has a happy ending. Mostly for the hero and the heroine. But what happens when you're the one helping them achieve that HEA? If you ever wanted to read about the fairy godmother and the one who's granting wishes, this is the book you have to pick up.

Charity is a modern fairy godmother and she gets 'glimpses' of people before she's on her mission to grant them their wishes. She's one of the most popular girls and she doesn't want her secret to be revealed, so when someone seems to have discovered her and threatens to blow her cover, things get serious.

Noah is a nerdy hero, but also someone who will get to know Charity better than anyone else. Along the way they will together work towards unexplained things like her powers, but she also needs to keep her distance , because a fairy godmother doesn't get her own happily ever after..

I enjoyed this one so much!! It was sweet, funny at times, deep at others, overall I would call it adorkable! What I wasn't a fan of was the miscomunication element, which was obvious to me as a reader and yet the character's denial seemed to irritate me at moments. Also, I needed more romance , as I wished it came sooner in the picture.

I think this was a great debut and I will be looking forward to reading more by this author! Recommend it to anyone who enjoys a sweet YA contemporary romance :)

Charity is not your regular fairy godmother. She's only a teenager and has been glimpsing wishes since she was twelve. She's popular, part of poms, someone everyone follows, and even changes her hair color according to her mood, but is she truly happy on the inside? Sure granting happily ever afters is fun but what about her own happily ever after?

Each time Charity glimpses a Cindy's wish, she approaches them to make their wish come true. In return, they can't tell anyone that she helped them. It's always turned out to be a success and her identity has always stayed hidden.

Then a glimpse ends in a big disaster and soon afterwards, Noah uncovers Charity's powers. Using this as blackmail, he wants her to help him get his ex back in exchange for keeping her secret. Now Charity doesn't have a choice, does she? Along the way of winning Holly back for Noah, feelings start to get complicated. Fairy godmothers aren't supposed to have a second half because they never work out in the end.

What will happen to Charity and Noah?

I always love a retelling of a fairytale! This retelling of Cinderella's fairy godmother intrigued me. I loved Charity as a modern-day teen and especially how her hair color reflected her moods (probably because I'm not allowed to dye my hair).

The hilarious way the author tells the story made me finish this book super fast. I loved how funny and sarcastic the chapter titles were. They definitely added a little sparkle to my day! Overall, the book was very well-written and I had lots of fun. A very enjoyable and cute read I highly recommend!

Review will be posted with blog tour!

G.F. Miller delighted me and made me smile with Glimpsed!

This book is a new standalone contemporary fantasy and GO GET IT! (Yes, I enjoyed it and yes I think everyone needs to start their year off laughing and happy)

It’s AVAILABLE NOW as it came out January 5th, 2021. (Go run, I’ll wait…)

I am so honored to be part of the TBR and Beyond Tour for Glimpsed but remember I’m only one stop! There are other blogs to see and the tour schedule can be found here , for all your insight needs. 🙂

REVIEW TIME
I must say this book was so sweet and cute that I couldn’t have hoped for a better read for early 2021. This is such a fun, nerdy loving read that I can’t help but like it! G.F. Miller does a wonderful job setting the stage and making the reader smile.

As far as characters go, I really liked Noah. I am bias though as I do love a good fandom and nerd character haha. However, any time he was present and being his witty self, I loved it. Charity, of course, was also good and had excellent character development.

The writing was so much fun! I love the dialogue in this book and again, light hearted and sarcastic was perfection for what I needed to read right now. So thank you G.F. Miller for writing a fun contemporary, geeky read that I needed.

Overall, I really recommend Glimpsed for anyone that needs a quick breather and laughter. It was fun, quirky, a quick read, and worth every minute.

Overall Rating: 4
Plot: 4
Character Development: 4
Dialogue: 4
Writing:
HAPPY READING~~
Ash <3

ARC Note: ~I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.~

I love a cute rom-com story, especially if it has some magic, and Glimpsed is definitely one. Also it has a lovely cover that catches your eyes and because of that and because I’m a big fan of fairytales retellings I had to read it!

The story is pretty interesting, it has something new – a modern Godmother, with characters that are easily to fall in love with. I really like the main character, Charity. She is selfless, she cares for her Cindy and her/his happily ever after and she could do anything to reach it. Her moments with Noah are so delicious. My favourite troops are enemies to lovers so I devoured the book.

All is all, it was a fun easy read and I’m so happy I had the opportunity to read it. Thank you TBR and Beyond and G. F. Miller for the eArc in exchange for an honest review. At the end, all I will say is that in these hard days we all need some cute and funny love stories. So if you haven’t read Glimpsed yet, then you should!

Glimpsed: More Magical Than Meets The Eye

On it’s surface, Glimpsed appears to be a rather simple young adult contemporary: full of fluffy fluff and a romance designed to make you go “awwww”. But, there is more to this deceptively simple and fast-paced story which makes it such a great read to curl up with and chase away the blues (ironic, given the cover is blue!). Heartwarming and genuine, Glimpsed is a story about love and falling in love but more than that, it is about learning who you are and fulfilling your purpose in life; and, whether that purpose is what you think it is.

Plot: Deceptively Simple and Beautifully Complex

Charity has a single life’s purpose: to make dreams and wishes come true. And unlike the traditional fairy godmother we know and love from fairytales, Charity gets her calling through what she calls glimpses. In fact, this power is an inherited one but it seems to have skipped her mother and her sister, providing a source of contention within the family. These glimpses are visions of her Cindy’s (short for Cinderella) supposed future and their heart’s true desires which Charity tries her very best to make that vision come true. When she glimpses Vibha’s future as homecoming queen, it is just another day’s work. That is, until Noah crosses her path and starts to blackmail her about her magic, demanding satisfaction for a wrong he believes has been committed against him.

You see, Noah’s best friend and crush, Holly, was one of Charity’s Cindys and he never got to tell her how he felt before Charity whisked her away into the arms of another. But Noah does not agree with what Charity is doing with her fairy godmother duties and demands that she stop messing with their classmates’ lives, threatening to reveal it all unless she agrees to help him win Holly back in the right way. With no other choice in sight, Charity takes him on as an unofficial Cindy all the while, she is helping Vibha achieve her heart’s true desire. But when Vibha’s crowning becomes a disaster, Charity is forced to confront her role as fairy godmother; is it truly doing more harm as Noah suggests or is this just another setback for her to fix?

At the same time, Charity’s magic is making her sick and her family is growing more distant. Not to mention, Noah seems to be getting more adorkable the more time that they spend together. It seems like a lot to heft on a teenage fairy godmother’s shoulders but that’s what I felt was so wonderfully complex about Glimpsed. Instead of focusing solely on a romance plot which it could have and I would love it just the same, Glimpsed forces us to confront our preconceived hopes, dreams and purpose in life through Charity, making us question our intentions and our focuses in life.

But, it is also about family and looking inward rather than outward. Charity is so laser-focused on her Cindy’s lives that she ends up making herself miserable, neglecting to care about her own feelings and her self. She clings to a false hope of happiness, telling herself that it will all be okay rather than confronting the difficult emotions and truths. It was a nice contrast with Noah, challenging her beliefs in herself and the people around her. Plus, who doesn’t love a good enemies to lovers plot, am I right?

However, despite this, I would have loved for more complexity in terms of how the plot handled Charity confronting her family about her feelings of distance and needing more connection. With a family as emotionally-distant as hers, it would have been nice to take more time for Charity to connect again with her mother and sister as well as understand their emotions and feelings. It felt a little too nicely wrapped in a pretty bow.

Characters: Charity Takes Centerstage

Written from the first person point of view, it is hard for Charity not to standout but what makes Charity such a great character is how relatable she is. I often find that with YA contemporary characters, they’re so far removed from reality, it’s hard to relate to their circumstances.

Of course, Charity is a fairy godmother with magic powers and she also is a cheerleader and fairly popular in school but it is her struggles as a fairy godmother that truly resonates; at least with me. Led to believe her entire life that she is destined to be a fairy godmother and always ready to help her Cinderellas, Charity has no other goals in life which strange as it sounds, it something I struggle with very often. Being ambitious but being ambitious in the wrong way. Charity has a laser focus drive and she is single-minded in achieving her goals. She is also a high achiever in school with a reputation for being an ice princess; she has no time for romance of her own when she’s busy helping other achieve their happily ever afters.

At the same time, she is confronted with a lot of emotion in her life from her family, with a sister whom she loves but is based overseas, a mother who is too busy working to connect with her daughter and a grandmother who pushes her into being a fairy godmother; a sort of ironic situation. Until she meets Noah, that is.

Noah, on the other hand, is a direct contrast to Charity. He is a go with the flow kind of guy, a little bit all over the place with a family who dotes and adores him to embarrassment. Yet, it is a family filled with the kind of love Charity never truly experienced in her own. The beauty in this pairing is that Noah is a little misguided; the reason he strikes up this unlikely friendship with Charity is so that he can win his crush back from the arms of another man. A little toxic but very teenager of him, to believe that with enough effort and throwing himself in Holly’s path would be able to make her realise how much she actually likes him and fall in love with him. It is this flawed thinking that leads him to demand Charity stop doing the one thing that makes her fill fulfilled, which in his point of view is detrimental to others.

But, it is also his caring and kind nature that makes him stick with Charity, helping her work through the difficulties of her magic and being there for her when she needs him the most; as friends, in fact. Where Charity feels like she is never enough, he is there to encourage her to look beyond what she sees, to quote The Lion King 3, to believe that she is more than just a fairy godmother. He encourages her to never shortchange herself and to live a little. Admittedly, Noah helps Charity more than she helps him.

i’m a little teary eyed for these two, to be honest

Conclusion:

Glimpsed in a beautifully detailed book; I can’t even begin to describe just how many elements have been cleverly woven into its tapestry. We’d sit here all day with this review if I did so! From intricate cosplays and down right silly ones, TV shows, cute retro diners and a lot of falling in love, Glimpsed is one of those underrated and overlooked novels that will warm your heart and make you believe in the ways love can change you for the better. It also makes you want to believe in yourself!

WHAT I LIKED:

•To begin, I absolutely adored the premise! It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for contemporary novels with a sprinkling of magical realism & fantasy (see: Percy Jackson & The Ugly Stepsister in my blog header). I especially loved how the ways in which it touched upon real fairy lore from various world mythologies (especially the references to Morgan le Fay, who, contrary to what Magic Tree House taught you, wasn’t exactly a sweet and caring motherly figure 😂).

• Also, not that this is important or relevant in any way, but I really loved the fact that Charity’s name is a direct reference to her job as a fairy godmother (you know, charity being synonymous with goodwill and all that). I know, it’s silly for me to pick up and point out such a tiny detail, but I really think it made for a really cute semi-Easter egg 🐣💖

• In addition, I think the characters were written and crafted extraordinarily well, especially Noah. Speaking as someone who has a Trekkie as a father, I was able to pick up on a lot of the trivia (like, for example, the fact that the appearance for modern cell phones were directly inspired by the communicators used on the snow) which was really cool!! I also really liked the development of Charity and her complex family relationships (particularly between her mother and sister), as I think it added a nice dash of realism to this semi-fantasy world.

• Finally, I can’t end this review without discussing the romantic side-element to this novel! I won’t spoil who it’s with (even though it was pretty easy for me to figure it out from the cover & synopsis), but lemme just say, it was freakin’ adorable. I came out of this book with a huge smile on my face, and I couldn’t possibly ship Charity and _________ (name removed for spoiler purposes) more 😍😍😍

OVERALL:

If you’re looking for the best book to fill the the longing in your heart for more magical realism stories that Godmothered on Disney+ recently left you with, I couldn’t possibly recommend Glimpsed to you more. Perfect for fans of The Best Kind of Magic and Geekerella, G.F. Miller’s debut YA novel truly sparkles and will leave you dreaming of magic, fairy tales, and having a “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” moment of your very own.

When I started this book, I was unsure what to expect. It sounded like such a fun and unique story and it definitely lived up to my expectations.
The characters were extremely likable and definitely human. I laughed. I cringed. And I had fun.
I really don’t have any complaints about this book and was pleasantly surprised by how clean it was. (One or two uses of language.)

5/5 Stars

*I received a copy of this book from the author. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.

Quotes:
“It’s not working—I’m too overwrought. I haven’t slept in days. I’ve come to my mortal enemy for mercy. I cannot send Vindhya to school in a Godzilla costume. And the countdown to total self destruct is at T-minus ten hours. Frustration and humiliation press hard against the back of my eyes. I will myself not to cry, but my next words sound a little too much like pleading. ‘I’m sorry for being snarky before. Okay? But please. You must have something else,’”

*quote taken from ARC and subject to change.

If you are reading this book, grab a bucket of popcorn and box of tissues, this book is surely gonna take you on a ride with lots of emotions . The relationship between noah and charity is the sweetest cutest , at first they are like tom and jerry and then they are like Aladdin and genie. The characters were written in such an artistic way and i loved every bit of it, this books also potrays a dsyfunctional family and a relationship between, mother daughter , sisters and grandmother granddaughter and how together they are yet so distant . This book is a must read for all.

When your job is being a teen fairy godmother and someone has found out your secret and starts blackmailing you...what’s a girl to do? Charity is a fairy godmother, she gets “glimpses” of people’s true desires and makes it her mission to make it come true. The only rules? 1. Never reveal that she’s your fairy godmother, 2. after your wish comes true the relationship is over, 3. Do whatever Charity says. One day she receives a message telling her someones found out her secret and if she doesn’t meet them, they’ll reveal it. Cue, Noah, a geeky guy who says that Charity is manipulating, brainwashing, and destroying people’s lives and if she doesn’t grant his wish he’ll reveal her identity and then pepper-sprays her. Great start to a rom com right? Turns out one of her previous wishes she granted was for a girl Noah was in love with and Charity has to help him by making that girl break up with her boyfriend and get together with Noah. Easy peasy? Not so much. So begins a very rocky relationships, as Noah says Charity can’t grant anymore wishes and gets Charity to question whether the wishes she granted actually did any good and if being a fairy godmother actually helps anyone get what they want. The problem is that Noah can’t seem to stop surrounding Charity, they end up spending so much time together, maybe wishes change and maybe Charity will have her own wish granted for once. Besides dealing with Noah, Charity has another wish she has to grant and it is not going as well as she hopes....Throw in fake dating, snacks, hair dye, and a little magic, and what we have a pretty magical story about a fairy godmother getting her own wish granted.

The story was a rollercoaster, filled with wish granting shenanigans, hair dye mania, and of course rom com mischief. I absolutely loved Charity, she’s sweet, fierce, and always trying her best. She works so hard to try and do everything she can to make her Cindys ( cinderella’s) wishes come true, at her own cost. She doesn’t take any crap and honestly, yes queen. I initially didn’t like Noah at all, I can see where he’s coming from but the way he approaches Charity about it was a bit aggressive and he’s rude. Plain and simple rude. Though after getting to know him more and seeing just how hard he works to win over Charity, he grew on me. His family is great and Charity’s friends are amazing, Sean completely has my heart. The romance grows on you and by the end I was rooting for them so much. I had so much fun reading this book and seeing Charity grow as a fairy godmother was amazing!

A story about fairy godmothers sounds like the best thing ever, right? Well, that’s exactly how I felt about Glimpsed by G.F.Miller. This book had everything I wanted in a YA novel, and so much more. I’m so glad that the books I chose to read at the beginning of 2021 are turning out to be amazing- hope the magic stays with me throughout the year! 💕

Charity comes from a long line of fairy godmothers. By having the ability to “glimpse” into the deepest desires of the people around her, she helps others achieve their dreams, no matter what life throws at her along the way. Charity’s name fits her perfectly-being stubborn and selfless at the same time never looked so good, until I met her! Her sassy attitude made me swoon countless times. Her character had a lot of depth, layered with her struggles with abandonment, commitment, and family relationships. Happily Ever Afters don’t always turn out the way that we want them to, and there’s always more to a story than it meets the eye. Charity had to learn these things the hard way, but I’m so glad that her growth was reflected through her thoughtful actions to fix things. From being a girl obsessed with helping others out to learning how to prioritize her own needs – Charity amazed me in every way possible. 😍

Noah, our male lead was ADORKABLE. :’) He added the perfect, calming balance to Charity’s eventful life. I loved how he made Charity realize her own flaws, and showed her the way to self-love. Their witty banter was literally the best thing ever. I lived for their friendship, and then their blooming romance. The last few chapters made me melt – I NEED MORE! 😭😭😭

It’s hard to believe that Glimpsed is G.F Miller’s debut novel, given how wonderfully she wrote the story! She seamlessly merged real life with magic and gave us a refreshing, modern take on fairytales. I can’t wait to read more from her :’)

It’s only the 6th day of 2021, but I can undoubtedly say that Glimpsed has become one of my favorite YA novels of the year. If you’re looking for a book filled with fun, laughter and drama, definitely pick this one.

I read this as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours. Special thanks to Simon & Schuster Publishing for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars

Glimpsed was an incredibly fun and cute YA contemporary with elements of magical realism (it is about a teenage fairy godmother after all) and I sped through it in one sitting. I had such a good time reading this book! It gave me mild 80s/90s romance movie vibes a la “She’s All That” and “Say Anything” and as I was reading, I could see this clearly playing out like a movie in my head. There’s no doubt that Miller captures the essence of teenhood + high school so well! I liked how the fairy godmother aspect was weaved into the story and the simple explanation we got about how it worked. The plot ended up having some fun twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting but it was definitely in the best way!

I really liked our MCs, Charity and Noah. From the start, Charity’s story really pulled on my heartstrings. My heart broke for how lonely she is and how she saw herself and what she deserved–I just wanted to pull her into the biggest, longest hug! If there’s one thing I really didn’t like it was her family. They were pretty awful to her, even the person who she relied on most to be honest with her, and I felt Charity deserved so much better than their half-baked excuses and projected issues. Charity is certainly flawed but what I appreciated about her character was that she wasn’t averse to recognising her mistakes and doing the best she could to rectify them. I loved that she’s a good person, although at times she goes about it the wrong way out of a mistaken sense of purpose, she genuinely loves to help others find their HEA. I found her attitude refreshing and the personal growth that she experiences throughout the story was heartwarming!

Noah was the most ‘adorkable’ character and I loved everything about him. He was such a sweetheart and so serious about his love for Star Trek–which turned out to be a whole family love affair and it was *chefs kiss*! SO good! Although we only get small glimpses of his family and their dynamic, you could feel how much love there was between them and every time their Star Trek banter would make it on-page, I’d find myself immediately breaking out into a huge smile. Noah was a very perceptive character and I loved how he supported Charity without straying from his principles. Together they were the cutest! Theirs was a slow-burn enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance that I rooted SO hard for! Their big meet-cute had me in serious laughing fits because they were both so hard-headed and awful (not in a bad way), and it became so painfully awkward that it was hilarious. Despite their vast differences, they were truly perfect for each other and really deserved their HEA!

That said, I did have issues connecting with Charity’s relationship to others. She’s meant to be this super popular girl who sets trends and who everyone wants to be, but if the author hadn’t specifically written out those moments, I never would’ve guessed it because she doesn’t come across that way at all. She might’ve been purposefully distanced from the other characters, but I felt that it did a disservice to creating a more full character for her. This also applied to her friendship with Sean, who was one of her Cindies and who suddenly became her “best friend” despite years of not talking, and they very rarely spend time together in the book, which made all of that difficult to believe. I guess I just wanted more of a strong connection to make her character feel more real.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a feel-good YA contemporary. Reading this at the start of 2021 has definitely made me feel happier and I’m thankful for the good vibes ❤️

In the end I’m glad I gave this book a try. Miller’s writing style took some getting use to, but once I did it was quick to get through. I loved how she explored the Fair Godmother idea, along with some alternative explanations for different well-known fairytales. We don’t know much about the magic because neither do our main characters. Miller goes with that and allows us to learn along side Charity and Noah, through their geekily appropriate data collecting throughout the novel. Reading all the ways that they tracked data to figure out correlation and everything made my psych-stats brain happy.

The characters in this story I found to be a mixed bag. I connected with Noah’s geekiness and hesitation to trust the popular crowd; however, he did have his moments where he felt a little belittling/hypocritical. Charity, starting off as a Queen B/ Ice Queen sort of character, had me annoyed at first. However, she seems to have the largest character growth throughout this story and ending up being a character that I was able to connect and empathize with. I love me a hate to love trope, but add fake dating in there too and you have me hooked – I think that was where the book finally clicked with me and had me in for the long haul.

Noah’s family is extra adorable and the ideal geeky family. Charity’s family on the other hand was so distant and just felt like people who happened to know each other. That was an interesting contrast to see, and to have Clarity see and experience was an interesting point of growth with her. Her entire family is so stand-offish that seeing how another family acts, and despite everything, accepts her was a really nice touch. Most of Charity’s family I wasn’t fond of, but I did love her Memom. She was such a fun, bright character that was need to contrast her lack of close relationship with anyone else.

Miller writes character arc/growth well. Every character had their own flaws, but seemed to grow and learn from them by the end of the story. Overall, this was a fun book that I enjoyed. This would be a great book to read around September/October.

If you follow my blog, you know that I love a good fairytale retelling. When I read that G.F. Miller’s new novel Glimpsed is a modern-day Cinderella retelling from the perspective of the Fairy Godmother, I knew I had to read it. Charity is a high school student with an unusual and magical gift – she can glimpse a person’s deepest desires and can make their dreams come true. Making people’s wishes come true fills Charity with a sense of joy and purpose, that is, until one of her wish fulfillments ends in disaster. This causes Charity to question everything she has ever done – Is she really helping people or is she setting them up for failure and unhappiness in the long-term? Her feelings of self-doubt aren’t helped at all when she is confronted by Noah, a boy in her class, who says he knows what Charity does and threatens to expose her to her classmates because she ruined his life by making the girl he liked fall in love with someone else.

I really enjoyed this modern spin on the Cinderella story and especially that it focused on the Fairy Godmother who is so firmly in the background of the original tale. I also loved the exploration of whether or not granting a person’s wishes actually leads to a happily ever after. It adds so much more depth to this beloved character who never once questions that granting a wish could have ramifications that she hasn’t considered. I also really liked that even though it’s technically a retelling, Glimpsed still has a unique and fresh feel to it. It’s not just a rehashing of the story we already know.

Charity and Noah are also a huge draw for me. Their relationship starts out in such an antagonistic yet entertaining way. Even though Noah is blackmailing Charity, it soon becomes clear that he’s really just a softie and a sci-fi geek to boot. In short, he’s adorable and even though she kind of wants to strangle him, Charity soon finds herself thinking of him as a friend and then wonders if they could be more than friends. Is a Fairy Godmother allowed to have a happy ending of her own? If you want to know the answer to that question, you’ll definitely want to check out Glimpsed!

Thoughts and Themes: It took me a while to get into this story because I wasn’t really connecting to the characters right from the start. It took me a while to really begin to like the characters and want to know what happens to them. I wanted to know more about Charity’s family and their dynamic right from when you meet everyone in her family so for a while I kept reading because of that. I wanted to know if there was a reason that Charity’s mom and sister were keeping their distance, and why she was going to her grandmother for everything.

I really enjoyed this Cinderella retelling and the twist on the original Cinderella story. I liked that this story focuses more on the fairy Godmother rather than the Cindys that Charity was working on. I liked that you get a bit of the story of each of the Cindys that Charity has worked on and any that she was working on throughout this book.

I cried at the ending of this story because of how cute it all was. I don’t want to ruin the second half of the book so I can’t give too much away through my review. I really did love the way the story wrapped up though but I want more of the characters that I met through this book and their story.

Characters: While there are several characters you get introduced through their interactions with the main character, there are two main characters in this story. Charity and Noah are the two main characters that this story centers around. You get introduced to Charity’s grandmother, mother, Cindies, and friends throughout the story as she speaks with each of them or tries to get help from them.

I liked the relationships that Charity develops with others throughout this story and love the focus on friendship and family. I liked how the mystery of Charity being a Godmother unravels and how she finds out more about herself and her family.

Writing Style: This story is written through first person told through the perspective of Charity who is our main character. I thought this was great because you can see the hints of things other characters were giving off but if Charity wasn’t picking up on those things then you moved past it. Charity not picking up on a lot made it so that I wanted to keep reading to see if she would ever pick up on the things others were showing her.

G.F. Miller’s young adult debut takes the form of a sparkly, page-turning romantic comedy with a dash of fantasy thrown in for good measure.

If you thought you knew everything about fairy godmothers, think again. Glimpsed gives us a major upgrade in the fairy godmother department. Instead of a plump, motherly Cinderella type godmother with a wand, we have cool 16-year old Charity in her denim shorts and acid green hair (well, acid green when she’s in a bad mood, that is…the hair changes). Charity is popular, a pom dancer, high school trend-setter and a beauty. No wings and certainly no wands needed, she gets “glimpses” of what people desperately want in their lives and strives to help them achieve those dreams. She even has little mini-spells in the form of thought “nudges” that help pave the way for those she takes under her (metaphorical!) wing.

Charity’s job as a fairy godmother is to transform peoples’ lives for the better but it’s important she looks like an ordinary girl. So when Noah figures out Charity’s secret, that she’s no ordinary high school girl but a magical human capable of granting a heart’s desire, things get complicated…fast.

In part, this is because like any good fairy godmother, Charity wants to do good by her “Cindy’s”. But Noah points out that his life has been made considerable worse by her interference with a potential love interest of his own and when that happens, Charity is forced to take a hard look at whether her wish-granting is a good thing. It turns out that some of her Cindy’s aren’t doing so well, and this sends Charity into a crisis: does she stop performing magic? Does she ignore her calling as a fairy godmother? And how can she undo any harm she’s caused?

Noah is kind of hate-able at first. At least, I wasn’t impressed. But the strength of Miller’s writing is in her how she manages to change the reader’s mind about a few things, including Noah, who goes from being a nemesis to...oh wait, spoiler alert (I'll shut up).

As for Charity, she is a loveable character from the start, complicated and intense, clever and thoughtful, trying to do the “right” thing and discovering, as we do in life, that we can’t always know what that is.

I fell in love with Miller’s characters, her bizarre blending of the real and magical, her portrayal of Charity’s grandmother and the sheer joy and sparkle of her writing. Little quibble about how mothers are portrayed here but the ingenuity of characterisation, the plot twists and sheer inventiveness of this affectionate novel make it top on my shelves for 2021 YA. Deserving of all five stars and a little extra for the way it put me in a good mood every time I opened it.

I don't read much in the way of romantic comedy, but when I saw this description I just had to, and I'm so glad I did. Not only is it genuinely laugh out loud funny, this novel has been planned out like an exact science. The pace of the plot, the steady character development... It's really something quite special.

Charity thinks she's been doing the right thing, but when Noah shows her that actually maybe she hasn't been, he turns into an unexpected ally. The way their friendship develops and forms is genuinely wonderful, and it makes me smile just thinking back to the last few chapters.

This unique take on the magical realism side of fairy tales is one for everyone who - openly or secretly - loves a happily ever after.