Gesela accidentally kills an elfen prince and as punishment his brethren send her to live with their seventh brother, one they call the Beast. Turns out he’s a beauty with a beastly personality. They strike a deal for her freedom if she can guess his true name in 7 days.

A fairy tale retelling but have it written by Scarlet St. Clair so of course it is spicy. It’s a novella so it’s super short and a quick read. There’s some digging into the world itself before the heat begins. So, I should like this. But, no. Absolutely not. Gesela is referred to by the Prince as the creature. Could you imagine your partner referring to you as “creature?!” Oh I’d become a creature alright.
The characters strike a bargain that basically amounts to sexual favours for a lesser jail sentence and she eventually starts falling for him. Some might say this is a smutty Beauty and the Beast loose retelling (which the author insists it is not) but neither character had any sort of growth because there wasn’t really a plot. The characters just constantly ended up back where they started. I was left questioning absolutely everything about the bargain, the characters’ actions, their feelings towards one another. Absolutely none of it seemed logical to me.

I can’t really fault the characters for instant love in a novella this short, it is impossible to feel anything less, but their instant love didn’t make sense. If I encountered either of these people I’d run for it. They are horrible! They are called creature for a reason! I think the book was trying to say that there is someone for everyone and that people can love you for your flaws but I think I might also be going deeper than this book intended.

There was no romance so if you go into this expecting what you get from her previous authors you might be just as confused as I was. I mostly enjoy all her previous works and will continue to read them but this one just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Bloom Books for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am in love with Scarlette St. Clair and her beautiful writing,
This small book did not disappoint,I was immediately in love with all the men (of course)
I absolutely love the fae world and I am glad she is diving in that universe.
I will be listening to the audio when it does come out.

I think Scarlett St. Clair might not be for me. I love retellings, and I love that she writes them. The world building and concept of this story are really good, and I loved that it had that dark, almost spooky atmosphere of old fairytales. BUT. Everything just felt so rushed. Not quite a full book, but more than a novella. I was fine with the MMC calling the FMC "creature" at first, but it got to be too much. I liked this book just fine, but it didn't wow me as much as I was expecting.

Easy to read Fantasy with the St Clair flare we all know and love, spicy! I will admit most world building novels are an instant DNF for me, and the glossary at the beginning made me nervous that this was going to be heavy world building. Even though this is a short novel, I found myself finishing this book so fast, and not wanting it to end! Such is the disappointment for such short books. Something I really enjoyed was the beautiful illustrations throughout the book! That always is a major plus. I believe if you enjoy the ACOTAR series, but wanted more spice, you will immediately fall in love with the characters and beautiful world St Clair builds ♥️

A fairytale retelling.. but with so many different story references! I read this in one sitting and would definitely recommend it! I loved how all the little details interspersed throughout the story were from various fairytales instead of it being from one story.

Thank you so much netgalley for the chance to read this book early! I’ve read other books by this author and really enjoyed them so was super excited for this one! It all started with a curse and can the curse be broken in time!? I liked this book a lot and the fact it had a lot of spicy scenes in it like yes please! I read this one in almost one sitting I couldn’t put it down.

✨Received this as an ARC from Net Galley! ✨

I have accepted that this author is not for me, will never be for me, and that's okay.

The book is just smut with flimsy plot wrapping paper around it.

The word and phrase repetition was constant. I felt each chapter had a very circular structure which always resulted in the prose looping back over itself so that you were aways right back to where you started, never truly progressing in any genuine way. You could skip over chapters and not really miss anything.

The cringe of this manz calling the love interest "his creature" triggered my gag reflex. Period.

If you like sex without plot, character building, and any true stakes; this is for you.

Scarlett St. Clair revealed n her author notes that she’s writing six more stories for the six other Elven Princes. I am ready to read them all. Though this particular story wolves various fairytales and elements into it I did not recognize any of them. That’s not to say that I did not enjoy the story. I did. The idea of being prisoner to a brooding, sexy elven Prince doesn’t seem like a punishment to me. Gesela was miserable at first but that changed as the story progressed. Let’s just say that after a while she started to have a lot of fun. Also, a big shout out to NetGalley for allowing to read this story. I truly enjoyed it.

I adore fairytale retellings, and Scarlett St. Clair did her research for this one. She wove all the traditional elements into a story reminiscent of the original fairytales without rehashing the specifics of one particular one. I think she did a great job. Concise and to the point, she delivered a great story from start to finish. It was an easy, fast read. I wasn’t a big fan of the hate lust personally, I liked Gesele as a character, but I felt the Elven Prince wasn’t as well developed. And the love story didn’t really ring true to me. Lust, desire and sex does not constitute love in anyone’s book, fairytale or not. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for the rest of the series. A solid 4 stars. Super excited to get to read an advanced copy from NetGalley, this is my dream genre.

* Arc for review*
Lots and lots of words but not much story. I keep trying this author because the premise always sounds good. But more often than not, the books don’t work for me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book! This short fairytale retelling was equal parts romance and dark homage to the original stories, filled with dark, dangerous creatures only looking out for themselves. I generally love romance books with a fantasy twist and Scarlett St. Clair's work in general. I was thoroughly entertained by the references to more traditional stories that don't have the nicest endings and not everyone is a prince in shining armor.

Despite having heard all about St. Clair's well known Hades x Persephone series, this is the first book of hers that I have read. Of course, a well known author can come with a lot of hype and expectations. I wasn't disappointed! This was a very fun, spicy, and bloody fairytale retelling that took inspiration from all sorts of fairytales and mashed them all together. It was super fun to spot all the different folklore that St. Clair wove through the story. Despite being a shorter length book, the emotional relationship of the two main characters progressed in a relatively believable way in consideration of the genre. Definitely insta-lust, but not insta-love. I hope that this book is the first in a series because I definitely want to hear more from this world.

I am always pulled in by a fairytale retelling but just wasn’t getting into this one. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Mountains Made of Glass is the first book in a new fantasy romance series by author, Scarlett St Clair. The story draws inspiration from a range of sources including a range if fairy tales, the main ones being Beauty and the Beast and Rumplestiltskin. It took a little to get into but then I felt fully invested in the plot and outcome. This book is a bit of fun, a guilty pleasure story and fantastic escapism. The romance is fast paced and there are plenty of steamy scenes for those who like that kind of thing. The author really nailed this twisted dark fairytale. Perfect for fans of fantasy romance. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this one.

The creepy fairytale vibe was fun, but this book only works if you are horny beyond all rational thought, and that was...not me this month, let's just say!!

How beautiful this book by Scarlett St. Clair! A fairy tale that draws many of its elements from fairy tales - more or less famous - of our childhood and from Irish folklore, but this does not mean it lacks originality, on the contrary, the plot is completely new, it is not a re-telling of a story already read. There are cruel Fae princes, humans being taken prisoner by them, toads that aren't toads, magic mirrors (in this case, the comical element of the situation! The scenes featuring the mirror are really hilarious), wardrobes spitting out beautiful clothes upon request, golden apples, secret names, agreements that always have a price and – given that the story is written by Scarlett St. Clair anyway, many very spicy scenes, some even too much (in a couple of cases we get closer to the vulgar than to spicy). The evaluation is only 4 stars instead of 5 for only one reason: the brevity of the story - more than a novel I would define it as a short novella - which negatively affects both plot and characters, which could have been deepened a little more, telling us something more about their background and the history they lived to get to where we met them. All in all, however, it is promoted!

I had a little trouble getting into this one at first because the world is SO bleak and the beast is so awful in the beginning. Because it's a novella, I had to suspend a little bit of disbelief in terms of Gesela falling in love with him, but the spicy scenes were great, and the worldbuilding is top-notch. This is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast that mixes in a lot of other fairytales and mythologies, which makes it a pretty unique premise. If you like stories about the Fae, this is definitely one you should add to your list.

Well, I loved this. It's short and sexy, and I really liked our two leads. I'd love more stories of the other brothers, histrom-style. Give me a whole series. Bonus points for the blunt brutality that a fairytale should is right to have.

⭐️: 3/5
🌶️: 🌶️🌶️

This was such a short, fast paced & steamy retelling! I still can’t decide if I enjoyed it or not. I feel like there was a lot missing! I know it’s a short novella retelling but it lacked so many details I really wanted! I think if it would’ve been like 40 pages longer or so it would’ve been perfect.

It’s definitely an instant love kinda thing so if you’re not into that this isn’t the retelling for you 😂 it’s also a dual POV and easy to tell who is narrating in each chapter but they’re not labeled as such and that really bothered me. But that’s a personal preference.

And I love the ending 😂 I was hoping for something like that to happen. I love a good HEA!!

Thank you sourcebooks bloom books, NetGalley & Scarlett St. Clair for sending me this ebook in exchange for my honest review!

Mountains Made of Glass is the first book in Scarlett St. Clair's newest series, Fairy Tale Retelling. As the series title lets you know, it is all about fairy tales but with Ms. St. Clair's spin on them. In this first book, she tackles Beauty and the Beast.

Ms. St. Clair does not just retell the tale as old as time. In Mountains Made of Glass, she also plays around with the story of Rumpelstiltskin. And she doesn't stop there. Showcasing her love of all things mythical and fantastic, you will also see Slavic and Irish creatures appear throughout the story. When Ms. St. Clair retells a fairy tale, she makes it uniquely hers.

The essential Beauty and the Beast story remains intact in Mountains Made of Glass. A young woman must stay in the mansion of the Beast until he releases her. There are no talking teapots, but we do have a magic mirror and a delightfully snarky brownie named Naeve. The Beast has to make the girl fall in love with him to break a curse. Yada, yada, yada.

The changes Ms. St. Clair brings to the tale add a layer of complexity to this simple tale. For one, the Beast in Mountains Made of Glass is an elven prince. Except, one could make the argument that the Beast could also be the heroine, Gesela. Both are fiery, fiercely independent, easily angered, and downright nasty around other humans. Both are beautiful, and both are beastly. More importantly, they both need something from the other to escape their individual curses.

It wouldn't be a novel by Scarlett St. Clair if it weren't spicy, and here too, Ms. St. Clair does not disappoint. In fact, I think she has a lot of fun torturing her two characters in that regard, as both are too proud to cede any iota of control to the other. What I appreciate the most, however, is not the sensual torture but the fact that no matter how desperate they are to have at each other, they both take the time to obtain consent. It's a little thing, but it means so much in the battle against rape culture.

At 219 pages, Mountains Made of Glass is a fast and fun read. I found it particularly fun to see the changes Ms. St. Clair wrought in this famous tale while maintaining some of the humor from the Beast learning what it is to be human and feel something other than anger. After whipping through this first book and thoroughly enjoying myself, I look forward to seeing what other fairy tales Ms. St. Clair plans to retell in this series.