To preface, I am a huge fan of Scarlett St Clair's work so when I saw that I was allowed to read this book I was jumping up and down. Loved it as I do all her other works! Just cannot wait for more and more. Pleaseee give us more re-tellings!

This was a spicy twist on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. It was a short read full of entertainment and spice. I loved the world – it was dark, gothic and enchanting filled with mythical creatures and the passion between Gesela and Casamir was on fire. I can’t wait to see what the author comes up with for the next book!

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

"Mountains Made of Glass" is the latest book from Scarlett St. Clair, the first in a series of novellas centered around fairy tale retellings. The description was what initially drew me to this story, but it unfortunately fell a bit flat for me. Due to the length of the book, there was a lack of character development and the plot felt rushed. Great premise, but would probably be more "my thing" if it was longer and some more content.

Normally I really like st.clair’s books but something about this one isn’t landing for me. I just didn’t connect with characters at all and I was so confused trying to figure out what was going on for the whole first half. It just wasn’t for me unfortunately.

I had heard good things about this author and so was eager to read this short story to get a taste of their writing. However I dnf'd and determined it isn't for me.

The character progression was too fast due to the fact it is a short story and the flow of the narrative made no sense cause everything was going so fast. It was like this was a short story based on another of their books that I should have read before reading this one.

I really liked the atmosphere the story describes and how the “retelling” party was portrayed. Only part I didn’t like was how the romance was played out. It felt like they didn’t have a full love story, like we missed pieces for them to actually fully fall in love! They didn’t have the time needed to connect. I was also upset with how they seemed to not take the situation seriously if they were so set on falling in love. If I was trying to get someone to love me, I wouldn’t call them a creature😂

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

I am so conflicted about this one. It had so much promise before I started reading it, I was so excited!

Things I liked:
- All of the fairytales that were included. It wasn’t just one, there were loads of classic fairytales all intertwined which I thought was really clever.
- I like that it was more based on the original Grimm style dark fairytales rather than the Disneyfied versions.
- The descriptive inner and outer world building.

Things I didn’t love:
- Too many graphic explicit scenes that just took away from the plot.
- The dialogue wasn’t great.
- It was quite slow moving.

Yeah…I’m just not sure how I feel about this one.

"They believed I was cursed to lose everyone I loved, and I was not so certain they were wrong."

Gesela is an outcast in her town, and the people finally cause her to draw the attention of the Elven princes who rule the nearby enchanted forest. For killing their brother, they curse Gesela to live with their seventh brother, the recluse Thorn Prince, who is also cursed unless he can find someone to fall in love with him and speak his true name. Too bad Gesela hates his guts.

We don't really see much more of the brothers after the beginning, which I'd have liked. I feel like they have a bigger part to play in this story. Being a novella, it was quite fast-paced, following the enemies-to-lovers formula at a rapid rate, resulting in just a huge smutfest towards the end.
This is not to say I didn't enjoy it. I did. I liked Gesela's jaded and acerbic nature. I liked the prince's complete lack of knowledge in the romance department. I liked how everything was awful, and curse begot curse begot curse. And yet, there was still beauty to be found.
As a sucker for a fairytale retelling, this was great. It combined elements of many traditional fairytales, where happy endings were not guaranteed.

Fans of Cruel Beauty will enjoy this one!

I really love a fairytale retelling, and the naming of all the different fairytale characters and creatures at the start of the book was very promising.
However, the story here is very thin. And though yes, it's more a novella than a novel, but still I would have liked to have a bit of plot with the spice.
The spice starts at 12% of the book and then every scene seems to be an excuse for more spice.
This book was good testing if the author is for me or not, and I can safely say it's not.

REVIEW: Mountains Made of Glass
Author: Scarlett St. Clair

Overall Rating: ✨3.75/5✨

Plot Summary: This novella is a fairytale retelling that focuses on Gesela, a woman who is kidnapped by eleven princes to be their brother's (Beast) prisoner. Gesela is not your regular heroine and this is definitely a dark fairytale retelling. Beware of triggers.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this book, understanding who wrote it and what it is. If you're looking for spice with no deep plot, this is for you. If you're looking for a deep, interesting plot that had twists and turns...then this isn't your book. The characters never really change who they are, but how they view love evolves. I actually really came to enjoy Beast's POV because Gesela is a pretty unreliable narrator due to her bitterness and distrust. The only thing I can really poo on is the instant lust. Like it's instant. And that drop me up the wall. Again, it's in the field of a dark romance so be prepared for some low level bdsm.

Favorite Quote: "At some point, if you do not love her, someone else will.”

“What do you know about love?” I countered. “All your advice has only made my creature hate me more.”

Recommendation: Yeah, if you're looking for spice and nothing too deep with a stomach for a little rough s3x, then go for it.

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for fans of fairytale retellings and st clair’s other series a touch of darkness, this book will suit you perfectly.

the world is immersive, the romance is engaging and it’s nice to read a enjoyable fantasy romance again after being disappointed by the last few i’ve read.

what a great book. I LIVE for retellings and this one was soooo good. the second I picked up this book… there was no putting it down. I loved the premise of this book and the idea that there were so many recognizable Grimm fairytale story features combined to make this story come to life. I really enjoyed the themes written into this book as well and what I enjoyed even more than that, was the spiceeee! 🫠 hate-filled lust is just 🔥🤌🏼 I truly wish this book was longer! I would have loved to see more of these characters and experience more of the thoughts and actions and even just more in-depth word-building! with that said… i was by no means disappointed with this book. I was fully immersed from page 1. overall, I was really pleased with this read! not only did I love this book… I am SO thrilled that there will be more!

Oh dear, I think I am obsessed with you Scarlett St Clair.

This is a very dark, very dirty re-telling of Beauty & the Beast. Mixed in with a little Snow White and Rumpelstiltskin I enjoyed every moment of this story and will be re-reading.

Gesela is tricked into settling a curse. She must kill a toad to save her village. Except that toad isn’t really a toad, and now she’s the 7th son’s prisoner - unless she can guess his real name. But can she stand Casamir long enough to gain any clues at all? Or will she just avoid the Beast and seal their fate??

“She makes me feel like it won’t matter if I have a name or not. So long as I know her, I will know myself.” A choked cry erupted in the silence, and I looked toward the mirror. “Are you … crying?” I asked. “Of course not,” he said, voice quivering. “I am only a mirror.”

When I read the synopsis, I was interested in reading a Rumpelstiltskin/Beauty & the Beast retelling crossover. However, I was not expecting it to be an erotic fantasy. The description does not prepare readers for the graphic sex scenes.

The pacing was fast and engaging, and I read it in 4 hours. Although it is a mishmash of other fairy tales and mythology, this is an original tale of its own. This was my first time reading St. Clair's work so I very much appreciated the Author's Note at the end that details her inspiration, process, and imagination for this book. If this does become the first in the series as mentioned in the note, I'll be intrigued to read more.

I think the romance part moved a little too fast; I would have liked a little bit more of a build up towards the characters being drawn to one another. I really liked trying to figure out which fairytales St. Clair drew from throughout the story. Very creative!

I am forever grateful to NetGalley and Bloom publishers for this beautiful heart wrenching story.

A sexual, dark and painful retelling of beauty and the beast. And he is a beast. This is the epitome of enemies to lovers. At its absolute finest. The tension, the dark raging emotions, the emotional unavailability. It all makes sense. The only thing I thought could be improved was the length of this book. I would have been perfectly happy if I had 1000 pages of this. It wouldn’t have been enough.

The story is as easy as breathing but the way Scarlett constructed this story is beyond my comprehension. It was epicccccccc and you must read it and the seggsy stuff is good. I promise.

Mountains Made of Glass is horrific, fantastical and sexy as h***. Scarlett St. Clair packed a ton into a rather small book. So many different fairytale’s and myths went into this one piece of literature, that it is hard to comprehend. By the end of this book I wasn’t sure what to think, which just left me thinking about it more and more. In my estimation, a book that you can’t stop thinking about is an excellent book indeed.

This novella is DARK. So if you are not in a place to read about death, murder, blood and some very light BDSM then this will not be the book for you. The two main characters are the definition of morally grey, they are not the most lovable, but that is what makes them interesting to me.

I ended up really enjoying this book, far more than I expected. It was so different, well researched and had exquisite writing. I will definitely be on the lookout for the next books in this Fairytale Retelling series!

Smut lovers rejoice this is a short book for you. While the plot seemed rushed at the end, the spicy factor was 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley, Sourcebooks Bloom Books, and Ms. St. Clair for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I actually really enjoyed this.

I am a big fan of the darker – almost morbid – original fairy tales. The ones with wackadoo premises and very little explanation, where strange things happen with even stranger endings. They sort of seem like the stories somebody would make up around the campfire, to thrill or chill an audience, without much preparation, and with an abrupt ending when the teller runs out of inspiration or steam. This was a lot like those stories. Gesela, our female protagonist, is forced into a well to kill a toad to end a curse. (How this should accomplish anything is a mystery and well in line with traditional fairy tales.) She doesn’t wish to kill the toad but does it anyway and is punished by being sent to live with the toad (actually an elf prince)’s youngest brother, who is ALSO cursed.

Inexplicable things happen because, well, they just do (ALSO in line with traditional fairy tales) and along the way Gesela has hate- or resentment-fueled lust for the nameless cursed elf prince. Really, this seemed exactly like one of the dark old fairy tales if the author had added a serious amount of steam/spice/sex (whatever) to it. It even had a nice gruesome happy ending. I enjoyed this a lot and look forward to reading about the other princes.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

At this point, suffice to say that I will willingly devour anything that Scarlett St. Clair writes. Whether her stories are based in Greek mythology, vampire lore, or a mash up of every fairy tale and fairy folklore that I enjoyed as a child, I'm always enraptured by her storytelling and characters.

I am so glad that Mountains Made of Glass is the first novella in a series and that we're going to get a story for all seven brothers, because I definitely need more stories set in this world. The forest is dark, it's dangerous, it's exciting. And it's where Gesela and her Elven Prince will discover the ends to a curse that plagues them both. After brief introductions to the other brothers, I'm excited to see what their kingdoms are like.

Several things kept me on the edge of my seat while reading MMOG. Trying to figure out her Elven Prince's true name right along with Gesela definitely kept me turning the page, combing through every interaction for possible clues. Despite all the hints and clues, though, I truly could not come up with the Prince's true name until Gesela did. I have to applaud St. Clair for crafting a riddle that wasn't too obvious nor frustratingly complex. I was also constantly intrigued by the back and forth between Gesela and the Prince. It was scintillating and steamy and I couldn't help but root for them from their very first interaction.

St. Clair pulled from quite a few different fairy tales for this story, and I thought she did an excellent job at combining them into one cohesive story. With so many different stories to pull from, it was impossible to know where the story would head next or what new character or creature we may encounter in the next chapter. The source material may be familiar, but the way St. Clair wove it together is not.

Overall, I loved Gesela's story of love, hope, and revenge. This was a great story on its own, but it also serves as a great introduction to the series as a whole. Once again, Scarlett St. Clair created a world I will happily return to again and again.