Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!

I love fairy tale retellings, especially ones that really create a world for the story to exist in. This did not do that. Gesela lives in a village where everyone is cursed? There’s an evil sheriff and the fae live nearby (?) and are the worst. Also, the mountains can talk? Idk. Basically everything has a consciousness and wants to harm/kill/exploit you. The characters seem to have no motivation or thought behind their actions and constantly contradict themselves. Example: Gesela says she’s not going to kill the frog, just trap him, and then immediately smashes his head in. Gesela hates Casamir, spends all her time despising him, and then desperately lusts after him despite saying she wants nothing to do with him. I hated the instalust element, particularly when Casamir was so incredibly disgusting with how he treated Gesela and honestly viewed her as a toy rather than a person. All of their interactions involved him propositioning her, having sex, harming her in some way, and/or her dramatically announcing “I hate you” while putting her clothes back on. I don’t think marriage is going to fix their problems.

I feel like I hate read 90% of this book and foolishly hoped things would get better—it did not.

This was my first Scarlett St. Clair book and it was such a fun ride. I’ll be honest and say I’m fairly new to the fantasy romance genre but I really enjoyed this. It being a fairytale retelling was also very cool to see and reading her authors note at the end about where she pulled all her inspiration from was so interesting. The illustrations included were also a huge bonus that I loved every time I came across them.
With this being a short read I just found myself wanting so much more! I would’ve loved to delve more into Gesela and Casamir’s relationship and have more development. But I very much enjoyed the moments we did get. I also really loved some of the side characters and the dialogue they shared with Casamir.
If you love darker fairy tale retelling, spice and fantasy you will absolutely love this quick read! Can’t wait for the rest of the brothers books as well.
*Thank you NetGalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I feel like I waited forever to read this and when I finally did it did not disappoint at all! I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars!

My biggest problem with this book is its lenght. I do genuinely think my enjoyment level of this book would have increased significantly if this was just shorter. As my biggest problem with this book was its complete lack of depth. I liked the plot, but there wasn't really any depth to it. The characters weren't completely developed either, and the romance was very underdeveloped as well. Most of the romance developement was actually just sexual attraction, and I just need more than that to fully root for romances. I, however, did quite like the writing and all the fairytale refferences. The world also seemed quite interesting, so I'm not fully against reading more from this world. So yeah, in conclusion there were a lot of nuggets of goodness in here but it just didn't fully work for me. The only thing I truly did not like is how aggresive this book got in its sexual moments. I don't know. It just wasn't my thing AT ALL.

This is definitely an NSFW book. I have no problem with heavily erotic novels—I’ve ready Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty amongst others—but I wanted to preface this with that little caveat. That said, this is some hot hot heat.

Basic Plot ,Beauty and the Beast retelling: Elven king is cursed, the only way to break the curse is for someone to guess his name and say it out of love. Woman is trapped in a situation she doesn’t want to be in, accidentally kills another elven king (oops) while trying to break a curse, gets taken by the brothers of the dead and cursed elven kings, and they make her the prisoner of the cursed one. Presumably so she can break the curse, but also because they are assholes and want to torture their brother, possibly.

That’s the basic plot. Obviously our heroine wants to make her way home. She has trauma. She is part fae, which isn’t great when you live amongst humans, but may be worse if you hate fae because that means you kind of hate yourself. At the same time, there’s an undeniable sexual attraction between the Thorn King and our Geselda, the heroine. Like, major heat. A million Scoville. And it doesn’t help that everyone seems super horny all the time around the palace, and those who aren’t are either tiny pixie jerks or are spreading around magic lust dust to make everyone else feel hot and heavy in all the right places.

Now, given the above, this could go incredibly wrong and super corny/gratuitous, or it could go very well. Luckily for us, we’re talking about St. Clair, here. Author of Adrian x Isolde (King of Battle & Blood). She knows how to handle a hot scene, and she writes the shit out of it in this book. Like, woah. I honestly dug the whole thing. Had to drop my kindle a few times to keep from getting my fingerprints burned off. Honestly, can’t wait for the next one. Really hope theirs a next one. This was well worth the super sleepless night, and my spouse would agree.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and Sourcebooks for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest (too honest?) review. I had already purchased it, but I was still grateful for the chance to review it more formally for NG 😉 Posting 5/9/23

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This fairy tale was amazing and a very quick read. I loved trying to figure out which fairytales the author drew inspiration from. My only complaint is I wish it had been a longer story.

I once again made the mistake of not reading into what this story really was. I thought it was just a retelling of Beauty and the Beast with some elven lore thrown in for good measure. While it started off this way (and I really enjoyed the start) it quickly became obvious that this was a 'spicy' read. Despite this, I really enjoyed this retelling and the link to folktales.

I haven't read Scarlett St. Clair's work before and have always wanted to. The cover initially grabbed my attention as did the plot summary. Unfortunately, I felt like this one was a little too much sex and not enough plot for me. I know a lot of people don't mind that so I'm sure others will love. I just think there is so much good fantasy out there right now that this fell a little flat. But I'd love to try another book of the authors in the future.

7/10

I have very different feelings about this, I mean... this was ok, even good in some ways, alas not close in another, and took me too long to read too short.

Beauty and the Beast PLUS Grimms' Tales PLUS some kind
of Alice in Wonderland, but don't count on it much PLUS typical Clair Dark Erotica.

Casamir, the prince of Thorn, a beautiful and magnificent fae alas has been cursed by the Glass Mountains. When Gesela accidentally also brutally killed one of the seven brothers, the other five send her to the cursed brother to may break it by learning the real Casamir’s name.

“There is always a curse, always a choice,”

The beast’s realm, I mean Casamir’s realm, The Kingdom of Thorn is quite a thing, with hot Selkie, goblins who love blood, fairies here and there, Wolf the raven, and Enchanted forest.

Gesela hates his jailor but this wouldn't stop her from wanting to fuck him, what was that, ah... passion and pleasure in hate!

Give it a chance if you enjoy enemy-to-lover, duel POV, short and harsh stories. I'll probably read the second book, this world and the Brothers have potential, but I really hope the next be more engaging.

Many thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books via NetGalley for giving me a chance to read the first book of Fairy Tale Retelling, Mountains Made of Glass by Scarlett St. Clair, my review is honest and my own.

It was a sweet-and-spicy fairytale retelling! Love how easy the plot flows, like all St Clair's books. I really enjoyed how atmospheric and fairytale-ish the setting were. LOVE how clueless Casamir and Gesela (and how hopelessly in love they are). Will there be more books in this series? Looking forward to read!

Mountains Made of Glass was the perfect amount of fairytale, horror and romance. I loved this story from start to finish. Do I wish it was a full length novel? Yes. Will I read the rest of the series? ABSOLUTELY

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

A quick, gothic and atmospheric fairy tale retelling that I enjoyed! It's like a quick fix if you're ever looking for something (with a bit of spice) to fulfill that fairy tale craving!

This book was okay. I keep giving Scarlett St. Clair a chance and I keep being disappointed. I really like fairy tale retellings but this one just fell for me. I felt the story was disjointed bringing too many disparate stpries together. I also didn't buy the main character's development.

This was just alright. It was very middle of the road fantasy for me. I do like this author and will continue to pick up their works.

2.5 I'm a huge fan of dark fairy tales and I definitely those vibes and atmosphere I was hoping for. The beginning really captured my attention with a cursed town and the protagonist/outcast who had to battle a curse. I really liked the different trials that the town went through and the twists the author put on familiar fairy tales. The prince's castle is also wonderful and filled with a variety of dangerous and tricky creatures. Unfortunately, the romance in this fell flat for me. It didn't seem like the characters truly cared about each other, they just had physical urges (a lot and bordering on consensual or at least hate filled). As most of the plot is focused on the romance, my rating went down, but I know it was also just not my kind of romance; I wanted more of the quests, castle, and mountains. For it being a short novella, the author provides a very full plot and a lot of action and readers looking for a spicy story with dark fae and fairy tale vibes may enjoy this!

Thank you Source Books and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Warning: mild spoilers ahead

You lost me when the main character, Gesela, popped into a fae prince's home who was kind of kidnapping her but wait, he's also sexy and is aroused by a random stranger popping up out of nowhere and Gesela is scared but also horny and I'm confused as to how it suddenly became a smut but also disturbingly similar to s*xual assault? It defies all logic and I simply cannot read anymore.

I recommend this book to people who like sexy scenes and don't mind if it doesn't really make any sense.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Side note: I really started struggling whenever Gesela was trying to save the frog but then in a fit of high emotions (?) ended up murdering it instead. Like huh

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Oh wow what a great novella this was, I read it in one sitting and devoured it! The author has reworked a few fairy tales into this story with great skill. It’s easy to adore both the main characters and root for them from the beginning. Great pacing, storytelling, enemies to lovers in a whirlwind fantasy tale. Can’t wait to read the others!!

Gesela’s village has been cursed time and time again and, each time a villager is chosen to break one of the curses, something terrible happens. When the village well goes dry, it’s Gesela’s turn to break the curse by killing the toad that lives at the bottom. Of course, nothing is as it seems in fairytales, and the toad was really one of the seven Elven princes of Fairyland under a curse of his own. As punishment, the other princes banish her to live with their seventh brother, the one they call “the beast”.

Gesela expects to be thrown into a dungeon by a monster, but instead is offered a deal: guess the beast’s true name in 7 days and she will be free. But, of course, in order to free him of his own curse she must also fall in love with him.

Although that last part looks a lot like a Beauty & the Beast retelling, this short story really managed to blend in and reference a bunch of different fairytales, which I really enjoyed. As a retelling, it was perfect.

As a romance, however, I felt like it was too much. The moment their eyes meet they’re already lusting for each other. I know it’s a short story, but it needed a little more slow burn to actually work and feel like the romance had a minimum foundation. We could’ve dropped a few of the hate-fucking scenes and added a little more substance to the romance and the story as a whole. At least spend a day together before pinning for each other, people.

That being said, it did grip me and managed to make me want to keep reading, which unfortunately isn’t something very common these days. The fact that it is a short story made it so that there couldn’t be dull moments and I really enjoyed reading it. I look forward to reading the stories on the other 6 brothers if they are short and quick like this one.

I really like Scarlett St. Clair's „Touch of Darkness“ series and that's why I was dying to read her new book. The blurb and the mixing of the many different fairy tales just sounded very interesting and I was curious how the author would implement it without losing track of all the different fairytales. Unfortunately, I sometimes had the feeling that everything was a bit much. A few times I had lost the overview while reading and some things were dealt with in a rushed manner. It was extremely noticeable that this book was only a little over 200 pages.

There were many different tropes in the book and anyone who likes enemies to lovers and spicy retellings will get their money's worth here. There isn't too little of that. Gesela was my favorite character in the book. She was tough, had strength and didn't give up, no matter how difficult the situation was. The love story in the book had an absolute Insta Love feeling but I could absolutely relate to the two pages.

Mountains made of glass was a nice, spicy book for in between and fans of Scarlett St. Clair will definitely enjoy the book.

I mean, I'll always love creepy, spooky fae. This was a little too short for me to be super invested in the characters, but I'm interested in seeing where it'll go in the future.