This second book picks up after the events of The City's Son, but the main focus of the story switches to Pen. It opens with Pen's attempts to deal with the aftermath of her trauma, but she doesn't have time to get too self-involved before she is caught up in a dangerous new turn of events in the mirror world of London-Under-Glass.

As before I was so impressed by the sheer inventiveness on display here. While Pollock doesn't quite match Frances Hardinge's singular prose, the scope of his creativity and imagination certainly approaches hers. It was no surprise to reach the end and see Hardinge's name in the Acknowledgements.

The Glass Republic is an impressive second book that easily equals the quality of the first.

I hadn't heard a lot about this series before going in, so I wasn't really sure what to expect!

This book was overall extremely unique, and that was one of its great strengths. I really enjoyed the characters in this one, and I really liked that the POV switched to Pen in this story, as I really liked her from the first book. I also really liked the concepts that the world this story takes place is built on, and it really is the style of urban fantasy that works for me. I always really like when fantasy plays with the ideas of mirrors and reflections, and the mirrorworld was fascinating because of it.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book, and I can see myself reading more by this author!

The Glass Republic is the second the series of The Skyscraper Throne by Tom Pollock, and written from Pen's point of view, you don't need to have read the first book. It will probably help with your reading of this novel, but it isn't necessary.

Well written, this novel has unique characters, though the Mirror world is an echo of an old novel I read when I was a kid about a girl whose reflection took on a life of its own.

It just didn't interest me. Which isn't to say it wouldn't interest others.

If you are looking for a truly unique take on urban fantasy, in the YA world, this is a good book to give a shot to. Magic lizards, hidden orders, girls who look like cement, it is a unique place.

I haven't read something this weird since Gaiman's Neverwhere and that's saying something! A Face Like Glass comes close and now it's interesting that this type of book can be considered a "type'. But I highly recommend it for those that like weird fiction and sci-fi/fantasy that leans a little towards the horror!

SO GOOD. One of those rare sequels that's significantly better than the first book.

Gone entirely are the things that I did not like about the first book (e.g., the tedious 1st person ramblings of Filius and his vaguely budding romance with Beth; the hamfisted yet muddled messaging regarding urban decay VS urban renewal; the lack of follow-through on important plot points). Beth's best friend, Pen Khan, was one of the stand-out characters in The City's Son, and this 2nd installment is very much her story.

This book takes place largely in "London Under Glass," the domain of the mirrorfolk introduced previously. It's a kind of alternate world within the already-alternate world of the series, which of course posits a hidden fantasy London existing as part of the "real" London. Beth still gets a few chapters on "our" side of the glass -- which is cool, because we get to see how her story continues absent Filius -- but most of the POV comes from Pen, who is still recovering from her ordeal with the... Barbed Wire, let's say. She's a complicated character (and -- as a modern teenager in London who just so happens to be from a Muslim family -- not a type seen very often in Fantasy genre or any of its subgenres) and one can understand her difficulty and alienation, and her desire for the seemingly wonderful mirrorworld. Which, she finds, has both wonders and horrors of its own.

Pollock is obviously full of ideas, and this time around he uses just as many of them as before but also manages to keep them on a tighter leash, much to the benefit of the story.

I loved this book so much. I didn't want it to end!

This was just confusing for me since I haven't read the first one

This was an amazing follow up to THE CITY'S SON. An intricate world full of action, adventure, and actual, astounding imagination. I read this in one sitting, hooked from the very beginning!

This was such a creative and innovative read. So enjoyable and constantly entertaining!

Since I haven't read the first book, I was a bit confused when the book reflected on past events, but with the strong characterization, I felt like I understood the Pen and Beth even without having read the first book. The imagery was very vivid, and I could easily picture what the author described. The action scenes seemed very fluid, and the dialogue was realistic. Since I haven't yet read the first, I stopped a ways in so that I could do so. Nonetheless, what I've read has been fascinating. Over all, I'm eager to read the first book and learn more about the characters, and I really enjoyed "The Glass Republic."

I want to preface this as well with the fact that when I requested this book I did not know it was the second in a series (oops) and I wasn't able to get my hands on a copy of the first, so I basically just looked up a few things to get the gist of where I'm starting with this one.

Thankfully, even though the world is a little complex to kinda jump into with no first-book training wheels, it didn't take too long to feel out. I know I would have been more invested with Beth's character if I'd read the first as well, but I still enjoyed her snippets in this since she is so closely linked to Pen.

Oh, Pen. I really, really enjoyed her story here and the parts of the London-Under-Glass that were reflected upon in this book. The unique perception of beauty was very interesting and well done and I'm glad Espel was there to basically give us as readers a guided tour of all the things surrounding this aspect at the same time educating Pen.

SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT

Their relationship as well was very well written and felt very natural between them. I'm just hoping it doesn't end up falling victim to the trope of no gay happy endings because one of them dies in the next book. I'm glad that the little conversation of whether Pen falling for Espel meant that Pen is "into girls" and Pen saying it means she is "into her". It felt honest and doesn't erase the fact that she might be bisexual or even pansexual. Which is fine, because maybe she doesn't​know the full spectrum of her sexuality yet and that's fine.

I'm definitely interested in reading the next installment and will continue to try to get my hands on a copy of the first. A+ World, A+ characters, A+ action/story.

Admittedly, I didn't read the first book, which meant as I read this book I realized it was essential that I did. I read on and found myself utterly lost, confused and if someone asked me what the book was about I'd have grimaced and scratched my head as I did my best to sum it up.

That was my fault, partially. It's not written in a way to give you a glimpse of what happened in the prior book.

I still don't grasp the entire story, but what I did come to learn is that this book is about Pen, a disfigured teenage girl who knows the truth of the world - that there is another world behind the mirrors. The Mirrorstocracy. Something happens to her mirror-sister [her reflection,] and Pen is willing to do whatever it takes to get her back, even make a dangerous deal.

The world aspect to the book is really amazing. Detailed, its own entity and the oddities and laws of the world versus the harsh and cruel reality of the world we live in. I have to applaud Pollock for his world building and the developments because he breathed a life into the world behind the mirror.

As far as the characters went I found myself wanting more from them. I became confused and often between Pen and Parva - they're mirror-sisters but I kept having to remind myself who was who and who was from where. It also didn't help that all of their personalities were interchangeable and maybe that was what stopped me from truly connecting with the characters, or maybe it was because I missed the first book, whatever it was there was a disconnect for me.

The overall idea was so unique and weird, a little creepy but delightful! I just wish I could have gotten into this story more than I did. I believe fans of Gaiman, Pratchett, and Carroll - or basically all things creeptastically adventurous would enjoy this.

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

Pen's been through hell and back with the scars to prove it. All for her best friend Beth, who dragged her into a world of spirits, deities and monsters. When her mirror sister Parva, forged from her reflections in a school bathroom mirror, goes missing Pen determines to track her down - no matter the cost! She pays the price to enter London-Under-Glass and must trade her most valuable commodity her scars to find answers.

First off, I didn't read the first book. Since this was an ARC I was thrown into the world without any backup. I thought the book blurb so fascinating I requested the book anyway!! I didn't make a mistake though I was almost totally lost during Beth's parts. I did suss out what was happening by the end but really I was totally reading for Pen. I found her scars and the mirror sister totally intriguing and very creepy.

"...learned as much as she could about the mirrorstocracy and their city behind the mirrors. The girl on the other side of the glass had come from her—she was composed of all the infinite reflections of her that had been caught between the two mirror... Pen and Parva had diverged from that moment in time like beams of refracted light; now Parva had her own feelings, her own life..."



I found my self intrigued then almost immediately I was drowning. I totally didn't get Beth's world. It felt heavy and hard to follow. I feel like that must be because there are certain assumptions about what I know and so minimal setup was used in reestablishing that world. I didn't really get Beth and Pen's relationship though I understood Beth is going through grief and massive body changes and Pen is resentful toward the world Beth loves so much as it gave her, her horrible scars. I totally fell for London-Under-Glass once we entered it at about 25% and mysteriously Beth's scenes also became quite fascinating and more understandable after that point.

The world of London-Under-Glass was so fascinating! I loved this idea that the people idolized Parva due to the scars that Pen had endured in the previous book! It is such a switch of the idea of beauty! The preceptiture or rain of slate and brick is so fascinating and the face mirroring shines such a perspective on our own focus on beauty. The idea of the eye device to find tiny bits of reflections was a very cool way to focus the world around Parva. I also thought the idea of the IDs was torturous and very cool in a brutal sort of way. As were the different things characters from London-Under-Glass did to their faces due to debts. The steeplejill Epsel is quite refreshing in the heavy world, I like how she was used to explain stuff in a very organic way.

From my understanding of Beth, I wasn't surprised at the relationship between Pen and Espel. This is nothing if not a modern story. For another writer Espel would have been a male, but in the mirrored world it made sense to me that Pen would love a woman. I'm not sure it fit their back history at all but for the traumatized Pen it made sense (and frankly Espel was the character she spent the most time with so it makes some kind of sense that that is who she fell in love with!) I liked that Pen chose to tell the truth in the end but felt it would be more realistic for Pen to lose something for the telling. Unfortunately that is how life is and it made the modernity of the story fail at this point.

The plot was not as fluid as I'd have liked. I didn't see the sense of Pen's decisions, they seemed to have a random sort of reasoning to them that fit where the author wanted the story to go. As a result it was hard to like Pen. The plot was definitely interesting especially as it pertained to the world and showing us something new about it. For example, I really liked the characters Cray and Jack but we only saw them momentarily. It was almost like the reader would mistake them for love interests if one of them lingered in the story too long. Hence we only get two cool stories about them. Both of these guys showed us an aspect of the world that added a lot and made them a likable addition to Pen's story. The cement men were also very cool creatures that added a lot of intrigue in the later part of the book. Finding Parva was certainly a highlight of the book and actually quite sad but almost perfect too.

BOTTOM LINE: The world is worth delving into and Pen takes you on a grand tour...