Pure Imagination

Title: Magic Under Glass
Author: Jaclyn Dolamore
Reading Level: Young Adult
Received From: Publisher
IBSN: 9781599904306
Blurb:
Nimira is a music-hall performer forced to dance for pennies to an audience of leering drunks. When wealthy sorcerer Hollin Parry hires her to do a special act – singing accompaniment to an exquisite piano-playing automaton, Nimira believes it is the start of a new life. In Parry’s world, however, buried secrets stir. Unsettling below-stairs rumors abound about ghosts, a mad woman roaming the halls, and of Parry’s involvement in a gang of ruthless sorcerers who torture fairies for sport. When Nimira discovers the spirit of a dashing young fairy gentleman is trapped inside the automaton’s stiff limbs, waiting for someone to break the curse and set him free, the two fall in love. But it is a love set against a dreadful race against time to save the entire fairy realm, which is in mortal peril.

My Thoughts:

Nimira left her home country to make her fortune. She ended up dancing for pennies in a nightly show. When a young sorcerer asks her to come to work for him, she will learn things she never thought she would. Lies, deceit, treachery, and love.

Who would of thought that you could fall in love with a automaton? I didn’t. I seem to be falling in love with all kinds of strange characters lately. Polar bears, now automatons. The fact that I was able to fall for a machine that does not even speak through 95% of the book shows great talent in the author. I’m sure this was not a simple story to write. The author had to make us feel a certain way about these characters or else the whole plot would have fallen apart. It was done wonderfully. I loved Nimira, Erris and even Hollin, though he walked a very thin line between hero and villain through most of the book. All of the charcters were perfectly written and each brought something unique to Nim’s story.

I absolutely love the world that Dolamore has created. It is so very vivid in my mind. I want to go there. I want to see Hollin’s estate and walk in the gardens. I could see it all perfectly. Dolamore is going to be a well known voice in the YA world very soon. With her excellent characterization and world building Magic Under Glass is a treat! 4 Stars!

Thursday, December 24th, 2009, 11:00 AM   |   Fantasy, Jaclyn Dolamore, Young Adult  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback