The Glittering World - Robert Le... This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

I liked parts of this book quite a bit but as a whole this book didn't work for me. It wasn't a book that I really looked forward to listening to and I found it really easy to set aside. In most cases, I would be able to listen to an audiobook of this length in about a week. This one took me about three times as long. I skipped days of listening while working on this audiobook and actually started it over several times because the story just never grabbed me.

When I first read the blurb, I was really excited to read this book. Ancient beings, modern day fairy tale...what's not to love? I did like the overall concept of the story but the way that everything came together just fell a bit flat to me. The story is told from four different perspectives. Each voices tells a section of the book and once their part is over the story moves on to another perspective. I would really start to feel comfortable with a character narrating the story and then we would move on to someone else. I think that I would have liked it better if the points of view alternated or if the story was told from just one of two points of view.

The biggest problem that I had with this book is that I found it to be less exciting than I thought it should be. I was really pretty bored for most of the story which should have never happened. I think that a lot of thought was put into every sentence in this book and I could admire how the words came together but I found myself losing the story in the words at times. I had to really force myself to focus or I would find my mind drifting away from the story.

I liked the narration of the audiobook. This was this first time that I have listened to an audiobook narrated by Edoardo Ballerini and I would definitely listen to his work again. I thought that he did a great job in demonstrating a wide range of emotions during the story. The way he delivered some of the more supernatural portions of the book really added to the overall story.

In the end this was a book with some high points that was less than satisfying for me. I do think that a lot of readers will really enjoy this story especially if they like supernatural stories featuring changelings and the fae. I wanted to fall in love with this book but it just didn't happen.

I received a copy of this book from the author for the purpose of providing an honest review.

Initial Thoughts
Finally! I feel like I have been listening to this book forever. I am really just glad to be done so that I can move on to something else. I had a hard time getting into the story and actually had to start over a couple of times because I would set it aside and forget everything about it. There were some parts of the story that I did enjoy. This will probably be either a 2 or 3 star read after I have some time to let it fully sink in.

Honestly, and it truly pains me to say this, this book is rather boring. Packed in such a stunning cover, you'd expect The Glittering World to be full of magical shimmer. Instead, it's a very confusing story, told from multiple view points, centering around some very unattractive Fae. I'm all for taking a convention, and turning it on its head. I've read about Fae who were gorgeous, those who were deadly, and every combination in between. In this case, I just couldn't get behind the premise. When you're promising me that a character is utterly intoxicating to those around him, and his true form is described in manner that makes me think of a horror movie, you've got to give me more than that. My mind just wouldn't accept that this was a possibility.

 

When I was first introduced to Blue, Jason, Gabe and Elisa, I had high hopes. Each of them felt like such free spirits, but with their own demons lurking underneath. I hoped to delve into their lives before the magic of the book took hold. Alas, after only a few chapters, it felt like an entirely different book. Blue's story took a dark, and confusing turn. A bunch of information was thrown at me, all at once, about his past. Suddenly, things were jumbled. Gabe felt crazy. Jason felt overbearing. Underneath all of that was this disconnect between the magic that the book kept promising, and the story that was actually being told. I finished this and sat still for a good 10 minutes afterwards, simply trying to digest everything. To be honest, I'm still lost.

 

I say this a lot, but it's just as true here as it has been every other time, books shouldn't be compared to other books in their synopsis. I picked this up because the synopsis pulled me in with its promise of Neil Gaiman-esque writing. That was false. Gaiman weaves worlds that make you a part of them. This story held me at arms length the entire time.

The Glittering World was a book that I chose to read solely for the cover. Yes, it was pure cover love for me. I then read the blurb and for some reason I thought it has going to be a dark fairy tale. I was in the mood for some adult fantasy, so I had to check it out.

The Glittering World is the story of 4 friends, Blue, Elisa, Jason and Gabe, who travel from New York to Cape Breton to sell a house that Blue inherited from his grandmother. What they thought was going to be a cool road trip between friends turns out to be the you could say trip of their life time. Shortly after arriving to the house and getting acquainted with the locals, Blue remembers secrets from his past that help him discover who and what he really is. Dun dun dun! The trip then gets complicated after Blue and Elisa mysteriously disappear. Jason and Gabe are left with the mission to find them. As they search for them, the mysteries that lay behind below an abandoned artists’ colony are unveiled.

After reading the first two chapters I was hooked and intrigued. Blue seemed like a tortured soul. The introduction to his character and his woes was good. I didn’t understand why this was so important because I wanted the fairies or whatever strange creatures this book was going to be about to pop up. I was anxious for fantasy.

I kept reading and it got weird but in good way. The author had me with the creepy dark luminous fairies. As the story progressed it got creepier and darker. The plot is divided into 4 parts. Each part is narrated by one of the four main characters, starting with Blue, then Jason, followed by Elisa and it ends with Gabe. Since part two I was dying to know Gabe’s side of the story. I thought it had to be creepy weird, and I wasn’t wrong.

The Glittering World was a confusingly addictive adult read. It is an utterly wild ride. Strange, gross at times and different from everything I’ve read. It is a fast paced read that you can’t put down. I would describe it like a maze, once you get in on one side, you can’t go back. You just have to keep going until the end. You might get disoriented and or lost inside it, but once you start it, you can’t stop until you get out of it.

I liked this book and gave it 3 stars. I didn’t give it a higher rating for the reasons I state in the full review on my blog.

 

 

 

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DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

I received an Electronic copy of this book but was not financially compensated in any way nor obliged to review. The opinions expressed are my own and are based on my personal experience while reading it. This post contains affiliate links.

When Blue's grandmother dies, she leaves behind a legacy for him. He has lived his life in America, and doesn't even remember the five years he spent in an isolated Canadian community, his, mother a, member of an artist's commune and his grandmother a God-fearing pillar of Starling Cove. When he travels back to look at the property she has left him, he takes his friends Gave, Elisa, and her husband Jason. When they arrive however, nothing is as it seems and their lies begin to unravel.

 

This book has earned comparisons to Neil Gaiman's Ocean at the End of the Lane. While I can understand that, it is not the first book of which I was reminded. It put me much more in mind of Keith Donahue's The Stolen Child. The themes were incredibly similar, and cannot help but invite comparison. Unfortunately, beyond the themes and the underlying darkness, the comparison to both stop there. While those books were dazzling and grabbed me right from the beginning, I found this one to be nothing more than average, and ultimately forgettable. It was an entertaining enough way to pass the time, but I cannot remember more than basics of this novel. It had so much potential, and while I wish I could recommend it more highly, it just wasn't anything special.