One new and one old, both of these novels are enchanting and heartwarming. There’s a certain elegance to Robin McKinley and Sara Ella’s writing.
While Glass Across the Sea is my first Sara Ella read, I’ve always enjoyed the unique, quiet beauty of Robin McKinley’s novels. She takes patience to read, whereas I could hardly put down Glass Across the Sea, but both are some of my favorite novels.
Glass Across the Sea
Light always finds a way to break free . . .
Noelle Perrault has felt drawn to the tales her glassmaker father told of the four Firefly artisans since she was a child. But when her mother falls under a curse, Noelle suspects the stories are more than mere fables. Their last hope is for her father to embark on a desperate journey to another realm, where he must seek a miracle. Alone but not defenseless, Noelle is forced to navigate battles that rise against her beloved home, while her dearest friend, the prince, vows to help her father.
Dante Marin is a prince prepared to bear the crown. But the king offers an ultimatum: find the fabled Firefly Vestiges, believed to hold the Lamplighter’s ancient power, or forfeit the crown. Only then will Dante be considered worthy of his birthright and given the freedom to choose his bride. But how does one hunt down a legend?
Connected by the past, but forced apart by the present, Noelle and Dante must discover the truth about the Firefly and Vestiges before they lose all hope–and each other–for good. But breaking a curse comes at great sacrifice–one neither of them predicted. With a mysterious foe rising to power, will they survive, let alone succeed? Or will darkness shroud their future, shattering the light they’ve striven to restore?
Enclave is my go-to for Christian YA, and while I had never read anything of Sara Ella’s, I had heard plenty about her. So when I saw the cover and learned that it was a Cinderella retelling with a “magic” system centered around light, I fell in love.
And indeed, Glass Across the Sea is one of the most enchanting, rich, and beautiful Cinderella retellings I’ve ever seen. I liked that the reader gets to know the “Prince Charming” so well. He’s fully fleshed out, including his love for Noelle. While the wording was at a couple points not fully polished, Glass Across the Sea was a captivating tale, delivering on all its sparkling promises.
Content Warnings:
Violence and death. Nothing gory, though.
Ratings:
Appropriate content: 5/5
Story construction: 5/5
Writing skill: 4/5
Ethics: 5/5
Other Information:
Christian: Yes
Point of view: Third person limited
Tense: Past tense
Romance: Yes
Series: Yes, I believe the author is planning on making this a series
Age recommendation: 13+
Pegasus
Because she was a princess, she had a pegasus. . . .
Princess Sylviianel has always known that on her twelfth birthday she too would be bound to her own pegasus. All members of the royal family have been thus bound since the Alliance was made almost two thousand years ago; the binding system was created to strengthen the Alliance, because humans and pegasi can only communicate formally through specially trained Speaker magicians. Sylvi is accustomed to seeing pegasi every day at the palace, but she still finds the idea of her binding very daunting. The official phrase is that your pegasus is your “Excellent Friend.” But how can you be friends with someone you can’t talk to?
But everything is different for Sylvi and Ebon from the moment they meet at her binding–when they discover they can talk to each other. They form so close a bond that it becomes a threat to the status quo–and possibly to the future safety of their two nations. For some of the magicians believe there is a reason humans and pegasi should not fully understand each other. . . .
I love Pegasus for its depth. It’s the sort of book you have to stop and ponder. Quiet and cozy, don’t go expecting any big dramatic battles or action scenes from Pegasus. It’s peaceful and thought-provoking.
This is the kind of book that you remember years after reading it. That’s a doubly good thing because though Pegasus was published in 2010, its sequel, Ebon, doesn’t even have a release date. And Pegasus ends in a cliffhanger. And the author is currently 73 years old.
So that’s lovely.
Content Warnings:
There isn’t much to be warned about in this book. There’s a form of possession and a disgusting creature, but both are framed as intensely evil.
Ratings:
Appropriate content: 5/5
Story construction: 4/5
Writing skill: 5/5
Ethics: 5/5
Other Information:
Christian: Yes
Point of view: Mostly third person limited
Tense: Past tense
Romance: No
Series: Yes, someday
Age recommendation: 15+
Happy reading!
–Astor
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