Book Review Thoughts: Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie

Book: Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating:★ ★ ★ ☆☆


We read this one for book club because a bunch of us went to the book launch and bought the book. I'd heard great things and the premise sounded awesome, but because of the ongoing book slump and a weird inability to focus on reading these days, it fell a bit flat for me in the end... generally speaking.

This is the story of girl who is born with the ability to sense the emotions of everyone around her. It's troublesome because she has a big issue distinguishing between her own emotions and those of others. Especially when there's a build up of emotion from a huge group or crowd. This happens in the beginning and causes and incident at the convent where she is being trained and it changes her life. Mostly because right after that, the prince came to retrieve another Auraseer for the Emperor, because his has just been executed.

And because now she is the only one (mostly) that's left... she gets picked to go.

And now she has to hang out with this Emperor and tell him if she senses anything wrong with the people around him. Like... perhaps... if someone wants to kill him.

Ah, this dude. He's a slick one. And because he decides he wants to seduce her, she suddenly feels like she's in love with him. Tricky, these emotions!

And the prince, the one who came to retrieve her... he's awfully attractive too. She is confused and wow, the emotion is swirling!! Does she like him or does she not?

Much of the book is this issue with these two boys set in the backdrop of the political maneuverings going on by the masses to try and change how they are governed. Do they kill the Emperor? Make him abdicate? Or figure out some other nicer way?

It reminded me quite a bit of Red Queen and also Throne of Glass. Same sort of setting and feel anyway, so if you like those books you might want to give this one a try.

But for me, most of the time I had to push myself through and had to glaze over the detailed political talk and deal with the repetitive emotional upheaval. Also, I found myself especially critical of the writing as I saw so many of the "don'ts" that I'm constantly warned about in my writing classes happening in this book.

Bottom Line: I mean... it was okay and was pretty exciting in parts. But it mostly made me want to read a contemporary romance or something.

Other Reviews:

Without revealing too many spoilers I was happy with the overall result but the last few chapters just did not sit well with me. From Dark Faerie Tales
It is the perfect book for any kind of occasion, whether to pick you up out of a reading slump, or to brighten your mood, or you keep you on the edge of your seat and make you want to stay up all night. From Behind the Pages

Still I liked exploring the Auraseer ability, and I liked the suspense of the story. If you are one who likes YA fantasy, this is one to try, but keep in mind it might require some patience. From Rainy Day Ramblings