P. M. Glaser

It sounded like a wonderful, fun read when I requested it, but I'm sad to report that it just didn't work for me. Honestly, I was unable to finish -- I simply couldn't get past the phonetically accented dialogue. It was over the top, unnecessary, and difficult to follow, pulling me right out of the story and making it nearly impossible to read. I also didn't connect with the author's writing style, I wasn't keen on the characters, and I didn't find the premise -- once underway -- all that believable. Things happen for no particular reason, and the world-building is... bizarre. Incomplete, maybe? It's hard to pinpoint, exactly.

The cover, on the other hand, is fantastic. I do hope there are readers out there who will enjoy this book, but as an avid reader of YA and Middle-Grade fantasy, it simply didn't work for me at all.… (more)

Two kids happen to fall into a crystalline world and eventually start an adventure. I think the idea of this book was wonderful. Do all books have to be about the protagonists setting out to do something fantastic? No. BUT I believe in this case, I think the book would have been MUCH stronger had the kids actually set out to find a cure for their mother, not just happen to start on a quest to save their mother once they were already in this strange, new world.

I think had the beginning been changed up a bit, it may have drawn me in more, but it just seemed that things happened just to happen and give the story a starting point. I also wasn't really sure how these crystal beings all had different accents. It just kind of threw me, not to mention that this was a book written for a middle school grade, and I think the phonetic writing will confuse many of them, as I even had a hard time following it from time to time.

I think the plot lacked development, and the characters were very flat. The descriptions of the characters were quite unclear and it was hard to envision much of what was happening in the world. I wanted to love this book because I have been searching for something new and fun to really get into, unfortunately, this book fell far short of my expectations. The art inside the book as well as the color art on the dust jacket was superb, As always, this is just my humble opinion...… (more)