Glimmerglass

Dana Hathaway doesn't know it yet, but she's in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, again, Dana decides she’s had enough and runs away to find her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the captivating, magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl—she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and the only person who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.

Soon, Dana finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone seems to want something from her, from her newfound friends and family to Ethan, the hot Fae guy Dana figures she’ll never have a chance with… until she does. Caught between two worlds, Dana isn’t sure where she’ll ever fit in and who can be trusted, not to mention if her world will ever be normal again…
from jennablack.com

Beth says 4 Stars...

I had tons of fun reading this book. I'd read a good bit of realistic fiction just before this novel, so the fantasy came as a delightful change of pace. I found the setting a nice blend of the real and imagined. I'd never thought of Avalon in the way it appeared here and I enjoyed its unexpectedness. The plot moved along nicely without any major interruptions, but could have had a bit more engrossing. I did appreciate the way Black gave out information; it didn't feel contrived or forced. Instead of simply dumping it all at once she placed small pieces and had Dana constantly asking for more. I also loved the intrigue component of the plot. I'm a total sucker for court drama so that got my attention quickly. I appreciated the levels that were hinted at, including the rigid class structure and conflict between the courts.

I found Dana to be a much more engaging heroine by the end of the book than I initially thought she would be. At first she rather bothered me for some unknown reason. However, after watching her struggle in a completely unfamiliar environment and not break down into a ball of angst, I turned in her favor. Her narrative was well done and helped bring her out of the page. However, she didn't quite strike me as someone who could be real. Perhaps she'll develop more in the later books; I'm holding out hope for that. Dana's relationship with both of her parents could be classified as strained to say the least, so those both had a feature in the novel. I thought that the romantic relationships were confused and really lacked a spark. It felt as if Black couldn't figure out where she wanted the characters to go and didn't know who need to be with whom. In that aspect the book really lacked appeal; the issue was that it tried to put the romance in but didn't do a good job of it.

I enjoyed this book a good deal. It's not the most amazing thing that I've ever read, but it's fun and quick. I'm also excited that Black is an author from North Carolina, so that makes it even better! I'm always glad to see talent that's close to home for me. This would be good for people who find themselves drawn to authors like Melissa Marr, but without a lot of the darkness, or just love faerie stories like me.
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