Winter Glass by Lexa Hillyer Review

Title: Winter Glass

Author: Lexa Hillyer

Age Group: Teen/Young Adult

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Spindle Fire, book two

Star Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

I borrowed this book from my local library and reviewed it.

Spindle Fire was the first book I’ve ever read by Lexa Hillyer, a dark and beautifully written retelling of one of my favorite fairy tales, Sleeping Beauty. When I found out that there would be a sequel, I was really excited. Winter Glass, as far as sequels go, really delivered; despite some little flaws, I really enjoyed it. Full of magic, beautiful prose, exciting character development, frightening villains, political intrigue, and familiar fairy tale elements with a different spin, Winter Glass was absolutely captivating—what a great way to end this promising duology! I really, really enjoyed it. I don’t want to say much about the plot, in case there are readers out there that haven’t read it yet. Still, this book was absolutely wonderful, especially in the character development area.

Two young sister princesses must navigate two very different, but equally difficult, paths until they make their way back to one another. Aurora has been woken from the sleeping curse that was originally supposed to kill her, only to find herself faced with more temptations than she could have ever imagined. Isabelle, or Isbe, finds herself thrust into a position she has spent the whole of her childhood wanting, only to find that it is not at all what she expected, and she fears that she’s losing herself to the circumstances that surround her. But as it turns out, fate has different plans for these girls, plans that may end up costing them everything…

This book was really enjoyable! Sequels usually make me so anxious, as sometimes they just don’t live up to the hype. But Winter Glass delivered in spades; all of my questions were answered, the loose ends tied up neatly, the pacing was breakneck, and I was frantically turning pages, desperate to find out what would happen. I also liked the way that Hillyer inserted other voices into the story to break up the sisters’ dynamic. Plus: Evil fairies! Political intrigue! Returning characters! New characters! Forbidden romance! Action, darkness, magic, and that ending! It was amazing, I loved it. I was cheering, crying, screaming, biting my nails as I read the book, and I was so happy with it! At times, though, the cast of characters got kind of confusing and muddled; this book might have benefited from a dramatis personae. But nonetheless, Winter Glass was a delightful sequel to Spindle Fire, and I really liked it! The bottom line: The duology closer to last year’s retelling, Spindle Fire, I loved Winter Glass! What a way to end these lovely books! Next on deck: King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard!