Book Review: Shatterglass by Tamora Pierce
Oct. 4th, 2016 08:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaTitle: Shatterglass (The Circle Opens Book 4)
Author: Tamora Pierce
Published: New York: Scholastic Press, 2003
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 350
Total Page Count: 204,125
Text Number: 602
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: In Tharios, Tris finds an unusual glassblower and a highly stratified society troubled by a serial killer. As an adult reader, Tris isn't my favorite of the kids*—but when I was her age, she would've been: she's competent and controlled but still prickly, and I love her for it. Her adult student should be a good foil, but he's whiny and never reads as his age; all the supporting characters fall flat, except Niko, whose appearances are brief. There's not much in the way of worldbuilding beyond the caste system, which makes this one of the least evocative settings. But shaking up the delivery of the crime narrative makes this less formulaic than the rest of the quartet—an effect that the rushed, coincidental ending can't quite destroy. I love the Circle of Magic books; The Circle Opens is disappointing in comparison, and I wouldn't recommend this quartet. But this is a good ending, largely thanks to the protagonist.
* I admire Daja, want Sandry as my best friend, but so help me if Briar isn't the most endearing.
Author: Tamora Pierce
Published: New York: Scholastic Press, 2003
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 350
Total Page Count: 204,125
Text Number: 602
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: In Tharios, Tris finds an unusual glassblower and a highly stratified society troubled by a serial killer. As an adult reader, Tris isn't my favorite of the kids*—but when I was her age, she would've been: she's competent and controlled but still prickly, and I love her for it. Her adult student should be a good foil, but he's whiny and never reads as his age; all the supporting characters fall flat, except Niko, whose appearances are brief. There's not much in the way of worldbuilding beyond the caste system, which makes this one of the least evocative settings. But shaking up the delivery of the crime narrative makes this less formulaic than the rest of the quartet—an effect that the rushed, coincidental ending can't quite destroy. I love the Circle of Magic books; The Circle Opens is disappointing in comparison, and I wouldn't recommend this quartet. But this is a good ending, largely thanks to the protagonist.
* I admire Daja, want Sandry as my best friend, but so help me if Briar isn't the most endearing.
