Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder
Genre: Fantasy
Published by: Mira Ink (Harlequin UK)
Pages: 504
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★.5
Series: Sea Glass (#2) | Spy Glass (#3)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I’ve had this series sat on my shelves for a ridiculously long time, and I’ve been mostly afraid to pick it up because of the length! I don’t think my hiatus from Ixia and Sitia hindered my enjoyment, even though I’d forgotten who Kade was. (Oops!) The Glass series takes place four years after the end of Fire Study, but instead of following Yelena this series revolved around Opal, the Glass Magician.

Characters:

Opal’s powers have developed so much in the four years since we last saw her and there is so much more to her abilities than I realised. Opal plays a minor role in the Study series and although it’s made clear that her powers are unique the Glass series really explores them! At 20 years-old Opal’s changed a lot in the past years and she’s been through a lot in the Keep. I really really really enjoyed her character, especially when she grew into herself more and started to trust herself with her powers. At the beginning she starts off as the loner with the majority of the students feeling threatened by, and jealous of, her reputation as the Glass Magician and friend of Liaison Yelena. There’s a lot of inner conflict, which makes this story a bit of a slow build, but the character development really is excellent.

Some old favourites return, of course! Thank goodness! At half way through the novel I was getting a little worried that we wouldn’t get to see Yelena even though she’s mentioned a couple of times. I’d missed her! To compensate we get more Leif – who is far more upbeat and fun in this series now that his sister is relatively safe and he has Mara. Janco plays quite a significant role in this story too, which I certainly wasn’t expecting, but I’d missed him too. I love that the majority of the characters in this series are adults – Yelena, and presumably Kade being in their mid-twenties and Janco being thirty – it really makes a change from the usual 16-18 year olds that so often feature as the protagonists in YA novels. For a fantasy series it only really makes sense for the characters to be that little bit older because it means their relationships are more mature and they can handle threatening situations with calculated accuracy.

Romance

Warning: Love triangle.
Surprisingly, I was totally okay with this! It made for a different dynamic to that of Yelena and Valek and it was done very tastefully.  Opal’s inner monologue wasn’t focused on ‘yeah, but do I really love him?’ which made it just about bearable. throughout the whole novel I knew who I wanted her to end up with, because I knew that was who Opal really loved. However, both Kade and Ulrick – new guy – were pretty lovable and I’ll admit I squealed with joy a couple times. It’s important to mention that romance really isn’t the main focus of this series.

Plot and Pacing:

WHOA MY GOODNESS. So many plot twists I lost count! Storm Glass is full to the brim with plot development. Something is always happening. It’s the perfect mix of long story arcs that will progress throughout the series and sub plots that can be resolved within 200 pages. This is why I absolutely adore Maris V. Snyder’s writing, because it’s so engaging. I promise you will struggle to put this book down. The end of chapters can be a bit predictable, because that usual when Opal’s about to be kidnapped, or someone’s clamped her mouth or something like that. There are definite patterns, but they increase tension so who can complain?

(No Spoilers) The main plot points are:
1. Who sabotaged the Stormdancers glass mixtures?
2. OMG, Opal did what with her powers? (x3)
3. Who is making all of these fake diamonds?
4. Who keeps trying to kidnap Opal?
5. What do you mean you’re hearing voices?
6. What do you mean Bloodmagic is still a thing?

AND ONLY, LIKE, TWO OF THESE ARE ANSWERED. So much mystery, so much plot, it’s unreal. Finally! A book that actually warrants over 500 pages! It’s not  fast paced, but it’s not slow either, which makes for a really lovely read.

I can’t wait to continue and find out what happens next. Overall, I gave Storm Glass 3.5 stars because it was really great, and I’ve missed this world so much.