The City In Glass: Book Review

 

The City in Glass by Nghi Vo
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

From the topmost tower of the observatory to the floating docks on the beach, the city of Azril lit up with paper lanterns, with candles, with girls throwing flaming knives and boys in firefly crowns, with passion, with desire, with hatred, and with delight.

This first sentence is representative of the whole book The City in Glass - beautiful writing, extensive imagery and little story. The book follows Vitrine, the demon of Azril, as she guides the rebuilding of the city she loves and her relationship with the angel who caused its destruction.

I enjoyed the flowing lyrical language, but the book seemed too hollow - indeed, like Vitrine's glass cabinet - and I soon found myself impatient for the book to conclude. The premise of forming a city around Vitrine's ideas did keep me invested to finish the book however.

The characterization of the demon and the angel, along with several secondary characters were done well, even if they rarely did something truly interesting. This combined with the lackluster world-building and slow story arc leaves me to think of the book as vignettes of a few people.

As he dug, Vitrine watched with interest as the angel’s shoulders shook. She wondered if his kind, so set on how perfect they were allowed to make the world, could cry, and if so, what emotion might move him to it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Tor and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The audiobook narrated by Susan Dalian was performed very well and suits the tone of the writing.

🌟🌟
[Half a star for the premise and the whole book; 3/4 star for the writing; Half a star for the characters; 1/4 star for the world-building; Zero stars for the story - Two stars in total.]

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