So this was a lot of fun. I really like Opal, and Kade, and even Pazia. I love Ixia and Sitia and I just want Snyder to keep writing more books set there.Opal is a great protagonist. Very different from Yelena. Unsure of herself, doubting her own abilities, and afraid to let anyone get close because of what she did to Yelena and what happened to her sister. Like Yelena, she has some dark memories in her past, and some old ghosts haunting her that she'll have to deal with before she can reach her true potential.
The glass workshop is such a great setting that's not used often enough in fiction. I remember being fascinated by the glass-blowing room at my high school, but I never actually made anything with glass, something I regret now. I love that the heat and noise are like home to Opal, and that she takes her strength from her skills with glass.
This book wasn't very well proofread/edited, which always annoys me because that's such an easy fix. There were a lot of periods where there should have been commas and vice versa. Maybe this is fixed in other editions, I don't know. But seriously, book publishers, don't do a rush job editing your books. It's just lazy.
I'm looking forward to reading the other books in this series. I hope they explore the glass magic thing more, because there still isn't an explanation for why Opal can only work magic using glass, or how Ulrick can use magic to make his pieces but not for anything else. After the great explanations of how Yelena's magic works in the Study series, I have faith that Snyder will think of a brilliant explanation for Opal's magic, too.
Snyder knows how to keep her readers interested, that's for sure. It's a fun ride.
