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Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
Sep. 2nd, 2011 09:03 pmThis is a book that I found simultaneously very engaging and imaginative while also
sighing at how some things...didn't get the imaginative treatment.
Set in a fantasy world roughly analogous to 18th or 19th century England, Nimra is a foreign (and exotic, natch) dancing girl who is hired by a wealthy and mysterious sorceror named Hollin to perform with an automaton that plays the piano. Hollin's house is spooky and mysterious (complete with rumors of a madwoman roaming the halls at night) and previous dancing girls fled the house in their nightgowns (ok, not really) because they swore the automaton came to life.
Naturally, the automaton really is alive, and Nimira sets out to solve the mystery of who he is and what happened to him.
The book combines fantasy, romance and gothic themes (there's a point where Hollin tries to imitate Rochester but is basically thwarted by being a decent and caring person, and Nimira's reaction is perfect) wonderfully. it's also a fantasy world where everyone is still white except Nimira, who is very much and Exotic Other at times, and her culture sounded far more interesting of the two, and I kept wondering why most of the plot couldn't just be transported there.
sighing at how some things...didn't get the imaginative treatment.
Set in a fantasy world roughly analogous to 18th or 19th century England, Nimra is a foreign (and exotic, natch) dancing girl who is hired by a wealthy and mysterious sorceror named Hollin to perform with an automaton that plays the piano. Hollin's house is spooky and mysterious (complete with rumors of a madwoman roaming the halls at night) and previous dancing girls fled the house in their nightgowns (ok, not really) because they swore the automaton came to life.
Naturally, the automaton really is alive, and Nimira sets out to solve the mystery of who he is and what happened to him.
The book combines fantasy, romance and gothic themes (there's a point where Hollin tries to imitate Rochester but is basically thwarted by being a decent and caring person, and Nimira's reaction is perfect) wonderfully. it's also a fantasy world where everyone is still white except Nimira, who is very much and Exotic Other at times, and her culture sounded far more interesting of the two, and I kept wondering why most of the plot couldn't just be transported there.