Book Review
Author: Kathryn Trattner
Book: The Glass Palace
Genre: Fantasy

Overview
The story begins in Sweden, with Astrid’s life falling apart due to the passing of her father, her last living family member. With nowhere else to go and the receiving of her first and only letter from Tyhr, her husband-by-proxy, Astrid travels to Siberia to be with him. Tyhr is there to meet Astrid, but he is mysteriously wearing a silver Tiger mask. To reach her new home they must traverse the Black Forest, a glacier, and jungle, all full of magical creatures.

For weeks Tyhr does not show up to spend time with Astrid; instead, Astrid befriends a somewhat snarky talking bird. Although Astrid and Tyhr do not spend much time together Astrid is determined to finalise their marriage. In her attempt to do so Astrid makes a disastrous mistake, resulting in a life changing journey.

Review
The story had a good concept with the mysterious and cursed husband, and opportunities for Astrid to grow as a character via the life changes and odyssey that she must endure.
The visualisation and descriptions were lovely and really set out the scenes and experiences of Astrid. It was quite refreshing to have such imagery.

Although the visualisation and descriptions were very well done, they reached a point of being excessive and made it difficult to keep reading until the next scene/bit of information that would keep the story moving. I ended up skimming a few pages just to keep the momentum going, it felt the author was more focused on describing scenes than building characters and relationships.

I found it difficult to care about the characters due to a lack of attention to character and relationship development. I did not feel I got to know Tyhr at all. He didn’t really ‘gain her trust’ as the book blurb describes, as they were hardly together. Since Astrid spent most of the book with her bird friend and only a couple nights with Tyhr, I somewhat expected they would get together in the end due to the absence of connection between Astrid and Tyhr. Due to this I did not understand Astrid’s inspiration to try so hard and go through so much turmoil to be with Tyhr, other than he was the only person left she had some vague connection to.

I would have d more backstory to the lore and magical features of the world; the lack of this made it difficult to fully appreciate that aspect of the story.

Despite the love-story description, the book is more of a coming-of-age as it is focused on Astrid’s growth.

I am giving the book 2.5/5 stars as the writing was lovely, there is potential there, but I needed more depth to the characters/relationships/world.

If you enjoy uncomplicated books based on fairy-tales with coming-of-age, very light romance, and mythological creatures you may enjoy this book.


Details which niggled me:
The geography. It says Astrid moved to Sweden when she was 5, but then when she’s leaving home Astrid says she has nothing left in Amsterdam. Amsterdam is later mentioned when they discuss the location of her father’s shipping business, but it is then again stated that she lived in Sweden. Amsterdam is not in Sweden. Although Astrid’s parents are from England she doesn’t have an English accent and doesn’t want to move to England because she has no real connection there; however, when she later views the Swedish street scene she doesn’t connect with the accents of the people she’s been living around most of her life. This didn’t seem to l
Later she travels from Siberia (mid/eastern Russia) to Italy, only moving south via train, which isn’t really possible as you would need to go very far west before going directly south. The magical forest in Siberia is called ‘The Black Forest’; however, there is a real Black Forest in Germany, which makes this a bit confusing when the story is based in 1890s Europe/Russia (not a fantasy map). So, there are now two Black Forests with myths of magical creatures? I just feel the author could have done a bit more research on the locations and names, or just had the Black Forest be the one located in Germany (they get lots of snow, too) with the ‘portal’ emerging as they travel, which would simplify the whole thing and easily connect to the train ride through the Alps.

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION
For as long as Astrid can remember she's been betrothed to a stranger. When tragedy strikes her husband-to-be emerges from the shadows ready to claim her hand in marriage. Unable to resist this mysterious stranger she is drawn into a realm of captivating magic and haunting secrets.
Tyhr has lived behind a silver tiger mask for years, cursed to a dark fate and suspended in time. Astrid could be the one to break the spell but first, he must earn her trust and break through the hard shell encircling her heart.
In this extraordinary new life, Astrid will forge friendships and confront ancient creatures. Through perilous trials and breathtaking adventures, she will have to decide what promises are worth keeping and which must be broken.9 s1 comment Nicole ?111 15

This was a magical retelling with so much un twisting. I loved the scenery, the dialogue and especially how feelings and emotions were described. It felt a dream, something that happened and I was a part of it. 7 s Aya832 1,078

A curse, an arranged marriage, a chance of living ever after.... a beauty and a beast retelling. I love all of the above but Kathryn Trattner didn't give me the chance to let me believe and fall in love with the book.

The beginning was great with the background of the characters explained well but after that it went downhill. Nothing happened until the second part of the book but I still wasn't able to feel the excitement when the adventures started.

3 stars, stronger writing and tighter plot would make this a better book.5 s Resh356 1 follower

there apparently was a nice bird? that's all I got because I cannot remember for the life of me what happened in this book except that it was sort of anticlimactic.4 s2 comments Evee85

The Glass Palace takes a sweet little detour on an old favorite fairy tale of mine: East of the Sun West of the Moon.

Astrid lives in Sweden with her dying father and will soon be the last of her family--until her husband, a man that she's been married to since birth, calls to take her away that is. Astrid receives a letter after her father's death with short instructions on where to go to meet her husband, and she soon finds herself on a train to Siberia to be with him. What she finds is a conundrum: her husband is wearing a mask (never revealing his face to her), is of few words, and takes her through the Black Forest and a magical glacier to a place that shouldn't exist: the Summer Valley.

She sees her husband at dinner, if at all, and never during the day, and she only has a talking bird for company most of the time. Yet connection managed to bloom despite the oddness of their pairing & Astrid is determined to make a proper match of the two of them--until she does something she isn't supposed to and puts the three of them on a perilous journey.

The Glass Palace was such a treat to read. While there wasn't as much interaction between Astrid and her husband as I would have d (nor was it spicy enough), I really enjoyed the personal and physical journeys Astrid went on to fix her wrongs and save her husband. The new elements to the fairy tale were really fresh and piqued my curiosity; they're probably my favorite part about the novel.

I highly recommend it to anyone who loves fairy tales or East of the Moon in particular!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.booksprout3 s Stephanie1,022

Gave BATB vibes but wanted more from it. I wish Astrid questioned things more before just going along with everything. Got Narnia vibes midway through!

I received this ARC for an honest review, all thoughts/opinions above are my own!3 s Brianna89 1 follower

I really loved the imagery in this. The writing is really beautiful and pretty captivating.
It's very much a book about the journey vs the actual plot. I thought the characters along that journey were super interesting. I feel there was so much potential in this book that I wish we would've gotten more from it. I would've d for us and Astrid to get to know Tyhr more. Their relationship building felt very minimal, which made the plot less ly. However I did love Astrid and Chinooks relationship.
The plot could've been better developed but I truly did enjoy the settings/characters in this story!2 s TBRs & Tourniquets181 7

This is a beautiful book and a retelling of a classic fairy tale. I confess that it’s not one I was familiar with and initially got beauty and the beast vibes.

Kathryn does a wonderful job of describing the world in which our characters live. Astrid has been promised to a man she doesn’t know and the book follows her navigating meeting him.

I really enjoyed the ARC and can’t wait to read more of her work ??2023 arc2 s Maria758 48

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily, so here goes.

Having just read a book about Eros and Psyche, I knew the general trope to expect as will others that know of the pairing, or are familiar with the East of Sun, West of the Moon fairytale but many authors beforehand, the details will be different and Trattner did an amazing job in telling her version.

It was poetic and atmospheric that within the first few pages I was enjoying the world building and the characteristics of her MC, Astrid. Astrid who has lost everything – but a promise made by her father that betrothed her to a stranger for as long as she can remember, in which said betrothed has come to claim. So with little to no options, she goes where he takes her and that's just the beginning.

Trattner does a great job not just in her descriptions but her dialogue between the characters. I could sense the emotions from the dialogue without Trattner having to add in adjectives at every turn. There were some great, free flowing moments between Astrid and her strange husband to be, that had warm undertones that spoke more about him and his feelings towards her before the story picks up speed and we are left with Astrid for the rest of the story.

Thank you to Book Sirens for letting me enjoy this read and I can't wait to read what else Trattner has written!arc e-book2 s Emily5,395 520

An arranged marriage by proxy, Astrid has never seen her husband nor does she really know much about him. Now she is having to travel to Siberia to join him, what she finds though is un anything she could imagine. Tyhr hinds behind a mask, every time she tries to get answers it only drives them further apart where it quickly turns to not seeing him. Astrid finds a companion in a bird, Chinook, though who offers opinions whether she s it or not. When she make a mistake she finds herself and Chinook traveling to solve a problem including saving her husband.

I thought this story had a beautiful descriptive quality to it. You could easily imagine this fantastical world that the author created. I really enjoyed this one, Tyhr gained my attention right off the bat while Astrid it took me a bit to warm up to. Will definitely be checking out more by this author.author-k author-t cover-blue ...more2 s Elena1 review

A really fun adventure read

This is a great palate cleanser for fantasy lovers! It reads a mix between romantasy and fairytale with a dash of odyssey!

Excited to read more from this author2 s sairs_readsand227 1 follower

This was my first read from this author, and my first read from BookSirens!

I'm not familiar with the fairy tale that this is based on but I enjoyed this retelling.
Astrid was an interesting protagonist who we followed on her journey. At times, I felt this book had a more magical realism feel rather than a usual fantasy. Whilst there is an element of romance, the plot is more centred on Astrid and her experiences, although the romance was a driver.

The pace for this book was quite slow and steady and the author writes well, developing the world as we meet the different elements. This really reminded me of a fable type story in the way that it was written, rather than just a straight fantasy novel.
The plot has themes of loneliness, loss, love and friendship and Astrid learns life lessons throughout her journey. This is what's important and what Astrid learnt on the way, over the love story.

An enjoyable read, a little different to what I was expecting but worthwhile to delve into this world!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.arcs1 Jeanette18

This book had a lot of potential to be a gripping, page turning book! This book read almost a new female powered Beauty & the Beast with a backpack full of fantasy potential, embracing the modern day love of indoor plants and unique pets.

As I continued reading I kept wondered if mentions of the past and little snippets of knowledge from external characters would build upon the very limited information that we were given. Which is why it is only rated 3/5 stars.

There's magic, a brooding and emotionally unavailable husband and help from a sassy bird. All around a nice read that would be great for a vacation book or during your commute to work.


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