Magic Under Glass

Magic Under Glass

by Jaclyn Dolamore

Nimira was born into a respected family with a mother who could sing like an angel and a father who adored her.  Unfortunately, after her mother died, her father became a gambling addict and destroyed the family's reputation and wealth, so Nim left to find her fortune and try to save her family name.

Four years later and Nim is still singing with a traveling performance troupe and still getting nowhere.  That's until Hollin Parry shows up and makes her an offer.  She can come live in his home, have food and clothing, and sing at performances with a wind-up automaton that plays piano, which Parry recently acquired.

Nim takes him up on it, even though there are rumors that the automaton is haunted.  She decides it's worth the risk.

What she finds, however, is not an automaton, but a fairy prince who has been trapped in the automaton for decades and only wants to be free.  She also finds love, a mystery woman, intrigues, and dark magic.

Can she save the fairy prince and herself before it's too late?

Final thoughts:  Mixed feelings.  It was an easy read, but I often felt like things had been skipped or missed.  And this book was the opposite of Dragonfly in the sense that it appears that the author has decided to make this a series, possibly a trilogy, when there really isn't a need for one.  For the first 3/4 of the book, it's going along at a pace that will have everything neatly tied up at the end.  But it feels like the author decided at this point that she wanted to make this two or three books instead, so she switches gears, changes up the plot, and we're suddenly left with a kind of strange cliff-hanger.

Rating: 2/5 - Ok, but get it at the library instead of buying it for yourself.

NOTE:  As you can see from the cover images, this book was printed in 2010, but already has three covers.  This is one of those books with a "cover controversy".  Bloomsbury, the publisher of this book, initially used the image of the Caucasian girl for the cover, when Nim is clearly described as having a Middle Eastern appearance.  There has been quite a bit of talk in the blog world about this, much like the controversy over Justine Larbalestier's Liar.  This is an interesting publishing phenomena that could make for a cool research study.  I know I'd read about it.