The Glass Wall - Review

The Glass Wall (Return of the Ancients, # 1)

By: Madison Adler

Published: September 5th 2011 by McAzadi Services

354 pages

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Science Fiction

Source: Personal Kindle Library

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Goodreads description--17-year-old Sydney's only interest in life is flying under the radar.

But destiny has other plans when the tall, handsome, formal, and unusual Rafael Channing moves into the neighborhood. Athletic and with killer looks, he wears black eyeliner like a magician and seems to be watching Sydney's every move.

What starts out as a light-hearted investigation with her gadget-happy foster father takes a serious turn when she discovers that Rafael isn't human. Add Jareth, the country's latest rock sensation, into the mix and Sydney is swept into a mysterious world of Tulpas, the Fae, and the Brotherhood of the Snake.

Sydney doesn't know she's a Blue Thread of Fate. She doesn't know the fate of humanity depends on her choice of whom to trust--Jareth or Rafael. And she certainly doesn't know that she's taken the first step on the unexpected path of love.

4 Stars.

This book kept me interested. I just really wanted to figure out what these supernatural beings were. I think I figured it out a bit sooner than our main character, Sydney, did though. Oh well. I like that she didn’t exactly guess correctly and even when she did find out what they were, she tended to revert back to her original assumption.

I like the storyline of Sydney developing her relationships with her foster family verses her real mother. I like how Grace has a crush on Rafael first and how she behaves about it—though I’m also glad that Grace isn’t the main character. I like how Grace’s attentions are shifted from Rafael. Oh and Al, Sydney’s foster dad, at the Thanksgiving scene, was hilarious. Down-right hilarious. Loved that scene. Laughed out loud reading that scene.

*Possible SPOILERS ahead, please proceed with caution.* However, I don’t like how Sydney seems not really oblivious to boys….but uninterested…and then all of a sudden she is…interested. And I don’t like how all of these other people keep saying “they see how Rafael looks at Sydney,” but there really feels like there’s no reason for him to like her. Or at least as a reader, I didn’t understand why he does. And there were times when I was reading that I flat just didn’t believe that he did like her. It didn’t feel believable to me. It felt like the author needed Rafael to like Sydney not that he actually did. I actually got more from Jareth in the way of feelings and reason to have feelings for Sydney than I did from Rafael. Now granted maybe all will be explored and explained in the upcoming books, guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Oh and I get that Rafael is a supernatural being and all—and all supernatural beings have their pros and cons—but he’s just a little too hetero for my taste. The makeup and sequins were just a bit too much. Especially when he crossed over into feather territory. Some eyeliner I MIGHT be able to handle. And yes I understand that Steven Tyler has a feather in his hair. You also see more pre-teen girls with the feather in their hair to mimic Steven Tyler than you do grown men or teenage boys. But the sequins? I can’t…just can’t buy that for a dude.

Overall good read. Check out The Glass Wall by Madison Adler.

*Updated: September 6, 2013