Candace Robinson

A girl without answers. A boy who wants to help her. A mysterious museum that some see... And some don't... Perrie Madeline is a normal girl living in a normal world. Her only concern is deciding whether or not to let herself fully fall for August Hartley after her past relationship failed miserably. That is, until a strange museum, known as Quinsey Wolfe’s Glass Vault, appears overnight and people around her begin to go missing. To uncover what hidden secrets the Glass Vault may behold, Perrie then embarks on a pursuit with August. They soon realize, not everything is as it seems. While stumbling through the museum’s obscure collection, Perrie and August must find their way out before discovering what may truly not be for the faint of heart. Quinsey Wolfe’s Glass Vault is the start of a thrilling duology full of magic, danger, and romance. Perfect for fans of Penny Dreadful and A.G. Howard. KEYWORDS: dark fantasy romance, friends to lovers, horror romance, fantasy, portal fantasy, dark retellings, dark fairy tale retellings, friendships, magic, strong women, speculative fiction, mystery, coming of age, paranormal, urban fantasy, frankenstein

Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault

Sheila Goicea

Release date 05/16/2017 in eBook format, but is available for purchase in paperback format on Amazon and 
Barnes&Noble now!

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

  
    "You die here, you stay here."
  

This book was sensational!

To be honest, I was leery towards this book due to the fact it was labeled as a horror story. But after seeing that it was also young adult, (as well as seeing the cover,) I figured it probably wasn't at the level of today's typical horror books and films. Of those, I am not a fan at all. So, saying that this book was sensational, and coming from a person who normally has nothing to do with anything "horror," is a big deal. And, that means it may appeal to those of you who join me in their lack of intrigue through horror. 


  The first thing I loved about this book
 was its length. It didn't have excess, and it didn't lack in detail. It is the perfect concoction of setting, world building, character development, and submersion, without all of the unnecessary "filler" pages in between. 

Instantly, we meet the characters to whom we follow through the tale. It is told from the perspective of Perrie, a high school girl, who is in the mess of experiencing the typical high school things. Her close friendship with Maisie is obvious and natural. This, too, is a feat of its own. 


  This brings me to the second thing that I loved.
 To create characters that share uninhibited dialogue that flows and feels real, is hard. This is one of those areas that I naturally scrutinize because it is easy to force characters into the plot-line, rather than allow them to lead the author and read through their story. This story felt nostalgic in a sense, as I found myself thinking back to my high school days and comparing my background to the experiences of these characters. 

We are also introduced to Perrie's past love interest, Neven, along with his friend, August. Between the four of these characters, a plot unfolds, involving them in situations that they do not expect.


  The third thing I loved about  Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault
 was its sheer originality, and ability to neutralize common cliches riddling the young adult genre. Weaving the life of a teenager, into fairy tale retellings, along with some horror, really made this tale shine (for me, at least.) Perrie is not a common girl who becomes a heroine in a ridiculously short time frame. She's not overly amazing, either. I cannot divulge much in detail in order to keep this a review spoiler-free. I would, however, like to make a recommendation: 

If you are a person who likes to skip Prologues and Epilogues, do not skip them in this book!


  The last main point that I loved about this book
 were the plot twists! I dare you to guess what happens!

Now, this is categorized as "upper young adult," as stated in the synopsis, and I would like to reinforce that here. There are scenes of gore, coition, and some profanity, and I would not deem it appropriate for all young adult readers.

There may be some minor issues here and there. Honestly, there were none that were noteworthy to me. Overall, this book's level of entertainment was 100% 

4 stars.

A big thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!

This review can also be viewed on my blog: She's Going Book Crazy

Lottie oliver

Hey!

Oh boy, I know two reviews in less than one week. What can I say… I’m on a role. Now, do you like horror? Do you like things that go bump in the night? How about Grimm’s fairy tales but darker… Yes its possible. This book was provided to me by NetGalley. Here is my honest review.

First, here’s the synopsis. People in the town of Deer Park, Texas are vanishing. There is a strange museum, known as Quinsey Wolfe’s Glass Vault, that appears overnight. Perrie Madeline’s best friend and ex-boyfriend are among the missing. Perrie and her friend August go on a pursuit for them in the mysterious museum. Could the elusive Quinsey Wolfe’s Glass Vault have anything to do with the disappearances?

Quinsey Wolfe’s Glass Vault is the start of a thrilling duology full of magic, danger, and romance. 

The first thing I would like to mention about this story is that it is very, very repetitive. But if you persevere you reap the rewards. For instance our Main Character’s… They seem to forget important details extremely easily and seem very easily distarcted and this, at points, ruins the mood that was created.

The genres of this book are Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. The fantasy aspect I understood more or less straight away. Horror took a while to kick in. By a while, I mean almost all of the book. You get through about 97% of the book and you still can’t figure out how the Main Character’s are going to get out of the mess that they have been sucked into… Literally.

As much as I love the idea of the Main Character’s being thrown around all of these exhibits with no way out, I would have liked to see a subtle change from the last. Other than the change to the story, or fairy tale, there is no change to the circumstances. They are stuck in this place and they are being hunted. The problem is that it isn’t really gripping until the end.

The description and the way its all portraied is brilliant. You don’t feel scared until the author really wants you to and even then the horror is ramped up and the whole thing does a 180 degree flip. The end is so clean and brilliant that I had no idea it was happening until it had happened. By this point you realise its to late for any of the Main Characters.

The plot reminds me a little of Caraval but with a ridiculous twist that you don’t expect. The whole story is very clever and different. It’s such a new and gripping idea in the end.

Grimm’s fairytales gets even more grim, with horrific twists that will leave you trusting no one in the tale.

For this review I give the book: 4 stars.