Glimmerglass Review: Glimmerglass Builds a Border City From Magic and Machinery | The YA Shelf

Glimmerglass Review: Glimmerglass Builds a Border City From Magic and Machinery

After her mother arrives drunk at another important event, Dana Hathaway runs away to find the father she has never known. He lives in Avalon, where the human world and Faerie intersect. Dana learns she is a Faeriewalker, uniquely able to bring technology into Faerie and magic into the mortal realm. Everyone suddenly has a reason to control her.

Avalon is an excellent premise because the border has practical consequences. Magic and machinery are not aesthetic opposites; Dana’s body can carry each across a line that stops everyone else. That ability makes her politically important before she understands the factions arranging themselves around her.

Dana’s frustration with her mother is painfully believable, though the portrayal of addiction often reduces her mother to humiliation and crisis. Running to her father does not provide a stable rescue. His world has its own secrets, and the book is smart enough to make biological connection a poor substitute for earned trust.

Dana Runs Toward a Father and Into Everyone Else’s Agenda

The number of kidnappings, evasions, and suspicious allies gives the plot speed but also repetition. Ethan provides the expected dangerous attraction, while political motives keep every relationship unsettled. I wanted Dana to have more room to process the upheaval instead of being moved into the next threat.

Readers at publication praised the teen voice and crossover appeal. Current readers may notice familiar paranormal beats and dated handling of family dysfunction. The Faeriewalker idea still shines. The novel earns 3.5 because its setting creates genuine possibility, even when the character work cannot keep pace with everyone trying to use it.