Title – A Face Like Glass
Author – Frances Hardinge
Goodreads rating – 4.28
My Rating – 3
Synopsis
In the underground city of Caverna, the world’s most skilled craftsmen toil in the darkness to create delicacies beyond compare. They create wines that can remove memories, cheeses that can make you hallucinate and perfumes that convince you to trust the wearer even as they slit your throat. The people of Caverna are more ordinary, but for one thing: their faces are as blank as untouched snow. Expressions must be learned. Only the famous Facesmiths can teach a person to show (or fake) joy, despair or fear — at a price.
Into this dark and distrustful world comes Neverfell, a little girl with no memory of her past and a face so terrifying to those around her that she must wear a mask at all times. For Neverfell’s emotions are as obvious on her face as those of the most skilled Facesmiths, though entirely genuine. And that makes her very dangerous indeed
My Thoughts
This book focuses on a girl named Neverfell, who has a face like glass. A face like glass is seen on outsiders. See in Caverna people can shape their faces, they can be experiencing one thing and there face shows the complete opposite. Whereas Neverfell’s face can not do that, she shows all her emotions on her face, you always know what she is feeling or thinking. In Caverna everyone lives underground, you start the story in the cheesemakers tunnels. Neverfell knows her way around the tunnels and soon the cheese maker takes five-year-old Neverfell in and makes her wear a mask to hide her face. Neverfell just thinks she ugly and just wear the mask. she goes about helping Grandible make cheese and clean up. Seven years go by, now twelve-year-old Neverfell is making cheese and cleaning, but she feels completely isolated and alone. When a visitor comes she begged the cheesemaker to let her visit and stay instead of hiding away. Soon she follows a little white rabbit trough a crack in the tunnel and wanders out into the mysterious Caverna.
She is soon thrust into the court and is dodging assassination attempts and being kidnapped. Finding out who she can trust. When the Grand steward dies the enquire blame Neverfell, but Childerson comes to her defense or so she thinks. She is soon hiding out, trying to find out what truly happened to him, where she come from and leading a Rebellion for everyone to get to the overground. Neverfell learns who her true friends are and to trust her gut instinct.
I liked this book, but at times I found myself going mad trying to follow and imagine the story. It’s a story about trusting your gut and having a little faith. Neverfell is easily a character who can border on annoying at times and is a little naive. Overall the story is very well written and imaginative. I did enjoy the story, but at times found myself completely lost and had to reread a chapter. This is probably not a book I will ever reread. I was hoping to go into it and it would be one of my favorite books, but sadly it just did not work out that way.
Have you read this Novel? What did you think of it?
