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A review by wealhtheow
The Glass God by Kate Griffin
3.0
A little while ago, Sharon Li developed the unexpected and not particularly welcome ability to walk through walls. When self-help books and mantras couldn't offer any more guidance, she started a support group for other people experiencing strange or supernatural phenomena. After defeating spirit-enslaving hedge fund managers in [b:Stray Souls|13526154|Stray Souls (Magicals Anonymous, #1)|Kate Griffin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1343935864s/13526154.jpg|19086861], Sharon and the group have settled into a comfortable groove. But then Matthew Swift disappears, and Sharon is appointed deputy Midnight Mayor. She only has one clue to Swift's disappearance: an ordinary blue umbrella. But despite her complete lack of experience, eventually she stumbles onto the truth.
Here's the thing. I really want to like Sharon Li, who is good-hearted and good-natured and tries hard. But she, and most of Magicals Anonymous, are SO ANNOYING. They ramble and babble and never get to the point without first spouting a good three paragraphs of tangents. The first few hundred pages of this book were painful to read, because I love the magical London Griffin has created, and all the different types of magical systems and supernatural beings trying to live in an urban environment, but I was very frustrated by the characters. But I have to admire that when it really comes down to it, Sharon and her compatriots can shut up and do some serious damage. The epic battle near the end of the book had me reading furiously fast. (Griffin writes action very well, and magical battles even better.) I thought this section of Sharon's dialog, near the end, demonstrates both what I really like and really dislike about this series.
Here's the thing. I really want to like Sharon Li, who is good-hearted and good-natured and tries hard. But she, and most of Magicals Anonymous, are SO ANNOYING. They ramble and babble and never get to the point without first spouting a good three paragraphs of tangents. The first few hundred pages of this book were painful to read, because I love the magical London Griffin has created, and all the different types of magical systems and supernatural beings trying to live in an urban environment, but I was very frustrated by the characters. But I have to admire that when it really comes down to it, Sharon and her compatriots can shut up and do some serious damage. The epic battle near the end of the book had me reading furiously fast. (Griffin writes action very well, and magical battles even better.) I thought this section of Sharon's dialog, near the end, demonstrates both what I really like and really dislike about this series.
'You know,' she murmurs, 'if this whole deputy Midnight Mayor thing sticks, and I, like, get lumbered with this job forever, then people are gonna talk about me and Swift, and how we worked all that. And everyone's going to be like, "wow, Matthew Swift, he's such a bad-ass, such a firebrand, look at all the stuff he blows up" and they're gonna go "jeez, Sharon, she's so like 'let's work through our issues' and shit and so kinda 'cuppa tea in the afternoon' and that" and they'll be right, of course, because that's what I'm like and that's what I think people should do.
But the thing is, you gotta remember that all this doesn't make me the good cop.'