The Glass Demon [Kindle Edition]

...You're sure to find a dead body in the orchard. Lin's day does not start well, finding the body of an old man who appears to have died accidentally is bad enough, but then take into account that her father Professor Fox doesn't want to attract attention to the family so he refuses to report it. Along with her siblings Polly and baby Ru and stepmother Tuesday, Lin is moving to a half ruined castle in the German woods so that her father can continue his search for some legendary stained glass. Anyone who looks at the glass sees the likeness of Bonschariant - the Glass Demon and is certain to die. Not a cheery fairy tale to grow up with but Lin has heard this story for years, it is only with their move to Germany and the isolation that comes with it that Lin begins to believe it might be true.

Lin is very much alone throughout the beginning of the novel; she is the only member fluent in German, her sister Polly barely speaks to anyone, her stepmother Tuesday is too concerned with being a drama queen to worry about her and her father's obsession is the missing glass. So Lin's only friend quickly becomes Michael who lives at a nearby farm, he becomes her confidante when strange things start to happen. Who is threatening Lin's family, trying to kill them and force them to leave? Lin wonders about the stained glass and the broken shards of glass that seem to appear whenever she is in danger - could it be Bonschariant hunting her? Then Michael reveals that he knows where the stained glass is....

This is a good YA novel, there are some genuinely creepy moments and you can easily lose yourself in the tense atmosphere that Grant creates. She also keeps you reading by revealing things that will happen - you learn within the first paragraph that Lin's sister dies, but you keep reading in order to find out how. Possibly the only reason why I didn't rate this higher is because of the cliche of the ruined castle in the German forest, sometimes it feels a little bit like watching a very bad horror film where you know exactly what scenes to expect and what characters will appear. However if you want to read something that will keep you entertained for a while this is a good read. I would possibly have been more interested to see how things would have turned out had this been an adult horror novel but a good read nonetheless.

"The Glass Demon" is Helen Grant's second novel, after "The Vanishing of Katharina Linden" which was nominated for the Carnegie award. I loved that one a lot, hence I was very curious about the new book.
The story takes place in Germany - as did the first book, and an amusing character even makes a return. Lin follows her historian father who's convinced he will be able to discover the mythical and long lost "Allerheiligen" stained glass. There is a legend about a demon protecting the glass... Very soon various people die in strange ways...
This book is written in a vivid style, with several amusing details, good dialogue, and perceptive characterisation of teenage psychology and behaviour. The supporting characters are equally well drawn and the book also touches upon the difficult issue of anorexia, and it does this in an honest and believable fashion. There is also a feel of impending doom - for example we learn very quickly that someone will die, yet this doesn't take away from the suspense in various scenes (the finale is positively nail-biting). The setting in modern rural Germany is almost exotic, which adds to the appeal. Castle ruins, mysterious deaths, dark woods and demonic legends give the book a gothic feel - yet it is fresh and sparkling, not dusty.
My teenage niece is a fan of the Twilight books. I don't have a real problem with them even if they provide only slick, polished entertainment. In contrast, "The Glass Demon" provides both more thrills and more tangible characters. Teenagers like my niece who love scary books should find this a refreshing change, perhaps an eye-opener even.
The best YA novels can be read and enjoyed by all ages, and this is one of them. Recommended!

I have a new must buy author and I'm blaming the lovely Liz from My Favourite Books. She sent me The Glass Demon to read and now I want to read The Vanishing of Katarina Linden asap and I can't wait for Helen Grant's third book Wish Me Dead, which is due for publication on June 2nd. So why did I love The Glass Demon so much? Let me tell you.

Lin is the seventeen-year-old narrator and she's a wonderful protagonist. She's smart and brave, but at the same time slightly self-centered and self-absorbed. Which, let's be honest, every seventeen-year-old girl is, however sweet and caring she maybe. It causes her to miss the fact that not everything is right with her sister Polly, in fact things are very much wrong, that Michel is developing feelings for her and the fact that he's a wonderful friend gets overlooked. To be fair, Lin acknowledges this herself, admitting that she should have done better by Polly and that she might be taking advantage of Michel's feelings for her, even if she isn't yet sure of what she feels for him. And I love that. I love that she did and I love that she realises that it's probably not entirely ethical to do so, but does it anyway. Because that is what happens in life and it's what people do. In the end, Michel and Lin's relationship was sweet. It wasn't instant love, but grew slowly with stumbles along the way. There are two scenes in Michel's beat up little car, which I particularly loved in this context. In both cases Lin initiates a kiss, but the motivations and outcomes couldn't have been more different. I loved the mirroring in them and Michel's reactions to them.

Lin's parents are just awful, especially Tuesday. She leaves the care for the girls' baby brother completely to Lin's sister. Tuesday is a diva to her finger tips and the prototype of a high-maintenance female. I kept wondering what had happened to Polly and Lin's real mum. When the answer to that came it was completely unexpected but rather cool!

The other star of the novel was the Allerheiligen glass. Its lure and history are woven throughout the book and the way Lin goes from shrugging off the legend and scoffing at local superstitions, to slowly believing Bonschariant is real was convincingly done. The use of the stories the glass depicts was very inventive too. I was actually pretty proud of myself when I made the connection just a page or two before Lin did, though the actual unveiling of 'Bonschariant' caught me by surprise. I really hadn't expected the culprit to be who they are.

The only niggle I had was the time line. While immersed in the narrative this wasn't a problem at all, but when thinking about the book later on, I realised that I had no idea in what kind of time frame the story played out. The time line was hard to grasp in retrospect, and while this may be my faulty memory, there isn't much mention of time passing, even though it clearly does. And while for the main story this isn't a particular problem, when considering Polly's weight loss for example, it did raise questions for me. But in the end, this was only a minor detail and didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story one jot.

The Glass Demon was a fabulous read, it was spooky, funny, sad and gripping. I kept turning pages, even when I should have put the book away and turned my light off. Even if you do not normally read YA, if you enjoy a good mystery, I highly recommend you pick up Lin's story. Personally, I can't wait to read more of Helen Grant's work.