The City Beyond the Glass

Title: The City Beyond the Glass

Series: A Fairy Tale Retold (Book #6)

Year: 2018

Author: Suzannah Rowntree

Summary: In Renaissance Venice, the daughters of nobility must marry - or live and die trapped behind convent walls. Impulsive and adventurous, Gemma Caloprini thanks her stars that she's destined for marriage...until an unwanted betrothal goads her to defy her father and risk her most dangerous secret: the Glass Doge, a sinister nobleman who lives behind the glass of her mirror.

Now Gemma faces a brutal dilemma. If the suitors competing for her youngest sister's hand discover her secret, she'll be locked in a convent. If the Inquisitors find out, she'll burn as a witch. And if she can't pay her debt to the Glass Doge, she'll lose her soul forever.

THE CITY BEYOND THE GLASS is a dark and spellbinding YA retelling of THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES.

Review: This review was originally written for publication on Fairy Tale Central. Click here to read the full review.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses has long been one of my favorite fairytales. I grew up with four sisters, so I guess it's natural for me to love a good sister story. Here, we don't have the classic twelve princesses to keep track of, but this story is definitely a gem in the field of fairytales.

Gemma and her two sisters have grown up in a convent -- which is where most girls of their ranking in Venice will stay until the end of their days. However, Gemma has a chance at freedom. One daughter in each family can marry and be saved from life in the convent. When her father arranges such a marriage for her, Gemma is thrilled by the opportunity but also skeptical about her father's pick -- especially since he won't give her the man's name. So, she decides to take matters into her own hands and figure out what exactly it is her father has planned for her future.

However, her plans go terribly awry when a stranger named Gonzaga steps in and literally rips her off her path, and everything turns upside-down in a moment with her reputation and future at stake.

Advisory: Some violence and action, but nothing terribly overdone or out of tone for the novel. Gemma's character is called into question because of the worn-out shoes, but the author handles this topic with a lot of care.

I wouldn't say language is a big caution of this story (at least for my own ranking), but for those wanting to know, one character uses "damned."

Magical elements also play a big part of the story, particularly in the mirror-realm that Gemma and her sisters visit. Even though the story is set in historical Venice, the whole tale reads very much like a true fairytale with the usual fairytale-type magic. Things do get a little dark in the mirror-realm once Gemma begins to learn its secrets, but she's not about to give up hope at buying freedom for herself and her two sisters.

Again, click here to read the full review on Fairy Tale Central. And be sure to check out all the other fun posts celebrating a month of Twelve Dancing Princesses!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Related Reviews: Death Be Not Proud (mini review)