The Life of Glass by Jillian Cantor

Title: The Life of Glass

Author: Jillian Cantor

Published: February 2010

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Before he died, Melissa’s father told her about stars. He told her that the brightest stars weren’t always the most beautiful—that if people took the time to look at the smaller stars, if they looked with a telescope at the true essence of the star, they would find real beauty. But even though Melissa knows that beauty isn’t only skin deep, the people around her don’t seem to feel that way. There’s her gorgeous sister Ashley who will barely acknowledge Melissa at school, there's her best friend Ryan, who may be falling in love with the sophisticated Courtney, and there’s Melissa’s mother who’s dating someone new, someone who Melissa knows will never be able to replace her father.

To make sure she doesn’t lose her father completely, Melissa spends her time trying to piece together the last of his secrets and completing a journal her father began—one about love and relationships and the remarkable ways people find one another. But when tragedy strikes, Melissa has to start living and loving in the present, as she realizes that being beautiful on the outside doesn't mean you can't be beautiful on the inside.

This is a lyrical tale of love, loss and self-discovery from the author of THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS

I'm supposed to be completely honest on here, right? Yeah, I already knew the answer to that, I just need reassurance. Even though I feel like I should be, I wasn't blown away by this book. I had really high hopes for it, but it fell a bit flat. Don't get me wrong it's a great book, I just didn't think that it was spectacular.

The main character, Melissa, is fourteen, which threw me off at the beginning. I'm used to characters that are around sixteen, but I got over it fast. Melissa was a great narrator. She acted just like a fourteen year old girl. I know, I was one. She was very mature, but that didn't make her character unbelievable, it was just a part of her. The other characters were consistent and engaging also, except I felt like one or two minor characters were just kind of there. As in, they served their purpose, now no one cares. But it wasn't distracting or anything.

The imagery in this book is spectacular. The way that she showed things exactly how they were was really nice, if you get what I mean. I know what I mean, but it's kind of hard to put it into words. I guess you'll just have to read the book! The writing as a whole is beautiful, and I was moved by quite a few lines.

The part that fell flat was the plot. I don't know, I guess that it just wasn't what I thought that it would be. It's basically about Melissa dealing with changes in her life: she's in high school now, her best friend is dating the new girl, her mom is dating someone after her fathers death, her sister has a boyfriend. They're all things that she needs to adjust to, and the book is basically about how she does it. I felt like there were a couple loose ends at the end of the book too, but nothing major.

Don't let the bad stuff throw you off! Like I said that the beginning, this book is great. If you have chance to read it, definitely do it. Keep your eye out for her other book, The September Sisters, too!

Characters: 9/10
Writing: 10/10
Plot: 8/10
Originality: 9/10
Ending: 9/10
44/50 B+