It is … some time in the future and the Earth has been taken over (I guess) by these humanoid alien people. Rachel Pryne lives with her daughter Pearl, castoffs from the small community, Suffer. In pretty typical dystopian fashion, the community is under the charge of “Elders”, one in particular Cyrus who just … ugh.

Anyway, one night one of the Ohnenrai shows up at her door injured, and Rachel decides to nurse him back to health. She slowly falls for him while continuing to be treated like dirt by most of the community in which she serves as a healer. There’s a big to-do about the Elders taking her daughter away from her, and Rachel and Pearl run away with Ehtishem, the Ohnenrai soldier, and that’s where the story kind of lost me.

I feel like this book really lost its way about a third of the way through. While still at home in Suffer, Rachel seemed strong but beaten down, but once she ends up separated from her daughter she seems to lose her fire. I realize even the strongest people can only take so much, but she almost immediately seems a different person. Back and forth with her emotions. Does she love Ehtishem, hate him, or even trust him? It’s like running in circles trying to keep up with. And Ehtishem, ugh. While on Earth he’s got the strong, silent type going on, but once back on the Ohnenrai ship and taking his rightful place as leader (or second or third in command, I dunno, it got kind of complicated) the strong, silent thing goes by way of irritating.

That said, sci-fi isn’t my usual cup of tea, but the concept grabbed my attention, as did the story itself when I first started reading. I just really felt like the second half of the book did not seem to flow as well as the first half. This is listed as book one in a series, and should the series continue I would be interested in reading more.

*A free copy was provided by Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for my honest review. ( )

Rachel is a healer in the small and religious enclave of Suffer (which is a town that really lives up to its name)- however her world is rocked upside down when an injured alien asks for help. Because of her vows, she ignores her mistrust and doubt over his real intentions on why he is visiting a human settlement, especially when his people has helped to cause so much destruction on earth.

This was a very interesting little gem of a book, with the premise of an alien race invading Earth and causing world wide mayhem and destruction. The themes and ideas were thought-provoking and I loved the heroine's determination in protecting her daughter from the clutches of her rapist father and in a society where religion has become misogynistic and hateful. It had a similar vibe to The Handmaid's Tale, although the latter half of the book delves deeper into the motives and the political struggles of the alien hierarchies which Rachel is an important figure for one faction. She becomes very important to the survival of her people as well as the aliens, and I loved the twist at the end which hints of a greater threat for all parties.

Nonetheless, I wasn't too sure about a world that destroyed itself due to religious terrorism and I wished there was more time spent on explaining the fall of civilisation because it didn't feel realistic. And I am in two minds about the religious overtones of the book. I also did find the second half of the book lost some steam and it got a bit convoluted, and I also found myself getting frustrated with Rachel's reactions towards the twists and the events which didn't ring true for me because she acted out like an annoying teen instead of her stoic and calm self that she presented in the first half. And I was not a fan of Cyrus, who morphed from this cold and sociapathic preacher to this cardboard cut-out villain in the end.

But Girl Under Glass had a great tense build-up which was tense and chilling and despite the issues I had with the second half, the world-building was strong and well thought out with a great eye to detail. I will definitely pick up the sequel!

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I won a copy of Girl Under Glass in a book group drawing on Goodreads.
I was drawn in immediately & kept interested through out the entire book. Sci Fi, post-apocalyptic dystopian and romance, all in one story. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
Rachel, a healer & her daughter Pearl live in Suffer, a religious colony on Earth. Pearl is weeks away from her 8th birthday where she will be removed from Rachel to prepare for marriage & breeding. This is not the life Rachel wants for her daughter and when an injured stranger shows up at her home-she makes a choice to trust Ehtishem, an alien humanoid soldier and escape from 'Suffer'. ( )