ARC Review: Burning Glass - Kathryn Purdie

Title: Burning Glass
Author: Kathryn Purdie
Pub Date: March 1st, 2016
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Page Count: 512

Sonya was born with the rare gift to feel what those around her feel—both physically and emotionally—a gift she’s kept hidden from the empire for seventeen long years. After a reckless mistake wipes out all the other girls with similar abilities, Sonya is hauled off to the palace and forced to serve the emperor as his sovereign Auraseer.

Tasked with sensing the intentions of would-be assassins, Sonya is under constant pressure to protect the emperor. One mistake, one small failure, will cost her own life and the lives of the few people left in the world who still trust her.

But Sonya’s power is untamed and reckless, her feelings easily usurped, and she sometimes can’t decipher when other people’s impulses end and her own begin. In a palace full of warring emotions and looming darkness, Sonya fears that the biggest danger to the empire may be herself.

As she struggles to wrangle her abilities, Sonya seeks refuge in her tenuous alliances with the volatile Emperor Valko and his idealistic younger brother, Anton, the crown prince. But when threats of revolution pit the two brothers against each other, Sonya must choose which brother to trust—and which to betray.

BURNING GLASS is debut author Kathryn Purdie’s stunning tale of dangerous magic, heart-rending romance, and the hard-won courage it takes to let go.

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After hearing such positive reviews of this novel from reviewers I trust, I feel as though I wasn't reading the same novel. - Nova @ Out of Time

This review is a rant. It is angry and possibly long winded. If that is not your thing, I advise that you don't read on.

About a year ago, I wrote a review for The Sin Eater's Daughter in which I highlighted things like a useless main character and nonexistent plot that bothered the crap out of me. This review goes down as one of the most negative I've ever written. I never thought I'd be in a position to write another review, but here we are again.

Burning Glass started off very quickly. It immersed me into the story without much warning so I felt as though I was being thrown in the deep end. I was actually a little confused. But that went away really quickly. What first struck me was how quickly the disaster happens. I felt as though the disaster was written really well and really darkly. I could feel Sonya's pain and survivor's guilt. But after a few chapters, it's like she forgot that all the people she grew up with are dead.

Nevertheless, I kept going and realized that things started to get better. We're introduced to Prince Anton and Emperor Valko. Immediately, I got the sense there would be a love triangle. Cue an eyeroll. The story doesn't do much, going between idle politics and the push/pull between the characters. Nearing the end, it's like the book realizes it hasn't done anything and thrusts and entire story worth of action in a few chapters. The plot itself is very dry and not original. Corrupt ruler gets overthrown by an unlikely heroine. You already know how this ends. It concludes with the main character doing something "strong" and proving that she's got power even though there was no building of any kind. Things fell into place too easy. It made no sense.

Sonya was idiotic and you know, if there was development, I wouldn't have minded. However, there wasn't. Being away from boys for your entire live and then sensing the allure of a prince [and an Emperor], I get it. The initial swoony feeling is totally natural. But once one of the two starts to force themselves on you and treating you like a mistress, I feel as though the choice is pretty clear. Sonya, unfortunately, did not. In the end, she does do something but it has nothing to do with the way the character treated her, which, to me, is SO NOT OKAY. It took her a long time before she realized a person's true nature. It's even more of a joke when you realize that Sonya's Auraseer power makes it so she's supposed to be able to sense people; their intentions and emotions. For someone of that power, she's exceptionally naive and useless.
This went from bad to worse nearing the end as I say it again. When she finally realizes her power, it's like there is no work involved to reach her goal of saving people. The people who have been terrorizing the fictional world since the beginning of the novel happen to bend to the will of a teenager without consequence?

I'm honestly so sick of this trope where the main character has more power than the entire country in her pinky. It stunts development, in my opinion. The worst part is that it's evidently clear that Sonya lacks any kind of control with her power. I don't understand why that wasn't a setback in the novel. Instead, it was all smooth sailing. More setbacks would slow down the story but it would also encourage development and natural growth.


The rest of the characters were no better. I felt as though I was in a wax museum the entire time. First we have the ruler bent on control. Then, there's the naive girl in the wrong place. Lastly, a prince with good intentions and a smoldering gaze who can do no wrong. I love how unique these characters are!1!11!1 Oh wait. This story relied on Sonya as the focal point. The other characters came into when it was in relation to her. It's hard to believe Sonya was not born in the palace with the way people kept kissing her ass.

I'm shaking my head while writing this review. I have no idea how to express my thoughts on this one. I found it a complete waste of my time, only pushing through because I kept assuming there would be something more; that there would be a part that blew my mind and made me realize why I heard so many great things. This didn't happen and now I'm snarky.

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Kathryn’s love of storytelling began as a young girl when her dad told her about someone named Boo Radley while they listened to the film score of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. In high school and college, Kathryn focused on acting, poetry, guitar, and extensive journal writing. Years later, when she was in recovery from donating a kidney to her brother, inspiration for her first novel struck. She’s been writing darkly fantastical stories ever since. Her debut novel, BURNING GLASS, releases winter 2016 from HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books.