The Spiritglass Charade by Coleen Gleason: Book Review!

Hello, everyone! I'm back and I'm here to review The Spiritglass Charade by Colleen Gleason. The book continues the adventures of Mina Holmes and Evaline Stoker. After a upper class woman falls prey to a charlatan medium, Mina and Evaline are brought in to investigate those who would want the young women to appear mad. But under the darkness of night, another enemy arises. Vampires are back in London. So, who ya gonna call? Wait, never mind. Mina and Evaline are on the case! But enough about that. Let's get onto the review!

So I had some reservations coming into this book. I wanted more world-building, a little less repetitive phrases, and a whole lot more mystery. For the most part, the book accomplished these things. I got to see more of Steampunk London. I didn't catch as many phrases repeating themselves. I also really enjoyed the mystery. Although, I wish I got a little more connection with the first novel.

Still, there were a few things that I didn't really appreciate or like about the novel. It was still a bit difficult getting into the story. It felt like there was a lot of build up without any reward. There would be little things happening that felt like they didn't belong in this book. There was a funny part in the beginning of the book that I though was actually pretty cool, but the payoff didn't match. It felt like the payoff was done offstage. If that's the case, why show us the first part?

Another problem I had was the same with the other book: Mina's mother. Mina keeps bringing her up without ever saying her name, which sends out bright flashing lights for a reader. If you're going to bring that much attention to something, make the reveal a little more epic. When we finally get her name, we don't actually know what her name means to the story. We could have learned her name from book one and then be shocked by her relation to the story. It would have made it so much better.

But once again, there were things I enjoyed about the novel. I like where the relationships between Mina and Evaline and where their prospective beaus are going. They seem to be developing, yet they still manage to have their twists and turns. I love how the one who doesn't consider herself beautiful ends up having two potential boyfriends. Quite ironic, don't ya think?

Also, as I said before, we get to see a bit more of Steampunk London. We get to see a bit more of the different levels that people use to travel. We also get to see something like a park where couples and friends go to be entertained. It was a sweet, romantic place to be, and I found it quite lovely to envision.

With everything said and done, I did like this book more than I did the first one. With that said, I'm giving this book three and a half chocolate truffles out of five.



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