JANUARY 2018 - AudioFile
Narrator Billie Fulford-Brown spins this adventurous steampunk- inspired fantasy with a delivery that is as spirited and industrious as Princess Wilhelmina Heidle herself. Fourth in line to inherit the kingdom of Arrod, Wil is a spare heir who earns her keep by spying. When her newfound ability to turn living objects into gemstones leads to a catastrophic fatality, she runs. In search of a cure, Wil relies on the wisdom of her brothers, whose range of personalities Fulford-Brown handles with ease. She uses a light touch to twist her cool British accent into an original accent for Loom, the mysterious exiled prince from the Southern Isles who involves Wil in a rebellion against her own kingdom. J.E.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
09/11/2017
Fifteen-year-old Wilhelmina “Wil” Heidle is a “spare,” fourth in line to the throne of Arrod behind Owen the heir, gifted alchemist Gerdie, and the unrelentingly cruel Baren. During an attack by a ruffian, Wil discovers that her touch can turn people into gemstones, killing them. She’s horrified, and Owen warns her that their father will surely use her for his own purposes. Hoping to gain the king’s favor, Wil sets out on a spying mission but accidentally kills Owen. Exiled by her father, a grief-stricken Wil sets out into the world, hoping to find someone to help her; when she meets the mysterious Loom, she is shocked to discover that he’s immune to her touch. Wil is sympathetic, and her power (although limited) is terrifying, but DeStefano (the Chemical Garden series) doesn’t imbue the larger cast with many standout characteristics. The worldbuilding is thinly sketched, as well: telephones, dirigibles, data goggles, and digital technology exist alongside traditional fantasy elements in a way that makes it hard to get a full sense of the setting. Ages 13–up. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Agency. (Oct.)
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
Readers will be eager to reenter this world of scheming kings and banished heirs, where nothing is quite as it seems.
Booklist
A captivating and well-written fantasy adventure.
Traci Chee
DeStefano has penned a book of exquisite parts—a spiked exterior of brutal magic and a deep core of tender human relationships—that ultimately coalesce into a sharp, scintillating whole. The Glass Spare will leave you wonderstruck.
Beth Revis
Brilliantly crafted, this fantasy will make you believe in magic. Only someone with a heart of stone will be able to turn away from Wil’s story.
Laini Taylor
If there was a company that offered dangerous vacations inside of books, I would want to go into this one, and travel the skies and seas with its vexing, honorable liars. Wil’s journey dazzles, and DeStefano’s writing entrances. This book is luminous and spiky, like a pocketful of jewels.
School Library Journal
08/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—As the only daughter of the king and queen of Arrod, Wil spends her days doing her father's bidding and her beloved brother's favors. Locked in a life-threatening confrontation with an angry man, Wil discovers that her touch can turn anything living into precious stone. Both fascinated and repulsed by her powers, Wil encounters family tragedy and is banished from her kingdom. In her search to discover the truth behind her affliction, she meets up with a prince banished from a different kingdom, one that stands at the precipice of war with Arrod. As the two bond and continue their efforts to unlock the mystery of Wil's touch, they eventually sail their way into peril, and Wil's powers may be the only thing that keep them alive. From the initial scenes in Arrod to the stormy seas that lay between kingdoms, the setting of The Glass Spare is richly imagined. Marrying technological savvy with a more traditional high fantasy sensibility lets the narrative details stand out from the pack in the genre. Wil's journey is engrossing, and her relationships with the cursed prince and his wife are well-drawn. While the pacing drags a bit in the middle, readers will be eager to discover the truth about Wil and may be frustrated by the existence of a sequel. VERDICT A unique, adventurous fantasy perfect for young adult collections.—Erinn Black Salge, Morristown-Beard School, NJ
JANUARY 2018 - AudioFile
Narrator Billie Fulford-Brown spins this adventurous steampunk- inspired fantasy with a delivery that is as spirited and industrious as Princess Wilhelmina Heidle herself. Fourth in line to inherit the kingdom of Arrod, Wil is a spare heir who earns her keep by spying. When her newfound ability to turn living objects into gemstones leads to a catastrophic fatality, she runs. In search of a cure, Wil relies on the wisdom of her brothers, whose range of personalities Fulford-Brown handles with ease. She uses a light touch to twist her cool British accent into an original accent for Loom, the mysterious exiled prince from the Southern Isles who involves Wil in a rebellion against her own kingdom. J.E.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2017-07-17
A princess struggles to cope with newfound powers in DeStefano's most recent venture.Fifteen-year-old Wil, the white fourth child and only daughter of Arrod's royal family, has always known her place within her family. As the final spare in her family's lineage, she knows she doesn't serve a great purpose for her family—unlike Owen, the heir, or Gerdie, the sickly alchemist/inventor. But everything changes for Wil when, in a moment of self-defense, she discovers a power she didn't know she had: with any adrenaline rush, she's able, with a Midas-like touch, to fatally turn any living thing into a gemstone. Realizing that she, like Gerdie, could become a pawn in her power-hungry father's war games, she keeps her powers a secret—until she accidentally kills one of her brothers in front of their father and is promptly banished. But soon she's kidnapped by a pair of rebels, including the enemy kingdom's banished prince Loom, and they rope her into their assassination plot, while brown-skinned Loom worms his way into her heart. While the finale clearly leads to a sequel, uneven pacing and a distant third-person narration make investment in these fairly generic characters difficult. A choppy mix of fantasy, science fiction, and steampunk (curses and "paralysis bullets," newfangled "electric carriages" and solar panels, dirigibles and "data goggles") leaves the worldbuilding hazy, while classic themes of monstrosity and humanity, science versus magic go underexplored. Only for those with spare funds or spare time. (Fantasy. 12-18)
