A History of Glitter and Blood

by Hannah Moskowitz

Sixteen-year-old Beckan and her friends are the only fairies brave enough to stay in Ferrum when war breaks out. Now there is tension between the immortal fairies, the subterranean gnomes, and the mysterious tightropers who arrived to liberate the fairies.

But when Beckan's clan is forced to venture into the gnome underworld to survive, they find themselves tentatively forming unlikely friendships and making sacrifices they couldn't have imagined. As danger mounts, Beckan finds herself caught between her loyalty to her friends, her desire for peace, and a love she never expected.

This stunning, lyrical fantasy is a powerful exploration of what makes a family, what justifies a war, and what it means to truly love.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, LGBT, Romance, Fae, Fairies

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 18, 2015

About the author

Hannah Moskowitz wrote her first story, about a kitten named Lilly on the run from cat hunters, for a contest when she was seven years old. It was disqualified for violence. Her first book, BREAK, was on the ALA's 2010 list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, and in 2013, GONE, GONE, GONE received a Stonewall Honor. 2015's NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED was named the YA Bisexual Book of the Year. SICK KIDS IN LOVE was a Sydney Taylor Honoree, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and one of both Kirkus and Tablet Magazine's Best Books of the year. She lives in Maryland with several cats, none of whom are violent.

Reviews

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read any book like this one before--it was weird, it was odd, it was different.

This is my first Hannah Moskowitz book, and I am definitely going to be hunting down her books at our local bookstores so I can devour them as I did with this fabulous piece.

If there's one thing I can promise you, it's this: A History of Glitter and Blood is one big mess. Now "mess" in regards to this book can mean two things: a) a legitimately annoying, confusing mess, or b) a beautiful mess--luckily for me, I thought it was a fucking gorgeous, brilliant mess.

Okay, you're probably wondering how that sentence could possibly make any sense. Well, it does, I swear!

This book was written with a more... cluttered writing style, as opposed to lyrical writing. And fuck yeah did I love it! It went really well with the unreliable narrator's voice and made the story seem even more authentic.

The story itself had a mix of everything--romance, politics, drama, mystery--and each aspect was balanced out really well. None of them were boring or less interesting than the other.

And the characters! That aspect was amazing as well. This book featured a load of unique paranormal creatures--fairies (who can live with missing body parts and shed glitter), gnomes (who eat fairies--whoops!), tightropers, backpackers, nymphs--they were all incredibly badass and also very fascinating.

The relationships between the characters were... unique, to put it simply. There was just so much intimacy between everyone--and yeah, everyone pretty much had sex with everyone at some point in the book. (The main couple, though? I SHIP THEM SO HARD.) There was prostitution, too, which was handled in a... questionable but interesting way.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for something different, and isn't afraid of a little a lot of a shit ton of weirdness.

Deadly Darlings | The Social Potato | The Book Geek | Twitter | Instagram

[Hannah]

I wrote this book! I did not do the illustrations, which are seriously unbelievable. That girl on the front is a drawing, not a model. There's another "photograph" of her inside the book, by the same illustrator. She's posing here with her dad, who's just an ear and an eye in a jar:



There are also a ton of newspaper clippings and handwritten notes and stuff in it:



And the playlist, of course:

The Gymnast, High Above the Ground -- The Decemberists
Invincible -- OK Go
Vagabond -- Wolfmother
Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy -- Queen
Easier Than Love -- Switchfoot
The General -- Dispatch
Hey Baby -- No Doubt
All These Things That I've Done -- The Killers
Here's to the Night -- Eve 6
Revolution -- Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe Soundtrack)
We Both Go Down Together -- The Decemberists
Celebration Guns -- Stars
It's Only Love -- The Beatles
No Children -- The Mountain Goats
Know Your Enemy -- American Idiot Soundtrack
21 Guns -- American Idiot Soundtrack
The Engine Driver -- The Decemberists
How to Be Dead-- Snow Patrol
A Perfect Sonnet -- Bright Eyes
Hometown Glory -- Adele
I Remember -- Damien Rice
If You're Gone -- Matchbox Twenty
I Want a Warning -- Idlewild
Nothing Wrong -- Jimmy Eat World
How Far We've Come -- Matchbox Twenty
I'll Cover You (Reprise) -- RENT Soundtrack
We Will Rock You -- Queen
Things -- Frightened Rabbit
At Last -- Etta James
Alive With the Glory of Love -- Say Anything
Daydreamer -- Adele
Sons and Daughters -- The Decemberists

And no, I did not leave notes in it for myself by accident. Come on now.

[Shelby *trains flying monkeys*]

I'm dnfing this one before I get ragey.

Here's a quote:
In the morning, Scrap and Beckan take their usual route down to the mines. And shit, okay, a better author would insert a map right here.
Remember that for the next draft.
Once upon a time there was a writer who couldn't write a fucking book. I don't know what comes next. That whole chapter's going to need to get thrown out anyway.

Now this was in the book randomly. But then the whole thing seemed kinda random. I know the author is very young. But if you are old enough to say fuck as much as this book does you should be old enough to know you should get an editor before you publish a book.



Book source: Netgalley in exchange for review.

[Emily May]

DNF

I've been waiting to jump on the Moskowitz fanwagon for years, but I couldn't even finish two chapters of A History of Glitter and Blood. It was painful to try to force myself to read through paragraph after paragraph of a boring, completely not engaging, and really weird story.

Sometimes weird is good, but here it felt off. Dismembered fairies being eaten by gnomes, an odd third person present tense prose that dragged the story down even more. Life's too short to waste time on books that are this difficult to enjoy.

[Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁]

This . . . is the most . . . chaotic mess of rambling nonsense I've ever encountered.

I've been told the narrator is unreliable, and maybe that's true. I don't know. I couldn't read it long enough to find out.

BUT.

Regardless of whether or not that's true . . . I don't care. This is awful. AWFUL. Like boycott-the-publisher-for-all-eternity awful.

There's some kind of fairy war, and the gnomes eat the fairies (YES, literally), but only parts of them, and the rest continues to live b/c immortal: the MC carries around her father's remaining eye, ear, and a tooth in a jam jar in her backpack, oh, and she also "turns tricks" for the gnomes, specifically the one who returned her father's remains to her.

The last thing I read before calling it quits was how he paid double to fuck her twice, and he always remembers to slide the money into her skirt before he slides it off . . .

And this is being marketed as YA fantasy?

[TheBookSmugglers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is amazing beyond words

I don’t know that I ever read anything quite like A History of Glitter and Blood, a novel so edgy and dramatic and dark and uneasy and different and so, so weird, it almost exists on a realm of its own. It is SO bloody good it makes me want to fall on my knees and weep. Dramatically.

+++

Once upon a time, in the fairy town of Ferrum, there were only four whole, not maimed, fairies: Beckan and her three best friends Scrap, Josha and Cricket. The fairies share the town – the greatest, oldest fairy town that ever was – with the gnomes, who live underground (because that’s what gnomes like, right?) and provide services to the fairies like driving their buses and sweeping the streets. The gnomes are carnivores and if they occasionally devour parts of fairies (hence most fairies, apart from those four up there, have parts of them missing), it is like a tax the fairies pay to keep their town running. They are not too bothered because it’s not like fairies can really die, being immortal and all, capable of living on and on even without limbs and other important parts of their bodies, even as they shed the glitter that covers their bodies and when they can feel the pieces they leave behind.

Take Beckan for example, whose father lives in a bottle, and all that it’s left of him is an ear and a nose.

Then the war comes. The tightropers – creatures who spit ropes from their mouths and fly in the skies – come to liberate the fairies from oppression.

The fairies did not know they needed liberating.

Although if you look closely, and listen carefully, it is possible that “liberation” really means “occupation”.

But because fairy history (is there a fairy history?) proves that never really stay put and they all leave. Apart from the four aforementioned unharmed fairies who stay behind because it’s their town and some fairies should prove history (?) wrong.

And then there is a ceasefire. And there are only two fairies left unharmed now. And one dead gnome king (pay attention, this is important because FORESHADOWING).

The story begins right here.

+++

Or maybe not really.

Going back and forth, alternating third person present tense (for the now) and third person past tense (for the then, building up to the now), A History of Glitter and Blood follows Beckan and her pack, the found family she forms with her best friends (she used to love Josha but Josha loves Cricket; she might have feelings for Scrap? But Scrap did something Really Bad and now things are so complicated). Three of them had to resort to turn tricks for the gnomes and become prostitutes in order not to starve (it is possible that two of them were already doing that before the war even started). It is a job that brings money and food. It is dangerous. It is not exactly easy for some of them and it’s a bit messed up because of the thrill of having sex with someone who can just eat you and therefore holds power over you. The narrative is completely nonchalant about the way it describes this but the holes that show the complex emotions involving it, are there for anyone to see.

And then eventually, that family expands to include two gnomes (who might or might not eat pieces of Beckan if they get really, really hungry. It is possible that the war is not really over) and one tightroper boy named Piccolo. They all find each other and navigate toward one another because in times of war, everything goes, even siding with the enemy. Even finding things in common with races you think are beneath you.

One of their missions is to find at least one piece left of Cricket. Please lord, let them find at least one tiny speck of glitter.

+++

This is the thing you see: beneath all the weirdness of its premise and the complicated narrative mode, A History of Glitter and Blood is a super smart book that explores themes such as racism and prejudice. That subverts and examines issues of gender. For example, none of the female fairies can have children so all fairies are essentially biracial but they never, ever talk about their parts that are not fairies. A fairy is always a fairy. It’s the most important part of their blood.

The female fairies are sometimes called “empty”. This really hurts Beckan even if she doesn’t want to have her own children.

Most characters are bisexual.

They have sex for fun, for the mere physical aspect of it, for money, for love.

+++

On top of everything else, this book features an unreliable narrator. If you know anything about me as a reader at all, you know how I adore unreliable narrators, unreliable narratives and here, this is used to great effect to examine the question of history itself.

+++

The first clue is in the title itself, “A History.”

+++

Interspersed throughout the narrative are asides about writing. Asides that break the fourth wall:

"Once upon a time there was a writer who couldn't write a fucking book.
I don't know what comes next. That whole chapter's going to need to get thrown out anyway. You completely forgot halfway through that you'd said it was raining at the beginning.
Was it raining?
No one's ever going to know and it's all your fault.
Put a fucking map in the next draft.
Chapter two."

If you pay close attention, it is clear from the start who is narrating the story.

It is also clear that despite the narrator’s claim to be writing history, there is a lot of fiction here because said narrator has to fill in the gaps. The narrator has to recreate and imagine. The narrator has to fill out blanks for the parts when they were not present.

And yes, this is “a history” about the war. It is also “a history” about how people survive and how they deal with survivor’s guilt, abuse, rape, isolation, racism. It’s clearly a story about dealing with tragedy.

Because of who is writing and why, and it’s really also about framing the narrative: how do you tell a story depends on who you are and what’s your motivation. Especially if you are writing history.

Or when you are writing a love story.

+++

One way to describe this book is: four incredibly stupid, irresponsible, naive teenagers rashly decide they can survive a war unscathed by staying behind after everybody else leaves and prostituting themselves to the enemy. What a bunch of fucking idiots.

Another way to describe this book is: four amazing, incredibly earnest, idealistic teenagers courageously decide they can survive a war unscathed by staying behind and trying to save the city they love. They form a pack, they love one another grandiosely and they fight to live their lives to the fullest. What a bunch of lovable fools.

I prefer the latter description. These kids live in my heart.

[Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘]

I fucking hate when that happens.

I hate not finishing books.
I hate not finishing arcs even more.
I hate not finishing arcs from my favorite authors even more.

BUT.

While I adored Teeth and loved Gone, Gone, Gone, the truth is, I can't do this. I can't deal with my unability to feel connected or interested in this one. Maybe it wasn't for me. I don't really know, but oh, well. I shall try again on vacations, but now? Not happening, sorry.

*arc kindly provided by Chronicle Books through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

[Natalie Monroe · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

"There is no narrative.

There is nothing about Scrap.

There is nothing about her.

There is dry, pointless, objective, timeless history."

Have you ever read postmodern fiction? If you haven't, count your lucky stars. It is the single most pretentious genre I have ever encountered; it leaves Augustus Waters and his unlit cigarette in the dust.

Postmodernist authors essentially go out of their way to make a story as weird as possible. Metafiction, pastiche, illogical magical realism—it all goes in one big pot of fragmented timelines and big flashy symbolism tags. A History of Glitter and Blood greatly resembles that genre. The narrative not only jumps between past and present in an inconsistent order, it has these out-of-place lines that remind you the person writing this is not the protagonist.

"Remember to take that out in the final draft, that's stupid, I've got to stop making things that aren't about Cricket about Criket."

Those aren't notes made by Moskowitz, like I originally thought. They're made by the character writing this book, who is an entirely different person than the protagonist Becks, whose thoughts and actions we see in third-person. No doubt it's creative, but almost too creative to the point it irritates rather than inspires.

Then there's the world-building. This reality is populated by fairies, gnomes, and another species called tightropers, which I still don't have a clue what they are. But practically every aspect of their life is the same as ours. They have hair spray and pasta and guns. They look the same as us. So are fairies humans then? Glitter-coated immortal humans that lose limbs and pieces of themselves, because apparently they're delicious to gnomes?

I told you this story is fucking weird.



No one ever questions the way things are. Machines exist, so science exists, but no one has ever thought to look into this losing-chunks-of-yourself thing. They just accept it and go about their gothic filter life, communicating themes and shit.

I read up to 58%, then just skimmed the rest. I feel no less because of it.

ARC received from Netgalley. quotes taken from an uncorrected proof and may be subject to change.

[Paula M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know. I... don't know.

DNF.

I'm a fan of the writing style, actually. But this is too messy, too cluttered for me to handle. I'm in the middle already and I was still lost. I was really excited about this that's why I'm feeling sucky right now.

[Shannon (It Starts At Midnight) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight
Well then. This was a strange, strange book. It seems like a lot of people are basically so confused that they give up, but alas, I am not too fond of DNFing, unless I have to, and in this case, I was far too curious not to keep reading. But I have no coherent thoughts on this because.. what just happened to me? Instead, let's take a stroll through my reactions during the reading of this book:

Ah, okay, so this is about fairies. With glitter.

Oh and gnomes. The gnomes eat the fairies? That doesn't seem nice...

Wait- the fairies willingly go to the gnomes and have sex with them? For money? And they're all teenagers?  Do they have parents? Oh, in a jar you say? Only a few odd pieces of Becken's dad's face... sure.

Wait- what the hell is a "Tightroper"? Where did they come from? Actually, where did any of these people/beings come from? Where are we? Why are they fighting? They have jars and houses, but they have to eat each other? Hopefully they all eat a nice healthy snack before the aforementioned sex for money...

And who is narrating this? What are these pictures?! How is this a thing:

"Once upon a time there was a writer who couldn't write a fucking book.

I don't know what comes next. That whole chapter's going to need to get thrown out anyway. You completely forgot halfway through that you'd said it was raining at the beginning.

Was it raining?

No one's ever going to know and it's all your fault.

Put a fucking map in the next draft.

Chapter two."*

So what we have is a bit of a mess. But I kept right on reading, I did. Even though I had no idea what was happening, and I was fairly certain that I didn't care. I almost wondered if someone at Dunkin Donuts had spiked my coffee with some kind of hallucinogen, because what was this even?

And here's where it gets shocking: I am glad I didn't give up! It actually got to a point where I was invested. Did I understand? No, but it somehow all made sense it context, which has to be a sign that the author did a really good job, because I don't know how I came to grasp what was happening. Eventually it just... fell into place? And suddenly instead of being bewildered by all the stuff above, I just kind of accepted that it was the situation, and wanted to know what was going to happen next!

So, what did I like specifically, you ask?

The characters. I don't want to give anything away, so I will be vague here, but I loved the way Brecken, Scrap, and Josha were like a family of their own. Of course, so was Cricket, which has affected them all in various ways. They're very messed up individuals, as you are when you can be eaten at any moment, your family is all gone, and there's a war literally at your doorstep.
The writing style, once I got used to it, was incredible. It's an unreliable narrator, yes. It's also completely unique, and downright amusing at times. It does take some getting used to, but for me, it was worth it.
I flat out needed to know what happened! Would everyone make it out? Who would become dinner? Who would end up with who? (There was, incidentally, a lot of sex going on among these people. I don't think it necessarily equated to feelings though? Again, this world is confusing!)

What would I have liked more of? Even in the confusion, a bit more world building would have been insanely helpful. Just a few basics, maybe a little note on if this was even Earth, or if humans were still a "thing", or I don't know, an answer to any of my ten billion questions.

Bottom Line: Look, this isn't going to be for everyone, and I'd be lying if I said it was. If you can get past the point where you feel like you're on drugs or someone is pulling a very elaborate prank, it actually gets really good! The characters are very intriguing, and even though there were unanswered questions (because that is kind of just the nature of this book) I was certainly satisfied when I finished the book. If you like unique, even weird, then this would be a great fit. Because in all honesty, I think this book is going to stay with me for quite some time!

*Quote taken from uncorrected proof, subject to change

**Copy provided from publisher for review**

[Mel (Daily Prophecy)]

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

I can't do it. 58 pages and I hate everything about it.



First off, the writing-style. I love it when someone tells me a story, but this was just one big mess. There were parts in it that made it looks like the book needs more editing. I also don't like the amount of 'fucks' that are thrown around.

Shit, what the fuck am I even doing? What kind of history book doesn't even have a map? Once upon a time there was a writer who couldn't write a fucking book. I don't know what comes next. That whole chapter's going to need to get thrown out anyway. You completely forgot halfway through that you'd said it was raining at the beginning.
Was it raining?
No one's ever going to know, and it's all your fault.
Put a fucking map in the next draft.

It doesn't add anything to the book for me and it only distracted me from the already confusing plot. What I gathered is that there is a war between gnomes and fairies - and there is something called tightropers that try to help the fairies. In the mean time, fairies disappeared and are eaten by gnomes. Beckan is one of the main characters and she has a jar with her fathers eye, ear and tooth in it; and apparently he is still alive. As a good daughter, she brings the jar of body parts everywhere with her.

She is also a prostitute for the enemy together with her boy friends. She fucks the guy who brought her father's remains to her, after they were done eating him. And how nice that 'he pays her extra so he can fuck her twice.' He slips money in her pocket before he slides it off. How romantic.

Then the war is suddenly over, but later it's not and what on earth am I reading?? So I decided it's just best to say goodbye and to cross this author of my list (because I also disliked her previous book Teeth)

Goodbye, interesting promise.
Goodbye, characters that can die for all I care.
Goodbye, confusing world-building.
And most of all, goodbye messed up writing-style.

[Irena BookDustMagic · Rating 1 out of 5]

It pains me to say this, but A History of Glitter and Blood is officially the worst book I’ve read this year, and one of the worst novels I’ve read in my entire life. The only reason I didn’t DNF it is because I got it for review way back when it was new, and I already felt guilty for taking so long to read it.
Now this is what I call pure mess. It is an apocalyptic, post-war mix of fantasy and dystopia, with NA characters and side story.
There were a lot of whore shaming that I didn’t like, but the worst part was how messed up in a stupid way these faeries and gnomes were.
They were in war and gnomes (tbh I’m not even sure if they were gnomes in the first place or some other creatures, so don’t quote me on that) ate faeries, but they were still somehow alive. Like, there were faeries with parts missing, or just parts of bodies that were considered as faeries, and everyone slept with everyone, even gnomes with faeries.
The only thing I liked about this book were some photos in the book, and that is it.
I don’t recommend this book to anyone!

[Susana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Arc provided by Chronicle Books through Netgalley



2 very strange, painful and boring stars, because despite my wish to dnf it at the very beginning, there was just something about this story, something strangely compelling that kept me from doing it!
Turns out it was not that much to begin with :/ because this ended up being a new adult story with lots of feelings and people sleeping around with each other.
In a supposed fantasy setting.
A very drab _ where is my world-building? _ fantasy setting, with no rules and explanations for anything.
Things are the way they are, and that's the end of it:
A Cannibalistic race? Who cares?
People being sexually assaulted because they're prostitutes? Normal.
A race _represented by four people _ prostituting themselves...because who cares about alternatives?
Normal.
Another race that spills ropes out of their mouths and who live up in the air... and I don't know why, apparently come to the fairies help?! wth...

Soap opera for teens (old ones because of all the sex work), with some gorgeous prose thrown around once in awhile to grab idiots such as myself.
There's this big mystery around the narrator which was actually well done... some sort of journal inside a story, and I am going to leave it as it is, so I don't spoil anything...

Positives: the occasional beautiful phrasing and the whole "bang" surrounding the narrator's identity.
Look, maybe some people will read this book and will appreciate it as the work of a genius: It definitely has some twisted qualities to it.
As for me, I like my stories with a little more of mental health...*cough*... in them.

Myself after reading the whole thing:
That was it? o_O
Can someone please give me back the hours I wasted with this?
Because I am not getting younger :/

[Gillian]

This book is on drugs. Most people will hate this book. There are things in this book I’d change. This book made me depressed and uncomfortable and full of feelings. I fucking loved this book

Look, I don’t know. Seriously, I don’t even. Don’t even look at me right now. I don’t even know.

The beginning is like getting hit in the face with a frying pan, but after letting myself sloooowly get to know Beckan and Scrap and Josha—after blankly staring at this book and trying to make some sense of the mad rush of fragmented storylines and dark imagery and unreliable narratorhood, bc it’s a book being written by one of the characters and he SO doesn’t have a clue what’s going on—well, once I was attached to Beckan and co., I was sold. Because holy shit, I cared about them and their fucked up world, and how much they love and hate each other in equal measure, and how complex their relationships are, especially when it's war and everything is hideous. Gah. Emotions. But also. Dafuq was that book?

Still a weird fucking book, but I kinda loved it. Who even knows. God knows what I’ll rate it.

Fuller review TK.

[shady boots]

There better be a goddamn cover soon or I'm gonna keel over from anxiety. I mean, MOSKOWITZ IS GOING THE FAIRIES ROUTE, PEOPLE. LITERAL FAIRIES THIS TIME.

Update: That cover is eerily beautiful. I'm convinced the model is an actual fairy-- wait THAT'S A DRAWING?? Goddamn, that is AWESOME.

[Natalie (Never trust a duck) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF
I couldn't do it. I didn't even make it that far in, but the way it was written made it impossible to get through. People have different writing styles, I get that, but whatever formula used to pen this novel was way too cluttered and didn't flow at all. I really wanted to give it a try though, but I had no idea what was happening and it just didn't work for me.

[Saniya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book.
This is a kind of book that makes you sit down and think if you have actually liked this messed up book or not.
This review, my dear readers, is for those who couldn't finish this book, for reviewers who were greatly disappointed after finishing it, and for readers who are bold enough to mark this book as read even after skimming through all of the reviews.

This book with muddle up the functioning of your brain.
There were moments where I wanted to just give up and do something productive with the time that I knew I will waste if I read this book any further and then there were times where I couldn't put the book down and whispered, "What the fuck?" repeatedly while eagerly gulping down everything this book had to offer, instead of getting my beauty sleeping.

And the latter scenario will happen only and only if you have read the book specifically after Chapter 12. Page 171.

Now getting down to business.
The book till chapter 11 was genuinely and honestly a bucket loads of crap. I struggled, I floundered, and I endeavored everything that was thrown at me, which, let me ensure you, wasn't a joy ride at all.
I was mentally tired with the story, with the characters, with the writing and with this book.
Lets start the show with the review I wrote before Chapter 12.

The story is all jumbled all. she could have done a better job. She had the potential, it was literally pouring off her hands while she was writing it. My bet is that she messed it up because there was too much information and too many jumbled thoughts and ideas and way less pages to fill it all out.
I am honestly surprised because she could have at-least stretched this book for about another 100 pages quite easily. The world itself, is so enormous and vast with too much to imagine and take in and this author just goes like, "Here are your fairies. Here are your gnomes. Here are your tight-walkers. Here are your facts. Hasta la vista! I have no more explaining to do."
She doesn't let the world built up. She doesn't give us the time to get used to it. Which is solely the reason why I couldn't get down with the story and to be more specific, the Ferrum world at all.
The mystery itself was prolonged for far too long. Almost to the point where eagerness of unraveling the long awaited mystery was replaced with straight up annoyance.

And what could even be more worse than the story?
The writing, ladies and gentlemen.
The amount of times I wanted to bang my head or pull my hair or just straight off scream to the universe, were too damn high.

It was hard to keep up with the story, with the author and at the same time, with the past. Because one second I will be all into their present story and the very next, a new paragraph starts with their past without any warning what so ever. The writing was all jumbled up. I kind of always did a double take whenever this switch over happened, which, inevitably, ruined my grasp and overall pace with this potential based book.

Other than that, the characters.
I think the most befuddling part of this book were certainly the characters. It literally took me around 50 pages or so to just confirm my inner soul that Cricket was a guy. Literally every character was just mashed up and smacked on our faces and it was hard for me as a reader to figure them out.
And Beckan is basically in love with every guy in the book. She loves Josha, she loves Tier, she loves Piccolo and she loves Scrap.
I think the only guy she didn't have any interest in was Cricket. But who knows.

And is Josha like, bi-sexual? Or is he straight up gay? Because at the start of the book, it's written that he looks at her with love and that he has kissed her before while they were drunk. Josha is anyway one hell of a complicated character to unravel.

So basically I am reading a book about four fairies, in which three of them are prostitutes and every body basically loves one another. Most of the gnomes are again, bi-sexual? Since no guy wants to actually hook up with the only girl, Beckan. You can already see from here that I am terribly confused.
The four fairies relationship makes me frustrated and interested at the same time. I mean, on one hand, I really am intrigued to know about every inch of their glittery soul but on the other hand, the complexity of their relationship is harder than my Calculus Exam.

And then when I was almost about to give this book up, Chapter 12 made it's glorious appearance, and I was hooked. Seriously and intensely hooked.
It was like reading a completely new book. To be precise, it was like a breathe of fresh air after being suffocated inside a quick sand for far too long.

The action, my God, was downright amazing. I loved how Beckan went back despite the risk and how she tried everything within her reach to rescue Scrap. I won't give much details as these last few chapters are the only best thing about this book and if I spoil that, then there won't be any reason left for you guys to mark this book as-read.
But let me tell you. If you are going to read this book, these last few chapters will make you not regret wasting your precious time suffering through the previous chapters.
Even tho, I was a bit pissed during the court scene, as Beck's dialogue reminded me of the unbearable preceding chapters that I had to face in order to read this. But it was all worth it in the end.

The ending was really bittersweet. I was literally laughing at the irony of the last few lines because of the change in her very beliefs that she so strongly described in the first chapter.
In the end, all I can say is that even tho I came to accept the characters and understand the author's writing, I still couldn't ignore the atrocious chapters in the beginning and that's solely the reason why I rated this book 3/5 stars.
If the author writes an action based book, don't be surprised if you see me standing first in line to get it. But right now, I won't be reading her books as I am just not that interested in what she has to offer with this series or trilogy.

Will I encourage you guys to give this book a try?
Yes.
But be ready to get disappointed like the rest of the fellow readers. Because you will either adore or loathe this book.
I gave you both sides of the story, now it's your turn to actually take the risk and read this book.
Good luck.

[Laurence R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's definitely a weird book, but I still liked it! It wasn't what I was expecting, but that isn't always bad.

I was confused when I started reading because of the narrator. There are parts like "this sucks, to change in the final draft" that took my interest off, because it was out of place and confusing. I realized later that this book is actually an attempt at a novel from a fictional character - I know, confusing - and that those are the fictional narrator's words. While I didn't get it at first, I came to love this part of the novel, because it makes the narrator unreliable and it had me questionning everything that happened when he wasn't there, since it could be complete bullsh*t.

I had trouble understanding the characters, because there is a lack of background for some of them. Also, since they're young, there's a lot of swearing, which I found weird sometimes. It felt out of place, especially when they were out of Beckan's mouth. I think the characters I liked the most were Rig and Tier, because of their relationship issues and how realistic they are, but, for them as well as for the other characters, I hated the fact that the narrator is unreliable, since it made me wonder which part of what's written is true and which one isn't. It was fun to wonder, but when you're trying to get to know characters and everything you read about them might be completely false, it's confusing and irritating.

One part of this book that I liked was understanding the relationships between fairies, tightropers and gnomes. I liked how interesting fairies are and how rare it is for them to be whole, as weird as it sounds, because I found that to be very peculiar. The way they start to accept each other in Ferrum is amazing and I liked how they used each other's abilities. I wish the ending was better for the population in general though, but I gess you can't always get what you want.

I found it really weird how everyone seems obsessed with the idea of love in this book. I know part of it is because of the unreliable narrator, but I felt like the l-word is pronounced a billion times in this book, in platonic or non-platonic ways, although it's almost never clear. I was always confused by who is in love with who because of that. Also, sex is a big part of this book, since Cricket, Beckan and Scrap are prostitutes, which is something I was really not expecting when I picked this book up. There's a lot of mentions about sex, although they're not really explicit.

The story itself is good, but it's a bit slow. I liked how the war changed aspects of their lives and how the main characters reacted to them, but sometimes Josha and Scrap seemed to react too much. Beckan is strong and she leads her pack very well, which I liked to see. I was suprised by plot twists towards the end of the book, because I was absolutely not expecting them. The story's interesting and it kept me wanting to know what would happen, but I feel like a big part of it is about the past and not much actually happens. I liked the pictures and excerpts included in the pages, but some of them were unnecessary, in my opinion.

I enjoyed reading this book, my only problem with it is that I have a long list of "but" sentences to add to this.

(Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

(You can find this review on my review blog: http://lauromantique.blogspot.ca/2015... )

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"But you're not in my head really. So you're going to miss stuff. This isn't really me... You can keep doing it, if it helps. Just don't forget you're getting everything wrong," (p 148)

I've seen a lot of negative reviews for this book and it's typically right around the time that the narrator reveals himself, breaks the fourth wall, starts yelling at himself about how he's writing it all wrong and should just stop - that's when this story either hooks or loses the reader. Either you are the type of reader that can appreciate the doubled, tripled narratives, the past tense signifying the beginning and the present tense signifying a week ago and a narrator that lets his characters tell him that he's full of shit - of you aren't. This story is like if Dan Humphrey was a bisexual prostitute writing a story about Serena and pretending that he was telling a story about a war. The conceit is that the 'author' knows he's full of shit. He knows that writing a story about a girl is the stupidest thing a man can set out to do, and that writing a story about a girl he's in love with is the wrong way to write a story, but then he does it anyway. And you either follow him down that rabbit hole, let him tell you the wrong story and try to pick up the pieces of something real in between everything he gets wrong, or you stop reading. The conceit is that if you love someone, you know their mind like you know your own, and despite it all - our protagonist/narrator knows that isn't true, even as he's writing this novel as if it were, and he lets his subject tell us that it isn't true - more than once.

This is just... I feel like this novel was written for me. It's messy and it's ugly and it doesn't pretend to be pretty - it wants you to know that it's ugly. And somehow: it wants you to know that every story about a girl is ugly, that male authors never get it right, and it's all for the sake of their own ego that they write it. But since - in this case - our male author is a bisexual disabled prostitute, the reader almost gets tricked into believing in him. You shouldn't. Love him, pity him, write odes to him, but he still got it all wrong.

And that's the point.

[rachel, x · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Initial Reaction: Holy shit, what is this book.... I'm just, I'm just.... I don't know how this book started as a 0.5 star read that I was so close to DNF, and ended as a beautifully heart-wrenching story that I was crying and sobbing over because bloody hell do I love Scrap and just... *hyperventilates*. I don't even know what to think of this book... but I loved it, a lot. I think.

Now: I don't think I'll ever be able to understand how this story began so awfully and ended so beautifully or where, somewhere in-between, it stole my heart. I'm awestruck and raw and been though it's been days since I picked this story up, it hasn't left my thoughts for long. I catch myself thinking of this world and these characters more often then I should. And even though I've had enough time to stew over my reactions, I still don't fully understand my own thoughts and feelings towards this story. I feel like I've been scrubbed raw from the inside out. The story filled me with such a rare sense of... I don't know to describe it exact;y, but it's a mixture of awe and hope and wistfulness.

This is just one of those stories that no matter how peculiar or strange or different or downright absurd it was at times, got to me. I'm not going to forget it. I don't want to forget it. And I think it's one of those books that, if you have to opportunity to read, you should try. It was hard to get into at first, and I was so, so close to putting down the book for good, but if you persevere, slowly you'll find yourself sinking into the story and after awhile you won't even realise that you've already finished the book and just wow.

A masterpiece, to put it lightly.

[Vinaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Umm, I read this book THREE YEARS AGO! It's probably not even the same book anymore, now that all them editors and people got their grubby hands on this masterpiece. But that book was awesome (and this one probably is too, because, hello! Hannah! duh) And I will read it again, but I just wanted to gloat about how I got to read it when it was still in a word document and raw and real and yet SO PRETTY!

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is based on an eARC obtained through Netgalley and Chronicle Books for a fair and honest review.

You've heard the saying "Beauty from Ashes"? Well, this book is more like "Beauty from Burning Flesh." No, there's no actual burning flesh (is there burning flesh?), but Ms. Moskowitz has an artful way of molding poetry and horror and desperation into something beautiful. I'm not at all trying to sound pompous, but rather express a deep truth about her writing: it's gritty and violent and bloody, but it makes my heart swell at weird moments and I can't look away.

Missing body parts were nothing to cry about and nothing to take too seriously.

This certainly isn't the fairy tale you're used to. A fairy is writing its own story for the first time, and this isn't whimsy. Instead, it's a precarious existence between the ruling class fairies and the working class gnomes who, you know, occasionally take a bite out of them. And those bites, or the glitter that sluffs off of them on a daily basis, continue to be sentient in the saddest and most gruesome truth of immortality.

But! This war story is also a love story. Beckan and Scrap and Josha and Cricket are a family, a pack, and later joined by some beautiful others. They play and trick and starve together, remaining in the war-torn Ferrum when no other fairies do. They quarrel with each other and with the gnomes, but they never stop loving and protecting one another. And it's lovely.

Five stars for an amazing cast of characters. While I loved tough-as-nails Beckan and tries-to-understand Scrap, my biggest surprise was loving Rig.

Rig, who came back broken, but not broken enough to fit in. Rig, who wanted to be the sort of girl who could be happy wanting exactly what everyone expected her to want. Rig, the sort of girl who could love and heal and laugh.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes their fairies with a bit of grime, likes moments of heart-wrenching horror, and likes stories of love in a time of war.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to acquire an advance copy of this book at the Texas Library Association conference. I brought it with me on the flight home, planning to read a few chapters and then catch up on my sleep.

I did not sleep. I swallowed this book whole, marrow and meat, every uncomfortable beautiful crunchy bit of it.

The book is like all my favorite people: complex and curious, never quite what you expect, a little uncomfortable but only because it's pushing at your boundaries, trying to make your world a little bit larger. A little bit stranger. Sometimes you're not even sure you want to keep hanging around with them, because they make things so HARD sometimes, but it's the right kind of hard, the kind that pays off.

I can't wait for this book to come out so I can buy a proper copy, the one with the glittery cover.

[Cee (The Mistress Case)]

A History of Glitter and Blood is one of the most confusing, weirdest, and absentminded books I have read this year. It’s unsurprising I am not the only one who gave up on it. Don’t get me wrong. I like weird, but it isn’t the interesting kind of weird. Such a beautiful cover and beautiful title. It’s too bad the story is messy and boring. I don't like using this phrase because it sounds like it's "letting me off the hook" (not this phrase) but . . . this book is "not my cup of tea."

[Rayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Well, fuck. I actually liked this one, definitely a hell of a lot more than everyone else here. And I can see why most people have hated this one, seeing as how I was initially very turned off by the book myself. But it grew on me, and I'm not sure I can explain how. This book is weird and strange and odd and very frustrating at times, but it was just so ridiculously different. It reminded me of the edginess of Holly Black's Modern Fairy Tale series, but with Moskowitz's unique style of disruptive, jumpy and screwed up narration.

In true Moskowitz fashion, this book is a physical manifestation of trigger warning. It is edgy, dark and provocative, it is very sex-positive, has unflinching scenes of sex and child prostitution, and has an exceedingly dark sense of humor. This is definitely a very mature YA read, and even if the aforementioned hadn't been included in the book, this still would've been a very polarizing book because of the way it is structured. Shifting back and forth between past, present and even freaking future, A History of Glitter and Blood is, literally, a book in pieces, a story in the making. Thus, the narration is constantly shifting back and forth, interrupting the story and breaking up the narrative flow to let some stream of consciousness pour in. That makes the style very hard to get used to at first, but once I got the hang of it, once I understood the importance of the story being told that way, I found myself liking it immensely.

I don't think I've ever read a book like this one. This book actually reads like it is being written in real time, at the very same time you read it. This had a very strange effect of binding me emotionally to the story and the characters, far more than I thought possible and definitely more than I would've if the story had been told in more traditional styles. This a very simple and straightforward story and not much actually happens overall, but the way the story is told makes it seem and feel a lot more eventful and bigger and seemingly more important than it actually is. This book is bizare and I'm still reeling from the experience of reading it.

It is also very honest and effortlessly inclusive and diverse. I like how it simultaneously made big and understated points about very important and mature issues like sex, from sexual discovery to desire, from sexual exploration, same-sex relationships, sexual inhibitions to even bold statements about rape and sex work. I liked that the characters themselves were so complex and very often unlikable and thoroughly selfish but still interesting and good at heart. The relationships between them were complicated and strange and sometimes disturbing, but still loving and caring and true. This book is a freaking contradiction, a love story that's not a love story, a history of a war and a world that's not supposed to be about one girl, but really, in the end is all about this one girl.

I am having a very hard time trying to come up with ways to describe this book, to make it sound appealing, because the truth is that it is not and there's very little I could say about my experience that would make anyone want to read it, and I honestly don't want to entice anyone into reading it. This is a very difficult book to enjoy, I'll admit that, and it takes very specific circumstances and characteristics on the part of the reader to actually end up liking this book. Basically, I'm admitting to liking this book because of something akin to the planets aligning: strange, coincidental and very specific circumstances that are likely to happen very rarely henceforth. I'm pretty certain I didn't make sense, but hey, it often felt like the book didn't either, so what the hell.

A singular reading experience, unique and strange and completely bizarre. I'm still not certain about my exact feelings for the novel itself, but I know that reading it, that the book as a whole was too much of a different and unrepeatable experience for me to give it anything else besides this rating. Would I recommend it? Definitely not. Most of the negative reviews I've read for this novel are spot-on and definitely more trustworthy than mine, but I still liked this fucked-up book against every single one of my instincts and natural inclinations and there's nothing I can do about it.

[Fari · Rating 4 out of 5]

**This book contains: Prostitution, Profanities, implied sex, and some great drawings!
**Thanks a ton to Raincoast for providing me with an ARC!

The thing about this book is that it’s weird. Like, really weird. It’s weird in every way possible and it’s unlike anything I have ever read before and it’s unlikely I will ever read anything quite like it again.

The first time I read the book, about a year ago when I first got the ARC, I got about 25 pages in and dnf-ed it. It was just too strange. Then I came back to it a year later because unfinished business bothers me, stuck through with it and oh my gosh, it’s so good!

If you find something annoying or awkward, like the example below, just keep it in mind but do not let it keep you from going forward.

In the morning, Scrap and Beckan take their usual route down to the mines. And shit, okay, a better author would insert a map right here.

Remember that for the next draft.

Once upon a time there was a writer who couldn't write a fucking book. I don't know what comes next. That whole chapter's going to need to get thrown out anyway.

The first time I read the book and encountered that, I was incredulous. What on earth? Why is that even in the published book?! However, after I’ve finished the book, I realize that these strange, annoying little things are so important! The things that are revealed are just so curious and make me question just so many things.

There's a big difference between hating someone in peace and hating someone during war.

The narrator and MC are incredibly unreliable. I absolutely adore that. I loved them and hated them and was confused by them. I trusted nobody and questioned all their motives but wanted them all to live and love and be happy with all my heart. All the characters are very grey. There is rarely any distinct black or white, good or evil, yes or no in this book and that made it all the better.

It says some really human thoughts that most of us ashamed of saying or even thinking. This book is so honest. The characters aren’t afraid to think things and say that they obviously don’t want that or it isn’t true but also say that they do and it is. Just a guilty little. I’m remaining vague because it may be considered a spoiler but a certain scene like that will always stick with me!

I don't think those who die are any better than those who stay alive. They just look better. They can't mess anything up anymore.

This book is so confusing and messy and I’m personally quite a fan of that. You never quite know everything or even anything at all! I’m fine with nonsensical, intricate webs of information and rather love it but I know many want solid answers as to what exactly is going on.

I really liked how not a big deal it was when same sex characters liked each other or had sex. It’s already accepted that girls often like girls and boys often like boys and that’s that. Those relationships are referred to easily and without any hesitation because it’s very normalized, which I liked. However, I would’ve liked to see some more characters from other sides of the LGBTQ+ community (such as trans or gender fluid or ace etc characters)

People are on opposite ends of the scales about this book. Either you are mesmerized by this weird lovely mess of a novel or you hate it with a burning passion. There aren't many people who rate it 3 stars and are meh because that's not the kind of reaction this novel entices. I really think more people should read it and stick through with it.

[Chiara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A copy of this novel was provided for review via Net Galley on behalf of the publisher.

When I went into A History of Glitter and Blood, I was not expecting what I got. Because what I got was pretty out of this world, if I’m being honest. So, I’m going to go over some of the aspects that were interesting about A History of Glitter and Blood.

1) If you are a fan of the unreliable narrator, boy is this book for you. Even though this book seems to be told from Beckan’s third person point of view, it’s interspersed with notes from the actual narrator (who writes in first person).

On the one hand, I loved this. On the other, it confused me. What actually happened? What parts were real, and what parts were fabricated? I guess that’s all a part of the unreliable narrator thing, I suppose.

2) The fairies aren’t particularly fairy-like. They don’t have wings, they don’t have powers. They’re pretty much humans covered in coloured glitter, and they live forever in the sense that each part of their body is attached to their mind. E.g. If their glitter falls off, they can still feel it. If their arm is chopped off, they can still feel it (and the arm can kind of feel things too, like cold and lonely).

I didn’t mind that, though. I didn’t need these fairies to be super ethereal creatures. I mean, fantasy is subjective, so to shit on these fairies would be like saying there is only one kind of fantasy, and that simply is not the case.

The fairies are also eaten (a lot) by the gnomes. It’s kind of creepy.

3) Three of the characters are sex workers. I already knew this because I follow Hannah on Twitter, and she hashtagged a lot about #fairyprostitutes (or something similar). There aren’t really any scenes regarding the sex work, though. There’s flashback-type reminiscing, but that’s it.

4) Gender and sexuality are pretty fluid in this novel, and I loved it. Boys loved boys, and girls slept with girls, and boys loved girls who loved boys who loved boys. It was deliciously diverse, and I adored every second of this aspect of A History of Glitter and Blood.

~

There’s not much more I can say about A History of Glitter and Blood, because it was beautifully simplistic in all its weirdness and wonder.

I would love to own a copy in its physical form, because the drawings and clippings and whatnot were super tiny and unreadable in my e-ARC version, and I think not holding my Kindle to my nose to look at them would make for a bit of a more comfortable experience.

If you’re looking for a completely unique novel that examines loves in all its different forms, but has a fantastical element, then A History of Glitter and Blood is the book for you.

© 2015, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity . All rights reserved.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise sounds great: fairies and gnomes live together in a tiny mining city, and if most fairies lose a body part or five to gnomes' voracious appetites, well, it comes with the territory. But then a third race starts a war, and the uneasy balance between the fairies and gnomes shifts forever.

It's so bad. The writing style is very self-conscious and larded with "pasted in" notes a la the Froud fairy books. It reads like a fifteen year old's labored attempt to mimic Chuck Palahniuk and early Poppy Z Brite. The characters don't read like people, the plot makes no sense, and it lacks all narrative tension. I started reading this aloud to my coworkers and got gales of laughter in return.

[gio · Rating 1 out of 5]

*I received this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Such a messy book. I don't know, maybe it was me but...while I read A history of glitter and blood I felt like I was trying to understand, without success, what I was reading all the time, instead of enjoying it.

The plot was all over the place, most of the story didn't make sense to me, like there was too much to take in for such a short book. The events weren't connected because there are this strange flash-backs but...it felt poorly done to me. I couldn't follow the story because there was no notice of this.

I couldn't even like the characters. I couldn't connect to them, didn't really care about them.
I'm extremely disappointed to be honest, because I expected to like this book. I expected something unique and original but I didn't get it.

It's still two stars because the book is well written and it shows that there are some good ideas behind the rest. I wamted to read more by Moskowitz but I'm not sure I will now.

P.s. Just for Lys http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs12/i/200...

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.luminouswords.com/2015/07/...

* Gracias a Netgalley por el ejemplar (eARC).


¿Y yo cómo escribo una reseña de esto? ¿Qué narices he leído?

A History of Glitter and Blood es un libro caótico, desordenado y contradictorio. Un caos mental. Y de verdad que no sé por dónde empezar.

Así que lo haré por el principio.

Esto no es un cuento de hadas. Esto es la guerra.
Perder partes del cuerpo no era algo por lo que llorar, ni siquiera algo que debiera tomarse en serio. Los trozos de hada que acababan en el estómago de los gnomos eran un daño colateral bastante razonable: las hadas tenían gnomos que condujeran sus autobuses y barrieran sus calles y a veces un hada tenía que sacrificar alguna extremidad para mantener esa situación. Considéralo un impuesto.

En las primeras páginas, Hannah Moskowitz ya crea un pequeño esbozo de una ambientación que a pesar de ser muy original, nunca llega a completar: en la antigua ciudad de Ferrum, gnomos y hadas han alcanzado una especie de convivencia simbiótica (servitud a cambio de híbridos inmortales), intentando esconder la verdadera opresión racial existente. Hasta que los Tightropes –Equilibristas- llegan a Ferrum declarando que van a salvar a unas hadas que no sabían que necesitaban que alguien las salvara.

Como ya he mencionado, la ambientación peca de superficial, dejando bastantes detalles en el tintero que podrían haberme ayudado a entender mejor toda la sociedad y las distintas criaturas (así como los motivos y repercusiones de la guerra), pero creo que es un detalle que queda eclipsado por la genialidad que suponen otros elementos. Como el narrador, una voz en tercera persona que nos intenta contar objetivamente los sucesos de esta gran guerra… fallando estrepitosamente. Y es que me he encontrado con uno de los narradores menos fiables que he tenido el placer de leer: acompañado de ilustraciones, bosquejos y recortes de otros libros, este narrador (desconocido al principio, muy obvio en los siguientes capítulos) vomita un caos de situaciones morbosas e intensas, mezclando distintos saltos temporales y mareándome con esa fina línea que separa la ficción de la realidad. ¿Qué es verdad? ¿Qué se ha inventado? ¿Qué pasó realmente a aquellas cuatro hadas suficientemente valientes, o estúpidas, como para quedarse en Ferrum cuando la guerra estalla?

"Once upon a time, there were four fairies in the city who hadn't been maimed.
The second youngest, the only girl, was Beckan Moloy."

La cuestión es que siento que la autora nunca intenta mostrarnos una realidad fiel o elaborada, sino que ha buscado crear una historia de personajes. Todo el elenco –con distintas culturas, experiencias y motivaciones- está igualmente destrozado en esta ciudad sin ley. Sobre todo, me ha fascinado el personaje de Rig: un enigma que nunca se llega a solucionar del todo, una criatura suficientemente rota como para sufrir pero no lo suficientemente para que su dolor encaje con el de los demás. O Scrap, el jefe de una manada al borde del fracaso.

Además, no puedo más que recalcar el estilo de Moskowitz: no es delicado ni lírico, tampoco limpio u ordenado, sino todo lo contrario. Es un montón de frases tiradas al vacío, desordenadas en una verborrea apresurada, como si el narrador necesitara soltarlo todo de una vez. La escenificación es horriblemente cruda y sus personajes –sus acciones, sus elecciones, sus motivaciones- no podrían estar más desequilibrados. Si, desequilibrados. Y dejadme que os diga que no sé a cuál he querido y odiado más, todo al mismo tiempo. Quería arañarle la cara a Beckan y abrazar a Scrap (y al revés); echaba de menos a Cricket y el dolor de Josha me mataba por dentro. Me dolía el cerebro de pensar en ellos y NECESITABA dejar el libro para respirar, pero no podía.

¿Y qué hay de las relaciones que los unen? En A History of Glitter and Blood, Moskowitz crea unos lazos entre los personajes muy complejos: no sólo trata con naturalidad la libertad sexual sin la necesidad de definir a ningún personaje, también refleja cómo se odian y se quieren y se protegen. Cómo pueden protegerse los unos a los otros hasta el punto de arriesgar sus vidas y, al mismo tiempo, resentirse entre ellos por todo el pasado. Porque pertenecen a una manada. A una familia.

Sin embargo, sí que he tenido un problema de proporciones épicas con el final, hasta el punto de plantearme bajar a las tres estrellas. No creo que haya sido un mal desenlace.. sino que a mí me daba la sensación que a lo largo del libro, la autora prometía algo que no ha cumplido.

(Para los lanzados, aquí os dejo mi pequeño berrinche). Desde que empecé el libro estaba esperando un final o bien ambiguo y perturbador –a la altura del resto de la historia- o bien oscuro y catastrófico, con algún suicidio y tropecientas muertes. Pero, en vez de eso, me ha tocado aguantar algo rosa, pasteloso e infantil… ¡yo quería drama!
Otra opción es que el narrador se ha inventado ese final porque la realidad era demasiado deprimente como para contarla –y al fin y al cabo él quería su final feliz- pero la autora tampoco ha dado pie a que se sospechara eso, así que tampoco tengo demasiadas esperanzas en esa teoría.

Y ahí está mi dilema: mi adoración por el increíblemente caos mental que me ha regalado los dos primeros tercios del libro y la desilusión del último de ellos. Pero creo que, en conjunto, compensa. Pero si lo terminé ayer y ya estoy deseando comprar un ejemplar físico, releerlo, marcar mis partes favoritas y encontrar todas las piezas que he perdido por el camino.

Por último, no puedo terminar este comentario sin una reflexión: este libro no está recibiendo críticas muy boyantes, y puedo entender el por qué, pero no lo comparto. Hay prostitución, desmembramientos y sexo sin censura. Tampoco hay personajes buenos ni malos, sino que se balancean de un lado u otro según el momento. Y los primeros capítulos son como pegarse ladrillazos en la cara. Pero el viaje ha sido alucinante.

A History of Glitter and Blood es una historia que pese a saber que encontraría alambres y piedras por el camino, necesitaba ser contada. Hannah Moskowitz ha tomado la opción difícil y no puedo más que quitarme el sombrero.


"I wasn't supposed to write about this. There aren't feelings in history books. This is where I should put an anatomical sketch. This is where I should explain how the fuck you kill a man."


NOTA FINAL: Aunque la portada no me convence demasiado, me parece alucinante que la imagen de la chica –Beckan- sea una ilustración. No es una fotografía, ni siquiera está inspirada en una modelo real. Es una pasada lo realista que es (¡y la misma artista ha dibujado bocetos y recortes que aparecen dentro del libro!).