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The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass
(The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass #1)
by
Even teenage assassins have dreams.
Eli isn’t just a teenage girl — she’s a made-thing the witches created to hunt down ghosts in the human world. Trained to kill with her seven magical blades, Eli is a flawless machine, a deadly assassin. But when an assignment goes wrong, Eli starts to question everything she was taught about both worlds, the Coven, and her tyrannical wit ...more
Eli isn’t just a teenage girl — she’s a made-thing the witches created to hunt down ghosts in the human world. Trained to kill with her seven magical blades, Eli is a flawless machine, a deadly assassin. But when an assignment goes wrong, Eli starts to question everything she was taught about both worlds, the Coven, and her tyrannical wit ...more
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Paperback, 320 pages
Published
October 6th 2020
by Dundurn
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Start your review of The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass (The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass, #1)

Annnd here's the video update!
Ahh! I've been *dying* to get my greedy hands on this one...and now it's all mine!
(PS. check out this week's BookTube Video to see why I'm psyched about this one and the other fabulous books I picked up!)
The Written Review
New Month, New Tierlist BookTube Video is up - click the link to check out my August Reading Vlog!
"Eventually she would turn back into the parts that the witch had used to make her - a girl stitched together out of beetle shells and cr...more

Sep 25, 2020
Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
netgalley-all
Wow! I’m sad I didn’t love this book! I thought I might be different from the majority of my friends and really love it.
I love the idea of this book. I loved the main character and a few others. I loved that this was a weird book. I love that it made me feel like it could have been a crazy teen version of Bladerunner in its own weird way. I never go by what any synopsis says a book is like; comparing it to other books. I find, in my opinion, that is generally crap and nothing like any other boo ...more
I love the idea of this book. I loved the main character and a few others. I loved that this was a weird book. I love that it made me feel like it could have been a crazy teen version of Bladerunner in its own weird way. I never go by what any synopsis says a book is like; comparing it to other books. I find, in my opinion, that is generally crap and nothing like any other boo ...more

Nope. Sorry. The fantasy book I was hoping to read cannot be found at this moment. Please try again later. Bippp!
I pushed myself too hard to like this book but it was exhausting and tormenting experience. I was so hopeful after seeing the fantastic artsy, beautiful cover and promising plot about teenage assassin chasing the ghosts in the human world. But… yes… I try to be soft grader when it comes to debut novels. I tried to be patient that at some part, the story will turn into something meani ...more
I pushed myself too hard to like this book but it was exhausting and tormenting experience. I was so hopeful after seeing the fantastic artsy, beautiful cover and promising plot about teenage assassin chasing the ghosts in the human world. But… yes… I try to be soft grader when it comes to debut novels. I tried to be patient that at some part, the story will turn into something meani ...more

2 STARS at best ★★✩✩✩
⤐ Overall.
Ugh. What is going ONNNNah.

You know when you didn't enjoy a book and don't care although you feel like you should? Well, I didn't really enjoy this book but am honestly livid that I don't. I had high hopes, fueled by the cover and the powerful preface Adan gave their readers.
I really, really, reall ...more
This book is for you if… you fall in love first and foremost with the characters. It wasn't for me but I feel this might be exactly what some readers might need.
⤐ Overall.
Ugh. What is going ONNNNah.

You know when you didn't enjoy a book and don't care although you feel like you should? Well, I didn't really enjoy this book but am honestly livid that I don't. I had high hopes, fueled by the cover and the powerful preface Adan gave their readers.
I really, really, reall ...more

Eli is a girl of hawthorn and glass. Literally. Her body consists of other substances as well but she’s a made-thing. She’s the perfect assassin, created by a witch to kill ghosts.
Seanan McGu ...more
Eventually she would turn back into the parts the witch had used to make her - a girl stitched together out of beetle shells and cranberries and a witch’s greed.Eli and her seven blades have never failed before but something goes wrong this time in the City of Ghosts, and she’s terrified of being unmade.
Seanan McGu ...more

*Thankyou Netgalley and Dundurn Press for providing me with the arc in exchange for a review*
My rating: 2...which translates to~it was OK.
The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass is a story of Eli, who a made-thing build by the witches. She is a tool used to eradicate the world of ghosts. She is an assassin ...more
My rating: 2...which translates to~it was OK.
"Your glory is my glory. My victory is your victory. I am a tool and I have value. The coven will honour us for our services."If I were to describe this book in a sentence it would be: It had potential!
The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass is a story of Eli, who a made-thing build by the witches. She is a tool used to eradicate the world of ghosts. She is an assassin ...more

Magic is meant to be chaos. Chaos is beautiful!
The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass by Adan Jerreat-Poole caught my eye with that simple yet beautiful cover, and reeled me in with the promise of an intriguing Frankenstein’s monster-esqe teenage assassin main character, and the busting down the Coven’s tyrannical reign over the City of Ghosts and the City of Eyes plot line. I feel like this author has a very lyrical writing style mixed with a young vibe. The City of Eyes gave me a Labyrinth type visual ...more
The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass by Adan Jerreat-Poole caught my eye with that simple yet beautiful cover, and reeled me in with the promise of an intriguing Frankenstein’s monster-esqe teenage assassin main character, and the busting down the Coven’s tyrannical reign over the City of Ghosts and the City of Eyes plot line. I feel like this author has a very lyrical writing style mixed with a young vibe. The City of Eyes gave me a Labyrinth type visual ...more

September 22, 2020: ❋ one of the most disappointing reads of the year ❋
⇾ an interesting set up of a made-and-manipulated assassin realigning her motives and the true purpose of a coven that has created her to tear down the world of ghosts.
⇾ a dissatisfying execution of this idea that has immense potential due to overlapping plot lines and a rushed pacing, not allowing the readers to connect with the characters at any level.
⇾ an attempt at the found family trope but lack of time given to build th ...more
⇾ an interesting set up of a made-and-manipulated assassin realigning her motives and the true purpose of a coven that has created her to tear down the world of ghosts.
⇾ a dissatisfying execution of this idea that has immense potential due to overlapping plot lines and a rushed pacing, not allowing the readers to connect with the characters at any level.
⇾ an attempt at the found family trope but lack of time given to build th ...more

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass was an okay book. Not going to lie, I was really excited to dive into this because so many people were reading this on GR. Plus, I've had some friends say they like it or dislike it so I really wanted to form my opinion.
Okay, so, this book started off slow for me. Really really slow. I wont even say it picks up because the entire book just dragged for me. Which, again.. honestly, disappoints t ...more
The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass was an okay book. Not going to lie, I was really excited to dive into this because so many people were reading this on GR. Plus, I've had some friends say they like it or dislike it so I really wanted to form my opinion.
Okay, so, this book started off slow for me. Really really slow. I wont even say it picks up because the entire book just dragged for me. Which, again.. honestly, disappoints t ...more

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
1.5 stars.
I don’t really know what I just read. So many aspects didn’t make sense, and the story was just kind of all over the place. From the synopsis I thought this was going to be an incredible story about this assassin who was made by witches to go into the human world and kill ghosts. It wasn’t really that, but I couldn’t tell you what it was either.
I love fantasy books because of the world building and descriptions. This b ...more
1.5 stars.
I don’t really know what I just read. So many aspects didn’t make sense, and the story was just kind of all over the place. From the synopsis I thought this was going to be an incredible story about this assassin who was made by witches to go into the human world and kill ghosts. It wasn’t really that, but I couldn’t tell you what it was either.
I love fantasy books because of the world building and descriptions. This b ...more


The description of this book made me so excited for it, not to mention that the cover is beautiful.
One of the strangest things about this book for me is the fact that the title is literal. There is literally a girl made partly of hawthorn and glass. The girl was literally built by using things such as hawthorn, glass, and other stuff. So, this is the first time I’ve read a book where the title is literal.
This story and world have the potential to be amazing. It’s weird, it’s different, it’s fant ...more

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass by Adan Jerreat-Poole immediately caught my eye because of its cover. However, it is also described as a book fans of The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert would enjoy, so I was drawn to it even more. I went in only knowing that the book was set in a fantasy world with witches and assassins.
The novel follows Eli, a teenaged assassin that was created by witches in the City of Eyes to hunt ghosts. She acc ...more
The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass by Adan Jerreat-Poole immediately caught my eye because of its cover. However, it is also described as a book fans of The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert would enjoy, so I was drawn to it even more. I went in only knowing that the book was set in a fantasy world with witches and assassins.
The novel follows Eli, a teenaged assassin that was created by witches in the City of Eyes to hunt ghosts. She acc ...more

1.5 stars
I'm sorry. I wanted to like this book but while this book has a great cover and a lot of LGBTQ+ representation, sadly, it failed to deliver a good fantasy plot (in my opinion). The world-building was lacking if non-existent. The idea of having a world of witches above our own with a vortex to go from one to the other was interesting but it wasn't enough for me. I needed to know more and things happened but it felt weird and not a lot were explained.
About the characters : Eli is a girl ...more
I'm sorry. I wanted to like this book but while this book has a great cover and a lot of LGBTQ+ representation, sadly, it failed to deliver a good fantasy plot (in my opinion). The world-building was lacking if non-existent. The idea of having a world of witches above our own with a vortex to go from one to the other was interesting but it wasn't enough for me. I needed to know more and things happened but it felt weird and not a lot were explained.
About the characters : Eli is a girl ...more

The cover art and premise are amazing, but unfortunately the story itself fell short due to lack of substance and heart. It felt like the plot was having an identity crisis, trifled by misdirection and confusion. For the most part the writing style was interesting and original. Character development and world building were very close to being finely polished. Due to the storyline having an excruciating flawed execution, I had to give this 2 stars.
Thank you to netgalley for providing a copy for r ...more
Thank you to netgalley for providing a copy for r ...more

On the struggle bus with this one.
I feel like this reading this book was like eating a half baked cake. The ingredients are there but the author did not stir the batter long enough and lumpy bits were left throughout. I liked the premise of the two worlds but time was not taken in the development of the City of Eyes World. At times, I was left thoroughly confused. Additionally, characters seemed to appear one minute and are gone the next. Overall, I felt like some more ironing out was needed.
AR ...more
I feel like this reading this book was like eating a half baked cake. The ingredients are there but the author did not stir the batter long enough and lumpy bits were left throughout. I liked the premise of the two worlds but time was not taken in the development of the City of Eyes World. At times, I was left thoroughly confused. Additionally, characters seemed to appear one minute and are gone the next. Overall, I felt like some more ironing out was needed.
AR ...more

Huge shout out to this book for having great LGBTQ representation! Non-binary, gay, and queer main characters really added to the story and made me personally happy.
The plot has a lot of potential and I like the idea of it. A girl made out of objects and brought to life by a witch's magic to be an assassin is a cool concept. I felt like the story stayed on the surface and things went by so quickly. I would love to see this dive deeper into the City of Eyes, the Coven, and the Children. Get more ...more
The plot has a lot of potential and I like the idea of it. A girl made out of objects and brought to life by a witch's magic to be an assassin is a cool concept. I felt like the story stayed on the surface and things went by so quickly. I would love to see this dive deeper into the City of Eyes, the Coven, and the Children. Get more ...more

I was so excited for this book, I wanted to like it, I gave it so many chances. But this book, in my opinion, is not even close to be ready to be published. This reads like a first draft. I like the overall concept, which is why I gave it two stars, but everything else needs work. The plot is confusing, not completely thought out, lacks any kind of direction. Even after finishing this book, I don't know what actually happened. I couldn’t explain the storyline at all.
I really appreciated the non ...more
I really appreciated the non ...more

I received The Girl of Hawthorn a Glass as an eARC, so thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review it.
I was excited at the concept of the story - a girl who wasn’t totally human, created by her witch ‘mother’ from granite and blood and hawthorn and glass and human bones, as a weapon essentially, an assassin who can travel between worlds, and also between the creases in each world. Along the way she finds a soul and a conscience and makes some human (or maybe ...more
I was excited at the concept of the story - a girl who wasn’t totally human, created by her witch ‘mother’ from granite and blood and hawthorn and glass and human bones, as a weapon essentially, an assassin who can travel between worlds, and also between the creases in each world. Along the way she finds a soul and a conscience and makes some human (or maybe ...more

Sep 13, 2020
Caidyn (he/him/his)
marked it as dnf
I received an ARC through Netgalley and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!
DNF at 18%
I tried with this one, but it didn't work for me. I love the premise, but the execution lacks. The writing felt unpolished and amateurish, as if it was a first or second draft rather than a book about to be published. I was so excited for a queer assassin hunting ghosts story, but it didn't deliver for me. And, reading through other reviews, it seems that my thoughts are echoed. Hopefully this finds its ...more
DNF at 18%
I tried with this one, but it didn't work for me. I love the premise, but the execution lacks. The writing felt unpolished and amateurish, as if it was a first or second draft rather than a book about to be published. I was so excited for a queer assassin hunting ghosts story, but it didn't deliver for me. And, reading through other reviews, it seems that my thoughts are echoed. Hopefully this finds its ...more

Really liked this one! Interesting world and characters, felt like a very original story :)
Full review on my blog! ...more
Full review on my blog! ...more

Aug 21, 2020
Nen & Jen
added it
The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass had so much potential to it. The synopsis immediately hooked us in and requesting a chance to read the full novel. Unfortunately, we did not enjoy the reading experience. Eli did not really seem consistent throughout the story and was very hard to connect with as a reader. Additionally, the level of violence in this story felt unnecessary and only used as a means of increasing the impactful events within the story rather than being true to the plot and as a means f
...more

Highly recommend! Eli, a witch's assassin, is such a compelling character that I had trouble putting the book down. The stakes are high right from the start, the world building is super-imaginative and the setting is richly described ("The Vortex shifted, the core growing darker, as black as dead eyes and the hole in the head of a needle. The darkness threaded Eli through the fabric between the human city and the witch city.").
This is a wonderful novel that walks the line between fantasy and ho ...more
This is a wonderful novel that walks the line between fantasy and ho ...more


Wow. And that’s not even a good wow.![]()
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This was a literal hot mess and I don’t even know where to start.
The plot had real potential but it was all over the place and too confusing for me to follow through. The world-building was non-existent, LGBTQA representation was great but there wasn't much else to rave about, and the writing style wasn’t to my liking. I can literally go on and on but I’m sure you got the gist with all the other low ratings for this novel.
Nevertheless ...more

I recieved this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book is really amazing! I really like it buuuuut... that end it feels like just ok.
Eli is a pet witch who was created to be a ghost assasin, she can't think, talk without permisson or even think in a independent life, she is only an "object". But one day everything change when she failed in one of her missions and then she can't return, or she is going to be dissarmed.
The first 50% of the book was awesome! I really love El ...more
This book is really amazing! I really like it buuuuut... that end it feels like just ok.
Eli is a pet witch who was created to be a ghost assasin, she can't think, talk without permisson or even think in a independent life, she is only an "object". But one day everything change when she failed in one of her missions and then she can't return, or she is going to be dissarmed.
The first 50% of the book was awesome! I really love El ...more

This was alright. I definitely wouldn't say it was a bad book, but it wasn't a great one either. A solid 2.5 stars.
I was super interested going into this book; the premise sounded incredible, and I did enjoy it to an extent. Unfortunately the plot just didn't work for me. It started out pretty slow, and it never fully picked up. We got snippets of excitement and parts that had me reading intently, but they never lasted long enough to turn around the overall pacing of the book.
The characters were ...more
I was super interested going into this book; the premise sounded incredible, and I did enjoy it to an extent. Unfortunately the plot just didn't work for me. It started out pretty slow, and it never fully picked up. We got snippets of excitement and parts that had me reading intently, but they never lasted long enough to turn around the overall pacing of the book.
The characters were ...more

Mar 29, 2020
Tamera
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
fantasy,
lgbtq,
paranormal,
netgalley,
arc,
magic,
cover-porn,
series,
queer-representation,
2020-read
I was incredibly excited to be selected to receive an ARC of The Girl of Hawthorne and Glass by Adan Jerreat-Poole- queer inclusive fantasy with a strong female lead and lots of magic? Yes,. please. Sign me up! And this book certainly did not disappoint when it comes to inclusivity, gayness, strong women, or magic. Those boxes were all checked and wrapped in some of the best prose I have read in quite some time.
While I really enjoyed the book and storytelling as a whole, there were times when I ...more
While I really enjoyed the book and storytelling as a whole, there were times when I ...more

I really tried. Everything about this book seemed fabulous. But I DNF it @ 75%. It's a whole lot of nonsense, like fantasy on drugs or something. I was sooo confused... I really tried to like it, but all I was was lost. There is a lot of information at the beginning of the story to settle this incredible word-building, but details keep adding up and this whirlwind left me dizzy and confused. Everything is weird. You can love the book if you like reading something that is 500% fantasy (I mean...
...more

Eli is an assassin, designed at the moment of her making to be able to peel back the veil between the human world and that of the witches who created her. Her primary role, as with any assassin, is to murder her mark but this is tricky since her marks are already dead. When Eli fails to kill a ghost in the human world, she is trapped there by her vicious mother until she is able to complete her task, and almost accidentally seeks refuge with a group of renegades.
The plot is quite broken up, but ...more
The plot is quite broken up, but ...more

Thank you to Dundurn and NetGalley for providing me with an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I should also note that I have a personal connection with the author.
I really enjoyed The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass and flew through it in less than 24 hours. (I even read it standing on the subway!) I found Jerreat-Poole’s writing unique in the way they captivated my senses with their use of rich smells, colours and elemental ‘ingredients’ like the hawthorn and glass, obs ...more
I really enjoyed The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass and flew through it in less than 24 hours. (I even read it standing on the subway!) I found Jerreat-Poole’s writing unique in the way they captivated my senses with their use of rich smells, colours and elemental ‘ingredients’ like the hawthorn and glass, obs ...more


What a shame, I really wanted to enjoy this story, but if anyone asked me what this was about I would have nothing to say! The story was chaotic and I could not get into it at all. The only thing I liked was the fact there were non-binary characters within the story, which was a first for me. The premise was quite exciting, and the reason why I picked it up in the first place.
However, at some point I found myself confused to the point that I did not know if I was reading about something from th ...more
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