“Light always finds a way to break free . . .
Noelle Perrault has felt drawn to the tales her glassmaker father told of the four Firefly artisans since she was a child. But when her mother falls under a curse, Noelle suspects the stories are more than mere fables. Their last hope is for her father to embark on a desperate journey to another realm, where he must seek a miracle. Alone but not defenseless, Noelle is forced to navigate battles that rise against her beloved home, while her dearest friend, the prince, vows to help her father.
Dante Marin is a prince prepared to bear the crown. But the king offers an ultimatum: find the fabled Firefly Vestiges, believed to hold the Lamplighter’s ancient power, or forfeit the crown. Only then will Dante be considered worthy of his birthright and given the freedom to choose his bride. But how does one hunt down a legend?
Connected by the past, but forced apart in the present, Noelle and Dante must discover the truth about the Firefly and Vestiges before they lose all hope—and each other—for good. But breaking a curse comes at a great sacrifice—one neither of them predicted. With a mysterious foe rising to power, will they survive, let alone succeed? Or will darkness shroud their future, shattering the light they’ve striven to restore?”
Series: Book #1 in the “Realms of Allumeria” series.
Spiritual Content- John 1:5 at the beginning & a few references to Scriptures throughout the book (such as Matthew 5:14-16 but are never called Scriptures); Prayers and thanks to the Lamplighter; A blessing over food (not said towards whom, but the people hold hands and give thanks); When someone passes away, they are said to go to the “After Realm”; Many mentions of the Lamplighter, gifts/skills from him, & the After Realm; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of miracles;
*Note: The God-like character in this world is called the “Lamplighter” or “the Dawn”; ’H’s are not capital when referring to the Lamplighter; The Lamplighter gave his four followers a special skill/gift (they were called a “Firefly”) and they later they would boast about their abilities rather than boasting about the gift the Lamplighter gave them; The Lamplighter made a Lantern and each of the four Firefly took part of it and those items are called a “Vestige”, which each have special abilities; A villain group called “The Order of Allumeria” is after all four items to create a weapon of power and are said to have darkness within them; The Vestiges were created by the “same Light the Lamplighter bestowed upon the Firefly” and all of their gifts/abilities come from that Light as well; It’s said that “true Light” can never be destroyed and should be shared with others, however some believe that the Vestiges can be destroyed by a Firefly and with a great sacrifice; Using a Vestige will enact a curse on the user and requires a great sacrifice, but each item has a special enchantment (such as one being said to make the wearer walk through time and change an event & another being able to heal anyone’s illness); *Major Spoilers* Towards the end, the Vestige to heal someone through it’s magic ink is found and used to heal Noelle’s mother; She wishes for her and the others affected by the curse to be get better which works on all of them; Noelle’s mother says that while she was asleep it was like her mind was in “another time, another place” and saw those who had passed away but also others trapped in the curse like they were on the threshold of the After Realm; *End of Spoilers*; Noelle has a fire inside of her that is able to be unleashed with a song to create a fire and is able to handle hot-temperatured things (*Spoilers about another ability* She is able to heal someone’s wounds and thinks that maybe she’s able to heal others who have been sick for a long time or even can reverse time (on-page, up to semi-detailed); Noelle’s mother tells her about being a Firefly as well and how Noelle has that gift like her grandmother; Noelle cannot use the gift on herself, but her mother uses her gift to heal a bruise on Noelle; *Major Spoilers* Noelle goes to the king for his help and shows him how she can make a bare hedge grow green leaves; Noelle thinks this is because she is turning back time, but is later told that she’s moving time forward; Noelle’s father believes the latter and that’s why he didn’t allow for her to touch her mother again as it is aging her mother and moving her forward in time; Noelle is also able to change her dress from wet rags back to being clean and dry; The king exiles Noelle to the Firefly Isle to find one of the Vestiges for him; While she is there, she meets one of the original Fireflies and he talks about meeting the Lamplighter in a dream who asked him who he will serve, “the darkness or the light”; Noelle is confused because he should have died along ago and then he suddenly disappears; Noelle figures out that the Isle is actually a place between timelines/realms and sees others disappear in front of her into an alternate timeline; Noelle touches different pieces of glass on the Isle that shows her stories of others who ended up on the Isle and how some of them went into different timelines with their souls lost; A different timeline version of the Firefly (who is original curse caster) takes some of Noelle’s memories while on the Isle and warns her that Noelle will fade along with the memories and only leave one behind like everyone else who has been on the Isle; This other timeline version of the Firefly blames the original one and her lover for her pain as she cannot die, is cursed to live frozen in time, and wants to become “truly human”; Noelle wishes with her Firefly wish that the Isle and all the souls on it would see the Light again; This should have been a sacrifice on Noelle’s part, but because she is also a trapped soul on the Isle, she is also freed with this wish; Noelle wakes up in a cottage where there are two doors, one to the After Realm and the other back to her timeline; Noelle is able to physically take herself and another off the island by thanking the Lamplighter and look forward to the future; Noelle finds out that the Vestiges are not true Light as they only mirror it (and thus can be destroyed unlike originally thought) *End of Spoilers*; “True wishes” are able to be made by a Firefly in need; A scene/memory of someone under an enchanted item’s curse and magic (up to semi-detailed); *Major Spoilers* Someone who is under a curse cannot die nor can it harm or affect a child; King Edmond is the one who enacted the curse on his wife, daughter, and Noelle’s mother after signing their names on a paper with magical ink after being tricked by a bitter Firefly *End of Spoilers*; A isle is said to be cursed (*Major Spoilers* But it turns out the Isle is a crossover place between realms/timelines and the people that disappear there have entered another realm *End of Spoilers*); All about & many mentions of magic, spells, curses, & breaking them; Mentions of someone casting spells, taking names, & stealing memories in revenge; Mentions of fates & stars aligning; Mentions of wishes; A couple mentions of luck.
Negative Content- In-world phrases/curses like “what in the realm” and calling a place “light-forsaken” are said once and twice respectively; A mention of a curse (said by Dante, but not written); Some lying; Being slapped, Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing someone choke another, be hit hard, knocked unconscious, fall into the water, and believed to be dead (up to semi-detailed with grief as well); A side character drinks an “amber drink”in his POV; Noelle feels guilt over her mother’s condition believing it to be her fault (because of it, Noelle’s father doesn’t allow her to touch him or her mother; up to semi-detailed); Dante feels grief over his mother’s passing & not being able to say goodbye (up to semi-detailed); Noelle has a nightmare of being alone and her parents being gone (which scares her) & her father has her take a tonic to ward off the nightmares for years following that nightmare (which makes her feel numb and in a daze); Noelle has another nightmare of a young boy being consumed by flames (barely-above-not-detailed); A child talks about a schoolmate teaching him to swipe something from a teacher’s desk and he uses that skill to pickpocket an item from his mother; Many mentions of deaths, grief, a drowning, illnesses, & people losing their memories and becoming dangerous to themselves and/or others (such as throwing vases at walls, spilling hot tea on themselves, and lighting something other than a candle); Mentions of prisons, arrests, exiles (including of a woman and her baby), crimes, & criminals; Mentions of thieves, stealing, & stolen items; Mentions of fires, pain, & injuries; Mentions of wounds/injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of people disappearing after going to Firefly Isle; Mentions of kidnapping & a possible kidnapping; Mentions of a father abandoning his family; Mentions of nightmares (which are said to be fashioned from “curses only the oldest magic has the power to break”); Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & bars/taverns/pubs; Mentions of tattoos, someone being forced to receive a branding on their skin, & being threatened with it happening to a child; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of wars & a plan to assassinate someone; A few mentions of a woman’s missing daughter & her grief/concern; A couple mentions of gambling debts; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a horse drowning; A mention of throwing up.
*Note: Noelle is mistreated by a friend’s mother (including being belittled and blamed, slapped, and grabbed; up to semi-detailed); A woman also belittles her young son, implied to have hit her daughter, & thinks of her children and “disappointing and dimwitted”; The woman’s daughter remembers all of her mother’s complaints about her and how she never measures up to her mother’s approval; A woman talks about her father disapproving of her because she was a girl.
Sexual Content- Two fingers-to-lips touches, four hand kisses, a not-detailed kiss, & two barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Remembering a kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & hold hands (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of crushes; A few mentions of married couples kissing; A couple mentions of jealousy; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions.
-Noelle Perrault, age 17
-Dante Marin, age 18
P.O.V. switches between them, King Edmond (x2), Charmagne (x2), Margeaux (x1), and Jaq (x1)
432 pages
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My personal Rating-
Very much how I felt after reading “The Curious Realities” duology by this author, I’m ending her newest book with a slight dazed feeling because of all the magic and elements that were in this story. This book challenged my brain power throughout basically the whole book to make sure I could keep up with all the lore, history, stories, and different elements of the world. 😅 I’m not usually one that’s able to truly understand all the events in a high fantasy book, let alone one with alternate timelines, but I tried with this book. It helped to read some important scenes twice to try to understand everything I was being told and how it lined up with prior reveals—that said, there were some parts that were left at the end as not having a reason or an understanding by the characters and shrugged off as “magic” which does bother me a little bit, but I don’t know if I would have gotten it if they had explained it! 😂
There were a lot of flashbacks to things that happened years before the book started which helped give important background and backstories of the characters. They were helpful but sometimes abruptly added-in and went back and forth a few times within the same chapter, so it was a little confusing at times to keep some of the events straight timeline wise.
As far as Christian faith content, I never know when starting a book published by Enclave if it will have an allegory-like plot, no faith content and just be a clean read, or if there will be subtle hints to Christianity and God. This book definitely fell into the last category as I think if a Christian reader reads this book and looks for symbolism, they will find it. Another reader might not pick up on those parts. There’s a message of Light winning over the Dark that was good to read and a couple suggestions of Scriptures said as phrases in the world. The God-like character is called the “Lamplighter” and his special four original followers had gifts bestowed upon them from him. Other than those loose elements, it doesn’t point to Christ and salvation, which I wasn’t expecting, but wanted to note.
“Glass Across the Sea” is probably one of the most unique Cinderella retellings I’ve read as it’s not a full retelling. There’s a lot of unique parts to this plot and very involved lore for the world. It wasn’t my person favorite cup of tea, but one that was interesting and made me curious—even if I was confused at times while reading. I think older teens that enjoy complex fantasy plots would probably enjoy this one more than me.
See y’all on Wednesday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
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