Book Review: The Glass Castle by Trisha White Priebe

I received a free ecopy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Glass Castle

Authors: Trisha White Priebe & Jerry B. Jenkins

Publisher: Shiloh Run Press

Publication Date: March 1, 2016

Genre: Middle Grade, Christian Fiction

Pages: 256

Source: Netgalley

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Synopsis:

You'll love joining in the adventures of The Glass Castle, brand new from Trisha White Priebe and Jerry Jenkins, where the setting from The Chronicles of Narnia meets the action from Alice in Wonderland. The king is growing old and is concerned about who will replace him. His new wife wants to produce an heir to the throne. The only problem? Thirteen years ago, the king's first wife gave birth to a son, and no one knows for sure what happened to him. Rumors swirl throughout the castle. The solution is simple: dispose of all thirteen-year-olds in the kingdom. Except, it isn't that easy. Avery and her friends won't go quietly. Avery, Kate, Tuck, and Kendrick take charge of the underground network of kidnapped children, inspiring them to believe that their past does not dictate their future and pledging to do the hardest thing of all... reunite the children with the homes they left behind. When they discover that one among them might be the child of a man who wants them dead, will everything they work for be lost? 

My Thoughts: 

Avery is with her little brother when she is kidnapped. She wakes up alone inside a box on a cart and is eventually taken to a castle where a bunch of other 13 year old orphans are living in secret under the King's nose. While these children do all the dirty work in the castle, they can not be discovered or they will be 'discarded'. Avery goes off on her own to find the secrets that this castle is hiding.

I just want to say up front that I don't have many positive things to say about this book. 

The Chronicles of Narnia meets Alice in Wonderland (as stated in the synopsis) is probably the worst comparison for this book. There's nothing like either of those books about it. Nothing overly wacky or out of place like Alice in Wonderland and no magic or fantasy world setting like Chronicles of Narnia. I seriously could not make a connection to either book. In fact, this could have easily taken place in this world, on this planet; perhaps in England where there are castles. There is no magic, mythical creatures, or basically anything to make this fantasy (which I bring up because it has been shelved as such on Goodreads). 

I thought the premise was pretty interesting at first but I'll admit that I didn't know that this is Christian Fiction until after I requested a copy. I saw a review that stated the same and then continued with there being nothing in the book that makes it seem like Christian Fiction but I highly disagree. There is plenty of mention of God, the bible, and even a 'service' where the bible is quoted. I would like to say this is not a problem at all but there are parts where the religion is pretty heavy and the actual story becomes quite boring because of it. I was honestly thinking about DNFing this and that's a big deal because I never do that. 

The characters weren't very likable. I had a hard time trying to sympathize or relate to any of them - and it shouldn't have been very hard considering that they are all orphans locked up in a castle - but I just couldn't. Avery annoyed me a lot. She seemed to do things that either made no sense or that would easily ruin things for her and the others. She seemed very selfish because of this. Her friend Kate was probably the most likable character. 

This book had way too many plot holes. It reads like a book that was chopped in half. There's no building up to a cliffhanger or anything. We end up with lots of questions that aren't answered because there is a second book but this does not read like a series. 

I honestly would not recommend this at all.