Welcome to Litsy!

In the underground city of Caverna the world's most skilled craftsmen toil to create delicacies beyond compare. The people of Caverna are more ordinary, but for one thing: Their faces are as blank as untouched snow. Into this dark and distrustful world comes Neverfell, a girl with no memory of her past and a face so terrifying that she must wear a mask, for emotions are obvious on her face, and that makes her very dangerous. #mask #wickedwhispers

Having read The Lie Tree, I was really excited to read this one, and it did not disappoint. A little bizarre and completely unpredictable, which perfectly sums up Neverfell's character as well. A definite page turner, loved it.

This is my third Frances Hardinge book and they are all so imaginative! Admittedly A Face Like Glass is quite strange but I did really enjoy the mystery/intrigue 😊 ⭐⭐⭐.5

A wild reader in her natural habitat... this high school student come to the library and reads for half an hour every day. Needless to say, she‘s pretty much my favorite student 🤗
#schoollibraries #litsyloveslibraries #librariansoflitsy

It‘s imaginative, clever twists , reads like a chess match and reminds me very much of Neil Gaiman in its creativity and world building. I feel the author went on too long and at certain points I was like ok let‘s get moving. It needed some editing and cleaning up in parts. I feel
If it was a bit shorter and clearer in some parts, I would have loved it. But for now I‘ll say I liked it.

This is a weird book. A city full of people who don‘t know how to show emotion on their faces, and one little girl can‘t control what she shows on hers. Throw in an immortal leader, and wines and cheeses with magical powers and you have something I‘ve never read before. I really liked this one.

After finishing this book I just don't know what to do with myself... Seriously one of the most unique and most beautifully written story that I've read in ages! I will definitely be reading again!!!

I picked this one up because it seemed different than anything I‘ve read. I was right. I found the setting so imaginative! The idea is that because of low light they were unable from birth to mimic the faces of their mothers so Facesmiths had to make faces for them. I found myself trying to make the faces the author describes. I‘m sure it was hilarious to my family. Honestly, I wish someone would pick this up and make it into a movie.

Library pick. I‘m hoping that it will be a palate cleanser after so many hefty and emotional books that I‘ve read lately. #YA #funread

I was feeling the Mondays, but then a box of new books got delivered! Many of them are replacement copies for lost or damaged books, but there‘s some new and exciting titles in here as well. As always, I‘m trying really hard to convince myself I don‘t need to take them all home to read tonight... #newbooks #bookhaul #schoollibrarians #librariansoflitsy #teachersoflitsy

Frances Hardinge managed to create a wonderfully unique and weirdly beautiful world. The closest thing to it would be 'Alice in Wonderland'. I have never heard of this author before now! I'm heading straight into 'The Lie Tree'.

"I swam across the torrent of my madness, and pulled myself upon the shore of a new and better sanity."

The epilogue is everything. It makes you realize how upside down we had been the whole time.

This book was not for me. It was closer to middle grade then YA, and felt very young. The story was bordering on fairytale and nonsensical in a way that I did not enjoy. And the action happened at a pace that made the characters seem uninteresting and unthinking, they never stopped to process anything.

Amazing intricate plot line, with well developed characters. The setting is full of opportunities for detailed scenes; and the overall theme makes me want a sequel.

“I can‘t think straight. But why am I trying to do that anyway? Everybody else thinks straight. That‘s why nobody expects me to think zigzag-hop. Which is what I do naturally.”

This was such fun to read. The main character is incredibly endearing. In Caverna there‘s wines that erase memories, cheese that give visions (and explode), and perfumes that inspire trust. Plus people who learn faces. This was so creative and I couldn‘t put it down.

The thing that stuck it the most to me when reading this book was the utter creativity and uniqueness. It didn't have your cliché characters and uneventful plot. This book is filled with wines that can erase your memory and cheeses that make you hallucinate. Most interestingly of all, no one is born with expressions. They all have faces of glass...

I've been tagged by the one and only @MrBook to make a #fivestarpredictions post!

Here are some books on my TBR that I anticipate loving once I get them in my hands. I'm on the holds list!

I'm a childhood Laura Ingalls fan, will read anything Brene Brown writes, love the Rae Carson series, loved The Lie Tree, and have heard rave reviews about the Ivey.

I tag the following! @dariazeoli @Usagi @intothehallofbooks @WhatDeeReads @JazzFeathers

@Lizpixie tagged me in the #FiveStarPredictions Tag.
Welllll I'm a notoriously generous book critic so 5 stars is kind of meaningless to me. The real test is will a book end up on my favorites list. So here, marked with my favorite emoji, are my predictions from the books left in my current TBR I think will make the cut:

The House at Riverton
A Face Like Glass
The Rules of Civility
The Just City
Spoonbenders

Probs my free space too😉

Distracting myself from a summer cold with this read. I am not really connecting with the main character, but am curious enough about the intrigues and side characters to keep going.

When the rest of your house is asleep but you're on page 366 of 488 and it's almost 1:30am, so you just sitting up in bed with some words to keep you company

#books #reading #booknerd #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #bookish #yalit #read #booknerdigans #bookaholic #bookaddict #bookshimmy #newbooks #librarian

My setup while I wait for a long overdue oil change. Sometimes, you've gotta #treatyoself !

A rare DNF for me. #NetGalley find, very slow start and I just could not get into the story. Perhaps I'll go back to this one eventually but I did not get through it this round.

I was SO excited about this book several months ago when a friend handed me an ARC after I over-expressed my intense love of The Lie Tree...but I have not yet read it.
Why? The US cover is so 🤢 I didn't want to touch it?
Solution? Order the UK cover! Might just be next on my stack now that I have a cover I like looking at 😁

This fantasy novel about a girl who is #masked throughout her childhood is absolutely wonderful.
@RealLifeReading

A few missing from image, a nice paperback edition of The Princess Bride and another copy of The Godfather as my old copy is MIA! Thank you @Lindy for putting me on to Frances Hardinge, Fly By Night looks fantastic and they are all gorgeous books @saresmoore the David Walliams is for Lucy along with Awful Auntie, that got cut out. Waiting on 2 more but I'll post these first ❤️

An amnesiac child, a bizarre underground world, cheeses with killer attitude, wines that alter memories, a populace with faces blank of expression... this dazzling standalone fantasy has a twisty plot full of lies and deception. Ages 10-adult.

This children's fantasy starts off promising, with a child falling into a giant cheesemaking vat of curdling milk:
"Grandible had heard nothing untoward, for the creamy junket was already set enough to muffle the sound of the splash."
Yikes!

For years, my YA book club has selected two books for each meeting. Lately, however, it's been three at a time, including this 489-page beauty.
Learned from @BethFishReads that it's only being released in the US next month. This Canadian UK import edition was published in 2012.

Really liked her last book so I was very excited to see this on my doorstep today. It pubs next month

Who doesn't want to read a book about exploding cheeses?! Onto the next one!!

This is a beautifully written & imaginative story of fantasy. The writing completely blew me away, sucking me into the meticulously detailed & fabulously original environments. The characters were in grey areas where I couldn't just hate or love them. The depth was totally unexpected. The whole premise was ambitious & the execution did not disappoint at all! 4.5 / 5!

#middlegrade #british #afacelikeglass #franceshardinge #fantasy

I absolutely love the premise of this book! It's very dark, mysterious, and fascinating... to say the least!

#afacelikeglass #franceshardinge #middlegrade #british #quotes #amreading

Definitely loving this weird vibe of this story. Feels genuine to the author....I think is what I'm trying to say XD

Starting actual challenge now with this beaut! Honey came home with a rather large ARC haul today so I've been compiling my list together for Litsy A to Z. #currentlyreading #afacelikeglass #ARC #abrams #litsyAtoZ #fantasy #magic #youngadult #teen #franceshardinge #letterA #ALAmidwinter #librarian #hardinge #franceshardinge

In the underground city of Caverna, the craftsmen toil in the darkness to create delicacies and magic, and the people have faces that are as blank as snow. Expressions must be learned, and only Facesmiths can teach a person to express them.

Into this dark world comes Neverfell, a girl with no memory of her past and a face so emotionally varied and dynamic, except hers are entirely genuine, and that makes her dangerous indeed...

I just had a friend put this in my hand with a glowing recommendation because we both loved The Lie Tree. Seems like it pubbed several years ago in the UK but this will be the first time in North America - coming May 2017.
The description sounds delightfully odd so this may find its way into the December TBR!
(The cover is just terrible though...)

The people of the underground city of Caverna, are ordinary, except for one thing: their faces are blank. Expressions must be learned, and only the famous Facesmiths can teach a person to show (or fake) joy, despair or fear - at a price.

Into this dark world comes Neverfell, a little girl with no memory of her past. Her emotions are as obvious on her face, and entirely genuine, which makes her very dangerous.

#TBR 😱📚

I'm a big fan of Hardinge's writing and this is no exception. It starts in the cheese tunnels of Caverna and follows Neverfell on her adventures. A really fun, captivating book.

I got into Frances Hardinge via The Lie Tree, but I'd thoroughly recommend you check out both this and Cuckoo Song too. Really enjoying this. (Aren't holidays great? So much reading time!).