And no this is not a sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series!
The Girl with Glass Feet is a lovely modern fairytale about 2 people in their twenties, Ida and Midas, that meet and begin to fall in love. Their biggest obstacle? Ida Sinclaire is slowly turning into glass.
The plot of Ali Shaw's heartbreaking novel is simple. It follows Midas and Ida's journey to find Ida a cure. Ida has come to the isolated island where Midas lives because she vacationed there a few years before. She remembers an eccentric older man who mentioned glass bodies hidden in the bog. Now, as her body begins to fail her, she wants to find answers from this hermit about her impossible disease. As she searches for him, she meets Midas, an extremely lonely and angry young man. The two are drawn to eachother, and Midas joins Ida on her quest for answers. Along the way we learn more of the Island's secrets and meet flawed characters connected both to Ida and Midas' past and to Ida's mysterious and incredibly painful affliction.
Ali Shaw weaves his tale of loneliness, redemption, and human connection with patience and beauty. Though magic is weaved into the island and its people, this is not a story about magic. It is a story about human beings, human beings who are selfish, lonely, obsessive, and ultimately trying their best. In Shaw's world, magic is just another form of isolation. Those touched by it live lives of pain and loneliness. It is not Ida's magical disease that causes rifts between Midas and Ida but their normal relatable hangups and fears of opening up.
This was a simple and moving novel that left me satisfied!
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