Review: The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons

The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: February 10, 2015

The Handmaid’s Tale meets Blood Red Road in Glass Arrow, the story of Aya, who lives with a small group of women on the run from the men who hunt them, men who want to auction off breeding rights to the highest bidder.

In a world where females are scarce and are hunted, then bought and sold at market for their breeding rights, 15-year old Aya has learned how to hide. With a ragtag bunch of other women and girls, she has successfully avoided capture and eked out a nomadic but free existence in the mountains. But when Aya’s luck runs out and she’s caught by a group of businessmen on a hunting expedition, fighting to survive takes on a whole new meaning.

Amber's Thoughts:

Though I have not myself read The Handmaid's Tale or Blood Red Road (I know, I know...give a girl a break) I was instantly intrigued by the synopsis. 

Aya gets captured and taken from her home in the woods and placed in a facility in Glasscaster, where the Unpromised girls are groomed and sold for auction. Still bitter with the situation, Aya will do everything possible to delay getting put on the auction block and sold to any Magnate who can pay the price. Whether it's failed escape attempts, hurting herself, cutting her hair, taunting another girl so she'll throw the first punch to cause bruising, Aya is determined to escape back to the woods and find her family. 

While Aya is in solitary, she finds comfort of a dog and then a Driver. Drivers are horsemen who breed and tame their animals in the wild, then bring them into town for sale and rental.  Over time things escalate and Aya finds herself in a bigger predicament than ever. With the help of a friend, Aya escapes. Though this escape was what she wanted more than anything, secrets unfold and change her life forever.

Honestly, I enjoyed this book and the development of characters and their chemistry. I quickly grew fond of the Driver boy and Brax the dog. The author did a great job throwing in elements to touch every emotion: Sadness, frustration, swoonworthy moments, action, etc. This was a slight slow starter for me. Connecting to the world (which, she did a great job on world building) was detailed and easily to understand. There were times where the protagonist irritated me. The secondary characters were well scripted. The Governess was retched! I couldn't imagine being placed in such an unusual world or the hardships the people of lesser classes experienced, their way of life. 

I think the story really picked up for me when Brax and the Driver were introduced. If you like fiery protagonist, this one is for you. 

4 snowflakes

Teaser Tuesday #86 The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons

Welcome to Teaser Tuesdays! Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! My Teaser Tuesday is for the following...


The Glass Arrow by Kristen SimmonsPublisher: Tor TeenPublication Date: February 10, 2015

BLURB:
The Handmaid’s Tale meets Blood Red Road in Glass Arrow, the story of Aya, who lives with a small group of women on the run from the men who hunt them, men who want to auction off breeding rights to the highest bidder.

In a world where females are scarce and are hunted, then bought and sold at market for their breeding rights, 15-year old Aya has learned how to hide. With a ragtag bunch of other women and girls, she has successfully avoided capture and eked out a nomadic but free existence in the mountains. But when Aya’s luck runs out and she’s caught by a group of businessmen on a hunting expedition, fighting to survive takes on a whole new meaning.

Teasers from ebook 17.5%

And then I see a figure break from the crowd on the street and approach the fence.
 One of his hands stretches towards her, and for a moment I think he'll touch the metal, but he backs away suddenly and kicks the ground.

Teaser from ebook 18%

A moment later, the Driver boy appears, and this time I can see that he's wearing a plain white T-shirty and dirty, tie-on linen pants, and he's barefoot.
  An ice-cold fist closes around my heart. He's walking straight towards me.

*PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here if you don’t have a blog Thanks! 

Review: The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons

The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons
Expected Publication: February 10th
Publisher: Tor Teen

The Handmaid’s Tale meets Blood Red Road in Glass Arrow, the story of Aya, who lives with a small group of women on the run from the men who hunt them, men who want to auction off breeding rights to the highest bidder.
In a world where females are scarce and are hunted, then bought and sold at market for their breeding rights, 15-year old Aya has learned how to hide. With a ragtag bunch of other women and girls, she has successfully avoided capture and eked out a nomadic but free existence in the mountains. But when Aya’s luck runs out and she’s caught by a group of businessmen on a hunting expedition, fighting to survive takes on a whole new meaning.

My Thoughts:

GIRL POWER!

This story isn't all about that of course but, it did give me the same shiver of rebellion that The Handmaiden's Tale did. The shiver comes from women empowering themselves to survive under extreme duress while living in a society where they are raised and breed like cattle & tossed away when they are no longer needed. Mrs. Simmons has once again captured those feelings that accompany the choices that need to be made when doing the right thing or just getting by. There is a phrase near the end of the book that has stuck with me all this time. I won't reveal who says it but it goes...

"We are just women. Why must you always try to be more?"

 I'm sure the intended effect was the soul burning anger I felt at these woman and the resolution the way they have resigned themselves to be nothing more.  The girls like the M.C. Aya, are few and far between. Most girls have been groomed and prepped for this their whole live. They are looking forward to going to "auction" to be brought by wealthy merchants. They will have a home and food (well food supplement pills really since apparently real food is only a thing for the extraordinarily wealthy) for a time being. Aya wasn't raised like these girls. She was raised wild in the mountains and knows how to take care of herself and her adopted rag tag family. It is no surprise that once she does get captured she will do anything to stop herself from going to auction. She is wild and hasn't been affected by the side effects of food supplement pills which makes her more susceptible to breeding and bearing a male child. Can you see the female oppression here? The history of how this world came to be was expertly woven into the story so when reading you really grasp the gravity of the situation. The world building is superb even though it seemed a bit weird in the beginning of the book.

I have been categorizing this as a fantasy for the longest time. It was only recently while talking with a friend that I realized this is more of a post apocalyptic/dystopian than anything. There is no magic in this world. Just some high tech beauty treatments that remold figures and removed freckles and of course the meal pills. There is also some crazy genetically mutated people that were very Hunger Games reminiscent.The only magic in this story was the determination and bravery of the characters and that was more than enough to hook me. There was a few who I did not like at all to begin with and just as they grow on Aya, they also grew on me. I really felt very connected to her for some reason. She was very transparent and the narration allowed for complete access to all her thoughts and emotions.

I also am a huge fan of any book that the author is able to conclude in one volume. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the series' but this was paced perfectly. I was RIVETED from start to finish. There was this amazing flow where the drama and intensity would build up to almost unbearable then break only to happen again in another situation. There is so much mystery surrounding Aya's past and all seems to reveal itself in time. The ending was absolutely BRILLIANT! If you read this book give yourself about 1/3 of the way in to really see what is going on. I promise you won't be disappointed.

5 snowflakes