Glimmerglass by Jenna Black

Dana Hathaway doesn't know it yet, but she's in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, again, Dana decides she's had enough and runs away to find her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the captivating, magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl- she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and the only person who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.

Soon, Dana finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone seems to want something from her, from her newfound friends and family to Ethan, the hot Fae guy Dana figures she'll never have a chance with… ... until she does. Caught between two worlds, Dana isn't sure where she'll ever fit in and who can be trusted, not to mention if her world will ever be normal again….

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I'm a huge fan of Jenna's Morgan Kingsley series and I really like a lot of the YA books that a lot of Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy writers are bringing out. e.g Gena Showalter. Glimmerglass is no exception. It's a great read, and her take on the faery world is interesting. I love the idea of Avalon being a place humans can actually visit. I would love to go! 

Dana is a character I immediately felt for. Having an alcoholic mother and no father would be hard anyone, and Dana tries not to let it effect her. Of course it does, though. Dana is the adult, always looking after her mother. She's had enough when her mother shows up drunk to her recital, and she decides that maybe running away from home will finally be the wake up call her mother needs. So she heads off to Avalon to meet with her long lost father. Although she gets a nasty surprise once she gets there. The saying 'you don't know what you have 'til it's gone', rings true for Dana. I think she handles everything thats thrown at her very well for a sixteen year old. Looking after her mother has made her quite mature. 

Avalon seems real enough that I could almost reach out and touch it. The idea of humans and Fae actually co-existing in one place, has so many possibilities. There are of course the usual Seelie and Unseelie, but not the way they are traditionally written. Most people have a general idea of Fae being magical and pacifists, but Jenna's Fae are not. Ethan, is of course, the resident Fae hottie that Dana immediately falls for. But really, who wouldn't? Her Aunt Grace is sufficiently evil, her new friend Kimber isn't maybe all that friendly, and her father has hidden depths that Dana isn't really too sure she want's to see. All in all, Glimmerglass is a truly great read. It kept me turning pages with all the intrigue, wit and adventure. I'm glad "Faerytales' are making a  come back. Jenna is up there with Julie Kagawa, Melissa Marr and Holly Black. I can't wait for "Shadowspell', the next book in the series.

I give it 4 out of 5 spiders.

Jo-Anne