Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder - a review

Again, I have to start this blog with announcement that I haven’t actually bought this book but won it at Bitten by Books – call me lucky :) I didn’t know a thing about it, didn’t have time to surf the net for information. I just took it with me on my vacation and read it on the beach. From the start I could tell I’ve landed in the middle of the story – I was confused. Without the Internet, I couldn’t do anything but dive in and try to figure things out on my own. Very soon I’ve figured out that this was YA novel, but nevertheless interesting and exciting. One adventure follows the other and you are pretty fast drawn into this magical world of Sitia and its tribal way of living. Pure magic...

Here goes the blurb:
As a glassmaker and a magician-in-training, Opal Cowen understands trial by fire. Now it's time to test her mettle. Someone has sabotaged the Stormdancer clan's glass orbs, killing their most powerful magicians. The Stormdancers—particularly the mysterious and mercurial Kade—require Opal's unique talents to prevent it happening again. But when the mission goes awry, Opal must tap in to a new kind of magic as stunningly potent as it is frightening. And the further she delves into the intrigue behind the glass and magic, the more distorted things appear. With lives hanging in the balance—including her own—Opal must control powers she hadn't known she possessed…powers that might lead to disaster beyond anything she's ever known

This book, although YA, is in a way a sequel to Study series (adult books) which consists of 3 books (Poison Study, Magic Study and Fire Study) where the main character Opal is introduced and (if I understood correctly) plays a significant part in first two books. As I said before, I haven’t read first three books so I had a hard time following the story – I had to concentrate (not an easy task on the beach).
I liked Opal and could identify with her. In a world full of magic, she think she’s one-trick wonder (this would be proved wrong latter don’t want to spoil surprise here :)). Because of that, she has a hard time believing she was chosen for a very important task and also to be an object of attention from not one but two boys (one is very important in magic world). We follow her adventures while she struggles with her self-esteem. This book brought back a lovely memories from my teens and the way love works when you are eighteen–nineteen.
I give it 4 and a half feathers because when I searched author’s website I haven’t find the reference that it was connected to the Study series and that it should be read as a forth book.
If you want to know more, please visit author’s website http://www.mariavsnyder.com/

Book info:

Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Mira (April 28, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0778325644
ISBN-13: 978-0778325642