Thursday, February 6, 2014

Blog Tour: The Glass Casket Review + Giveaway


Today I'm happy to be participating in the blog tour for  
The Glass Casket!

Death hasn't visited Rowan Rose since it took her mother when Rowan was only a little girl. But that changes one bleak morning, when five horses and their riders thunder into her village and through the forest, disappearing into the hills. Days later, the riders' bodies are found, and though no one can say for certain what happened in their final hours, their remains prove that whatever it was must have been brutal.

Rowan's village was once a tranquil place, but now things have changed. Something has followed the path those riders made and has come down from the hills, through the forest, and into the village. Beast or man, it has brought death to Rowan's door once again.

Only this time, its appetite is insatiable.
♦Publisher: Delacorte Press
♦Release date: February 11th, 2014
♦Hardcover, 352 pages
♦Intended audience: Young adult
♦Stand-alone

Review: With a haunting atmosphere, gorgeous prose, and unforgettable conflicted characters, The Glass Casket will charm and terrify any lover of fairy tales, old or new.  I initially went in expecting a retelling of Snow White, but found a story that is wholly its own unique creation:  a dark village in the mountains, a people with varied beliefs and ways, murderous creatures looming in the forest unlike anything I could have imagined. 

The story constantly keeps you guessing, with the finger of suspicion pointing at many different characters as the story gracefully unfolds.  There is a subtle love story, a few of them actually, but nothing that bogs down the main storyline.  The story is told in third person persective, perfect for a village full of interesting characters, but Rowen stands out as our main heroine.  She is clever and fearless, but will have to fight with her own heart when her best friend Tom wants an introduction to her pretty and mysterious cousin, Fiona.  Tom’s brother, Jude, seems to always know how to rile her, but they’ll have to find a way to come together to help Tom when he starts disappearing into the woods each night and more and more of the villagers start turning up dead.
 
There is madness, elemental witches, long-buried secrets, and the walking dead.  The Glass Casket sparkles with magic and wonder while still delivering a gut-churning dose of horror and gore.   With all manner of vivid imagery, from mountains and thick forest, the silvery lake full of mythical flesh-eating nixies, the shadows lurking in the washroom, and the body lying with its throat torn out---the author's carefully chosen words play it all out on the page in a way that pulls the reader in and holds them captive in this eerie, dangerous world.  

Find McCormick Templeman online:  Website  •  Twitter

Purchase The Glass Casket:  Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

or WIN A COPY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
 Be sure to catch the rest of the tour stops! 
The Glass Casket Blog Tour

January 31st Bookish

February 1st Katie’s Book Blog

February 3rd I’d so Rather be Reading

February 4th Forever YA

February 5th Wastepaper Prose

February 6th Stories & Sweeties

February 7th Peace Love Books

February 8th The Hiding Spot

February 10th Children’s Book Review

February 11th The Midnight Garden  

February 13th Dear Teen Me

February 17th The Midnight Garden