Time is flying by- and so have all the book release dates I’ve been waiting on for months. Out of my list of about 12 novels, I was most excited for Spy Glass by Maria V. Snyder.

Time is flying by- it's almost October!! Also, meet Punky.

Although I really enjoyed her debut series (Poison Study, Fire Study, Magic Study), by the third novel, I was skipping pages and events that didn’t connect together just to get to the good parts (the romance, of course). The Glass series is amazing and, to me, has very few flaws.

In the third and final book of the series,  Spy Glass, Opal Cowan faces down the last of the warped blood magicians after her magic. She is a former magician whose powers were siphoned away after she saved her friends from dying and loosing their own magic. In this last novel, I wasn’t too worried about Opal because she’s already been through so much- kidnapped several times by crazed magicians, figured out her feelings for several guys to gained self-esteem and confidence in herself.

Opal is a character that truly grows and develops. When you meet Opal in the first novel, she is timid and feels completely useless. By the end of Spy Glass, she’s gained the maturity and wisdom learned from situations where she refuses to be a victim and where she is forced to rely on her own skills.

Besides meeting my basic needs of action, romance and magic, Spy Glass provides a very satisfying conclusion to the whole series. There are more plot twists and suspenseful action scenes than you can shake a stick at- but if they all didn’t result in some type of closure that ties all the novels together then it would just be a waste.

With really great books, there’s always some intangible element that’s personal and keeps you coming back. The feeling that you really connected with something in a novel- a something that you don’t always feel with every book you pick up. For me, I connected with Opal’s gradual development of confidence and self-worth. Getting over fears that you’re not good enough is a long and difficult journey, but Snyder does a great job of making the process believable and relatable.

Plus- the romance part of this series keeps you guessing until the last book. That is a tough thing do, too. The who-loves-who part of the Glass books is a complement to the novels and not a hindrance. It does not override the main story but helps hold everything together. I will just say that I was very happy with how everything turned out

The magic aspect of this novel is so unique. In the Glass series, magic is like a blanket over the world and only those with the gift of touching this blanket can pull a thread of magic. Opal’s particular gift is to infuse magic into glass and use that glass to relay messages from one magician to another.

The art of glass making that is described in the book is interesting and detailed without becoming routine or mundane as its described often throughout all of the novels. I was really interested in this concept and appreciated Opal’s special connection to this process- how it reminded her of her family and friends.

Things I didn’t like: I read Spy Glass in two days and the series is over forever. Also, that I can’t own a cool Sanseed horse in real life. Extra sadness.

Overall, Synder has made a very addicting series with substance. Young girls can read these novels and actually take something away from it- other than finally choosing whether to be on Team Edward or Team Jacob.

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