Opal Cowan, introduced in Magic Study as a minor character who gained a larger role/significance in Fire Study, is the narrator for this next set of books (3--all with 'Glass' in the title, much like 'Study' was for Yelena). The book is set 4 years after the events of Fire Study and despite everything else Sitia and Ixia rest on a fine-edged peace agreement. The Commander is willing to work with the Sitian Council, but is still adamant about magic in Ixia (with the exception of Yelena, who is the Liasion between the two countries...and having saved the world from an evil evil group of evil-doers earned some nice perks) and is keeping a tight control of immigrating one way or the other.

Opal has been studying at the Keep (the Magical School of Sitia) for the last four years and they haven't been easy. Roundly dismissed as a 'One Trick Wonder' (her ability to infuse magic into the glass animals she makes, enabling magicians to talk across great distances) her cause is made worse by her friendship to the Soulfinder Yelena and general klutziness. She is friendless, shunned and bullied. Her one refuge is a glassmaker's shop with a gruff older glassmaker named Aydan. Having grown up in a family of glassmakers the workshop is a safe haven for her.

From the start of the novel you can tell Opal's story will have a different emphasis then Yelena's did. Whereas Yelena was struggling to survive and find herself, Opal is trying to find a way that she can be useful in a broader sense. Because of her family's continual association with Yelena Opal has been surrounded by people who have done Big Things. Mythic things almost. She feels inferior and insignificant, even though she's anything but.

Working with the Stormdancers and helping to solve the problem plaguing the glass orbs necessary to their profession and survival, Opal found some of that much needed confidence boost.

I liked Kade and Opal's dynamic. I was sad when it cam time for Opal to leave the Stormdancer's caves and return to the Keep. She has another suitor, or really two more depending on how you look at it, in Ulrick (a one time admirer of her sister Mara's) and in the creep Devlen. This is where the line gets a little hazy because to fully explain either one of their connections and relationship with Opal would to tread on a spoiler that hinges part of the plot together so I'll say no more. Snyder makes it obvious however that Kade is the one that suits Opal the best and that's all I'll say on the matter.

As in Yelena's story things are not as simple as they appear and people/events will surprise the reader. With Sea Glass not due out until September, there's plenty to think about however. ( )

Overall, a good book. I read the Study series, so I understood the world that Opal lives in and the background story. It was a decently paced story, although some parts were a little confusing. About 3/4 of the way through, the whole "I'm not good enough, I don't deserve anything, all I do is mess things up" thing started to get on my nerves. But I would still recommend this book to anyone that read and liked the Study series. ( )

Not as good as the study series. I thought the story was ok, but the writing seemed hurried or not as polished. I probably will read the next because I want to see what happens next. ( )

I was looking forward to this because the Poison Study series was good, but what a disappointment. The main character worries, conveniently withholds useful information, and bounces around having things happen to her. Oh, and she is kidnapped, threatened with death, and tortured multiple times (each). I'm just not that into a love story where she knows he loves her because he gives in when she is tortured.

Opal doesn't really make decisions, she's mostly batted around by the Hand of the Author. Every plot point is a surprise, the reader is never involved in suspense. We even get "As you know, Captain.." expository dialog. Yeah, Opal pulls it out in the end, but whatever.

Worse, I was a third of the way into the book before I figured out that it was set in the Poison Study world with continuing characters. The Citadel and school of magic is so clearly delineated in the earlier series, but it was unrecognizable here. I still can't connect the places in this book to the earlier books. These seem so generic and those were so real.

So, fail all around. YA fiction has a lot of constraints, and those can serve to concentrate and intensify the story or to simplify and dilute it. This is a great example of dumbed-down YA. With bonus torture. ( )

Unfortunately, this book was not as good as [b:Fire Study|1966969|Fire Study (Study, #3)|Maria V. Snyder|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1357064290s/1966969.jpg|1970128]. The plot was bland and boring if it was even there and I did not find anything remotely interesting. The magic system was very fuzzy, being totally unstoppable at some moments and utterly useless in others. There seem to be no defined rules for what a person can or can not do and I found this very frustrating. All the characters were like: "New abilities, cool!" and it felt very video game-ish. Kinda like when you level up and get a new ability that totally KO'senemies until your enemies level up and so forth. And just like a video game, the events in the book got very repetitive. Opal gets captured, levels up, long boring discussion, Opal get captured etc. ( )