"4.5 stars 🌟

Thank you to Tor Books and Tor Dot Com Publishing for a physical arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Let me preface this by saying I had heard of Nghi Vo countless times for their Empress of Salt and Fortune novella series that so many people in the community love, and won several awards, but I had never read anything by them before. I do want to read that series eventually, but it hasn't been very high on my tbr as I was under the assumption 'how much impactful story can you really fit into those tiny books.' Also, when I received this arc I was thrilled to be chosen by the publisher, but I was feeling the same way as this is a novella too. I was also skeptical because Angels vs Demons isn't always my favorite kind of story, it just hasn't always struck my fancy in the past.

Let me say, that I was SO wrong. This novella fits so much more impactful story into it than any other novella I've read and even some full-length novels. I became completely enthralled and guarantee this would have been read in one sitting if I was not working a job over the summer. There's so much to love about this book and if you've had any doubts about reading any of Nghi Vo's work before, I say try it.

This book, as much as I loved it, won't work for everyone. It's short, and the story really doesn't have a super involved plotline, it's a lot of just vibes and following the memories and actions of a demon trying to rebuild her city. I did like how the story switched between memories she had about the city and about what she was doing now to rebuild it. But for people who need a super-involved plot to read a story, this might not be for you. I've always been a character-driven person and a world-driven person, so while the plot is nice most of the time, I have been known to love books like this in the past. I wasn't expecting it to be that honestly, as the synopsis makes this sound like there is so much happening, but I ended up not really minding it. I think it helped connect me more with the main characters than a plot-driven novella of the same sort would have.

There also isn't a lot of worldbuilding outside of the city of Azril, which is the main city where Vitrine (a demon) watches over it until angels come and destroy it (where she begins to rebuild). There was so much focus on the city and I ended up really loving it, I felt so connected to the people that had been there, I felt all of Vitrine's grief for them, and fell in love with the ruins that were left. There's a lot of info dumping, that you don't really need to remember, and that's how I like my worldbuilding honestly (I know I'm in the minority here), but a story like this really doesn't need the whole world outside the city to be built up. It was obvious the author still gave thought to it and had mentions of places around the world, but the main focus was on this one place.

Vitrine herself is an unlikeable main character, solely because in my opinion she is a demon, but even then she's not a traditional demon. It's complicated and I think it's better for one to experience what I mean for themselves in the story than for me to explain it. The angel himself in this story too feels a bit like a side character, but he's very interesting as he influences pieces of the city and Vitrine, just as she influences him in turn. The romance in this book is incredibly slow burn, enemies to lovers and I fell head over heels with how the author wrote it. There's no spice, it's just written so well I felt it in my soul, it's so poetic. (view spoiler)[ The angel in this book set the standard and my expectations for future books. If the guy who is in love with the main character doesn't use his magical essence to turn himself into a library that will never crumble, be destroyed, or disappear for the main character after her favorite city has been ruined over and over again, I don't want it. (hide spoiler)]

Overall this was a great first read of Nghi Vo's work for me, and makes me so excited to go read her other series and novels, I'm thrilled to know what they're like too. For a book that I picked up on a whim, I'm incredibly happy with how much I enjoyed it.

[TW: blood and gore, death of loved ones, severe illness, suicide mentioned, drowning, sexual assault mentioned, war themes]"

"The City in Glass is a slow, thoughtful examination of many lifetimes in a city through the perspective of the immortal demon who loves it and watches over the people who inhabit it. And the angel who once destroyed it and is now trapped by a part of the demon. He also will learn to love the city and love her. By turns melancholy and biting, I would definitely call this literary fantasy. It's filled with evocative prose, and the bittersweetness of time. Cycles of life and death, destruction and rebirth. It's not going to be for everyone but I thought it was beautiful. I'm not a fan of the audio narrator for this one. I started listening to it, but ended up deciding to just read it physically. I received a copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own."