I always have mixed feelings about novellas in a series
since I so often don’t see the point of them, perhaps due to my general love of
meta in all things.
I find novellas frustrating because they often don’t have
anything to add to the series and they’re too short to develop any kind of
engaging story in their own right to pull me in. Sometimes they’re an interesting
“day in the life” insight into the characters when they’re not facing the epic
plot of epicness – which can be interesting character development but even that
is of mixed utility, especially if it’s done before.
Without something to add to the main story – some advanced world building or plot or character development, something that will reflect on the main story I’m usually left feeling like the book was rather pointless, an unnecessary addition clinging to a main plotline at best or a cynical money grab at worst. At the same time, if the entire main meta rests on development revealed in a novella or short story, I find it annoying because such major developments should really be woven into the main plot line, not included in a novella which, I confess, I generally consider an add-on to a series rather than essential reading.
In all, I’m pretty difficult to please when it comes to
novellas.
And all that being said, Glitter and Doom was one of those books that got it right.
Of course, part of the reason Glitter and Doom really worked for me was the same reason I found Dance
of the Red Death kind of disappointing. The whole series follows Araby
around when, frankly, she’s the least interesting and compelling character
there is. Quite literally, just about everyone else: April, Elliot, Kent, Will,
even Will’s younger siblings, would be more interesting protagonists than
Araby. I actually want to praise the quality of these side characters but am
stopped by the sheer lack of any compelling qualities in the protagonist
herself.
Which is where Glitter
and Doom comes in –a book that is about April and Kent and even a little
Elliot. We get to see the backstories of Elliot that we missed and that add so
much texture to his character. We get to see who Kent was, what motivated him,
why he was involved, how he met April and how he actually became one of the
team – rather than just a character who was dropped into the plot rather
randomly.
But most of all we see April. April the active. April the
intelligent. April the cunning. April the courageous. April the
most-definitely-should-have-been-the-protagonist.
In terms of story, there isn’t much there. In fact, there
isn’t one. It’s completely impossible to read this book if you hadn’t read the first
book because this novella is just a behind the scenes look at the plot that has
already happened. It doesn’t tell the story, it fills in what was happening “back
stage” while we were been dragged around with Araby.
It is also extremely short .
So, my opinions are all kind of complex – I like this
book because it fills in the glaring gaps from a previous book. I enjoyed this
book because it soothed frustration more than it being a good book in its own
right. I liked this book because it expanded on characters I loved – who really
should have had better attention in the first place.
