The Glass Republic is the second book in the Skyscraper Throne trilogy. I reviewed the first book, The City's Son, HERE.
If you don't want The City's Son to be spoiled/know anything about how it ended, don't read this review.
Spoilers ahead for The City's Son.
YE BE WARNED.
An amazon summary, "Pen Khan is burdened by a life of secrets, the biggest of which is written across her face. Following a devastatingly close encounter with a living coil of barbed wire called the Wire Mistress that almost killed her and her best friend Beth, Pen's face is strangely disfigured by dozens of crisscrossing scars, making her an outcast among her peers. The only person who understands her-and the trauma she's experienced-is her mirror sister, Parva, a twin confined to the world of London-Under-Glass.
Following Parva's abduction, Pen strikes a terrible bargain with the unforgiving Chemical Synod in exchange for the means to track her down, and she ventures into the unknown. In London-Under-Glass, appearance is everything, and Pen's peculiar scars make her a valuable ally. But some in the reflected city are doing everything they can to prevent Pen from learning the truth about the disappearance of a girl who shares her face." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
So, to recap the final notes of The City's Son.
Pen was captured by the wire mistress, her body is horrendously scarred, but Beth managed to free her. Beth took a dip in a chemical pool courtesy of the Chemical Synod which gave her the same abilities as Fil. Fil paid the price for Beth's dip, and paid the Synod with his death. They managed to take down Reach because Beth killed Fil, which summoned the Synod to collect his death, but the Synod are in possession of Mater Vae's ultimate weapon - the great fire. They use the great fire to take out Reach so they can collect Fil's death. Beth learns the truth behind the pavement priests and Gutterglass, reveals it to the city of London with the help of the spiders. Beth is mending her relationship with her Dad slowly. Pen is also coming to terms with the sexual assault she went through courtesy of their teacher, Salt and is making plans to bring him to justice.
COOL. Onto The Glass Republic!
Pen has decided to return to school despite the extensive scarring...and well everything else she's gone through. Beth kind of can't because of her drastically altered appearance, but would attempt if Pen asked (Pen doesn't ask). Pen also accidentally created a mirror image of herself; meaning a mirror sister that lives in the mirror world (in the last book, we had a couple scenes with mirrorstracy). She visits her sister in a shut down women's bathroom at school at agreed upon times. Pen experiences some pretty awful high school dynamics, and goes to seek her mirror sister's counsel...only to discover a bloody hand print waiting for her on the other side of the mirror.
Pen seeks out the Synod to give her a way to the mirror world, but the price is high; her parents memories of Pen.
Meanwhile, Beth is struggling with her body slowly becoming something...more. There are whispers running through the streets that she may be the next Mater Viae...
That's enough summary.
SO. Like the previous book, I liked this book a lot because of the crazy levels of fantastical realism, consistent world building, and unique character building. It picks up right where the first book left off, and I think the pacing struggled a lot less in this book (which I deeply appreciated). There was a lot of time spent in the mirror world, but I think it helped the chapters focusing on Beth stand out more from the chapters focusing on Pen. It brought a whole new level of WAIT WHAT?! to end of the book which I wasn't expecting. It was pretty fantastic.
Happy reading!!
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