Book Review : Watching Glass Shatter by James J Cudney @jamescudney4 @Shalini_G26

Title : Watching Glass Shatter

Author : James J Cudney

Genre : Family Drama

Pages : 287

I received this Review Copy from Digital Reads Blog Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Shalini for bringing this amazing book into my life and Thank you James J Cudney for writing it in the first place!!

Blurb

The wealthy Glass family lost its patriarch, Benjamin Glass, sooner than expected. Benjamin’s widow, Olivia, and her 5 sons each react to his death in their own way while preparing for the reading of his will. Olivia receives a very unexpected confession from her late husband about one of their sons that could shatter the whole family.

Prior to revealing the secret to her children, Olivia must figure out which boy Ben refers to in the confession he left her in his will. While the family attorney searches for the mysterious Rowena Hector whom Ben says holds the answers, Olivia asks her sons to each spend a week with her as she isn’t ready to let go of the past. When Olivia visits her sons, she quickly learns that each one has been keeping his own secret from her. Olivia never expected her remaining years would be so complex and life-altering, but she will not rest until her family is reunited after Ben’s untimely death.

We all need family. We all want to fit in. We’re all a mix of quirky personalities. Will Olivia be able to fix them or will the whole family implode? What will she do when she discovers the son behind Ben’s secret? Check out this ensemble cast where each family member’s perspective is center stage, discovering along the way who might feel the biggest impact from all the secrets. Through various scenes and memories across a six-month period, you’ll get to know everyone, learning how and why they made certain decisions. Welcome to being an honorary member of the Glass family where the flair for over-the-top drama pushes everyone to their limits.

Review

Watching Glass Shatter is the debut novel of James J. Cudney and the first in the Perceptions of Glass Series. Watching Glass Shatter is an ideal family drama which talks about different dynamics of a family by unraveling shattering secrets entwined within the family and the consequences they face because of it.

To be very frank, Watching Glass Shatter is one hell of a book. The way the author had plotted the story-line and developed the characters was ultimately mind-blowing. The Glass family is a one big family, there were lot of characters, while starting the book I thought it was going to be very confusing, considering the number of characters in the book. But to my bafflement, the author had created each character distinctly and uniquely that each and every character will mark their presence in your heart strongly.

The character development was completely amazing, each character flourished to become a better versions of themselves. In the end you will clearly know how a particular character will behave and respond to a particular situation and that absolutely is the success of the author. Because writing multiple characters from multiple perspective is not that easy a task and especially making every character significant is a whole different thing. And the author had meticulously conquered this area.

Empathizing with each character was serene and as natural as it can ever be. I particularly liked the characterization of Olivia Glass very much. Initially she seemed to be a very strict and a shrewd mother but then the way in which she tries to reconnect with her sons was akin and remarkable. How she handled her losses and yet being strong was inspiring characteristic trait of Olivia. Then I liked Ethan from the very first scene, he was sweet and obedient boy as any last kid of a family would be. And his relationship with girlfriend Emma was very adorable, I have a separate place for them both in my heart. I also happened to like Zach and Caleb, these three are my top most favorite sons.

The beginning of the book was quite slow but after enduring the first few pages, one couldn’t stop reading it. The each trip Olivia takes to visit her sons at their places was very interesting, each visit revealing a secret more deadlier than the previous was the key factor in making the book move faster and faster. Olivia’s visit to Caleb’s house was the most entertaining and enjoyable visit of all, for me as a reader, but obviously Olivia wasn’t much happy about any of the revelations. But trip to Caleb’s house was quite funny and that’s my favorite.

There were lot of emotions intertwined within the pages of the book. All these emotions were progressive, natural and gradually. Nothing in the book was written hastily but at the same time it wasn’t draggy or prolonged, it just had everything in the right amount. That’s what had made this book stand out.

The writing and the narrative style of the author was tremendous. The way in which he had written this book was very smooth and mellifluous, like that of a flowing water. His writing was so matured and addictive, I din’t know it was his debut novel until I finish reading it and I still can’t believe it’s his first. I loved this book an extra for his outstanding writing skills. James J. Cudney is such a talented writer and I know he is going to raise his yardstick with each of his books.

The turns this book took was really spectacular. Almost all the characters in this book was really nice and good. The justification given for their behavior was understandable and relatable. On the whole, it was a very good experience to read this book. It was very fulfilling while reading it.

My views

I really loved Olivia’s character, usually I find it a little bit difficult to read a story from the point of view of an elderly person, it takes a lot of effort to see things from their shoes. But with this book, relating with Olivia came effortlessly for me. I really liked this woman so much, I liked everything about her – how she takes drastic decisions to sort things out in the family and how responsible she is as a head of the family. The author had developed her character so very strongly and beautifully. After reading this book, I almost feel like I’m Olivia and these five boys are my sons. I’m still into character and still into the story. What more an author can achieve than this ?

It was kind of very emotional at certain instances and I really cried hard, I wouldn’t say when I cried because that would be a spoiler, so I’ll stop here about the emotional part. It was indeed a very deep book. Though I haven’t read a lot of books in this genre, I generally like family dramas. Because of the familial bonds, the deep relationships and the aura of a big family are all my area of interest.

My rating for this would be 4.5 out of 5 stars

I would like to recommend this book to all the people who love to read stories based on big family and that talks about deep familial relationships and bonds. You guys will absolutely love it. If you din’t fall into the above category then I’m telling you take a chance and read this book, you will not be disappointed because the author had a good plot and rich writing style.

I liked everyone from the Glass family, I’m yearning to spend some more time with the Glass family and to my blessing the second book Hiding Cracked Glass is releasing next month ( 8th of October 2020 ) and I already have the ARC of the book. I’ll talk about it during the Mega Blog Tour Hosted by Shalini and Digital Reads Blog Tours on 8 October 2020. Stay tuned for that.

Do read this splendid book and tell me how you feel about it.

Happy Reading Folks!!!

~ Meenu

Check out the Book Review of the First Book “Watching Glass Shatter” in the tremendous Perceptions of Glass series by James J Cudney.

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