Glass

by Hopkins

[Angie]

Picking up soon after the ending of Crank, Glass follows Kristina as she’s navigating motherhood, dealing with her addiction to meth, and still trying to find that love she’s so desperate for. Kristina loves her son, at least she thinks she does in her own way, but it’s scary how she uses him as a reason to start doing meth again. She’s convinced that this time she’ll be in control. She’ll only do a little when she needs some energy (all those early morning feedings) and to shed the baby weight. A new boyfriend is also on the agenda, but it’s hard when she’s stuck at home. I did enjoy Glass more than Crank, although it does drag in the middle, and there’s some plot inconsistencies.

In order to get more meth, Kristina needs freedom (and money). Freedom requires a car. A car requires money. Money requires a job. A decent job requires a high school diploma. So Kristina is studying for her GED and her mother agrees to loan her money for the car (not knowing about the meth, obviously). This is great –minus the meth– except that at the end of Crank Kristina says her counselor set her up with home study and she graduated 6 days before giving birth, and her grandmother left her an “obnoxious but mint” car. So why the GED and borrowing money? It seems like these two points were brushed aside because it would make things too easy for Kristina. She does spend the first quarter of the book wanting freedom, so having a car would cut that out. Which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing since Glass is quite long, despite its verse format.

The middle of Glass is quite repetitive, but Kristina doesn’t have much going in her life except getting high and getting laid. I did find myself bored when nothing seemed to be happening other than Kristina and her companions hanging out with “the monster.” It was interesting to see how others deal with the drug, since they appear to be handling it better than Kristina. But looks can be deceiving. The story does pick up again in the last 100 or so pages though. Then it gets really good. Kristina and her boyfriend have dug themselves so deep that they can’t see the way back out. I knew it was just a matter of time.

Despite its flaws, Glass is an eye-opening and intriguing read. Kristina wants a better life, but she wants to keep the monster in it. She thinks she can control it and find that balance, but really she can’t. She’s searching for a love that her family can’t give her, but she just makes bad decision after bad decision. The end of Glass has her in one of the worst situations she can be in, and I’m eager to see how she gets out of that one. I do hope she can get her act together.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.