A Veil of Glass and Rain by Petra F. Bagnardi

*Copy of book provided by Petra F. Bagnardi in return for an honest review* I'm not sure how to begin my review of this book in a formal manner, so I'm just going to start with what comes to mind first. The Writing: To me, this is the most crucial aspect of a book. It's the number one thing I consider when writing my own book because writing that is cheap and tasteless really isn't authentic (I have a few books in mind). Some people can read a things like Fifty Shades of Grey and enjoy it despite the quality of the "prose" being weak. I certainly can not. I've experienced this a lot with other contemporary novels that have such themes of romance and erotica, though I won't name any more as they're irrelevant and it would be unfair. I digress. Anyway, I actually enjoyed the writing in this book. I'm a visual person and I enjoy any type of writing that is poetic and portrays strong and aesthetically pleasing visuals. I think that Petra Bagnardi's writing is reminiscent to that of Tahereh Mafi's, regarding the ways in which they both manage to captivate the readers interest through poetic imagery. The writing is particularly effective in it's depictions of beautiful Rome and the story's steamy romance scenes. Concept & Plot: There wasn't a whole lot of movement within the plot that is set in the present tense, but that is because the narrative directs us from chapters past to present, in a snapshot type of style. We also get to see different segments of the story told from both main characters, Brina and Eagen's POV. Characters and Relationship's: The dynamic between the two main characters, Brina and Eagen is interesting because firstly, it wasn't a typical all-American 'girl meets boy in college and they fall in love' type of romance. There is a significant age gap of five years between the two. Brina met Eagen when she was nine years old and he was fourteen. Eagen began to crave Brina when he was twenty-one and she was sixth-teen. Despite the difference in age, gender and race, they bonded through their loneliness and otherwise similar situation. The relationship between them however, turns from a comforting family bond to that of a sexually intimate and lustful one, as the pair grow up and their story unfolds. In general, the story takes you through the journey and development of this type of complicated relationship, along with troubles that coincide along the way. Thank you to Petra F. Bagnardi for kindly giving me her story and allowing me to delve into her characters and writing.