Pickaxes, grime, and watery oatmeal are all sixteen-year-old Heart has ever known. Growing up in the tunnels, the only breaks in her muscle-aching monotony are the numerous nights spent cramped in a metal box. Stupid runaway mouth. But when strange visions and a hidden map hint there’s more to life than she’s been led to believe — boys being one of them — only one thing weighs on her mind. Escape. Yet freedom is a tease. Heart merely trades her small prison for a larger one — a transparent dome controlled by the Guardian, an aging leader bent on creating a genetically perfect race. Heart's birthmark on her shoulder? An abomination that carries a lifetime sentence of slavery for females. Refusing to let a glass ceiling deter her, Heart searches for a way out of the dome. But unraveling the Guardian's secrets is a risky endeavor. Human skulls atop crude sticks serve as a warning: treason is punishable by death. When her new friends are captured, and escape is just an arm’s reach away, Heart must decide. Take the freedom she so desperately wants or save her friends’ lives?"

The Glass Ceiling was a book that definitely caught me off guard. I thought it was going one way and then it suddenly took a turn and became a book that I will very likely read several times. It's an incredible story about a girl who uses her voice to become an unlikely hero. In a world where women are viewed as less than men, Heart stands up for the little people, and often gets punished for it. But by the end of the book, Heart is a strong, independent, and fierce fighter, and someone that should be looked up.

For me, this book started out somewhat slow, but picked up pace once Heart made the decision to fight back. I really enjoyed following Heart as she grew from slave to leader, and learned to love despite what she had been told her entire life. The idea that women were viewed as nothing but slaves, scarlets, and breeders kind of bothered me. The way that the women spoke about themselves and about the men was definitely an indicator that the society was outside the norm and that the leader had brainwashed the masses. But it was great to see that Heart knew that the way she lived was wrong and chose to stand up and fight.

The writing was so well done and I'm actually incredibly sad to find out that this is a stand alone book! I loved the world building and character development and would absolutely love to read more about Heart and what happens after the end of this book. But it was so well written and the ending tied up any lose ends that it works well as a stand alone novel. A sequel would be wonderful to read, however!

All in all, this was a wonderful read that went from "eh" to "omg what is happening" and had me wishing that it wasn't over by the end. If you're looking for a different take on the dystopian genre and a book with a rather large twist at the end, then The Glass Ceiling is for you!


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About the Author:
Julie lives in historic Saratoga Springs, NY with the man of her dreams and their boys. Being surrounded by males, she overcompensates by owning everything pink. From her clothing, topurses, to even her pots and pans. She just can’t get enough pink.  She enjoys taking long road trips with her family to the beach and to amusement parks. She has one cat that she showers with kissy-baby talk, but who only returns a non-amused glance every once in a while. It’s her third catto act this way, so she’s wondering if perhaps she should get a dog next time. From a young age, Julie’s vivid imagination constantly invented story lines. But it wasn’t until she began working in a career that required zero creativity, that her need to write poured out like a dam bursting. And she’s been writing ever since.

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