Glimpsed by G.F. Miller

 

Welcome to my stop for the blog tour “Glimpsed by G.F.Miller” which is organised by Turn the Page Tours. Thank you so much for accepting my request to read the book and by any means, my review is unbiased. It’s 100% my honest thoughts and there I say it, this book successfully waltzed its way into my favourite rom-com books in 2021.

Title: Glimpsed

Author: G.F. Miller

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publishing date: 5th January 2021

Genre(s): young adult, contemporary, magical realism, romance comedy, high school, enemies-to-lovers

Link to purchase: Amazon | Simon & Schuster | Book Depository 

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis

Perfect for fans of Geekerella and Jenn Bennett, this charming, sparkly rom-com follows a wish-granting teen forced to question if she’s really doing good—and if she has the power to make her own dreams come true.

Charity is a fairy godmother. She doesn’t wear a poofy dress or go around waving a wand, but she does make sure the deepest desires of the student population at Jack London High School come true. And she knows what they want even better than they do because she can glimpse their perfect futures.

But when Charity fulfills a glimpse that gets Vibha crowned homecoming queen, it ends in disaster. Suddenly, every wish Charity has ever granted is called into question. Has she really been helping people? Where do these glimpses come from, anyway? What if she’s not getting the whole picture?

Making this existential crisis way worse is Noah—the adorkable and (in Charity’s opinion) diabolical ex of one of her past clients—who blames her for sabotaging his prom plans and claims her interventions are doing more harm than good. He demands that she stop granting wishes and help him get his girl back. At first, Charity has no choice but to play along. But soon, Noah becomes an unexpected ally in getting to the bottom of the glimpses. Before long, Charity dares to call him her friend…and even starts to wish he were something more. But can the fairy godmother ever get the happily ever after? 

Source: Goodreads

My Review

When it comes to a Cinderella retelling, we often find that the protagonist in the said story will be Cinderella, of course. However, Glimpsed by G.F. Miller on the other hand serves us a story that sheds light on one character other than Cinderella, that is the fairy godmother. For me, it is refreshing for a character that we once do not give a crap about has finally given a chance to be in the spotlight of the story.

With a modern take on the fairy godmother who’s still studying in a high school and a member of the Poms team, Charity has been carrying out her normal-yet-not-so-normal life since she has the ‘gift’ to grant people’s wishes. Coming out as a strong, cold and untouchable character, her reputation in the school is a top-notch one, and is considered as an influencer as people look up to her. Little do they know; this girl right here has the capability to ‘glimpse’ into their deepest wishes a.k.a Happily Ever After (HEA) and ‘nudge’ anything that she wants to coerce them into doing something that they themselves won’t even aware of. Glimpse? She can see a spur of moment of your future, and nudge? If you’re feeling sad, she can nudge in some positivity into you without your notice.

The fairy godmothering has been passed through generations of her family and she thought it’s her top priority to get the job done; granting anyone’s wishes as soon as she gets the glimpses. Those people whom she has helped before are called Cindy a.k.a Cinderella regardless of genders and races. Now, this is the part that I like about in this book. The author sprinkles her story with diversity, something that I feel very appreciated for including diverse characters. Vindhya is the next Cindy that Charity has already glimpsed into; picturing a smart, nerdy Vindhya becoming a homecoming queen this year. Quite a futile one but Charity’s perseverance is something else.

Plot-wise, the story pace is coordinated nicely with a very interesting conflict. While she’s busy working on granting Vindhya’s wish, someone, another dorky, a great analyser, and her future nemesis named Noah, comes messing up her life finding out about her secret thanks to his brain. One of Charity’s Cindies is Noah’s first love named Holly but she's ended up with a famous jock due to Charity’s help. Before Charity's secret is out to anyone in high school, she’s forced to grant his wish too; undone of what she has done to Holly and coupled him up with Holly. But what the future beholds them is something more than a wish to grant for. By the way, I simped Noah from the start till the end. Seriously, he's that guy who's off-limit, such a soft one. And for Charity, I liked her because of her strong character but sometimes I disliked her because she did questionable things that made me angry. But I guess it did contribute to the plot. 

Tangled up in a light rom-com mess, with a main theme that tackles about the existential crisis and everything that seems and sounds cliché but ending up as ‘uncliche’, I highly recommend this book. It’s a story that naturally draws out your laughter, squealing👀, and also takes its sweet time in bringing family relationships and supportive friends into life. 

Author Info

G.F. Miller can write 80,000-word novels, but ask her to sit down and write 250 true and meaningful words about herself and she is likely to have an existential crisis. Who am I, really? She ponders. What do I want to be known for? Does anyone even read the back flap or visit author websites?

 

But eventually she will pull herself together and tell you that…She married her college sweetheart and is mom to three littles who routinely make her heart burst and her head explode (it’s a messy business, love). There are puppies big and small residing at her house (you’ll be seeing a lot of them if you follow her on Instagram). She’s been to a dozen countries, but not nearly as many as she would like. She loves learning all the things. She cries at all the wrong times. She makes faces at herself in the mirror. She believes in the Oxford comma. And she’s always here for a dance party.  

 

While the stories she has brewing in her soul vary wildly from one another, there are three things they will always have in common: love, snappy dialogue, and happy endings.

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Tour Schedule 

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Giveaway!

For this tour, we have THREE (3) separate giveaways! Up for grabs, we have ONE (1) signed copy of Glimpsed by G.F. Miller (available to US only), TWO (2) EXCLUSIVE chapters from Noah’s POV, and a Skype or Zoom visit with the author (both available to INTL)! This will run from January 19th to January 26th at 11:59 PM CST. To enter this giveaway, click the link below!