This is a middle-grade novel which I believe is a translation from an Indian dialect, and the language is very simplistic and unsophisticated. I don't know if that's because of how the original was written, or because of a poor translation, but what seemed charming to begin with soon turned into an annoyance and I was unable to finish the story because I lost interest in it. Because of the style and the awkward phrasing, the story very much reads like English as a second language and while that's a relatively minor problem as far as I'm concerned, when it comes coupled with the story itself being not an engaging one, it makes for a disenchanting read.
The beginning featured main character Glory, who was treated unnecessarily harshly to the point where the story was depressing. Before we had a chance to get to know her at all, the story then switched to a different world entirely and seemed to get stuck there. At first, this was a relief because I did not like Glory's story, all depression with no relief, but this new one featuring a gnome turned out to be worse.
I didn't like the gnome, and the tale became really rambling, and dissipated into extraneous detail that contributed nothing to moving the story along. It was like the author was so enamored of the world that had been created here that actually telling a story in it seemed irrelevant. Consequently, it felt like nothing was happening and I lost all interest in pursuing it. It didnlt helpt o fidn occasional confusing bits of writing like, "even their ancestors believed this pond would always be the heaven for families of big fatty frogs." Heaven? Or haven? And 'fatty frogs'? Really?
The story is supposedly about Glory, who is an eleven-year-old orphan. We're told she has a beautiful heart, but there's no real sign of that in the part I read that featured her. Glory's 'companion' - a tiny dragon that appears on her hand - made a couple of appearances, but Glory seemed like she had zero curiosity about what this was and why she had it. It in turn made the dragon uninteresting because it appeared to do nothing save lead her to an egg from which hatched a little elephant-headed creature.
It was at this point that I gave up because the story seemed completely random, going around in circles and leading nowhere. I wish the author all the best but I could not get interested in this story or in any of the characters.
