Glimpsed: A 1/2 Decent Nudge

"He looks cocky in a way unique to dorks -- like he just leveled up in Dungeons & Dragons."

Now imagine you are in my shoes, shelving new books on the shelf when this cute little cover lands in your hands. I had to read it, especially with a grab-tag such as "Sometimes destiny needs a little nudge." At the time, my fingers desiring to skim through the pages of this novel felt like the exact nudge my destiny needed.

I opened it up and found that it read like most YA novels that catch my attention: Fairly cliched but ever-lovingly cute. I was quickly caught off guard by the words "Meet-Cute," as this is a phrase I rarely see used. It gave me a good sense that this book would definitely be using more modern slang, which, while important in books, can also quickly outdate them.

Nonetheless, the reading continued, and it was going well until low and behold the arrival of the dork! Yes, you heard me right, a "dork." Finally, proof I was not old yet! Returning to my main point, like the Last Jedi, the references felt reasonably forced. The Trekkie references were on point, but the "he looked at me like a dork who leveled up in D&D" quotes really felt out of place and just caused second-hand embarrassment to me and one of my D&D groups who was following my entire adventure in this novel.

Despite my disapproval of the awkwardly placed references and the over-the-top expression of the clichéd romance of the popular girl x dork/nerd/geek, I loved the plotline. The uniqueness of fairy godmothers running in the family bloodline, the desire to comprehend the situation through data and science, and even the whole butterfly-effect / actions have consequences results were all things that I adored.

I also need to address why I specifically gave this book three stars (excluding the things mentioned above). I loved the difficulties built between the family, but a lot of it felt swept under the rug by the end. It never clarified what happens next for them. In addition, the ending felt very rushed and could have been given more time, or even a better explanation to summarize the happily ever after.

Overall, I rated Glimpsed 3/5 Stars. Would I recommend this? Not necessarily, but I could see this becoming a popular title amongst teens.

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49200365-glimpsed

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3802545470

Warning for Parents of Kids/Preteens (this is a section I add-in for parents who like to monitor what their children read):

• Alcohol Consumption -- The main character gets lightly drunk on Jello Shots, and there is little to no repercussion for the main character doing so.

• Very Light Sexual Conversation -- Virginity is mentioned in a conversation. (*Spoiler* Noah ["The Dork"] expresses that his mom checks in on him regularly cause she wants him to be a virgin till he dies, Charity [The MC] expresses her mom is more concerned with Whales having children to be too concerned as to whether or not her child has sexual interactions).

• Betting (the jocks have a running bet yearly on whether or not they will get a date with Charity)