Undergrounder by J.E. Glass is a paranormal, urban fantasy, journey into the tunneled depths of New York city for a deliciously sapphic retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
Alexandra Bailey, reporter for the New York Times, might have taken her last breath. Torn from the streets while walking home from work and dragged into a van full of unsavoury characters, she is beaten, stabbed and tossed into the chilly waters of the Hudson succumbing to darkness as her body is sucked deeper into its icy depths.
Leanna Farrow has spent her life Underground in a labyrinth of tunnels, otherworldly chambers, and a found family comprised of society’s cast offs and misfits. A technical genius, she is close to finally completing a source of independent power for the Underground. But when she diverts the flow of one of the city’s water pipes to power her machine, more than just water rushes past.
Pulling Alex’s lifeless body from the water, Lee knows the stranger’s only hope for survival is to risk exposure and take the Topsider to the Underground for care. Alex never expected to open her eyes again, but the beastly sight before her when she does, makes her almost wish she hadn’t. However, as her recovery progresses, she grows more and more drawn to her quirky and gentle saviour.
When Alex discovers that Lee’s mother was an infamous scientist who disappeared under strange and violent circumstances, the reporter in her can’t resist digging into the story. Unfortunately, her curiosity puts them all in danger when her inquiries are noticed by some powerful and nefarious people.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
I absolutely loved the Beauty and the Beast TV series with Linda Hamilton (so much swoon) and Ron Perlman, so I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to read a sapphic version of the tale as old time. And thank goodness I didn’t, because it did not disappoint! I adore the banter between Lee and Alex, the one liners from Georgia, and all the wonderful pop culture references (Phantom of the Opera, Dr. Who, Wicked, etc.) that drew the two women closer together and me deeper into the story. I also feel as though I have been through the tunnels of the Underground, the descriptions Glass uses are so well done.
While it is a fairly long book, there is a lot to keep the reader’s eyes glued to the page. The mystery, the slow burn romance, the humour, the incredible angst, and of course, the many iterations of love combine for an intense and heartwarming read.
Cons And Heads Up
Apart from a few editing issues the only con is the ache in my fingers from hanging off the precipice of the yawning cliff that is the end of this book! You are definitely going to want to snatch the next book in the series as soon as possible because the cliff face is sheer folks!
In terms of content warnings, the book contains isolation, murder, physical assault, violence, and trauma. There are also a few mentions of suicide and substance abuse (alcohol).
The Conclusion
This book is quite the ride and will send you for a loop with all the emotions, excitement and mystery crammed between its covers. I simply cannot wait to get my hands on the second book in the trilogy to see what happens next. Also, Goliath is beyond intriguing. I really need to know more about Goliath.
Excerpt from Undergrounder by J.E. Glass
Like it or not, she understood the reasoning behind her mother’s rules. For the protection of her daughter and the people she governed, Undergrounders didn’t go Topside. There was no need to leave the sanctuary when they had Insiders who would get Undergrounders whatever they needed. For thirty-two years, Lee chewed and swallowed the same stale, dry rhetoric that left her starving for something new. Anything new. And for eleven of those thirty-two years, she listened and obeyed until the precocious preteen finally worked up the courage to climb beyond her synthetic sky of concrete and cabling. Only then did she discover a world full of wonder, mystery, and technology.
A grin crinkled Lee’s face at the memory of her early tinkering years and what her nimble fingers birthed from nothing but Topside scraps, imagination, and a sturdy grasp of basic engineering. Heating. Radio communication. Lifts and pulleys. The foundation for so much. And as her knowledge grew, so too did her ambition. That was the root of her emergency delivery this evening. She was so tantalizingly close to completing what she hoped would be a continuous power source capable of detaching the Underground from New York’s electrical grid…
The hike from the cemetery was uneventful but no less thrilling. Enthralled with the landscape, Lee detoured quite a few times to entertain herself on playgrounds or roll across empty soccer fields like an animal freed from its concrete paddock. Topside was so different. Lee’s world was hard, dark, and cylindrical. Rarely were there places big enough for a body to run in any direction without hitting a wall or dropping into a pit. Topside was massive, and standing beneath the George Washington Bridge only helped drive that fact home. Like Jack and the beanstalk, she marveled, bending backward to take it all in. If the beanstalk was a double-decker highway bridging landmasses.
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Series: Underground Trilogy
Undergrounder
Topsider
Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 979-8985255515
Publisher: Indie Author / Glass Nerd Books
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