Book Review: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Glow (Sky Chasers #1)

Amy Kathleen Ryan

Excerpt from Audio book:

Publication Date: September 13th 2011

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Pages: 307

Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult

What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?

Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...

Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.

But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.

Glow is toted as a Young Adult book, but it reads slightly more mature than most YA books out there nowadays (not to mention the font is quite small on the page). The pace was moderate and the world detailed and I loved every second of it. I'd always open it planning to just read a couple of chapters, and reading so many more accidently.

The book reminds me of both Michael Grant's Gone Series and Maria V. Snyder's Insider Series. Through two different points of views we see two groups of kids cope under incredibly troubling circumstances on both sides. There are elements of politics and what could possibly be right and who one can trust. The characters are very well done and this book is definitely about them. It is about how they figure out the situation and how they try and figure out what they believe.

The story entrances you as you as the reader  become embroiled in the mystery, of figuring out where the truth lies and then further on, the correct way to act as a leader, and as the ending shows, that issue is far from over and will be continued in the next book.

The ending between Kieran and Waverly left me very unsettled. I see exactly what Waverly sees, but I also know Kieran did the only thing he felt he could to keep everyone going. At the same time I don't want to trust Seth whatsoever. What's insane (but I love it) is how differently Seth acts in the two perspectives, it really shows how being in someone's head can color the perspective of another character.

At the same time I have a hard time figuring out Seth. I want to like him for Waverly more than Kieran, but there are times where I truly wonder if it's too late for him and he would be bound to become abusive because of his father. Waverly isn't a girl who would be bowed, so I see them fighting if they got together and it not going well at well, while she and Kieran talk things out, even if they're both hardheaded.

Then there are the adults, I wonder what has happened to most of them and if the ones in the infirmary will survive and if the ones in the other ship will be able to escape.

Glow succeeds at being a fantastic Young Adult novel, reminiscent of the way YA was written when I was younger (more mature with more troubles than just which boy to love and how to hide your secret). It is also a really interesting traditional space scifi novel, thus I think people who love either type of book would enjoy reading Glow.

4 Bookmarks