Review: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Title: Glow
Author: Amy Kathleen Ryan
Series: Sky Chasers
Book #: 1
Pages: 307
Reading Level: Young Adult
Book Rating: 
Published: Sept. 13th, 2011.
by St. Martin's Griffin

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.

Chaz POV:

Glow... was amazing. It captures your attention in the first page and before you know it you are on page 50!! I got so freaking frustrated with their circumstances at times! It was like how are they going to survive? What is going to happen? So you just keep reading, and reading... It definitely did NOT dissapoint.

Nowadays every book out there must compare itself to The Hunger Games, its like a pre requisite. But Glow I can honestly say has the right to say that the fans of The Hunger Games will find this story utterly captivating. I saw it as a combination of Across the Universe, Beth Revis, and Gone, Michael Grant, kids on space trying their darnest to survive some awful bad luck.

There's these two ships, The Empyrian and The New Horizon, and they left for New Earth trying to escape catastrophic conditions on Earth. The New Horizon left 1 year before The Empyrian. But now they seem to have decelerated in order to catch up with their fellow neighbors, why? What do they want? And what limits are they willing to break in order to get it?

We go through the story with two POVs. A girl's and a boy's. Waverly and Kieran. They are together, but they are not the perfect couple. As the book goes along we get to see them as a couple and apart, mostly apart. I like them both for their separate personalities. Waverly is my kind of girl. All strong and rough around the edges. She never gives up, and doesn't let herself be fool, but then again she might be strong to a fault. Kieran... I would compare him to Petta before they screwed up with his brain. A sweetie, a ray of sunshine in space. Though by the end of the book he adopted some personality traits that might not work out for the future of both the ship and his relationship. I guess we'll see what happens on the third installment.

But don't be fooled, the book may have a relationship in it, but the relationship is only a part of the whole. The story doesn't evolve around it, but it's still a nice addition.

Also there might be a tiny bit of a "love triangle" but it isn't as pronounced and obvious as others. It's just this dark brooding character named Seth that might get in the way of our two main characters. I applaud Amy Ryan for getting me interested in Kieran and not Seth, few can keep me away from the bad boy.

Other things that are really interesting about this book its the issues it tackles. Things like religion, but without overwhelming you with it, believe me I'm not a religious person.

It was just so fast paced and awesome!! I don't know what will happen in the second book, but I really can't wait to find out.

-Chaz