Hi everybody! Hope you had a very happy Christmas. Mine was wonderful. Christmas with my family is always a great time. So, anyway, I wanted to tell you my thoughts on Glow! Just finished it last week. This is another sci/fi, futuristic kind of story where people live on these big ships out in space. Here’s the summary on Amazon:
The Empyrean is the only home 15-year-old Waverly has ever known. Part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space, she and her boyfriend Kieran will be pioneers of New Earth. Waverly knows she must marry young in order to have children who can carry on the mission, and Kieran, the handsome captain-to-be, has everything Waverly could want in a husband. Everyone is sure he’s the best choice. Still, there’s a part of Waverly that wants more from life than marriage, and she is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.
Suddenly, Waverly’s dreams are interrupted by the inconceivable – a violent betrayal by the Empyrean’s sister ship, the New Horizon. The New Horizon’s leaders are desperate to populate the new planet first, and will do anything to get what they need: young girls. In one pivotal moment, Waverly and Kieran are separated, and find themselves at the helm of dangerous missions, where every move has potentially devastating consequences, and decisions of the heart may lead to disaster.
I really enjoyed this book–until I reached the end. Waverly is a strong character, and Kieran, who starts out a little weak, becomes a much stronger character by the end. It’s obvious the author is trying to show some connection between Waverly and Seth early on, but as we get to know Seth throughout the book, he’s not a very likable character. Any guy who yells at babies and yanks children’s arms and basically starves prisoners just does not come across as hero material. But I get the feeling the author wants us to like him and be interested in him. That didn’t happen for me. And Waverly’s interest in him even after she knows how he’s treated everyone on the Empyrean is really disappointing. I thought the storyline about Anne Mather was interesting. She’s a fascinating character. The way she’s twisted religion and manipulates her people. However, when the author makes Kieran also become a person of faith, and then Waverly connects that with Anne’s behavior–I have to wonder if the author is trying to paint a picture that anyone with faith is going to become corrupt. Obviously I don’t like that and don’t agree with it, and I hope that’s not the direction the author is taking.
So I haven’t decided if I’m going to read the next book in this Sky Chasers series or not. Maybe. To me, Seth is a bully and unstable and if he becomes the hero of this story–well, that just doesn’t really interest me. I thought the faith/religion aspect of the book was interesting until I started to get the vibe that it’s always going to be portrayed negatively. I’ll probably wait until there are reviews out about book two and see what the general consensus is.
Overall opinion: this is a well-written book with an interesting, unique plot. I wasn’t totally hooked on the characters or the character development, but I’m still interested to see what direction the author takes the story in.
