books_plants_hikes's review against another edition
5.0
WOW! I'm so impressed with this book. It's written from a 3rd person POV, which I was a little worried about after reading another reader's review. However, it turned out really neat because you're able to learn more about each character. The 3rd person has infinite knowledge about each character. At first I wished that the characters had been developed a little more before the attack on their ship. I still wish that, but I think the author developed them marvelously throughout the book. Each character has grown so much it will be interesting to see how they further develop in the last 2 books.
I really liked that Ryan didn't switch back and forth between the two ships every single chapter. Spending 3-4 chapters on each ship gave me more time to really understand the morale on that vessel.
Awesome read, can't wait for book 2!
I really liked that Ryan didn't switch back and forth between the two ships every single chapter. Spending 3-4 chapters on each ship gave me more time to really understand the morale on that vessel.
Awesome read, can't wait for book 2!
kikkrareads's review
4.0
I found Glow to be an excellent read with a ‘Lord of the Flies’ vibe to it. It’s tranquil world is quickly turned into an edgy battlefield of mistrust, pain and loss, after the violent attack of Kieran and Waverly’s ship. This is a book that had me hooked within the first few pages. Amy Kathleen Ryan created an amazing new world, with characters who each find a place within your heart. Whether you love them or hate them, you will find yourself thinking about them constantly.
I recommend this book for any young adult, Dystopian or even sci/fi fans. This is a book you are not going to want to miss.
http://reviews.blueteacup.com/?p=1356
I recommend this book for any young adult, Dystopian or even sci/fi fans. This is a book you are not going to want to miss.
http://reviews.blueteacup.com/?p=1356
sophaisy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
bookishwendy's review against another edition
3.0
*note* I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads program.
Anyone else noticing how dark YA books have become recently? Not that I mind, I've been attracted to darker stories from the first (I'm thinking the illustrated version of Alfred Noyes's beautiful yet bloody [b:The Highwayman|116381|The Highwayman|Alfred Noyes|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171723461s/116381.jpg|112077] that I stumbled across in my elementary school library) and, more recently, to [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337857402s/2767052.jpg|2792775] in which school-age kids battle to the death on live TV. But while Glow seems to be riding The Hunger Games dystopian coattails, the story itself has little in common with the pop YA lit trendsetter.
In Glow, a future Earth has become uninhabitable, and so self-sufficient Noah's ark-like spaceships are sent to colonize "New Earth". The journey will be long, so long that the original space travelers will not live to see New Earth, and their children, born en-route, will be elderly on arrival. Teenage protagonists Kieran and Waverly have known no other life than aboard the ship Empyrean. The closest ship New Horizon left Earth a year ahead of the Empyrean...so its sudden appearance alongside Empyrean is a shock...and a mystery. I don't want to give away any more than that and spoil the plot surprises of the first few chapters, so suffice it to say that Glow reminds me much more of the post nuclear-holocaust YA book [b:The City of Ember|307791|The City of Ember (Book of Ember, #1)|Jeanne DuPrau|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298499778s/307791.jpg|2285229] by Jeanne Duprau (than say the Hunger Games), in which children must come to terms with the dire mistakes of their fore-bearers.
For me, the broader story and themes of Glow worked best in this story--the loss of home and family, the loneliness of space, the conflict between the uplifting and corrupting sides of organized religion. I liked how pure good and evil are difficult to detect in this novel--for example, in the pastor who does some despicable things in the name of religion, all of which stemmed from honorable ideals and intentions. And I'll even admit that I teared up around page 138 in the middle of--oh, I won't give it away, you can read it for yourself!
While the larger concepts drew me in, I still struggled with the rather bland characterization of the two protagonists, and the rushed pace of the novel's final third. Kieran and Waverly are an every-boy and every-girl, and while perhaps this may help average kids identify with them, in my mind they acted too normal--too Earth-normal--to really be believable as kids who had never stepped foot on a planet. Surely the Empyrean must have had a very specific culture, language, quirks, which develop in closed societies in unusual environments...but I didn't get a sense of that here. However, I'm intrigued enough that I may seek out book two of the series.
Anyone else noticing how dark YA books have become recently? Not that I mind, I've been attracted to darker stories from the first (I'm thinking the illustrated version of Alfred Noyes's beautiful yet bloody [b:The Highwayman|116381|The Highwayman|Alfred Noyes|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171723461s/116381.jpg|112077] that I stumbled across in my elementary school library) and, more recently, to [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337857402s/2767052.jpg|2792775] in which school-age kids battle to the death on live TV. But while Glow seems to be riding The Hunger Games dystopian coattails, the story itself has little in common with the pop YA lit trendsetter.
In Glow, a future Earth has become uninhabitable, and so self-sufficient Noah's ark-like spaceships are sent to colonize "New Earth". The journey will be long, so long that the original space travelers will not live to see New Earth, and their children, born en-route, will be elderly on arrival. Teenage protagonists Kieran and Waverly have known no other life than aboard the ship Empyrean. The closest ship New Horizon left Earth a year ahead of the Empyrean...so its sudden appearance alongside Empyrean is a shock...and a mystery. I don't want to give away any more than that and spoil the plot surprises of the first few chapters, so suffice it to say that Glow reminds me much more of the post nuclear-holocaust YA book [b:The City of Ember|307791|The City of Ember (Book of Ember, #1)|Jeanne DuPrau|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298499778s/307791.jpg|2285229] by Jeanne Duprau (than say the Hunger Games), in which children must come to terms with the dire mistakes of their fore-bearers.
For me, the broader story and themes of Glow worked best in this story--the loss of home and family, the loneliness of space, the conflict between the uplifting and corrupting sides of organized religion. I liked how pure good and evil are difficult to detect in this novel--for example, in the pastor who does some despicable things in the name of religion, all of which stemmed from honorable ideals and intentions. And I'll even admit that I teared up around page 138 in the middle of--oh, I won't give it away, you can read it for yourself!
While the larger concepts drew me in, I still struggled with the rather bland characterization of the two protagonists, and the rushed pace of the novel's final third. Kieran and Waverly are an every-boy and every-girl, and while perhaps this may help average kids identify with them, in my mind they acted too normal--too Earth-normal--to really be believable as kids who had never stepped foot on a planet. Surely the Empyrean must have had a very specific culture, language, quirks, which develop in closed societies in unusual environments...but I didn't get a sense of that here. However, I'm intrigued enough that I may seek out book two of the series.
lorathelibrarian's review against another edition
2.0
Ugh. I'm so disappointed in this book. It had such a good premise and was actually quite good up until the end. The last part if the book just made me so angry.
Two ships are on an expedition to New Earth, these people are to colonize New Earth and make it ready for future pilgrimages. Waverly and Kieran are the two oldest children on the ship, Empyrean, they were conceived and born on the ship. The teens are thinking seriously about marriage and children because that is one of the most important things - to continue the human race. The other ship, the New Horizon, has started to become visible to the Empryean, but that shouldn't because it is supposed to be quite a distance ahead - they must have slowed down, but why?
Turns out, the New Horizon attacks the Empryean and steals all the girls, for they are in need of young girls. The New Horizon leaves the Empryean crippled and with only young boys to captain and maintain the ship. On top of all of that we find out that the New Horizon is childless, they have been in deep space for over 40 years and have been unable to have children, so they need the girls to help continue their race. To add to this the reader discovers that The New Horizon is fill with very religious people while the Empryean is secular. This was designed this way because it was thought that similar people together on the ship would create less conflict.
So, the set-up is there. It seems like a great and interesting book with lots of suspense and discussion points. The idea alone that religion makes people do such different things over the course of just 40 years is one that is supremely interesting. In fact, I was quite taken in with the story and couldn't book the book down. I needed to get to the ending and quickly because the characters meant that much to me. I was invested in story.
However, this book ended on a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger that foreshadowed that religion would either save them all, or condemn them. It turned into a sermon and was quite preachy. I think that the next book could resolve this, but I was upset that the author implied that it would have to be one way or another. Can't there be a middle ground?
I want to read the next book (due summer 2012), but I don't. I'm so angered by the ending of this one that I just don't know if I want to spend the time reading the next.
Two ships are on an expedition to New Earth, these people are to colonize New Earth and make it ready for future pilgrimages. Waverly and Kieran are the two oldest children on the ship, Empyrean, they were conceived and born on the ship. The teens are thinking seriously about marriage and children because that is one of the most important things - to continue the human race. The other ship, the New Horizon, has started to become visible to the Empryean, but that shouldn't because it is supposed to be quite a distance ahead - they must have slowed down, but why?
Turns out, the New Horizon attacks the Empryean and steals all the girls, for they are in need of young girls. The New Horizon leaves the Empryean crippled and with only young boys to captain and maintain the ship. On top of all of that we find out that the New Horizon is childless, they have been in deep space for over 40 years and have been unable to have children, so they need the girls to help continue their race. To add to this the reader discovers that The New Horizon is fill with very religious people while the Empryean is secular. This was designed this way because it was thought that similar people together on the ship would create less conflict.
So, the set-up is there. It seems like a great and interesting book with lots of suspense and discussion points. The idea alone that religion makes people do such different things over the course of just 40 years is one that is supremely interesting. In fact, I was quite taken in with the story and couldn't book the book down. I needed to get to the ending and quickly because the characters meant that much to me. I was invested in story.
However, this book ended on a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger that foreshadowed that religion would either save them all, or condemn them. It turned into a sermon and was quite preachy. I think that the next book could resolve this, but I was upset that the author implied that it would have to be one way or another. Can't there be a middle ground?
I want to read the next book (due summer 2012), but I don't. I'm so angered by the ending of this one that I just don't know if I want to spend the time reading the next.
kasiej's review against another edition
4.0
Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan, the first installment in the Sky Chasers Series, made my stomach do flips in ways that I didn’t know was possible.
Imagine for a moment, that you’re witnessing a train wreck in slow motion. Not just any train, a passenger train. There is nothing you can do to help or change the outcome, only watch as each car is smashed into the next creating one giant heap of wreckage. This is how I felt reading this book, painfully glued to each word.
Glow was dark, tragic, and unbelievably epic.
Warning; Spoilers Somewhat...
Now why must the chapters be named? I keep seeing this and it’s really starting to irritate me. Some of the titles are basically little spoilers for each section.
(¬_¬”)
The events that unfold are bitter sweet. It’s fantastic how gripping each moment is, but at the time same, it’s brutal. You can tell the author already had the entire trilogy mapped out for this series. At least, I hope she does since the entire first book left me emotionally drained. I felt like I was watching ASPCA commercials back to back.
Religion was a heavy topic throughout the book. I am not religious. I do respect all religions and those that follow them. To each their own. How the author brought religion and it’s influence into the story was brilliant. It provides each side with positives and negatives, allowing the reader to interpret the conflict it creates.
I give the author credit for a work such as this that forces you to feel so deeply. I battled between 4 and 5 stars for couple days before I finally decided on 4. I withheld the final star because the of character interaction and the ending.
Predictable and anticlimactic. After all of the cruel things they went through the ending was a bit disappointing. At about 60% I realized I knew exactly how this would end and then it did.
Well I’ve already picked up Book 2, Spark. Book 3, Flame is out early next year. This first chapter has definitely set the series up and I will absolutely be finishing it. Something good has to happen to these kids eventually right? Right?!
Imagine for a moment, that you’re witnessing a train wreck in slow motion. Not just any train, a passenger train. There is nothing you can do to help or change the outcome, only watch as each car is smashed into the next creating one giant heap of wreckage. This is how I felt reading this book, painfully glued to each word.
Glow was dark, tragic, and unbelievably epic.
Warning; Spoilers Somewhat...
Spoiler
The first thing that caught my attention when I started reading was the multiple POVs. I love that. Each 3-4 chapters were viewed from either Waverly or Keiran. This style had an interesting twist. It brought a different feeling since a few of the segments over lapped each other in time. This helped keep up the suspense since you wouldn’t find out what happened to one or the other until the author backtracked to their version. However, I really wish I could have seen a bit of Seth’s POV.Now why must the chapters be named? I keep seeing this and it’s really starting to irritate me. Some of the titles are basically little spoilers for each section.
(¬_¬”)
The events that unfold are bitter sweet. It’s fantastic how gripping each moment is, but at the time same, it’s brutal. You can tell the author already had the entire trilogy mapped out for this series. At least, I hope she does since the entire first book left me emotionally drained. I felt like I was watching ASPCA commercials back to back.
Religion was a heavy topic throughout the book. I am not religious. I do respect all religions and those that follow them. To each their own. How the author brought religion and it’s influence into the story was brilliant. It provides each side with positives and negatives, allowing the reader to interpret the conflict it creates.
I give the author credit for a work such as this that forces you to feel so deeply. I battled between 4 and 5 stars for couple days before I finally decided on 4. I withheld the final star because the of character interaction and the ending.
Predictable and anticlimactic. After all of the cruel things they went through the ending was a bit disappointing. At about 60% I realized I knew exactly how this would end and then it did.
Well I’ve already picked up Book 2, Spark. Book 3, Flame is out early next year. This first chapter has definitely set the series up and I will absolutely be finishing it. Something good has to happen to these kids eventually right? Right?!
_alwaysrealokay's review against another edition
5.0
Page 276 got me crying. this book is simply beautiful.
mel_chan91's review
3.0
I thought the book was boring at first. The plot just never caught my attention, though the last 100 pages, the tention went up and it became more exciting and now I know i want to read the second book. All the nonsense on "The new horizen" just made me want to get through with it. Reading Kierens part of view on the "Empreryon" the book got better. I was going to give the book a 2.5 but it went up a notch towards the end.
rosekk's review
3.0
I love the main character - Waverly. Although right up at the end she behaves in a way I find odd, the rest of the time she's amazing. As for the boy's, they both have mega faults. One of them has to improve before I will be happy with the idea of her getting with them. Trouble with this book is almost everyone has a big fault.
the_lady_reads's review against another edition
2.0
As seen on Ed and Em's Reviews!
1.5/5 Stars
Glow had one most interesting concepts I've ever heard of. A world based in the future, where people from the dying Earth send out two spaceships to see if they can survive and thrive in space and have a future rather than die out on Earth.
Glow tells the story of a young girl named Waverly, her boyfriend, Kieran and the attack on their spaceship home, the Empyrean. The attack is led by the twin spaceship called the New Horizon. Basically, everyone is infertile on the New Horizon, but the women on Empyrean are fertile myrtles, so the adults on the New Horizon want to take the young girls and make them have kids, or steal their eggs to give others onboard children. There's a lot more to the plot, but pretty much anything after this sentence would be a spoiler. Some of the plot points in this story, while interesting disturbed me to my core and made me immediately dislike the book.
I honestly couldn't stand any of the characters. There was no connection between us. Waverly and Kieran especially. They were weak and annoying by the end of this book. I wanted all of space to just blow up, an impossible feat, I know, but that's how sick of this book I was. Most of the story disgusted me to the point of intrigue. I had to keep going, even though I wanted to shove the book away from me.
So much could've been done with this story, but I felt like the author tried to make it too extreme. The constant mentions of God and the fact that two of the main characters tried to portray their idea of God was annoying and ridiculous to me. That is not what I wanted when I picked this up. I expected an awesome sci-fi book with teen romance and a lot of action. I didn't even think about the love triangle, which makes no sense to me, either. Plus, both of the boys she has an interesting in a jerks. You sure know how to pick them, Waverly.
This book was a mess. I read this a few weeks ago and I still just can't get passed my harsh feelings toward forced pregnancy. I understand that without that point, there wouldn't be much of a plot, but it just didn't seem handled correctly. Add on the whole God complex idea and I think the book went overboard. The adult main characters are sick. They might think they mean well, but what they are doing is wrong and unjust. I cannot think beyond that. Many people have enjoyed this book, but it was not for me at all. I don't think I'll be reading the rest of the series, the most I will do is check spoilers to find out who Waverly is going to end up with, Douche A or Douche B.
1.5/5 Stars
Glow had one most interesting concepts I've ever heard of. A world based in the future, where people from the dying Earth send out two spaceships to see if they can survive and thrive in space and have a future rather than die out on Earth.
Glow tells the story of a young girl named Waverly, her boyfriend, Kieran and the attack on their spaceship home, the Empyrean. The attack is led by the twin spaceship called the New Horizon. Basically, everyone is infertile on the New Horizon, but the women on Empyrean are fertile myrtles, so the adults on the New Horizon want to take the young girls and make them have kids, or steal their eggs to give others onboard children. There's a lot more to the plot, but pretty much anything after this sentence would be a spoiler. Some of the plot points in this story, while interesting disturbed me to my core and made me immediately dislike the book.
I honestly couldn't stand any of the characters. There was no connection between us. Waverly and Kieran especially. They were weak and annoying by the end of this book. I wanted all of space to just blow up, an impossible feat, I know, but that's how sick of this book I was. Most of the story disgusted me to the point of intrigue. I had to keep going, even though I wanted to shove the book away from me.
So much could've been done with this story, but I felt like the author tried to make it too extreme. The constant mentions of God and the fact that two of the main characters tried to portray their idea of God was annoying and ridiculous to me. That is not what I wanted when I picked this up. I expected an awesome sci-fi book with teen romance and a lot of action. I didn't even think about the love triangle, which makes no sense to me, either. Plus, both of the boys she has an interesting in a jerks. You sure know how to pick them, Waverly.
This book was a mess. I read this a few weeks ago and I still just can't get passed my harsh feelings toward forced pregnancy. I understand that without that point, there wouldn't be much of a plot, but it just didn't seem handled correctly. Add on the whole God complex idea and I think the book went overboard. The adult main characters are sick. They might think they mean well, but what they are doing is wrong and unjust. I cannot think beyond that. Many people have enjoyed this book, but it was not for me at all. I don't think I'll be reading the rest of the series, the most I will do is check spoilers to find out who Waverly is going to end up with, Douche A or Douche B.