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A review by ahanenohi
Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Glow is quite the fast paced book and I am definitely not kidding when I say that. In fact, I thought it kind of started too fast— we basically jump in directly to the Bad Situation without being given any reason to care about the characters just yet. If it weren’t for it’s status as the first book in it’s series being so prominently displayed on the cover, I may have thought I was reading a sequel.
So I didn’t exactly have the best first impression of the book but I decided to keep reading. Waverly and Kieran are decent characters. I never felt the need to cry out at them being Stupid and making the Wrong Decisions as I do in other fast-paced, thrilling media. In my opinion, however, Glow is very much a plot-driven story and as such, we don’t linger very long on their development as characters. Readers who need to feel connected to the protagonist may feel disappointed.
Overall, Glow was a great way to spend my afternoon and my desire to constantly know what would happen next had me reading it in one sitting! The story truly brings you into a world where humanity is struggling to survive and takes all of its hopes and flaws with it.
(As such, I should probably mention that the topic of religion— especially its capacity to both raise morale in the hopeless and manipulate the helpless—is a major plot point in the story, one I personally enjoyed as a religious person myself but understandably, will turn off some readers who would find it a bit preachy.)
So I didn’t exactly have the best first impression of the book but I decided to keep reading. Waverly and Kieran are decent characters. I never felt the need to cry out at them being Stupid and making the Wrong Decisions as I do in other fast-paced, thrilling media. In my opinion, however, Glow is very much a plot-driven story and as such, we don’t linger very long on their development as characters. Readers who need to feel connected to the protagonist may feel disappointed.
Overall, Glow was a great way to spend my afternoon and my desire to constantly know what would happen next had me reading it in one sitting! The story truly brings you into a world where humanity is struggling to survive and takes all of its hopes and flaws with it.
(As such, I should probably mention that the topic of religion— especially its capacity to both raise morale in the hopeless and manipulate the helpless—is a major plot point in the story, one I personally enjoyed as a religious person myself but understandably, will turn off some readers who would find it a bit preachy.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infertility, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault