Glow Review

Glow
by Amy Kathleen Ryan

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.

RIVETING.
In Amy Kathleen Ryan's Glow, you are enveloped in the small world of a ship that seems to extend beyond its walls and out into deep space. The opening chapter hooks you and doesn't spit you out until the very end while you're exhausted but yearning for more.

In the beginning of Glow we are introduced to Waverly and Kieran, two teenage lovers destined to be together on a spaceship bound for a "New Earth." They, along with everyone else on the Empyrean, see that there is another ship coming into view which doesn't seem possible. They realize that it is the New Horizon, a sister ship to their own but they shouldn't see for years. Both ships are headed to a new planet to restart human civilization. When the two ships meet, crew members from the New Horizon attack the Empyrean, killing multiple people, and kidnap all the young girls. As the story unfolds, more secrets emerge about the relationship between the two captains and why they needed the girls. A lot of religious and moral issues arise in this book that leave you questioning every character by the end.

The characters are well developed throughout. Ryan does a fantastic job of creating those characters that you just want to hug and tell them that everything is going to be okay, and others that make you grip the book in a rage wishing you could slap them. Those feelings are what make good character development so important in my eyes. Also if you can take characters that you trust from the get go and twist your image of them back and forth until you are left wondering if some of the protagonists should really be considered that. Without going into specific characters so to not spoil anything, most of them change drastically throughout. I am so anxious to see what is to come of each one of them in the next book.

The writing is well done. It was obviously well researched and well thought out. There is a lot of factual science about space travel and the human psyche that come in to play. This book is gripping in a way that I can't describe. I am not usually one for sci-fi but this book had me. Glow is said to be the "next Hunger Games" and the only way I can see a relation is that it is fast-paced and intense. Other than that, very different in every way. Ryan created this world on a spaceship that may be so small but deals with drastically larger issues. Religion plays a big role in this book, as to be expected when starting a new civilization. I didn't like how it became so focused on it by the end though. Human survival is also a huge ongoing theme. How far can one person be pushed and how much can they depend on their own thoughts and feelings to get them through a life and death situation. Okay yeah enough rambling about the writing.

3 out of 5 stars for this one, mid-low shelf.

Cover Crazy (3)

Cover Crazy is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Worms on Mondays.  Its a brand new meme where the idea is to showcase a  beautiful book cover each week.  This week I'm crazy about.....

Away

by Teri Hall

Why I love it:

• I love the contrasting colors of the broken glass and the outside world it showcases the different perspectives really well. 
• I like all the rubble outside the glass and that the hole is focused on the bare tree.
• The font of the title is simple and I like how the Y goes out to the edge, like it is part of the spiderweb of broken glass
• I also like that follows the same style as it's predecessor, The Line, simple, ominous and questionable.

What cover are you crazy about this week?

In My Mailbox (2)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by awesome Kristi at The Story Siren which allows bloggers to share what books they bought/received each week.

Hey guys! Check out what I got this week! (and well I guess last week too, this is collective)

Received:
Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Covenant by Dean Crawford
The Elfin Child by Philip G. Bell

Purchased:
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Hourglass by Mara McEntire
Hereafter by Tara Hudson
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Across the Universe by Beth Revis

And of course I bought a nook simple touch! Yay!

That's all for me this week guys, what did you get?

On My Wishlist (2)

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where we list all the books we desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming.

Circle 9
by Anne Heltzel
Release Date: September 13, 2011

She knows only Sam, a mysterious teenage boy. He is her sole companion; her whole life. She was born, already a teenager, lying outside a burning building in soot-stained clothes, remembering nothing, not even her name. He showed her the necklace she had on, the one that named her: Abby. Sam brought her to live in his cave-palace, where he gives her everything she needs. He loves her. He protects her from the world outside, from everyone who wants to hurt them, like the denizens of Circle Nine, Dante’s deepest circle of hell. But even in a charmed, brand-new life like Abby’s, change will come. Sam falls ill. A new girl comes to stay, and Abby begins to question Sam’s devotion. With doubt comes emotional turmoil, changes in perception, and glimpses of her past identity. In this courageous psychological thriller, Abby tells the story of living her new life and discovering her old one, while grappling with an ever-changing reality.

Perfect
by Ellen Hopkins
Release Date: September 13, 2011 


Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there.
Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body—no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run—on the field and off—Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes that to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he’ll be living a life his ancestors would never have understood.
Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect?
A riveting and startling companion to the bestselling Impulse, Ellen Hopkins's Perfect exposes the harsh truths about what it takes to grow up and grow into our own skins, our own selves.

Gil Marsh Review

Gil Marsh
by A.C.E. Bauer

Good looking, athletic, and smart, Gil Marsh is the most popular kid at Uruk High School, even though he is only a junior. When Enko, a new kid from Montreal, shows up, Gil is wary. Yet Enko is easy going and matches Gil's athletic prowess without being a threat. Soon, the two become inseparable friends, practicing, studying, and double-dating. Then suddenly, to everyone's shock, Enko succombs to an aggressive cancer. When Enko's parents take his body and return to Canada, Gil is unable to even say good bye. He is inconsolable. Determined to find Enko's grave, Gil sneaks away and heads north.Closely based on the ancient story of Gilgamesh, the Sumerian King from 3000 BC, A. C. E. Bauer has carefully woven the classic elements of myth to follow Gil's quest and explore the grief and growth of a young man.

BOLD.
In A.C.E. Bauer's stunning retelling of The Epic of Gilgamesh, you are thrown into a modernized version of the continual search for the answers of life. Reanimating the oldest recorded story seems to be a very daunting task, but Bauer does it with ease. 

We follow Gil Marsh through his reign over Uruk High school (nice play on name of Gilgamesh's kingdom) and his meeting of Enko at the beginning of this book. The two boys seem to butt heads at first because they rival each other so closely. But in the end they become inseparable. After Enko suddenly dies, Gil needs closure with his friend's death and with accepting life. He runs away to Quebec in hopes of finally being able to say goodbye properly and trying to learn more about the legend behind the ring that Enko left him. Through Gil's search for answers he learns a lot about life and mortality as a whole. This is a tale of acceptance, grief, life and growing up. 


The characters are not intimately written but you grow to love them. Gil grows from being the popular kid in high school to truly learning to love another person and love life. Enko is the most kind-hearted soul and only wants what's best for everyone. His death is heart wrenching to read about from both boys' places. The characters that Gil meets on his journey emulate the characters from The Epic of Gilgamesh. They teach Gil the good and the bad in life. 

 This book definitely still reads as if it were still an epic classic story. I honestly did not know what would come of it. I expected it to either read as a cheesy version of a classic set in a high school and be let down at the lost quality of literature. Or I expected it to rival the original too much and it just wouldn't work as a young adult book. Somehow Bauer managed to find the balance between the two perfectly. The writing isn't dumbed down in the least. It still holds all the qualities of a classic and yet is easy to read and relate to. I'm anxious to see how others take this book when it comes out. I'm worried for the automatic assumption of a gay relationship between the two boys instead of just true friendship. The writing does not explain most events or relationships, they just happen and are accepted, which is how I feel classics are written. There should be no need for an explanation or too much lead in to an occurrence. Very well done.


5 out of 5 stars, this book deserves a slot on your bookshelf amongst your classics.

Theme Song Thursday!

This week I am reading The Elfin Child by Philip J. Bell. It is about a boy in London who goes to stay with his aunt in the country for a bit. While there he discovers an elfin boy and is needed to help save the elfin race. He is thrown into this fantasy realm and feels like he is in way over his head. It is so far a great middle grade read about growing up and discovering fantasy.

Dessa-Children's Work


Dessa is a very talented member of Doomtree. This song is from her solo album called A Badly Broken Code. This song is about how we think of children as so innocent and naive when children really know more about the world than we do. They are forced to grow up too fast some times and see things that others don't. I feel like song is very fitting for this book because the boy is thrown in to help this world he was never a part of. He may grow up and discover himself through the process but a lot of pressure is put on him in the mean time.

Graffiti Moon Review

Graffiti Moon
by Cath Crowley

Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He's out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy's stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they're suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.





ARTISTIC.
Graffiti Moon is what I always want a contemporary YA romance to be. After all the sappy, love at first sight, "our love helped me through all my emotional problems" books out there, this book is finally REAL.

Cath Crowley develops a world that is so centered around art and the artistic mind that you can't help but be drawn into the creative mindset of the characters. Lucy, a glassblower, is searching for Shadow, the amazing graffiti artist who is so perfect in her mind that no guy can even compare to the conflicted soul she has drawn in her mind. Ed, who is secretly Shadow, helps take her on the journey to find Shadow and realizes he can never live up to the portrait Lucy has painted of him. As the night progresses and they learn more and more about the artistic lifestyles they both live they realize they are perfect for each other. Side stories of their friends grow simultaneously and equally as artistically, though through poetry.

The characters of this book are so well developed that you can't help but fall in love with them. Lucy has a different home life of odd parents and a surrogate father figure who is her glassblowing teacher. All she wants in life is to find someone to share the beauty of art with. Ed comes from a rough upbringing of a single mom barely making end's meet. He has trouble reading and writing and escapes through his walls. The paintings he does on walls parallel his mental state. He is struggling through the recent death of his only father figure, his manager and the first person to really believe in his talent.

The writing is exquisite and exactly what it needs to be to really pull off the feeling of this book. I can't express enough how artistic and beautifully done this book is. The thoughts, comparisons, descriptions and metaphors are all written as if you are looking at a painting. Not only does Crowley paint the scene that is occurring in the story, but the paintings the characters see in their minds. Flawless writing.

5 out of 5 stars, top of the bookshelf, definitely buying this as soon as it comes out.