Review: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Published: September 13, 2011
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 320
Series: Sky Chasers #1
My Rating: 2 of 5 stars

Synopsis: 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.

My Review: I won a copy of this from a Goodreads giveaway.

Well this book wasn't what I expected. I'm not even sure what I expected anymore but it wasn't this.

Glow takes place way into the future where Earth is now uninhabitable. Waverly is part of the first generation born on board the Empyrean. Everyone expects her to marry Kieran, the captain-to-be because she's his girlfriend. But everything doesn't go according to plan when the Empyrean is attacked by the New Horizon. The New Horizon has no children aboard so they decide to take all the girls from the Empyrean. Now Waverly and Kieran must fight to get back to each other.

I can tell you this, the back of this book lies! It says "Glow begins the most riveting series since The Hunger Games". I can tell you this I was bored while reading this. I had to force myself to pick it up and finish it. I had to tell myself that I had to finish this before starting any other books.

So what bothered me about this book? Well it didn't actually get interesting until more than halfway through the book. I was sitting there reading and waiting and reading and waiting but nothing exciting really happened. Even the attack in the beginning wasn't that exciting.

I was not a fan of Waverly or Kieran or Seth. When Waverly was taken to the New Horizon she couldn't figure out why she was there. I mean come on! You are on a ship with no children and the people are getting old and they are worried about the human race surviving. What do you think they brought you there for? Honestly as soon as I knew the New Horizon didn't have any children I figured it out.

Kieran also bothered me especially at the end. In the beginning of the book he was tolerable but by the end he was a kind Anne Mather. Anne Mather was corrupt and I can see why Waverly was so upset with Kieran at the end of the book but he just didn't get it. Waverly had just been through a very traumatic time and he should not expect her to be ok with everything he does and she shouldn't expect him to be ok with everything she does. But Kieran just didn't understand why Waverly was acting the way she did. Sure Kieran wasn't Anne Mather but he was having services like she did. It was probably just too much for Waverly to handle so soon.

I also didn't like Seth. In the beginning I thought I would like him because in YA books I tend to like characters that come across as bad. But once Waverly was gone Seth turned into some sort of monster (this is from Kieran's POV and they both love Waverly so that might be why Seth is such a monster). I feel like my judgment was tainted because it was from Kieran's POV. Seth and Kieran are both in love with Waverly so of course Kieran would look at Seth as the worst person in the world. Whenever Seth is around Waverly he seems nicer and the guy just lost his dad who probably beat him.

Also the idea of stealing children in order to make sure the human race survives didn't go over well with me. It was sick. Anne Mather is a sick sick character.

Will I read the next book? My guess it probably not but I might surprise myself and end up reading it.