Saturday, May 5, 2012

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

     
    I went into Glow not expecting very much. And, at first, I thought that that was exactly what I was going to get. Glow is set in two spaceships, the Empyrean and the New Horizon, on their way to New Earth. The people on the New Horizon are unable to produce children because of a suspicious "disease" that spread through the ship while those of the Empyrean can have, and already have, many children. 
     Glow follows the lives of the two oldest children on the Empyrean, Kieran and Waverly. Kieran is the Captain's favorite child and he is destined to become captain one day. Waverly just began her pilot training and is destined to become Kieran's wife. However, she is not as submissive as the men of the ship think that she should be.
     The real problem in this book occurs when the New Horizon betrays and attacks the Empyrean, stealing all of the young girls on the ship and killing or capturing nearly all of the adults, leaving the boys alone on the ship and subject to their own whimsies. In the end, this book turned out to be a lot better than I originally thought.
        That is mostly because of Waverly. Waverly is independent, strong-willed, and strong, just as any respectable heroine should be. She does not allow other people to control her decisions and she always makes up her own mind. She does not let Kieran or anyone else influence her decisions and she is strong enough to make the hard choices that she must. Waverly never complains about anything, either. She had a series of horrible things done to her (that I won't mention- you'll just have to find out yourself ;) ), but she never once complains. She gets hurt so many times, yet she remains strong and in control. She is basically a total badass.
       But then there's Kieran. Usually the men of a book are supposed to be strong, confident, and tough. Kieran is none of those things. He is a weak, spineless little jellyfish who never knows what he is doing. He is pretty much the complete opposite of Waverly and he is why I didn't absolutely LOVE the book. Waverly's leg bone is shattered as a result of her getting shot. She then rips out her IV with her teeth and then puts it back in. She never cried or complained at all. On the other hand, when Kieran gets punched twice (once in the stomach, once in the face), he thinks that he is going to die. He literally thinks that two punches will kill him. Then, when Waverly gets back onto her ship after being kidnapped, he yells at her for not asking if his parents were there. In response, I yelled, "What the heck?" at the book and at him. He is so stupid and he is just really annoying and I kind of laughed when he was starving to death. Is that bad? Overall, he's a total wimp.
        Despite Kieran being a huge butt-face, Glow was pretty good. The story was entertaining and kept me wanting more and the ending really makes me want the next book. I would say to read this book. What have you got to lose? I mean, maybe Kieran won't bother you as much as he did me. 

3 1/2 SMILEYS! IT WAS PRETTY GOOD!



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