Review: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Glow
by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Release Date: July 17, 2012
by St. Martin's Press

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If a violent battle destroyed the only world you’ve ever known, would you be brave enough to save who was left? Would love be strong enough to survive the fight? Either way, there’s no turning back…

The Empyrean is the only home 15-year-old Waverly has ever known. As members of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space, she and her boyfriend Kieran will be pioneers of New Earth. Waverly knows she must marry young in order to have children who can carry on the mission, and Kieran, the handsome captain-to-be, has everything Waverly could want in a husband. But there’s a part of Waverly that wants more from life than marriage… and she is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.


Suddenly, Waverly’s dreams are interrupted by the inconceivable – a violent betrayal by the Empyrean's sister ship, the New Horizon. In one pivotal moment, Waverly and Kieran are separated, and find themselves at the helm of dangerous missions, where every move has potentially devastating consequences, and decisions of the heart may lead to disaster.
Pulse-pounding and addictive, Glow is the first novel in Amy Kathleen Ryan's riveting Sky Chasers series.

*A copy was provided by St. Martin's Press for review purposes*

Before I start this review, I have to confess something: I’m not religious. I had no idea that this book was, in fact, religious, but I’m sorry that the fact that it is affected my rating. It’s nothing against the actual book, I just don’t believe in that kind of stuff, so I didn’t like it.

Seriously, before the end of this book, I was going to rate this story 4 or 4.5 stars. From page one, it was action-packed, fast-paced and thrilling. The writing was amazing and Ryan did a great job of explaining the setting. It was a really interesting book and I didn’t want to put it down. Ryan did switch the point of view a few times, going between Kieren and Waverly. It really annoyed me because it was really exciting on Waverly’s side, but boring on Kieren’s.
About half-way through the book there were a few sermons, and the red flags started going up. But I would have been totally fine with those little events if it weren’t for the ending, when Kieren is trying to motivate the boys (I know that doesn’t make any sense, but if you’ve read the book you’ll understand. And, if you haven’t, then it’s not a spoiler) and he uses God, saying this was what God had planned for them and he was doing God’s will, and basically turned into a preacher. So that pretty much ended my love-fest with the book, and from then after I didn’t really like it.

Out of all the characters in this book, only three are really note-worthy, and, of those three, there is only one that I like…Waverly. She was really strong, smart, and kick-butt. I loved that she kept fighting and didn’t give up. She was the only likable character in the whole cast.
Then comes Kieren. I can’t honestly say that I liked him. I know this might seem kind of harsh, but he’s a slime-ball. He’s like a snake, sneaky and not very nice. He was weak, annoying, and couldn’t do anything for himself.
The third cast member, Seth, I didn’t like either. Okay, that’s a lie…in the beginning I liked him, but by the end I hated him with a fiery passion. He was mean, a brute, and just a down-right jerk.

Like I said, I was ready to rate this book pretty near 5 stars, but because of bad characters and annoying sermons, I had to bump my rating down. I really hope that the next book is every bit as thrilling, just not as religious.

3 pink flowers