Review: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan (Sky Chasers #1)

Title: Glow

Author: Amy Kathleen Ryan
Publication date: October 7th 2011
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Age group: Yong Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Cover rating: 5/5
Content rating: 4/5
Buy: Amazon
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Description:

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 thoughts:


Glow completely blew my mind. I was hoping that the gorgeous cover wasn't hiding a mediocre book and I can now say for certain that it wasn't! I loved this book and I now have yet another series to follow obsessively. While Glow is a science fiction novel, it's not heavy on the science and is much more about people and how they react under different circumstances. While it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, I was very happy with what I found!

This book follows our two young protagonists- Waverly and Kieran- as life as they know it falls to pieces. They're on board a space ship, heading far away from Earth towards their destination, ''New Earth'' where they plan on building up civilization again. I really find the idea of the human race having to relocate due to earth becoming uninhabitable fascinating so really enjoyed this aspect of the story. I wish we had found out more details about what happened to earth in order to cause all these people to head to space but it is a series so I'm hoping we learn more as it goes on!

Glow was a book that completely transported me to another world. I found it so easy to lose myself in the pages and forget about everything else around me. The author's writing is descriptive without over-doing it and I could picture the ship and space perfectly. It's really fast paced and full of tension and suspense. I didn't want to put the book down because I really needed to know how things were going to go!

I found it really scary seeing the things people would do to get their way. Both Waverly's ship and the other ship have people who are not so nice and will stop at nothing to get what they want. When the people of the New Horizon stole all the girls from the Empryrean, I was freaking out for them! They wanted all the girls as they are not longer able to conceive. The lengths they go to are quite disgusting and I really felt for the young girls stuck on the ship. The boys ship doesn't fare much better as they all turn on each other since they've been left without parents. It's really chaos all around and it was fascinating to read about!

I definitely enjoyed this book. I found I connected better with Waverly than Kieran and that she had a stronger voice and was a better character all round. I will be eagerly awaiting book two in this series which is being published later this year!