Review Detail

Waverly has lived, her entire life in deep space on the colony ship the Empyrean. She, along with a boy named, Kieran and several other children are the first generation to be born in space, and will be the start of a new future as the pioneers of New Earth. The children are encouraged to marry and have children young to ensure that enough people will be available for the colonization of New Earth. It is widely presumed that Kieran, the future successor to the captain and Waverly will be married and have children to continue the Mission. But, Waverly is unsure whether she wants the quiet and somewhat bland Kieran as her future husband and is interested in Seth, a withdrawn , boy with a dark side.
The mission of the Colony ship, the Empyrean takes a turn, when their sister ship, the New Horizon appears before them. The ship, which should be many light-years ahead of them is startlingly close. The New Horizon, looms near without giving the Empyrean one indication of their motives for being there. After, asking for a meeting with the crew of the Empyrean , several people from the New Horizon force their way onto the ship, killing crew and they steal the girl children. When the girls are taken to the New Horizon , they find everybody seemingly pleasant enough of the surface, but Waverly feels that something is very wrong . The charismatic leader of the New Horizon, Anne Mathers, holds the entire New Horizon crew under her spell as the spiritual leader and captain of the ship. She has convinced the crew of the New Horizon that they are chosen by God and their actions are righteous. As the girls’ time of the New Horizon lengthens, Waverly finds that more and more girls believe, Anne Mathers. Waverly uncovers a terrible, plot by Anne Mathers and some of the New Horizon’s crew. Waverly alerts some of the girls to her knowledge and the situation on the New Horizon becomes ever more critical, and Waverly finds herself the leader of an escape plan to rescue the girls of the New Horizon and return them to their home.

Meanwhile, on the Empyrean Kieran, struggles to hold things together in the chaos that follows the New Horizon attack. Engines are failing, radiation is leaking, and the general unrest of the boys left without there parents threatens to destroy everything. Seth, plots to take over leadership from Kieran and after a terrible accident, a power struggle between Seth and Kieran results leading to turmoil in the ship. In the end , both Kieran and Waverly have difficult choices to make and each finds themselves transformed into something that neither of them thought they would ever be.

Glow is a rich, fulfilling read that neatly weaves, theology, science, action and emotion into a tapestry that is thrilling to behold. The book poses questions of morality, right-and-wrong and practicality so perfectly that the reader is forced, to analyze the book at a greater depth than many fiction books on the market nowadays. The righteousness that Anne Mather’s and her crew feel are perfect counterpoints to the uncertainty that abounds in the remnants of the Empyrean crew. The climax of the story draws the book to a close then re-opens the door for another book, by setting up scenarios that beg to be answered.
Glow only had a few problems; it would have been nice if the author had given us a longer look at life aboard the Empyrean before, the chaos caused by the New Horizon crew. Also some points in the book felt as though the author was relying on the reader using inference to much and some moments where it would have been good to show more of the character’s emotions weren’t fully utilized.

However, Glow is an excellent book, the themes inside are thought-provoking and well-excueted. As the start to a series Glow offers an excellent takeoff with a promise for much more to come.

Age Groups: 13+

Content: violence, charcters being killed with descriptions, vague references to teenage intitmate realationships, use of sh-- curse word
Disclaimer: Book was obtained in goodreads first reads giveaway.