Review of Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

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. 

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I've put off reviewing this for a while as I was just so disappointed by the main character. I loved the world that Waverly and Co. lived in, I loved Kieran and hated Seth (in a good way) but I really really hated Waverly. She was just so.. ergh.

Let's concentrate on the good points first. This is definitely one for fans of Across the Universe and the plotline is bit richer too, much more action. I couldn't guess some of the twists and turns, which I thought was pretty awesome and I really felt the boys, who were left behind after the girls were kidnapped. I wasn't expecting Christianity to pop up at all, and when it did I was pleasantly surprised, it fitted in well the overall story. The idea of having two identical ships was a pretty clever one too.

Kieran has got to be the first male character in a book that I loved, I usually prefer the girls. He went through a whole bunch of crap from Seth, who seems to think he can run the ship better than the captain's favourite. When Kieran finally gets some control over the ship, he uses the Bible verses to keep morale up and connect the inhabitants of the ship together.

However, stuff that Waverly does at the end of the book really grated on my nerves (unfortunately I can't mention them due to spoilers). I understand that she'd been through a lot but there was no reason to act like a total bitch to everyone. Other girls had gone through the same thing as her and worse.

Throw in a cliffhanger at the end and I'm left thinking that I'm going to have to put up with Waverly's whining even more in the sequel, just so I can read about Kieran's story.

3/5

Received free from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review