Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Pages: 375pgs

The Story

Waverly and Kieran are finally reunited on the Empyrean. Kieran has led the boys safely up to this point, and now that the girls are back, their mission seems slightly less impossible: to chase down the New Horizon, and save their parents from the enemy ship. But nothing is truly as it seems . . . Kieran's leadership methods have raised Seth's hackles - and Waverly's suspicions. Is this really her fiance? The handsome, loving boy she was torn from just a short time before? More and more, she finds her thoughts aligned with Seth's. But if Seth is Kieran's Enemy No. 1, what does that make her?

In one night, a strange explosion rocks the Empyrean - shooting them off course and delaying their pursuit of the New Horizon - and Seth is mysteriously released from the brig. Seth is the most obvious suspect for the explosion, and Waverly the most obvious suspect for releasing him. As tension reaches a boling point, will Seth be able to find the true culprit before Kieran locks them both away - or worse? Will Waverly follow her heart, even if it puts lives at risk? With the balance of power precarious and the clock ticking, every decision counts . . . every step brings them closer to a new beginning, or a sudden end . . .

The Review

A big thanks to Pan Macmillan for sending me a review copy of this book!

Last year in my review I gave Amy Kathleen Ryan's debut and the first installment of the Sky Chasers series, Glow, two stars and I have to say it wasn't my favourite book in the sci-fi and YA genre. Or rather . . . not at all. But since there were many others who had shared similar opinions as me in regards to the first book and since there were still many other readers who had actually highly praised the sequel in improving and being far more entertaining than the first book, I decided against my better judgement and gave this series another go, and in the end I'm really glad that I did because boy oh boy . . . it sure changed my mind on a big, big level!

In the next sequel of the Sky Chasers series, SPARK, it picks up right after Glow had left off at. With Waverly and the other girls just barely escaping the sinister ship of the New Horizon, they soon find themselves returning to Empyrean, where Kieran is now in command of the ship and where Seth, someone Waverly deeply cares about, is now imprisoned in the brigs. Upon Waverly's arrival and on top of everything else that is going on, she is considered a traitor and is being blamed for not returning with everyone else's parents, and one crazy moment after another, including an incident where explosions are set off and Seth is released under unusual circumstances, Waverly must determine how to prove Seth's innocence as well as keeping everyone else in the ship safe . . . by all means possible.

Unlike what I had experienced from the first book, SPARK was amazing right from the very beginning and I was so surprised by this feeling that I'd gotten as I kept reading this book because I had zero expectations. Absolutely zero. Though, despite these judgments of mine, I did secretly hope this sequel would change my mind - about the storyline, about the characters, about the pacing and basically everything else in this series - and that it did. The author, Amy Kathleen Ryan, wrote the sequel with a much better attitude than she did with Glow this time round since the pacing was faster, there was far more action to suck me back into the storyline, and most importantly, there was way more character development which blew me away. In all honesty, I really loved this book and it goes to show that you shouldn't stop a series until you read its sequel, because the author can and will surprise you in many ways, and can make you eat up your own words in the end. So way a go for this author in doing that to me!

When it came to the characters, especially with the main ones, I really liked Waverly, Kieran and Seth, and all of the faults they may have possessed. For our main heroine, Waverly, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl especially since how everyone seemed to be treating her lately . . . almost like a criminal when really . . . she was the ultimate hero among all of them. I remember how I felt about Waverly in the first book and I didn't fully connect with her like I wanted to, however in this sequel there was so much more to love about her - all because she had much more development in her character and we finally got to see her strengths that I'm sure was there all along and I just couldn't see. For one thing, she stood up for herself (about time girl!) and at certain moments in the book she even went up against Kieran (really against him and his bullying ways) which made my eyes bulge out and feel wowed by her! I mean going against the likes of Kieran is like wishing for a death sentence, so again, way a go author for making Waverly of all people do that in the book.

Regarding the two boys of the story, that being Kieran and Seth, it's easy to justify them and their actions, and whose team I'm really rooting for. With Kieran, like with how most readers view him, he was never ever a favourite character of mine and I don't think he will ever be one with the way he's going right now. That character . . . man . . . he needs a beaten sometime soon because he was ridiculous and just stupid. So let's forget about Kieran at the moment and just focus on Seth alone, the boy we ALL want to talk about. Am I right, readers? Yup, I'm right. When it comes to our boy Seth, he is absolutely my favourite character in this entire series and he continues to impress me each and every time he comes onto the page. There's just something about him that gets under my skin (in a good way of course) and his strength is simply amazing . . . it just matches Waverly's so perfectly and it's no wonder why I love them being together!

Overall, SPARK surprised me SO much and I would recommend this book in a heartbeat, even if you were like me and didn't fall hard for the first book, Glow. Trust me when I say this: This sequel was such an amazing installment and I'm really, really looking forward to seeing how everything will end in the last book of the series which I hope is just as amazing as this one!

The Rating

4/5 stars

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Release Date: 7th October, 2011

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Pages: 307pgs

The Story

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.

The Review

A big thanks to Macmillan Children's Books for sending me a review copy of this book!

When I first heard about GLOW being compared to classics of The Handmaid's Tale and Lord of the Flies - even to the popular Hunger Games trilogy - I had a lot of high expectations for the book, especially when you see such a beautiful starry cover that would make any reader pick it up at first glance! Now in some young adult books I respect all the angst it contains because you as a reader, you start to then sympathize for the characters and even end up loving them. Unfortunately all of my expectations weren't met and I may have set my standards a little too high in this case.

With the first few chapters of GLOW, I was off to a rocky start and that's not a good thing when the main goal of an author is to draw you in and be invested in the story at the beginning of the book. I liked Waverly as our main heroine - at least for a little while - but the character development was the problem for me. And not to mention the way the story was written in third person perspective. Firstly let's talk about the characters. What really threw me off with the storyline was the confused feeling I got. You had weak characters who became strong, the strong ones who became broken, the good guys turned out to be bad guys, and then the bad guys were actually 'good' . . . it just frustrated me. I admit, I admired Amy Kathleen Ryan's ability when it came to writing Waverly's character and she was probably the only character that I cared about as all of the others lacked with an instant connection, which sadly for me, was very disappointing. The boys more so - Kieran and Seth. They were nothing special through my eyes but I did like Seth more compared to Kieran's god-praying ways. Much like the lack of connection, its the same with the way it was written. I've never been a fan of the third perspective but ever since reading Cassandra Clare's writing, I've been forever hooked on it and only a few authors I know can actually pull it off. For GLOW however, I found the third perspective made the book just . . . not work and clearly it was meant for first person. Everything of the third perspective was muddled and woven between characters and most of the time I found myself - again - confused. This was a pity on the author's part because this book had a lot going for it and if it was written in first person, then through my eyes it would've been a winner.

When it comes down to it, I was still entertained by the overall storyline and was interested enough to keep on reading since I was a big fan of Across The Universe, which this book reminded me a lot of. Towards the end, I think the way it ended was the redeeming factor of the entire book and I suddenly had some love for it. But then a certain 'something' happens and ruins the scene completely. Now as an avid reader, I expected something-of-an-ending that convinced me to read the second book - and maybe I will change my mind in continuing this series in the future - but I don't know how to describe it except that it didn't cut it for me. While the suppose and promised 'love triangle' didn't interest me at all, I can still see why people would find this book very appealing as I am a lover of the sci-fi genre. If you're wondering whether you should read this book or not, it's kind of up to you as a reader to take a chance on it. There are a lot of mixed reviews floating about on GLOW and I would recommend you to borrow the book at the library instead of buying it straight away. So overall, my advice to you is read it if you're a sci-fi fan and/or love the idea of travelling in space and seeing the best and worst of human nature. But note to the wise: don't expect too much of a love story because there's hardly any of that that I hoped for.

The Rating

2/5 stars