Review: Radiance by Alyson Noël

Released: August 31st, 2010
Published by: Square Fish
Series: Riley Bloom, Book One
Star Rating: 3 out of 5
Source: Chapter
Page Amount: 183
Age Group: Middle Grade

Summary

Riley has crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. She has picked up life where she left off when she was alive, living with her parents and dog in a nice house in a nice neighbourhood. When she’s summoned before The Council, she learns that the afterlife isn’t just an eternity of leisure. She’s been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a possibly cute, seemingly nerdy boy who’s definitely hiding something. They return to earth together for Riley’s first assignment, a Radiant Boy who’s been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But all of that was before he met Riley . . .

Review

I picked up RADIANCE with the thoughts of having a very short read. I was in the mood for a short, middle grade fantasy and I found this one on my sister’s bookshelf and decided to read it. I did get what I wanted, a short read, that was middle grade, and fantasy. I actually wasn’t too impressed with it.

I feel as though RADIANCE was too short for its own good. I felt as though the story was rushed along, as if Alyson Noel wanted the story to be over and done with as soon as possible. I feel as thought the story didn’t have enough time to develop, and that everything just felt like it was being dumped on you all at the same time.

The characters, in my opinion, we underdeveloped. Riley seemed to be less of a really human being and more of a paper cut out of a person. I didn’t enjoy that very much. Bohdi was cool, but I felt like I was missing a lot of his character in the novel. I felt like I needed so much more from them. They seemed very one-dimensional.

I didn't think this novel was a very good one. I think this book had so much potential, but it just let me down in the process. I don't believe I will be going on in the series, it all depends on whether I feel like reading the series or not.

Cover Comments

I think this cover is so beautiful and magical. I think it’s a perfect middle-grade fantasy cover. I love the dog on the cover, it reminds me of my doggy!