Review: Arclight by Josin L. McQuein

Arclight by Josin L. McQuein
Arclight, #1
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published April 23rd 2013 by Greenwillow Books
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No one crosses the wall of light . . . except for one girl who doesn’t remember who she is, where she came from, or how she survived. A harrowing, powerful debut thriller about finding yourself and protecting your future—no matter how short and uncertain it may be.

The Arclight is the last defense. The Fade can’t get in. Outside the Arclight’s border of high-powered beams is the Dark. And between the Light and the Dark is the Grey, a narrow, barren no-man’s-land. That’s where the rescue team finds Marina, a lone teenage girl with no memory of the horrors she faced or the family she lost. Marina is the only person who has ever survived an encounter with the Fade. She’s the first hope humanity has had in generations, but she could also be the catalyst for their final destruction. Because the Fade will stop at nothing to get her back. Marina knows it. Tobin, who’s determined to take his revenge on the Fade, knows it. Anne-Marie, who just wishes it were all over, knows it.

When one of the Fade infiltrates the Arclight and Marina recognizes it, she will begin to unlock secrets she didn’t even know she had. Who will Marina become? Who can she never be again?

 

 

My Review:

Arclight is Josin McQuein’s debut novel and I think she did a great job. I’m not sure if this intended to be a series from the get go but I’m glad there will be a second one because I would like to see me of the character’s relationships.

Arclight takes place in a compound like environment. They sleep during the day and do everything else at night. There are soldiers that patrol the outer wall. The compound protects the citizens within from the “Fade” and whatever else lives in the dark. The Gray is only thing separating them from the dark. All the trees and bushes have been removed and bright lights are on during the night to illuminate the joining space.  

Everyone in Arclight wears alarm bracelets. The second one is hit it set an alarm throughout the entire place. Everyone has been practicing drills for when the Fade come and that is where we start the book. During a class lesson that changes very quickly hen the warning light makes its way to red.

As the people in the compound believe, no one survives the Fade. Once you go in, you don’t come back out, except as a Fade. The only exception to this is Marina. Marina was saved from the dark but she doesn’t remember anything about herself or where she came from. She isn’t even sure why she was out there when they found her. I like learning things as the main character does. This happens quite a bit considering she has no memory.

The book follows are Marina’s point of view only. Her love interest is Tobin. A boy who for the longest time hated her because his father was one of the men to save her, however, he never came back home. Tobin holds in his pain but he is a good character.   

We also meet Anne-Marie. She is practically Marina’s only friend. She is loud and has a tendency to talk too much. Not a big fan of her character but she isn’t bad.

Honoria is the leader of Arclight and comes and goes throughout the book. She becomes a very a important character towards the end of the book though.

Rue is a Fade. That is all I’m going to say about him to avoid spoilers. I really like his character though.

There are also some minor characters. Silver, Dante, Jove, Mr. Pace, and Dr. Wolff are the ones I can think of that are mentioned the most.

I was a little disappointed that I figured out what the main catch was way before the main character figured it out. This didn’t affect how much I liked the book though. Beside that little bit, I really can’t think of anything about the book that I disliked.

Although they did explain what happened to the world, they don’t really know what is in the dark.  I would definitely like to know more about it and I hope it goes into more detail in the second book. I would definitely like to see more on the relationships with Tobin and Rue.

Oh and I can't forget to mention how great this cover is! You have to get the physical book in order to appreciate the reflectiveness of the streaks! I can't wait to see the cover of the second book.

0Do I Recommend this Book/Series?

Yes! Definitely pick this book up.

Will I Read the Next Book?

Can’t wait! I hope she doesn’t keep us waiting too long!

My Rating: