Review: Radiance by Alyson Noel

RADIANCE by Alyson Noel

Pub. Date: August 2010

Publisher: Square Fish

Format: Paperback, 192pp

Age Range: Young Adult

Series: Radiance, #1

Source: Publisher

Riley Bloom left her sister, Ever, in the world of the living and crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. Riley and her dog, Buttercup, have been reunited with her parents and are just settling into a nice, relaxing death when she's summoned before The Council. They let her in on a secret—the afterlife isn't just an eternity of leisure; Riley has to work. She's been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a curious boy she can't quite figure out.

Riley, Bodhi, and Buttercup return to earth for her 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 he's never met Riley...

Noel launches readers back into her world with Riley as the focal point of her enticing new companion series. Right from the start, we get insight on how Riley really feels about walking away from her sister Ever, then venturing into the Here & Now. Riley longs to go home to be with her sister even though she puts on a front that everything’s fine and dandy around her. I love Riley’s voice and grew to like her even more as I delved deeper into Riley’s world. The girl has spunk!

In the Here & Now, anything is possible. Alyson continues to amaze me with the beauty of her world. Imagine if you could conjure or wish for anything you want. Sounds great right? But Riley’s just going through the motions no matter how perfect everything seems. After she’s sent on her first assignment, a mission that returns her to earth, the pages started to fly. I ate this book up in all of its goodness. This book is a fun and entertaining read that I finished in just a few hours. I’m glad I was able to visit Riley again. I enjoyed the introductions of the new characters in the Here & Now. Bodhi, Riley’s guide was more than the typical geek that he was portrayed as. I enjoyed his interactions with Riley. The constant bouts between these two had had me laughing it up.

RADIANCE is a YA book geared toward middle grades. The characters are believable and exhibit all of the characteristics of the middle grade age range. Noel did an excellent job making these characters come to life.

If you are a fan of Noel’s Immortal Series, I do believe that you will enjoy this spin-off. And if you’re like me and you enjoyed Riley in EVERMORE and wanted more, then you’ll want to grab this book to see what’s really going on in Riley’s world. RADIANCE definitely proves to be a satisfying start to an exciting new series.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

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