Review : Arclight by Josin L. McQuein

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Arclight (Arclight #1)
Author : Josin L McQuein
Publication Date : April 23rd 2013
Publisher : Greenwillow Books
Goodreads - The Book Depository
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?

Personal Thoughts

I don't know if there is something wrong with me personally, but dystopian novels are simply not working for me. Arclight has to be the 5th dystopian book that I've read this year that has failed to impress me. It's got all the elements that make up a good dystopian but it lacked that spark that could have made this book mind blowing.

I'm not sure what to think of any of the character in this book. I never formed any kind of emotional connection with any of them because they were all bland and pretty unimpressive. The main character, Marina, was a nice girl who was trying to figure out who she truly was. There was nothing bad about her character, but I failed to become emotionally invested in her. I felt like her emotions were simply not palpable enough and because of that I never managed to sympathize with her. Part of me also felt like the secondary characters were under developed and did not stand out at all. It's been a week since I read this book and I can't remember a single secondary character.

As far as the world building goes, I thought it was foggy. There was no real world building. The reader is told about these creatures known as the Fade. But what they truly were, how they came to be so wasn't explored in the book until the last couple of chapters. By that time, I was mentally exhausted. You see, for me to immerse in a dystopian/sci-fi book, I need a good grasp of the world building. Otherwise, I just can't understand what's going on and being confused while reading a book makes it seem like a chore. I will admit that Arclight was action-packed from the start. The reader was thrust immediately into a thrilling and adrenaline-rushing kind of scene. That's probably my only favorite part of the book. After that, the plot got a little fuzzy because it failed to hold my attention. In addition, I sensed the whole reveal about Marina from the first few chapters itself, so the ending didn't blow me away. The romance was also weak. The love interest and Marina shared no chemistry and I did not see why Marina liked him so much. This book also promises a love triangle in the next installment it seems and for once, I don't care, because I'm not reading the next book.

To sum up, Arclight was a failure for me. Although it had a promising plot line with a unique idea, Arclight failed in the execution of it. I'm not sure to whom I should recommend this book, but I would suggest that before buying it to borrow a copy from a library and seeing if it would work for you.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 2/5
Characters : 2/5
Writing : 3/5

Big thanks to Harper Teen and Edelweiss for the e-ARC of Arclight.