Review + Giveaway: Arclight

Arclight
Arclight, Book 1

Author: Josin L. McQuein
Pages: 400
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: April 23, 2013
Source: YA Books Central for review/Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
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?

First Sentence: "Someone's attention shouldn't have physical weight, but it does."

Review:

McQuein is making her debut with a vengeance in 2013, publishing both her first and second novels a couple of months apart from different imprints. Perhaps even more impressive, they're both in different genres (Arclight is dystopian and Premeditated is a contemporary thriller). All of the reviews I've seen for Arclight thus far have been highly positive. Based on Arclight, we can expect good things from McQuein.

Arclight has solid writing and plenty of action to keep the reader entertained. The future herein depicted is suitably creepy and the attack of the compound in the first chapter is a perfect hook to bring the reader into the story. It had a very Jurassic Park feel; that moment when the velociraptors are testing the fences.

Marina is interesting, not utterly dependent or physically powerful. She has intelligence and determination on her side, but doesn't fit the heroine stereotypes which is great. What McQuein handles very well is Marina's emotional arc. I can't go into details on that, but I love her development throughout the book and her struggles to figure out her past.

Though their connection seems to come on a bit fast, I did like Tobin as a character and they are cute together. What I would have liked to see more of is Marina's connection with her supposed best friend Anne-Marie, who both she and Tobin mostly seem annoyed by. The characters are likable, but lacked the depth to really make me care about them.

Arclight joins the small list of books with love triangles that don't make me want to hurl things at the wall. Marina's two options both make a different kind of sense for her, and there's a real reason for deciding to be somewhat difficult. Both guys are nice, if a bit too much in the protective and obsessive vein to be my cup of joe (see what I did there?). In both cases, I would have liked to see a bit more of the development of the romances, but what's there suffices. The resolution of the love triangle I'm of two minds about. I'm glad Marina was decisive, but I don't necessarily approve of her choice.

The biggest element that kept me from connecting with Arclight or from being sucked into the action was its predictability. Now, I actually watched a couple of my blogger friends tweeting today about how they had no idea what was going on, so this might just be me and the fact that I've read over a hundred dystopias. To me, the plot twist was incredibly obvious from very early on in the book, so all of that build up and tension did nothing for me, when I should have been on tenterhooks.

Similarly, the world building is a variation on a theme. Science went too far and resulted in these creatures, the Fade, and now a small group of humanity is trying to survive within walls. However, the protections seem to be failing, and humanity might be doomed. The people in the Arclight don't even know if there are any other human communities left. All of this is pretty par for the course. I will say, though, that I did really like finding out what the Fade actually are.

Josin L. McQuein's debut will surely be a hit with teen and adult audiences, particularly those with less of a background in dystopian fiction. There's action, romance, and thought-provoking ethical questions. I'll be looking forward to the sequel!

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote:

"'I know one thing about the place I came from,' I say. 'We didn't eat dessert.'
     'Then you came from a horrible and backward place and must stay here out of self-preservation.'"

Giveaway:
One lucky US reader gets to have my ARC of Arclight, and I baby my books, so it's in great condition. Fill out the Rafflecopter to enter. 
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