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Spark (Sky Chasers, #2)
by Amy Kathleen Ryan (Goodreads Author)
by Amy Kathleen Ryan (Goodreads Author)
Mimi Valentine's review
bookshelves: arc, best-of-2012, boys-i-wish-were-real, pure-awesomeness, reviewed
Jun 18, 12
bookshelves: arc, best-of-2012, boys-i-wish-were-real, pure-awesomeness, reviewed
Recommended to Mimi by:
Crystal Allen
Rating: 4.5 otherworldly stars out of 5!
After not really loving Glow earlier this year, I went into the sequel with zero expectations. I started it thinking I'd be able to fit in a few chapters here and there, that I could put it down if I wanted to. But I was completely wrong!
Spark was amazing from beginning to heart-stopping end! It picks up right where Glow left off, with all of the kids stuck on the spaceship alone, trying to reunite with their parents who were captive on another ship.There's a little bit of deception, a lot of secrets, and enough mistrust to last a lifetime. It all makes everything on the Empyrean even more intense.
I was so invested in this story that I found myself yelling out loud. When bad things happened, I curled up in a ball and prayed for the best. And when Kieran did something ridiculous, I imagined hitting him over the head with a stick. Repeatedly.
(Seth was my favourite character, so everything Kieran did to him just made me so angry!)
My heart ached for Waverly. Everyone wrongly blamed her for abandoning their parents, even though none of them would've made it out alive if she hadn't done what she did. She had to live with everyone's hatred and guilt everyday, but she still stayed strong and more clear-minded.. She was fifteen like I am, but I could never imagine being as strong as her!
Actually, the whole cast continued to blow my mind. Over and over again, I reminded myself that they were just kids — that the oldest on the space ship was sixteen years old, and yet somehow they were surviving. They were intelligent and sneaky when they need to be, yet despite their brilliance, it was easy to see how real they were as kids. It was all believable.
With an intensely unpredictable storyline and characters I couldn't stop rooting for, Spark was an amazing installment to the series that sure sets the bar high for the next! :)
BUY or BORROW?: I would recommend this book whether you liked Glow or not! It was absolutely worth the sleepless night I got from wrongly believing it wouldn't be that addicting! ;)
(Original review at Mimi Valentine's YA Review Blog)
After not really loving Glow earlier this year, I went into the sequel with zero expectations. I started it thinking I'd be able to fit in a few chapters here and there, that I could put it down if I wanted to. But I was completely wrong!
Spark was amazing from beginning to heart-stopping end! It picks up right where Glow left off, with all of the kids stuck on the spaceship alone, trying to reunite with their parents who were captive on another ship.There's a little bit of deception, a lot of secrets, and enough mistrust to last a lifetime. It all makes everything on the Empyrean even more intense.
I was so invested in this story that I found myself yelling out loud. When bad things happened, I curled up in a ball and prayed for the best. And when Kieran did something ridiculous, I imagined hitting him over the head with a stick. Repeatedly.
(Seth was my favourite character, so everything Kieran did to him just made me so angry!)
My heart ached for Waverly. Everyone wrongly blamed her for abandoning their parents, even though none of them would've made it out alive if she hadn't done what she did. She had to live with everyone's hatred and guilt everyday, but she still stayed strong and more clear-minded.. She was fifteen like I am, but I could never imagine being as strong as her!
Actually, the whole cast continued to blow my mind. Over and over again, I reminded myself that they were just kids — that the oldest on the space ship was sixteen years old, and yet somehow they were surviving. They were intelligent and sneaky when they need to be, yet despite their brilliance, it was easy to see how real they were as kids. It was all believable.
With an intensely unpredictable storyline and characters I couldn't stop rooting for, Spark was an amazing installment to the series that sure sets the bar high for the next! :)
BUY or BORROW?: I would recommend this book whether you liked Glow or not! It was absolutely worth the sleepless night I got from wrongly believing it wouldn't be that addicting! ;)
(Original review at Mimi Valentine's YA Review Blog)
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by
Kaylee
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rated it 4 stars
May 02, 2012 08:33pm
Kay thought the first book kicked major ass. Does Mimi think Kay would like this better than the first? (:
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Mimi thinks this book is exponentially more epic than the first book, Kay!!!!!! It's so intense!! Mimi also likes talking in third person :')
Well, Kay's going to be happy because there's TONS of Seth in this book! ;) <3 Kieran, on the other hand... Mimi kind of wanted to punch him. x)
I'm imagining a tiny you punching out a sixteen-year-old captain... And I'm choking on laughter LOL!!!
I wasn't too keen on glow but it sounds like this is much better! Can't wait to hear your full thoughts. :)
Haha glad to know to wasn't just me! x) but I really think you'll like this one too, Sam -- it's such a breathtaking sequel! Non-stop action and awesomeness galore!! :D
I'm glad to hear that this book is better than the first; Glow kinda of dragged for me, and the characters annoyed me.
Same here, Rebecca! It took me a while to get through Glow but Spark sucked me in from the start -- and it made me glad that I've always been team Seth LOL! x)
Really? Is the book really Seth-y (LOL)? Well, I'll take your word for it, Mimi, and bump Spark up a little higher on my TBR list than it was before. I tend to give series another chance, anyway, hoping it will get better with the next sequel. I did it with the Matched, but I still couldn't get into Crossed. :(
Seth-y -- LOL that should totally be an adjective in the OED! ;) I usually try to give second chances too (like I did with Glow, Die For Me, and Clarity -- all of which had sequels I ended up loving!), but it's too bad you didn't like Crossed as much as you hoped! A lot of people feel the same way because it's admittedly slower paced than many books and confusing unless you're a total poet haha x)
Thanks so much, Donna! Whether you liked Glow or not, I really think you'll like this -- it's such an amazing read! One of my faovurite space ones, I'm sure :) <3
LOVE this review. I liked Glow a lot but I also felt like it dragged a bit. But Spark just blew me away! I definitely agree that everyone should try it.The author threw me for a loop by making me fall in luuuuuurve with Seth, haha.
@Lyndsey: Same here! It was such an amazing surprise! :) LOL and I was always Team Seth (even when he was a little power-hungry in the first book), but this book just made me love him more ;) <3@Donna: Then I'm SURE you're going to like this one, Donna! It's much, much better than the first -- and so much more intense too! :)
I'm slightly confused by the turn of love interest that apparently occurs in this book. Because not only did Seth allow the boys to get beat up after the girls were taken away in the first book, he also told a bunch of lies. Then Kieran takes over and brings everyone together and though he might not think of everything to do, all the time, he handles everyone softly and encourages the boys to do what they must to keep the ship running. Then at the end of the first novel, Waverly says he's turning into Anne Mathers...So after all of Seth's lies and brutality, Waverly is going to fall for Seth??
Hi, Danielle! You have such a valid point :) I wasn't sure how it was going to work either because -- even though I always liked Seth -- I knew he made some bad decisions in Glow. But in this book, he does everything in his power to compensate for that! There's a bad guy on the ship trying to hurt them all, and Seth is the one out searching for him. It's really hard to explain without being spoilery, but AKR handled it really well! I promise he will re-steal some hearts with what he does ;) I hope that helps, Danielle :)
