Tuesday 31 August 2010

Radiance by Alyson Noel

For Review: Square Fish. Published 31 August 2010
From Goodreads: 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...


Riley was one of my favourite characters in Evermore so I was really pleased when I heard she would centre in this spin off series. Taking place after the events of Evermore we join Riley in the 'Here and Now' where she is made a Soul Catcher. Provided with a guide – Bodhi (aka Dorky Guy) – and joined by her dog buttercup, Riley returns to earth for her first assignment as a soul catcher.

I really enjoy Riley’s voice – she’s spirited, witty, feisty and very likeable. Bodhi is a very interesting character - I really liked him - and I am looking forward to learning more about him. I especially liked the scenes with him and Riley and thought they had some good chemistry. I kept laughing when she completely forgot he could read her thoughts. Bhodi has a story arc of his own too which I really enjoyed - I think it was possibly the best part of the book for me.

I also really enjoyed the story. There is plenty of action once the characters return to earth and I thought it was a great start to the series. It is a very quick read and although aimed at a younger audience I think older readers would enjoy it too. You don’t need to have read Noel’s Immortal series as this easily works as a standalone – but for those who have it’s great to catch up with Riley again.

I’m really looking forward to the next in the series – there was a sneek peek at the end of my ARC and it sounds completely brilliant. Can’t wait!



5 comments:

Unknown said...

Riley's spirit, I love that - it's soo true, she did have a spirit - awesome review! :D

Unknown said...

This sounds quite sweet. I need to read Evermore and then if I like the style of Noel's writing, I'll give this one a go. It sounds really cute.

So Many Books, So Little Time said...

I'm a bit iffy on the Immortals series, but I really like the sound of this and I loved Riley in Evermore. I might have to give it a go!

Samantha (A Dream of Books) said...

I can't wait to read this. It has such a gorgeous cover too.

Lauren said...

Sounds very sweet, and like it has everything I liked about Evermore (Riley) without the stuff that wasn't my kind of thing. Bodhi sounds interesting too!

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