Radiance by Alyson Noel
Publisher: Square Fish
Publication Date: August 31, 2010
Pages: 192
Series: First book in Radiance
Age Bracket: 9-12
Synopsis: 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...
Seriously, when I started it, I’ve been glued to it. I’m there gaping at the pages because I can’t put it down. It’s so hilarious and I can’t help to burst out laughing. I can think of it as a Disney channel show I’m actually reading. Well of course it suites the age of the target readers in the market but it can also be read by adults as well. Well why did I read it since it’s for youngsters? Because I’m curious since it’s a spin-off series of The Immortals series which is one of my favorite series. I enjoy this book like I enjoy the books in The Immortals.
It’s cool reading from a narrative point of view of Riley Bloom, a twelve year old kid, who’s missing her life without even reaching the age of 13. When I think of Riley, I can’t help but think of those cool Disney channel TV show characters. She’s very childish (since she’s still a child, since she’s not yet 13) and loves to have fun and can be a brat sometimes. Even way back in Evermore, when Riley is present, she always conjures a lively scene that makes me laugh out loud. Don’t forget to mention her everyday get-up which turns out like she’s heading to a costume party. She’s very imaginative, hyper, fashionable in her age, and adventurous. This book will be dull without her.
There was this time when I was riding on a public transportation heading to my appointment and I was reading this book and I’ve read on a ridiculous statement Riley said and I can’t help the smile that crept into my face, resisting to laugh. But even though I get hold of my laughter, when I look up some people were looking at me and maybe there were thinking I’m delusional. Well blame it on Riley being so absurd, lolz.
Well the plot is just simple. It only evolves in a simple occurrence of events, without any unexpected twists to the story. It could be predictable too. It was prolonged by Riley’s inner mumblings. But even though the plot is way simple, it’s quite exciting to read though, because of Riley’s ridiculous imaginations. And also some part of the story also left me pondering about myself since it’s talking about death and beyond. It makes me think of my own life, my doings and its worth. Just from Riley’s experiences, it left me a lesson.
While I’m still enjoying it, I haven’t noticed that it’s the end and I said out loud “that’s all?” and I still want more. Well, for me the ending is so abrupt. It’s not in the sense of a cliff hanger but in a way I would really wait for the sequel to find out more about Riley’s adventure. I’ll be waiting for Shimmer the second book in Radiance.
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