Review: Radiance by Alyson Noël

It was like having a backstage pass to not only my sister’s life, but everyone else’s as well.  Spying on old neighbors and friends, former classmates, favorite and not-so favorite teachers, even a few well-known celebrities — just maximizing my invisibility for all it was worth.  And just like before, back when I was alive, I’d spent the bulk of my time spying on my sister, completely unaware that I was being spied on as well.

My entire existence, my birth, my death, and beyond, had been documented and studied, and now I was expected to find a way to explain (if not justify), what clearly amounted to a heckuva lot of wasted time.

(from Radiance, page 46 in the ARC)

Alyson Noël’s new middle-grade series opens with Radiance and follows Riley Bloom, the 12-year-old sister of Ever from The Immortals series.  From the very first chapter, readers know Riley, her parents, and her dog died in a car crash, and Riley only recently crossed the bridge to join her parents in the heaven-like place known as Here.  In Here, Riley lives in a carbon copy of the neighborhood where she lived when she was alive.  She still eats and sleeps, but she can manifest objects and change her clothes on a whim.  And she still has to go to school.

At school, everyone seems to know where to go and what to do, and Riley doesn’t feel like she fits in.  The school is pretty weird, after all, and everyone except the newcomers were “radiating the most beautiful, shimmering, deep green glow” (page 21 in the ARC).  After being forced by the Council to examine her short life, Riley is made a Soul Catcher and assigned a teacher, a dorky boy named Bodhi.  Her first assignment involves a trip to England to rid a haunted castle of a Radiant Boy — a job that many before her couldn’t complete.

I haven’t read Noël’s previous books, but from what I gather, the Immortals series follows Riley’s sister, Ever, during the year or so when Riley is between worlds following the fatal car accident.  Although Radiance is a stand-alone novel, it just felt like something was missing in terms of the back story about the accident, especially since Riley looks in on Ever but nothing much is said about her.

Radiance was a fairly entertaining book, and I loved the easy writing style.  I think middle-grade readers would like Riley’s first-person narration.  She’s sarcastic, tries to act strong, and is maybe too confident in her new-found abilities, but you can’t help but like her and feel sorry that her life ended too soon.

However, I wish Noël would have included more details about the way things work in Here.  I had many questions, such as why Riley could manifest different outfits but couldn’t manifest perfect nails when she complained to herself about needing a manicure.  Also, the story felt rushed, with Riley’s first assignment — which the back cover indicates is the main plot of the book — completed in a handful of pages and a new conflict arising just after, which is tackled just as quickly.  I can’t say whether I felt this way because I’m much older than the intended audience (ages 9-12), as The Girl just wasn’t interested in reading this book at the time I decided to read it.

Still, I really liked Riley, and her interactions with Bodhi were funny.  Noël handles death in a way that’s not heavy for younger readers; Riley feels shortchanged, but she has new powers and a job to keep her occupied.  The second book in the series will be published in Spring 2011, and the excerpt in the back of Radiance certainly grabbed my attention.  While I don’t see myself buying it, I’ll probably continue the series if my county library carries it.

Have any of you read the Immortals series?  Do you think I would have enjoyed Radiance more if I’d read it?

Disclosure: I received a copy of Radiance from Macmillan via Shelf Awareness for review purposes. I am an Amazon associate.

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