Had potential but the lead character Harper was a bit too bland for me as well as the chapters are so short!

This was a really fun read. It starts off fairly simple: wanting to be a regular kid instead of a homeschooler with a super overbearing mother. Sneaking out of the house to hang out with your friends and get into some shenanigans. There is a slight undertone of threat about some illness that is killing people, but the cases are very few and very far away from Reno, Nevada.

Also, does anyone else have weird feelings reading about worldwide pandemic illnesses in fiction after the past few years of COVID, or is it just me?

The stakes rise as we find out that the illness is right there in the neighborhood and everyone must evacuate - except Harper, whose path takes a different turn, leading her to find out that she is immune to the disease, and also not entirely human. Suddenly, we are in space (space!) and Harper has to navigate this new world, figure out who to trust, and find a way to get back to her little sister.

The world building in this novel was really good. I think it's always difficult to build an extraterrestrial society; it has to be relatable enough for readers to connect with it while still being, alien enough to be proper aliens. This works since most of the characters we meet at this part of the story are also half human hybrids trying to figure things out themselves, mostly trying to learn about this new race of beings that intend to take over and what their intensions might be.

There was suspense, there was intrigue, there was a large obstacle course sporting event. This book was just a lot of fun. GoodReads says that it is the first book in a series, and the ending definitely left things fairly open ended, but there are no other books listed on her GoodReads page or her website, which hasn't been updated in a while. I would be interested to see where this story goes from here.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead.

I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings.

Anything requested and approved will be read and a decent quality review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This is an older version of the book, after the initial reviews the book got updated so I'm not sure if this will add anything. I wasn't really grabbed by the book and the characters really put me off. The story just didn't hold my attention so I ended up DNF'ing the book unfortunately.

I really liked the cover and the premise seemed interesting. But i ended up being bored and meh about it. The main character was not interesting or anything...

I would like to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to review this book. I was very intrigued with the premise, but I did not enjoy reading this book. Especially when Harper the main character gets pick-up by aliens.

‘Glow: Book I, Potency’ by Aubrey Hadley had a super intriguing premise, but ultimately just wasn’t the book for me. But, I’d still recommend giving it a try if you’re on the fence!

Sadly, this book was just really boring...

I didn't like any of the characters, they were annoying and bland. The story felt so wishy washy. I can't compare this to the likes of Red Rising and Sanderson, because there's just no substance! But I did enjoy the writing!

DNF at 19%

Warning: potential spoilers for the first few chapters of the book.

I was really jazzed about this one after reading the synopsis, but it ended up not being a good fit for me. Harper was a very bland character that I couldn't relate to, and her family was confusing. Her mother is only strict when it comes to Harper, and her brother comes across as uncaring and aloof. His sudden desire to be protective later on really threw me. Harper says something about forgetting about the past (she says this out of nowhere), but they were both in unfavorable situations. I feel like there would have been more pressing concerns at that moment. Especially if her brother knew something she didn't.

All of the relationships were weird. Harper's mother is scary strict, constantly grounding and yelling at Harper, while praising the behavior of her other children. She lies to Harper, snoops through her personal stuff (even online), and comes across as slightly unhinged. Harper has three close friends that she plays soccer with, but I kept getting them mixed up. I felt like they were trying too hard to sound like teenagers, while also trying to make Harper seem special.

Then there's Max, a really odd character that I don't know how to place. He appears at a soccer game with Harper's brother (who appeared gross and disheveled, no questions asked), and then just happens to be around when the quarantine happens. He shows up in Harper's room uninvited, which was super creepy, and basically gave her cardboard to eat. I don't know, the whole thing was weird. After leaving her room, he makes her sit away from him, but then he comes closer to ask her questions about her brother and father. It made zero sense! He would be angry and reprimanding one second, sleazy and flirtatious the next.

If you decide to try this one, you're going to have to suspend a lot of belief. At one point, Harper rolls a tennis ball across the street and it's immediately seen and targeted. However, she slips out and runs across several backyards completely unnoticed? And then Max happens to find her before someone else does? His explanations are bananas, and then he helps her only to change his mind at the last minute.

I stopped reading this one shortly after Harper was captured. I'm not entirely sure where she was when she woke up, but she's captivated by her surroundings despite being stuck in goop. It was a touch too unbelievable for me. I would have been freaking out, if I'd woken up in a foreign substance that wouldn't let me move. Also, her brother is there yelling that she doesn't know anything, but then shouts for her to tell them what she knows -- sooo confusing!

Potency has a beautiful cover and an interesting premise, but lackluster characters and an unbelievable story. It's also insanely long, and I feel like some of it could have been left out for a quicker pace. There's a lot of telling instead of showing, which I always find disappointing.

I have the older copy of this book. That said, it would be fun to compare the two versions. I found this version to be interesting. Harper is dealing with a good bit. I related, probably too much, to Harper's family dynamics. A Mom who Harper can't please, a brother who's in his own world, a little sister who's okay. Then the brother gets creepy, and I know people that has happen to as well. Then when Harper tries to, shall I say break free, she is captured by aliens. Why? To keep her safe from the epic illness going on, or something else? There is extremely detailed world building, that sometimes feels like it's too much, but you do have a very good picture of exactly how everything is look and working. It did push over to more of a telling me type thing, but still, I was wanting to know about the aliens! It did wind up long, this could be two books and probably is in the new book, but I don't know that for sure. I do know I liked it, and I'm glad to know the author is still working on this story and hopeful a series because it has a lot of promise!

Thanks to Net Galley for my digital copy of Glow - Book 1 Potency. This review is my own and this is what I thought about this book.

(Catching up on some reviews!)

I was pretty excited about this book. when I read the description and the cover is just awesome. However, I must admit I felt that the book was very long and could have been told a lot faster which would have kept me more entertained. I also felt the beginning was more exciting than the end, the potential was there it just wasn't executed how I would have liked.

Well I never read sci-fi, so it was a relatively difficult read for me to get into, but I am really trying to branch out my genres. The writing felt juvenile, the characters didn't feel compelling to me. I never really connected with this story. The plot is a bit disjointed and never really gelled for me. At one point, things totally change for one character - I'm trying to be careful and not spoil the plot so I'm not going to go into detail about what this change entails - and it's a shocking change/revelation, but instead of being exciting, suspenseful and compelling at that point, the writing and plot just fell flat. The character was too accepting of the new circumstances. Other side characters and events were never fully developed. I think this book is a wonderful premise and I hope that after the revisions I read were made to the original copy I read, the story flows better and is more engaging.

The first thing I have to point out is that this book is an ARC and was re-written by the author. The revamped title is The Glow (Glow, #1). I’m happy to discover this little fact because I did think this book has massive potential. It just needed to be polished. Now, I’m curious to see how it turned out. Time will tell if I ever pick up the re-written version.

But isn’t the cover just gorgeous?!

This ARC had been approved for ages. I just didn’t have the right mood to read it until now. Let me just say how eerie it is that I decided to finally read this during the pandemic! I mean, the description of lockdowns and full-body PPE suits in this title – just hits a bit too close to home.

A mysterious virus, The Sleeping Syndrome, that is a cousin to the mad-cow disease has been headlining the news. Harper, our main character, didn’t find it all too concerning until her neighbourhood experiences an outbreak. The next few days of Harper’s adventure were lifted right out of sci-fi abduction movies where she found herself imprisoned on what seemed like an alien planet. She also found out that her brother, who tried to rescue her from the lockdown, was not who she thinks.

This ARC holds abundant promise and potential. The worldbuilding is rich and imaginative! It just read more like a middle-grader sci-fi rather than a YA. I also found myself consciously pushing words and sentences onto the pages when I felt like the scene needed more explanation. More purposeful monologues and explanations of senses experienced by the character (sound, sensory, visual) would have enriched the book and taken it to another level. Again, I’m so glad the author re-wrote this title. I really hope I get to read it one day.

Thanks to Ruby & Topaz Publishing for providing me with a copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own and are based on the advanced digital review copy.

This book was not lacking in action. The plot was well thought out and I would recommend this most of my friends.

Unfortunately, I was not a fan of the way this story was written. I didn't form an attachment to Harper and I wasn't drawn in by her struggles.

The premise of this book was intriguing, and I think with a little more work this could have been great.

I love science fiction so I thought I would really enjoy The Glow but it wasn't for me.

The story focuses on Harper, whose family doesn't understand her. She doesn't get along with her mother and doesn't have a good relationship with her brother. Then the sleeping sickness hits. Harper then has to learn to live in a whole new world.

The book could've been shorter. It was just so long. I know there was a lot of info to get in, but it was a bit too much.

It builds at a slow pace, so if that's what you like (a long world building YA Sci Fi) then give this a shot.

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to review this book. I admit in my joy at joining NetGalley I may have been overzealous in my requesting numbers. As this book has already been published, I am choosing to work on the current upcoming publish date books in my que. As I complete those I will work on my backlogged request and will provide a review at that time. I again send my sincere thanks and apologies.

I have been mulling over this review for a while.
I feel that in essence, 3 stars is where I land (I'd do a half if I could) but, I also feel like I want to go up to 4 stars because it has so much potential as a YA mysterious illness/alien invasion-abduction sci-fi - but we're not rating or reviewing that.
I also feel like I should have put it down and really read it when I was 'feeling' it. But it had been floating around on my NetGalley forever and what better time to get to it than another lock down.

Sadly, for as much potential as this has , it's a slow slog. Again, that could be my own fault - I am very much a mood reader, but once I start something I don't like to skip around with different books, especially if the story has a few elements that would be easy to confuse if you pick up something else!
It was a lot of information to take in, which is important when you are building a new world, but I always think there are ways to explain it, and ways to explain it, and this was perhaps why I felt it was longer than it needed to be. Sometimes we don't need every little detail explained to us.
That being said, the premise is promising, our main character is not unlikeable (though she falls a little flat), and it leaves me wondering if I would have enjoyed it more if I read it again another time. However, in its current form, I wouldn't re-read it, and sadly, I am not bothered by reading any more of this story.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book would be great for fans of sci-fi who like detailed world building and character development. It does go through a significant twist sort of in the middle, so it is also good for readers who like to be kept on their toes. The main character is a sort of manic pixie dream girl kind of character, who older readers of hard sci fi might feel judgemental toward. And there is some pandemic content, which can be good or bad in Covid times, depending on how Covid has impacted your worldview!

I have mixed feelings on this, it wasn't the greatest but it was not the worst. I feel mostly neutral.