The Syndrome -- a strange sleeping sickness -- has been killing people. A lot of people. It kills....then disappears....only to pop up somewhere else. The signs are always the same...strange behavior followed by a compulsion to sleep. Those afflicted are dead within 24 hours. This time, The Syndrome has hit New York. An entire homeless shelter filled with people....gone. Dead. At the same time far away in Nevada, a young girl named Harper sees a strange glowing being. She begins to think the glowing human-like creature has something to do with The Syndrome....but she isn't sure how. Or Why. Harper is determined to find the answers....no matter what the cost.

I normally enjoy YA science fiction....but I never really connected with this story or the characters. The plot is a bit disjointed and never really gelled for me. At one point, things totally change for Harper (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.....it just needs some more tweaking and strengthening prior to publication. With some editing, I think this could be a much stronger story. I will add that the cover art is phenomenal!

This review is written based on the advanced readers copy I received from the publisher. I'm going to limit this review to my blog and Goodreads for that reason. If further edits are made, I will gladly re-read, amend this review, and share the review more widely. The premise and bones of the story have great potential. It just needs a bit more work. And, as always, this is just my opinion. Other readers may feel differently. Not every story is for every reader.

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Ruby & Topaz Publishing via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Imagine you find out you’re not exactly human or maybe partially human how would you feel? Our protagonist always knew there was something different about herself but she just didn’t know what it was. Then she finds out that she’s not exactly totally human. Once she finds this out everything about her changes and she doesn’t exactly like it.

Glow is a very interesting book. I loved the concept. The author does a very good job of painting a picture so you know exactly what is going on. The character interaction is endearing and the protagonist is very believable. The book is a little slow to get started but keep reading you’ll want to get to the end.

This story sounded interesting and something I might like but it missed the boat. Great cover though, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I loved the idea of this book - such a clever concept! But, unfortunately, the plot was bogged down by too many details. It stilted the flow entirely. I found myself skimming parts, which I never do! I feel like this novel would be lost on the intended market (YA), who are used to more easily digestible writing styles. I look forward to seeing this author grow, though, as I feel she has a lot of potential.

First and foremost thank you for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

With that said I ended up DNFing this book, I found the main character annoying and very original. As the book progressed she got more annoying and the plot got less interesting.

Meh, I was not a fan of this one at all. It is a YA science fiction book with aliens and hybrids (human and alien) and the aliens deciding that humans suck and need to be exterminated. Sounds neat right? Not so much. We follow a 17 year old hybrid (obviously didn’t know she was one) as she navigates her new life. The entire thing just felt juvenile and flat. I didn’t really care about the characters and their thought processes were just ridiculous. As in – lets escape the Ancients and go back to Earth! Even though humans are pretty much wiped out and the only ones left might hate hybrids or want to use them. Like, how is that a good idea?

An alien race with a God complex killing off the human race because they are killing the planet and capturing hybrids to retrain them with the mindset that humans are terrible creatures. The description of the book was intriguing and showed plot had promise and that the series could become interesting. However, this was not the book for me.

This novel had a lot of world-building and was very forthcoming with new information about the hybrids. However, I feel the density made it a very slow read which, given the length of the novel, lead to it being rather boring to read.
I personally also struggled to care for the characters as I found Harper to be self-centred and whiny while the other characters did not seem to have much substance. I understand that being abducted, brainwashed and having your memories taken would make an individual bland, but the lack of vibrant characters did make the density of the novel more difficult to get through.
Unfortunately, the combination of these elements resulted in a lack of enjoyment for me and my eventual lack of interest in the story.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for granting me a copy of the E-ARC to review.

Potency did start with a great potential and a luring blub which made this boring book more worse. The characters were bland and uninteresting , the premise didn't have a lot of action.

Anyway , the blurb was great .

I enjoyed this book more the further I got into the novel. Overall, this book was a good read but at times I found the writing juvenile (I am aware its a young adult novel but it seems even younger at times) . I loved the many themes of the book and the creepy aspects but at times it felt long winded and unnecessarily so. The characters are well developed and although I did not like how some of them changed, I did find them to be likeable. I don't want to give away the many plot twists by doing a summary so I will just say this is a good book for people who enjoy YA, silence fiction and dystopian stories. I would say I really liked this book and it was decent. I will definitely read the second book in the series but I wouldn't rush out to buy it the day it comes out. Thanks to the publisher for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Glow: Book I, Potency (Kindle Edition)
by Aubrey Hadley
What an interesting twist on Alien invasion. Aliens are with us, but they have factions one wanting to connect and save the human race the other to destroy the human race. The destructive aliens have found the human race lacking. The exploitation of the planet, the pollution and destruction of the environment has signed the death warrant for the human race. They have a plan, but they did not expect that those who wanted to save humanity, have been attempting to hybridize humans to save them. The story follows one of the hybrid children and what happens to her after a virus kills most of her neighborhood. Great characters, and plot twists to keep conspiracy theory enthusiast enthralled.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ruby & Topaz Publishing for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review.

Sadly after a few false starts on this book, I have found that it wasn't for me. This story has all the excellent markings of a solid book. Hadley does a great job laying the scene and creating the setting. Where I think this story ran into problems was with the characters and specifically the dialog. I found it stunted and unrealistic. Stunted in delivery and unrealistic in style. Harper, the main character, comes across as a generally normal tom-boy type teen girl. She plays soccer and fights with her mom. To confuse the situation, she is also half alien. Harper also lives within a world plagued by something called Maasai Mara Sleeping Syndrome. You go to sleep and don't wake up. As I said, Hadley has done a great job setting the scene here. It sounds like it could be a fascinating story. It plods along with Harper having unrealistic interactions and illogical emotions. She isn't a likable protagonist, someone I care about and want to get behind. She just existed in the story. She was flat. And, that made me fall flatly out of the story.

I had a hard time connecting with this book. The characters just didn’t interest me and the story just too slow to really grab me. It just didn’t seem a good fit for me.

I can honestly say that this book was nothing like what I was expecting. I wasn't expecting a full-on alien novel... I don't know why - maybe I didn't read the synopsis correctly. I don't tend to like alien novels. Don't get me wrong, I love fantasy novels, but aliens creep me out a little. Anyway, I actually enjoyed this book. It was longer than I was expecting, but I think all the information is needed to set the scene for the next book. I look forward to seeing what happens next

Harper is a normal seventeen year old living in Reno, Nevada. She is home-schooled, and her mother is extremely strict - which is why Harper has no qualms in sneaking out to play soccer with her friends. Our plot-twist, comes in the form of a virus. The Massai Mara Sleeping Syndrome, is lethal, and un-explainable. 

Harper's life is explicitly changed when the Syndrome hits Reno, and her neighbourhood gets locked down. Separated from her family (as they were outside the area when the syndrome hit), Harper is left to fend for herself at home. 

At this point, the book was growing on me. It reminded me of themes found in The 100, The InBetween and other such series (which have become increasingly popular in mass-media). 

ENTER PLOT DEVICE: CODE NAME PLOT-TWIST

As a whole, the book lacks the fundamental substance which makes it POP from the generic sci-fi concepts. Hadley, lent towards telling her story (rather than showing it), and while this led to some intriguing dialogue, it also drew the novel away from the visual. 

Aside from that, the key plot twist which enters Harper's life, only goes to exemplify how boring her characterisation is. It is a monumental event that occurs, and her reaction to it left me wanting. 

While this novel redeemed itself in it's over-arching idea, and key-thematic aspects, it still floundered in the sea of individuality and character development. 

While I wouldn't not suggest this book, it wouldn't be at the top of my Sci-Fi suggestions either.

Made the decision to DNF this book at 203 pages, in part because it just didn't grab me, potentially a timing issue, but also I read one passage which was so clearly prejudiced against sex workers that it turned me against the book. In 2019 are we still having to have discussions about not describing sex workers as filthy? I would hope not.

This book did have some good elements to it, I liked some of the characterisations, and I thought that the plot seemed interesting enough, it certainly didn't go where I expected, but it wasn't for me.

A science fiction novel where a sleeping sickness claims American lives. We follow Harper who is a teenager that is home schooled and has to be quarantined. This was definitely a long read and it took me a while to get into it but I'm glad I followed through to the end because I always need to find out what happens!

Glow : Book I, Potency by Aubrey Hadley is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. I enjoyed this book that has some creepy moments in which the reader is guessing as to what is going on for a great deal of the first half. It takes a wild turn and becomes something altogether different after that! Wow! Then it just keeps pulling the rug out from under the reader! Great suspense and twists. Great characters too! Would have given it a five star is but right at the end some key players suddenly have a total character change that didn't seem normal even for this book. It just didn't for although it was nice, it just didn't fit. Loved the book!

I just couldn't get into this. Normally, it would be my absolutely fave genre and I really wanted to like it, but I was just bored. Not a terrible book, but not my thing.

This book was a bit of a struggle to get through. I didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping. I always hate having to do reviews like this, but I promised my honest review so here it is. The idea of this book was fantastic, but I'm not sure if it was the way it was written or the way the story proceeded, but it just wasn't very enjoyable for me. This book has so much potential to be something, but this one just wasn't for me. I do want to thank you for allowing me the opportunity to review it, I am sorry it wasn't a very positive review. The cover is gorgeous and very photogenic, and the story line is very intriguing.

Well I never made it onboard with these characters. I generally enjoy YA science fiction but this reads more on a middle school level.

*Thanks to NetGalley for this book in exchange for my honest review.*