This book unfortunately just was not for me. At about 20% in I just couldn't get into it and couldn't wrap my head the way Harper read and the decisions she made, I believe the book could be shorter and assuming from the first 20%, so much of it could be taken out or re-written in a show-more-than-tell way.

*thank you to Netgalley, Aubrey Hadley and Ruby & Topaz Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

2.5 stars.

Ok firstly, this is the most GORGEOUS cover I've seen in a while! I mean, just look at it! 5 full stars just for that.

Ok, so the story. It started out interesting enough, but right away I wasnt a fan of Katie and Harper's other friends weren't that great anyway but Katie just annoyed me. But then we have Harper herself and usually I like the main character, but Harper is not somebody I would be friends with and I really didn't care for her either which didn't help how I felt about this story. The idea of this book sounded amazing! So full of potential. I wouldn't say this is a bad book, I can see why some would enjoy it as the story wasn't too bad but I can also see why others haven't liked it. Not enough happens to really grab my attention and run with it. There is no heart pounding excitement or fear or any real emotion. Still, if you are wanting just a light story without all the heavy stuff, then you are probably one of those who will enjoy this.

Thank You again to Aubrey Hadley for allowing me a copy of this book.

This did not go well.

The premise sounds interesting - mysterious illness (no, wait - mysterious death syndrome!), quarantine, aliens in the desert. So many good ideas, written well but oh how it plodded along.

The main character, Harper, is insufferable - in the first half of the book she is constantly complaining about being treated unfairly, is home-schooled and disciplined, but it doesn't seem to stop her from just doing whatever she wants. However, by the second half, it's as though she is a completely different character. The second half of this (long) book is so focused on giving the reader information about the new environment, that Harper spends all of her time asking questions and being used for plot exposition that she no longer her personality traits any more, she's just used as a means of gathering information.

There are so many interesting things going on, but the reader is never left wondering why, as eventually Harper will eventually ask the necessary question.

And ensuring that Harper had memory loss was a cop out means of avoiding the trauma she would have experienced. In addition, all of the hybrids seem to have experienced the worst of humanity - the worst of Harper's experience seems to be that her mum would repeatedly ground her??

This book would have massively benefited from an editor - there was so much that could have been cut down, interspersed with more action (rather than lots of chat) and the relationships and behaviours of the characters just did not match with the way that they were established.
So much potential, so little of the expectation met ...

First things first. I still not 100% sure what this book is called. It’s either called Glow in a series of books called Potency, or it’s called Potency within the series Glow. Either way…

This is one of those examples of a really interesting idea and premise, where the execution just didn’t reach the levels I needed it to.

The characters, though some were interesting, felt really forced into their roles. Just when I’d get to know one of them, they would do something totally out of character with no good reason other than to move the plot forward. And many of them acted a certain way with no hint that there was a reason other than to make the main character’s life hell.

Just like some of the characters, big chunks of the plot seemed unnatural and a means to the ending. An ending, by the way, that felt like it should have been somewhere in the middle of the story. Cut a bunch of the middle stuff, make the “end” the middle, and write a new ending, then we’d have the start of something interesting.

Like I said, there could be a really interesting story in there somewhere, but I feel like this needs a big re-write to get there. If a second book comes out, I think I'd be willing to look into it, but there would have to be something very enticing to get me to go all in.

I was excited to read this because the cover was gorgeous, and the blurb was intriguing. I liked the setting; the whole idea of the sleeping sickness was interesting. However, I found that the biggest flaw with this book was with Harper — she was not a well developed character. She just seemed overly passive and vacant, almost as if she was letting the events of the book occur and barely reacting to it; I wanted to see more internal conflict, but she pretty much just accepted everything that happened to her, which felt incomplete. The story was also too slow-paced; at times, it felt like the plot was being dragged out.

Overall, this book had good potential, but I was unfortunately disappointed by it.

I was intrigued in the beginning, but there were a few issues that ended up killing my interest. First was the amount of profanity. This may not bother a lot of people, but it does me. The author does not need that amount of f-words (or any, for that matter) to get her point across. Second, while the setup was intriguing, it wasn't near thorough enough to justify the transition from the main character trying to escape from her quarantined neighborhood to her being abducted by aliens. This book had potential, but in the end, I could not finish it.

Admittedly, I fell in like with the synopsis of this book. Plus, the cover is gorgeous! However, the book itself was not that great. I genuinely dislike giving out such low ratings, but I have to be honest. The first part of the book was interesting. The reader is given a feel for the main character, Harper, and her life. She is home-schooled with an incredibly strict mother. For her to hang out with friends she has to sneak out and hope that her neighbors or siblings do not tell on her. The friendships that she had were interesting enough and her friends for the most part stood out to me.

Unfortunately the further into the book I got, the less interest I had. The thought of aliens and the sleeping sickness was intriguing. I think that the author had a lot of great ideas. However, once those came into play the entire story fell flat. The ideas weren't executed very well. Harper is transported to an alien place and does not at all react how I would have anticipated. How quickly she came to terms with everything was a bit odd for me. I had a hard time understanding Harper as a character as soon as things started getting a little weird for her. She also was a little immature with no consideration for what was going on around her that was more important than her getting to go hang out with friends.

One of my biggest letdowns about Potency was that I felt that author was telling me instead of showing me. Much of what you find out about the alien race is through conversation. When you are given descriptions, it is overwhelming. There wasn't very much in between. Quite a bit of the conversations did not fit the situation. Or the conversation felt oddly forced. Sometimes things were "blurted out" that seemed on purpose instead of it slipping. It was not believable to me. Sadly, I completely lost interest in the book about a third of the way through and began skimming.

All in all, I think that the author has some wonderful ideas. I can tell that she put a lot of thought into the alien world. Her writing seems excited, like she couldn't wait to get her book out to be read. In my mind it was like "this happens and then this happens, and oh my gosh check this out but don't forget about this... wait, I need to add this in too"! I truly hope that for the next book in the series she slows down and shows the reader the story instead of telling it. Also, have the story move organically and the conversations be natural.

I was intrigued in the beginning, but there were a few issues that ended up killing my interest. First was the amount of profanity. This may not bother a lot of people, but it does me. The author does not need that amount of f-words (or any, for that matter) to get her point across. Second, while the setup was intriguing, it wasn't near thorough enough to justify the transition from the main character trying to escape from her quarantined neighborhood to her being abducted by aliens. This book had potential, but in the end, I could not finish it.

Thank you NetGalley and Ruby & Topaz Publishing for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I first read the synopsis, I was immediately drawn to the story. I love sci-fi and mix it with a plague, and I’m sold!

However, this book left me wanting. The story did not pan out to what I was hoping for. The plot is definitely a slow builder. The first several chapters are a bit confusing as to what the author is trying to convey since they are glimpses of Harper and her experiences with her family members and friends but without any depth.

I was not a fan of the writing style. It made Harper sound incredibly annoying and one dimensional, and I understand that it was probably meant to do so.

Overall, this book just was not for me.

This book was an enjoyable read, and one that I’m sure will appeal to many readers, young adult or not. The beginning of the novel, however, is a little rocky. Harper’s initial characterisation, backstory and family dynamic is pretty close to every YA heroine you’ve read before— she fights with her (unbelievably restrictive) mother, babysits for cash and wants to hang out with her friends as much as possible.
Harper’s response to the figure she sees in the desert and the posts she subsequently finds online are overblown and not believable—for a book marketed to a generation that grew up with the internet, it reads as either condescending or out of touch. Her plan to escape is poorly thought out and out of character, and is foiled so easily it seems strange that it was included in the novel at all.
The introductory ‘life before’ section of Glow is too long. It throws the reader off their stride and leaves you wondering if Harper is ever going to get interesting. When Harper wakes up in the custody of aliens, she finally develops a backbone and the plot picks up. Harper develops as a character, and her relationship with her family is revealed a little, making her backstory more believable.
Glow is filled with nuanced and interesting characters that could be explored further. The problem, is that there wasn’t enough time for all of the characters to be developed fully. The Masaii Mara Sleeping Syndrome also has the potential to be explored in greater depth, though there were a few moments in Glow that were reminiscent of Mira Grant’s Feedback, or even the Parasitology series by the same author.
A lot of the worldbuilding and plot resolution in Glow occurs when people tell Harper things straight up, and it can seem shallow at times because of this. Harper’s abilities also seem a little bit unearned and almost too much for the plot at times, her physical changes in particular being rarely mentioned and serving little purpose other than cementing her changed circumstances.
The scenes of human cruelty included in this novel were meant to provide motivation for key plot events, and while they did that, the almost casual way so many brutalities were mentioned and described weakened the impact somewhat.
Most of the complaints up to this point have been minor issues—the only thing that truly impacted the readability was the odd pacing. The introductory section dragged, and the ending is likewise oddly protracted. The book in generally seemed as though it would be improved by a more tightly woven plot.
However, Glow was an engrossing read once Harper and the world Aubrey Hadley built had a chance to come together. In particular, the relationships and believable responses Harper had to the people in the Canopy, and the relationships and interactions between side characters were a high point. Adam and Jacqueline interacted well, Arl and Vulgan were well-written and interesting, and Rubaveer was a true pleasure to read.
The worldbuilding was consistent, and numerous small touches worked together to both hint at the sinister nature of the villains, and subtly add to the differences between the world of the Potency series, and our own.
All in all, Glow could be more refined, but is definitely worth the read. Aubrey Hadley is a skilled author who has the clear potential for amazing, engrossing fiction. Glow was a quick, enjoyable read that I would recommend to fans of the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, or James Dashner’s Maze Runner series.

I um, quit halfway?? It was not a compelling read, i felt like perhaps it focused way too much on setting up future sequels and not in making the characters something interesting and people that you might care about, the plot sounded interesting in theory but in practice it fell through.

This was a disappointing read.
I couldn't connect with Harper or anybody else. I found Harper extremely annoying. I mean she's 17 and is afraid to stay alone for awhile, complains about the food she's given and behaves irrationally at first and then suddenly makes this weird connection that the government wants to kill everyone from a YouTube video.
The story felt flat and I wanted some more world building and descriptions.
This is just a YA contemporary that tries to be Sci-Fi and fails.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC.

The idea of a sleeping sickness killing droves of people is intriguing. That's the reason I chose this book. While I did like the story, I found the writing seemed lacking substance. Point of view was a little odd at times. The time period for the story is not distinctly identified. These things made the whole thing confusing. It's a good premise poorly executed. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book reminded me of the Hunger Games in all the good ways! It's fast paced, exciting, and I found myself rooting for the characters like I was actually in the story with them. Great story that takes a different approach to the post apocalyptic genre.

Full disclosure, I DNF this book. I seriously debate whether I should or owe it to an author when I receive an ARC.
HOwever, If i loan/borrow/buy a book and it is not good within the first 25% , I DNF. So therefore I decided I am applying the same principle to ARCs
I align with the majority of other reviews, the synopsis sounded intriguing - but once I started reading it just did not do it for me.
DNF's but appreciated the ARC

This is a well written book. The characters are described really well. The pace of the story was good. I can't wait to read more by this author.i would recommend this book.

Loved the storyline and I am looking forward to the next book. This book kept me engrossed trying to find out what was going to happen next. Would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good YA sci-fi.

This story really had a lot of potential, but in the end didn't quite work on the follow-through.

Harper Loomis lives with her mom, brother and sister in the desert in the US, in an area that has recently been stricken with the Mara Sleeping Sickness. After seeing something in the desert, like a shadow person absorbing the light around them, Harper attempts to escape and rejoin her family outside the quarantine zone only to be caught by the shadow men along with her brother. Turns out, the shadow men are actually aliens, and Harper is one of them, a half-human hybrid.

The aliens have apparently collected hybrids from all over Earth, and are promising to integrate them into their society. But the sleeping sickness kills, and the hybrids have problems of their own. There is definitely something more going on here...

The problem, though, is that it doesn't feel like a complete and polished story. We have characters who show up, and are presented as important, but just aren't. The characters that are important are given cursory backstories, and the reader is left wondering who is who.

The story itself is interesting - I want to know more about the hybrids, how and why they were created, what the aliens want, how the humans will survive, and how Harper will handle the changes that have occurred in the past few months. But the writing is flat and needs a better polish, with tighter editing.

I think this story had a lot of potential but it really fell flat for me. I wasn't a fan of the way the main character kept telling us every little thing she was doing or thinking. There were just too many details. It felt redundant and didn't allow me as a reader to use my imagination to visualize any of the world. I liked the beginning, it felt suspenseful and mysterious, but then it just got pretty dull for me. The main character was very one dimensional. The plot twist wasn't as exciting as it should have been. This book just wasn't for me.

To be honest, I expected more of this book. I had high hopes for the sci-fi aspect of it, especially after reading the blurb, which set up the premise of an exciting mystery/sci-fi YA debut. It didn't exactly deliver - here's why.

First of all, while the premise to the plot was good, the delivery was not so good. I enjoyed aspects of it, but some of it was a confusing blur of details and high-tech and gene-sequencing which I didn't really grasp since it was either rushed or didn't tie into the book in a logical way. At times, I found the flow of the language faltering - to be fair, the best part of the entire book was the part where Harper played soccer, which was written excellently!

Now to the good parts: it was inventive. The book was packed with fun developments and adventures, no matter if it was with other humans or with the people responsible for the Maasai Mara (if one has read the book they'll understand.)