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Monday, January 20, 2014

Review: All That Glows by Ryan Graudin


All That Glows by Ryan Graudin
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: February 11, 2014
Rating: 4 stars
Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Summary (from Goodreads):

Emrys—a fiery, red-headed Fae—always embraced her life in the Highlands, far from the city’s draining technology, until she’s sent to London to rejoin the Faery Guard. But this isn’t any normal assignment—she’s sent to guard Prince Richard: Britain’s notorious, partying bad boy and soon-to-be King. The prince’s careless ways and royal blood make him the irresistible for the dark spirits that feed on mortals. Sweet, disheveled, and alive with adventure—Richard is one charge who will put Emrys’s magic and heart to the test.

When an ancient force begins preying on the monarchy, Emrys must hunt through the London’s magical underworld, facing down Banshees, Black Dogs and Green Women to find the one who threatens Richard’s life. In this chaos of dark magic, palace murders and paparazzi, Emrys finds herself facing an impossible choice. For despite all her powers, Emrys has discovered a force that burns brighter than magic: love.

What I Liked:

When I first saw the cover of this book months ago, I was like, AHH, IT'S SO PRETTY! The cover model is pretty, but the cover design itself is rather breathtaking. I'm not a huge fan of pink, but I love the swirls of shades of pink and the occasional purple. The typography is stunning. I feel like the design team outdid themselves with this cover!

Anyway, the cover is beautiful, and oh my goodness, the WRITING STYLE is beautiful. There were so many wonderful parts to this book, including the writing style, the plot, the characters, the romance. Despite a review or two I saw from some other bloggers, I really liked this book, and I am glad that I still read this book, despite some negative reviews that did a great job of convincing me otherwise.

As I mentioned above, the writing is really something else. At first, I was like, there are wayyy too many similes. This author uses "like" or "as" or even the comparison "than", or metaphors, way too often. But, it seemed to work, after a while. I still think that there were wayyy too many comparisons going on, but it didn't bother me after a while. That aside, I really like Graudin's writing style. It's lyrical, almost, and while there are many descriptions, they're not all lumped together, and they aren't too boring.

At first, I thought the plot was a little simplistic and almost predictable. Protect the prince, figure out who is targeting the royal family. All the while, try not to fall in love with the prince. In a nutshell, it IS that simple, but it's so much more. The prince's life is at stake, but he's worth even more to Emrys because she loves him, and he loves her. Finding out who is sabotaging her Fae kingdom is also extremely important and significant, because there is a traitor in the ranks. The world is changing - both human and Fae - and Emrys and the others will have to choose. The plot doesn't seem overly complicated, and it's not, I suppose, but it's not clear-cut and obvious. There are some twists (not many), and I didn't really see the culprit coming.

I think I actually do really like Emrys. Throughout the story, I vacillated between liking her and rolling my eyes at her. OF COURSE she would let the prince see her. She's selfish, in that regard, and stupid, but then, I understand why she did it. She still risked and almost ruined everything, especially not knowing that she would fall in love with him, but I forgive her. Mostly.

I really, really like Richard. He isn't flat or one-dimensional, which is nice. At times, especially in the beginning, he seemed sub-par compared to Emrys, which bothered me for some reason, but as the story progressed, he really grew into his role and became quite the leader. Only then did he seem to rank alongside Emrys, and not behind her. He's swoony and lovable in a different way than what we're used to in YA literature.

Which leads me to my next point - the romance. This book is all about the romance between Emrys and Richard. While the romance does NOT directly affect the overall plot (which is the threat to the Fae kingdom and to the human royal family), the romance is very significant. However, I liked the Graudin didn't turn Richard into the sex-god male love interest. Richard is NOT just a love interest - he is an important protagonist in this story. His role is just as important as Emrys'. 

The romance progresses throughout this book, though it may seem insta-lovey at first. I think it gradually developed, though at times, it seemed to move quicker than at other times. I think Richard and Emrys are a good fit for each other, and I really enjoyed reading their interactions.

Graudin really did her research, in terms of faeries and spells and lore and legends. I liked that she kept the spells authentic (in terms of the incantations). and how she twisted legends and old lore to fit her story. And, her portrayal of historical London is pretty great! Especially the effect on faeries - that was a nice touch.

Overall, this book is definitely a solid debut. It's a bit longer than the usual YA novel, but I rather like this, especially since this novel is a standalone novel. Graudin did an excellent job of pacing this story, as well as the romance within the story. I'll be reading more of Graudin's work!

What I Did Not Like:

There were a few things that bothered me - I already mentioned the writing style, in terms of the frequent comparisons. Right from the start, we're hit with an arsenal of comparisons, and it's a little odd and overwhelming. I've never seen so many comparisons used in a modern day YA novel. But, I suppose there is a first for everything!

I also was a bit put off by the ending. Don't get me wrong, it's a satisfactory ending, and all the characters get what they deserve (especially Titania). BUT, it wraps up a little *too* perfectly, you know? Everything happens exactly as a happy ending would call for, and that bothered me a bit. I almost saw a tragic ending coming... but it didn't happen. Everything wrapped up so nicely, with a cute little bow on the top. 

Perfection, my friends, is so not the way to go. Wrapping up the ending with all your ducks in a row? No. Don't do that. It's so fake. Emrys gets her way, Richard gets his way, Herne gets his way, Mab gets what she was looking for, so does Titania, the royal family is safe, blah blah blah. I hope I didn't spoil anything there (really, I didn't, because some of those things are NOT what they seem - trust me). 

Would I Recommend It:

Despite the few problems I had with this book, I would DEFINITELY recommend this novel! Especially to historical fiction fans, or fantasy fans. I usually hate books dealing directly with the faeries, because they're silly, usually, but I really enjoyed this one.

Rating:

3.5 stars -> rounded up to 4 stars. A pretty awesome debut! I look forward to reading more of Graudin's book - especially her other upcoming release, The Walled City!


Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

40 comments:

  1. I actually rated this book 2 stars (review coming up closer to release date) but I'm glad you liked it. It was just not for me

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  2. Despite the few problems you had with this book, I will still be reading it. Because, while the negatives aren't good things (obviously) the good seems to far outweigh the bad. And that makes me incredibly happy! Because this book makes me excited, and I am crazy about the cover!

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    1. I am so glad to hear that, Jaime! The positives definitely outweighed the negatives! I was overall very pleased with this book.

      And YES, the cover is fantastic!

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  3. I'm glad that despite some of the issues, you really managed to enjoy the book. Since it deals with faeries it wasn't very appealing to me and I probably won't be checking it out, too many books & too little time!
    Great review!

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    1. YES! Me too! It was a good read overall. I hate faerie stories as well, but the fantasy and historical fiction aspect really appealed to me. Totally understandable, Pili!

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  4. Okay, you've convinced me. I removed this book from my TBR list because I read a review that just made fun of its writing style, but now I think, who knows? Maybe it'll be like Shatter Me, which I love but a lot of other people despise also because of the writing style lol.

    - Kazhy @ My Library in the Making

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    1. WOOT! My job is done :D *dusts off hands*

      I know that some bloggers weren't a huge fan of this book, but to each their own, you know?

      And good to hear about Shatter Me. I have that one to read.

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  5. I read this book and I totally loved it. Like you, I thought the writing style was beautiful and the characters were great. By the way, I heard from the author that there will be a sequel to All That Glows, so things might not be ending as rosy as they seemed to, which has me both excited and nervous.Glad you liked this book, too :)

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    1. YAY! I'm glad to hear that. And NO WAY - a sequel?! I had no idea! I'm a bit wary, but rest assured, I'll be reading it!

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  6. Happy you enjoyed this one overall. I too thought the cover was so pretty. I enjoy seeing a positive review after reading the negative I think some of the metaphors and such would have gotten to me but glad to see the good aspects within the book. Still not sure when or if I'll get to this one. Great review!

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    1. Haha, I think we're thinking of the same review. That one was very... explosive. I happened to really like this book though.

      If you read All That Glows, Kristen, I hope you enjoy it!

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  7. Great review! I'm so jealous you got an eARC!! I can't wait for this one. I love novels about faeries so naturally this one intrigued me. I like for love stories to build not the whole "let's just jump into this and be madly in love the whole story". I'm even more excited now!! Thanks!!

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    1. I did! Thank goodness for Edelweiss. I think this book is right up your alley, Heather! You'll love it, I'm sure. Hope you can get an eARC or AR - and if not, less than a month to wait! :)

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  8. I did hear from other people that this book had tons of metaphors, which isn't bad if the metaphors are believable. I don't read many fairies books... I don't know if I will try this one... depends maybe I will borrow it from the library when it comes out. But wonderful review, and I am glad that you liked it!

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    1. It was just A LOT of metaphors o.O And I don't either! But this one stood out to me. If you read it at some point, Lena, I hope you enjoy it!

      Thank you so much!

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  9. I'm 20% in reading this one. I love stories with faeries and so far, so good.

    Thanks for your review :)

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    1. Excellent! I hope you love the entire book :D

      You're very welcome!!

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  10. I've seen a lot of great reviews for this one, and I don't remember seeing something about the writing, but I'm glad that you pointed it out! I read Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith a while ago and what you said about the abundance of similes and metaphors reminded me of that. I really hated all of the "likes" in that book, so I'm not sure how I would feel about it in this book, but I'm glad that the fey terminology in this one is well-handled and the research is sound. Great review, Alyssa! <33

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    1. Ooo, I haven't read that one! Interesting. It seems that this might not be the book for you? However, I really liked it and if you get a chance, I hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much, Eileen!

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  11. I'm with you on the cover. All that pink shouldn't work but it does without looking like a pepto bismol explosion. I have an arc of this one but I've seen a lot of people complain about all the comparisons and I can't stand that.

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    1. HAHAHAHA YES! Best description ever, Nereyda :D And yeah, the comparisons can be a little bit much :\

      If you do decide to read this one, I hope you enjoy it, Nereyda! And hopefully, the comparisons don't smother you.

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  12. I wasn't a fan of All That Glows, but I'm glad that you liked it. You made some interesting points, but like you said, to each their own. That's the wonderful thing about books.

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    1. Ooo, I'm sorry to hear that, Aly! But thank you for the comment :)

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  13. I'm so glad you liked this book! I'm not a big fan of the cover, actually, and I've never given the description much attention (for some reason, I never really read book descriptions). I still picked this one up from EW, though, because it's about faeries and it's been awhile since I've read a book with them in it.

    The writing seems like would take some getting used to, but since you said it's lyrical-ish, I think I won't mind it so much. I love a good romance set in a fantasy/historical setting, so I'm looking forward to that.

    Great review, Alyssa!

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    1. LOL wow! Well, I'm glad you downloaded it! I'm sure you'll be fine, and will get past the writing (like I did). And the romance is pretty sweet, in my opinion. Hope you read and enjoy it!

      Thank you, Kaitlin!

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  14. Even with the few problems you had with it, I'm glad you enjoyed this book! I've been looking forward to it for awhile (fairy books almost always get my attention! (:), but I haven't read that many reviews of it yet! Glad to read that you mostly enjoyed it! And yes, I LOVE the cover of this book! Very pretty!

    Wonderful review! :)

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    1. I definitely did! I'm glad that you enjoy book with faeries, and I'm glad that my review is one of the first you've read! Hopefully, you read and love this book, Jessica ^_^

      Thank you!

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  15. I am half way through this book and so far I am enjoying it. The two main characters are a bit silly and do reckless things for no real reason, but I suppose that they are meant to be teens so I guess that is to be expected. I have been just blasting through it so it is not a difficult read and has been keeping my attention.

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    1. YAY! I'm glad to hear that! Yes, I agree, the characters are kind of *face to wall* sometimes. It does fly by, though! Hopefully, you love it when you finish it, Susan :)

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  16. After reading your review and the comments it looks like most people either enjoyed the book or didn't. I'm going to have to try reading this book myself. I've found when this is the case, I usually end up loving the book to pieces. And you're right Alyssa, that cover is beautiful!

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    1. That seems to be the case! I'd give this one a chance just for the cover alone :o And I hope you do enjoy this book, Chanpreet, if you read it!

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  17. sigh....I don't know. This just wasn't for me. I could not get into the mythology at all. And I love my Faerie novels. Though usually much darker. Glad you enjoyed it though!!

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    1. Interesting... I'm sorry to hear that, Vivien. I just don't like faerie books, but this one was good - although, I can see what you are saying about liking darker faerie tales.

      Thank you!

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  18. I read the first few chapters of this and since it didn't really pull me in and I had already seen many negative reviews, I decided to put it on hold. But I'm wondering now if I should try to pick it up and try it again...

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    1. Awww, I'm sorry to hear that! I think you *should* keep reading ;) But I'm a bit biased, I suppose.

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  19. I was also drawn in by the cover- maybe this makes me shallow. I actually love similes, I feel like they add so much description to a book. Lately I have read some books where the writing was just meh, so I think this book would be a wave of fresh air.

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    1. It totally does not! I'm glad you really enjoyed this book, Jessica :)

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  20. Hello Alysaa, i really enjoy reading your reviews. You get right to it and your not afraid to tell it like it is. All That Glows sounds like a book i would enjoy, thank you.

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    1. Woot! Thank you so much for the kind words, Linda!! I hope you like it if/when you read it :)

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