Arclight

Arclight by Josin L. McQuein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

OK, let's face it. The title "Arclight" and the cover are both gorgeous. Put that with the label "dystopia" and who wouldn't want to grab it up and read it?

Arclight is yet another great dystopian tale. The basic storyline follows Marina, our protagonist, in her journey to discover who she really is. She lives in a compound surrounded by light. The light is there to keep out the "Fades," which are monsters on the outside of the light. The plot takes us on a circuitous, creepy ride to find out just what's really going on in the compound. The puzzle unfolded bit by bit and was just dark enough to keep you on the edge of your seat.

The action starts with a bang on the first page, and we are thrown into a lockdown situation where it's dark and there are monsters. Things are bad, children are scared, and even the adults are afraid. Guns, alarms, loads and loads of tension set the pace for the story. And a great pace it keeps until the last few pages; things come out all in a rush at that point, a bit of information overload. Loose ends are tied up, but things are generally left open for new things to happen in a sequel.

Part of the reason that the plot works so well is Marina herself. She begins as a scared, sickly girl who is unsure of everything, especially herself. She is like an egg whose shell starts to crack, and as it does, Marina emerges stronger and better. What at first smacks of insta-love with Tobin ends up being a gradual acceptance from him; we learn that by the time we meet him, he's already processed most of his bad feelings toward Marina. As such, he's taken a liking to her. That was a smart move on the part of McQuein, avoiding that insta-love trap on which so many of these sorts of stories depend.

Marina did progress to the point of confusion for me near the end. It's clear what is happening, but trying to visualize or feel it is difficult. There are more facets to Marina that she herself is working through, which leaves us as readers as divided with her feelings as she is.

Tobin is probably the most well-developed character. And yet it is easy to say this because he is the character most easy to understand. He behaves in a way we would expect. Because of this, he serves as a good anchor for the rest of the characters and action.

I love language, and this book capitalizes on it in a big way. There are characters who don't really speak, but communicate with feelings that evoke words. Because of this, the words are more complex and descriptive than they would be in regular spoken language. It was a delight to read the conversations between the speakers and non-speakers.

Some of the lesser characters could have been better developed, and the villain's demise was weak. It is possible, even probable, that these issues will be addressed in the next book in the series. But this book is clever enough; if the sequel is anything like it, it will be a great read. The world building was fantastic.

This book didn't rank up there as amazing for me. But it is a good, solid dystopian that I thoroughly enjoyed. I'll definitely be looking for the sequel.



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