AUGUST 2013 - AudioFile
In this postapocalyptic future, Marina’s attempt to escape “the Fade” has brought the chameleon-like creatures right to the door of the only remaining human stronghold. McQuein's short sentences and suspenseful plot revelations, combined with Tara Sands's narration, make this book a riveting listen. As the Fade desperately hunt Marina, she discovers secrets about the humans who harbor her. Sands's youthful tone and inflections suit Marina's fear and confusion as she struggles to reconcile her few memories of the past with what she’s been told. Emotionally tense revelations and dangerous action sequences make this a taut sci-fi thriller. J.M. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
Marina was pulled from the Dark at the cost of nine lives, and she is paying the price. Ostracized and abused by those whose parents died for her sake, Marina is all but alone in the Arclight, a safe zone where it is never dark. The Fade live in the Dark—chameleons, they steal humans from the light to an unknown fate. Marina dreams of their voices and frets that she has no memory of her life before her rescue. Then, after a short, violent Fade incursion into the Arclight compound, Marina finds a Fade survivor lurking in the hallway—and it recognizes her. Who is Marina, and what are the Fade? If she can establish trust with Tobin, a boy whose father was lost in rescuing her, Marina may find the answers she seeks, though some readers may feel that those answers are a long time coming. Still, McQuein strongly evokes the claustrophobic tyranny of adult authority and institutional spaces, as well as the irrational human faith in the voice of “experience,” in this fine debut. Ages 13–up. (May)
From the Publisher
Powerful and gripping straight out the door—Arclight will keep you up at night, if you dare stay awake.” — Pittacus Lore, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling I Am Number Four series
“McQuein strongly evokes the claustrophobic tyranny of adult authority and institutional spaces, as well as the irrational human faith in the voice of ‘experience,’ in this fine debut.” — Publishers Weekly
“Marina has a strong but inexplicable connection to the Fade, [and] she and Tobin enter dangerous dark territory to discover the truth.” — Booklist
“In a dystopian future colony that holds back the monsters that have taken over the world, a girl tries to find her place. … Marina … stands out as an interesting and spunky character, enough of a rebel to take some major chances.” — Kirkus Reviews
Booklist
Marina has a strong but inexplicable connection to the Fade, [and] she and Tobin enter dangerous dark territory to discover the truth.
Pittacus Lore
Powerful and gripping straight out the door—Arclight will keep you up at night, if you dare stay awake.
Booklist
Marina has a strong but inexplicable connection to the Fade, [and] she and Tobin enter dangerous dark territory to discover the truth.
AUGUST 2013 - AudioFile
In this postapocalyptic future, Marina’s attempt to escape “the Fade” has brought the chameleon-like creatures right to the door of the only remaining human stronghold. McQuein's short sentences and suspenseful plot revelations, combined with Tara Sands's narration, make this book a riveting listen. As the Fade desperately hunt Marina, she discovers secrets about the humans who harbor her. Sands's youthful tone and inflections suit Marina's fear and confusion as she struggles to reconcile her few memories of the past with what she’s been told. Emotionally tense revelations and dangerous action sequences make this a taut sci-fi thriller. J.M. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
In a dystopian future colony that holds back the monsters that have taken over the world, a girl tries to find her place. Marina has few friends in the Arclight compound. She was found outside, the only known survivor of the Fade, the light-fearing creatures who inhabit the Dark in swarms and who absorb any human they contact into their own species. Most in the colony fear that Marina could be dangerous. Only when Marina and friend Tobin leave the colony do they discover the truth--not only about themselves and their families, but also about the Fade and their own colony. McQuein's ruined future world at first seems as out of focus as her difficult-to-see monsters. For at least the first third of the book, readers must infer as much as they can from little information, giving the story the feel of a sequel to another book. Those who persist in piecing together the bits of plot will be rewarded. Relationships take on more meaning as characters confront a reality they had never suspected, and the suspense thickens. Marina especially stands out as an interesting and spunky character, enough of a rebel to take some major chances. A tension-filled read for those who wait. (Dystopian adventure. 12 & up)
