Review – Link (The Shadow of Light, Book 1) by Summer Weir (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 318 pages
Publisher: REUTS Publications
Release Date: September 29, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1942111016
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Shadow of Light series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley. I was originally drawn in by the beautiful cover and then intrigued by the premise. This ended up being an okay book; I thought it moved kind of slow and I never really engaged with the characters…however there are some neat ideas in here.

Kira is celebrating her birthday with friends deep in the woods when she is struck by a bright light from the sky while swimming in the lake. She almost drowns but one of her friends saves her and no one can remember exactly what happened to her in that lake.

Then Kira starts having strange dreams of a different world, except she finds out they aren’t dreams. She was hit by light that traveled through a black hole and somehow that resulted in her spending her days normal and her sleeping hours on the world in the center of a black hole. Both worlds seem equally real, but as her link to the starlight that hit her fades she realizes that she could be trapped on this other strange world forever unless she figures out what is really going on.

This was a quick read that was okay. The story does have some interesting concepts in it. I don’t think I have ever read a book that spends so much time dealing with theories around black holes (in very non-technical terms). It was interesting but at times a bit ambiguous and hard to follow as well.

I had some issues with the story. I thought it moved pretty slow and that not a ton happened in the story. I also had trouble engaging and caring about the characters; they just all seemed kind of bland to me. There is a typical YA love triangle in here which I hate.

The story doesn’t wrap up all that well but leaves things open for another installment in the series. Honestly, while I may think about some of the concepts in this book occasionally, it was mostly a pretty forgettable read. I am not really sure what audience this is targeting…the explanations around how the whole black hole link thing works are too light and ambiguous for people actually interested in that topic, yet a bit too complex for someone with a passing interest. Adults will find the whole YA romance thing boring and awkward paired with that plotline.

Overall an okay book. There are some interesting ideas and concepts in here. However, I thought the story was fairly slow and boring and I also had trouble engaging with the characters. I won’t continue reading the series. I would only recommend to those interested in fluffy sci-fi novels with some YA romance in them.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge