REVIEW: Glow by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Title: Glow (Amazon)
Series: Zellie Wells, #3
Author: Stacey Wallace Benefiel 
Genre: Paranormal YA
Source: review copy from author
Published: June 2011 (self-published)

Zellie Wells has mastered her powers and gotten the guy. She's lived through her parents' divorce and being separated from Avery. She's come back from the dead.

What else is there?

Oh, yeah. REVENGE.

Discover how it all ends when Zellie and the gang finally track down Mildred and fight to right the wrongs of The Society's past, present and future.

Why I Read this Book: I really enjoyed reading Glimpse (my review) and Glimmer (my review), the first two books in the trilogy. Glow is the conclusion I’ve been waiting for. I really wanted to know how things were going to pan out for Zellie and find out how the villain was going to be defeated.

What I Liked: One thing I have really enjoyed about this series is the unique paranormal world and characters the author has created. It’s interesting and different. Zellie can see glimpses into the future. The first glimpse she got (in the first book of the trilogy) turned her world upside down – she saw how the boy she loves is going to die. She has been able to get a handle on her supernatural power more and more with each novel and now she can better pin-point the day her glimpses will actually take place.

Let’s talk POV narration. In Glimpse, it was easy for me to establish who’s POV I was reading from. In Glimmer, it was a bit confusing at times. With Glow, only Zellie’s POV was told in 1st person while POVs for Melody, Christopher and Ben were told in 3rd person. It was easy to follow and I didn’t feel lost. Another thing the author did that I liked was italicize the glimpses. It made it easy for me to distinguish between current time and glimpses. It’s a small thing but it enabled me to enjoy my reading experience a bit more.

It was nice that Melody got a love interest of her own. She’s only 15 so it was more of a crush than an actual relationship. I’m glad the author didn’t force a relationship between them. Speaking of secondary characters, I also got to know a bit more about Ben and his family situation.

What I Didn’t Like: I felt lost and confused at times – like I was missing something. I don’t understand how Zellie and Melody came to the conclusions they did about people who appeared in Zellie’s glimpses and the roles those particular people played. There was also a lot going on in Glow; there are some confusing storylines surrounding most of the characters and it kind of hindered my reading experience trying to keep track of it all. It felt like the author was trying to make each and every single character interesting by throwing in twists. For me, it just got too confusing and it was hard for me to keep up on everyone.

The ending was a bit anti-climatic for me. The problem with the villain was solved a bit too easily. It was a bit too convenient that Zellie knew exactly what needed to be done and how it had to be done.

This trilogy is marketed as a YA read but I would venture to say it should be for the over 16 crowd. There were parts that made me think I was reading an adult romance novel. And for me to read these things in a YA novel left me feeling a bit uncomfortable. There was mention of “instant nips” and Avery hoisting Zellie up onto the hood of a car. And this part:

“Nah. All I wanted to do today was spend time with you and that’s what I got.” He chuckled. “Life with you is an adventure, Zel. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Still, I’m sure this isn’t what you had in mind,” I said, grinning. “I’ll have to make it up to you.”

Avery licked his lips, his eyes devouring me. “Oh, I’m sure you will.”

Overall Impression: The Zellie Wells trilogy started off with a bang but left a bit to be desired with its final installment. I think I would have enjoyed Glow a bit more had I read all three books back to back. Overall, I enjoyed reading this trilogy and I’m interested to see what this author comes up with next.

The Book Vixen’s Rating: