Arclight

Arclight - Josin L. McQuein All pain is bad for my Cherish.Okay, I know that quote is cheesy but holy crap! I fell for Rue so hard! He's really funny with the way he tries to speak and murder some of the people he hates. It's just too hilarious. Marina is an okay protagonist because she's quite easy to understand and to know what she's about to do before she does. The writing style is okay, in the beginning, it's very awkward and very stretched out as if Josin L. McQuein was trying to put as many words in to get the point across as possible. But after a while, with everything that`s going on, I didn't notice the awkwardness too much. This book is barely a mediocre kind of read for me. It's glaringly predictable even from the very beginning (page 6 when I realized what would happen between Marina and one of her love interests). Even though I love Rue, most of the characters are lacking in almost every department. Moreover, they have close to no emotion that sticks out which makes it hard for readers to feel sympathy when it is supposed to be given. Instead, they feel like cardboard--boring and lifeless. The romance is very stiff, and disorganized with no build-up whatsoever especially with the love triangle itself. With Rue, the romance is there because of a strong foundation. But with the other guy, it's flimsy at best. It seems like McQuein literally picked it (the romance) out of the air and shoved it in here just for the hell of it.Now, onto the stuff I liked about Arclight. Which mostly was: Rue. Oh, Rue, I love you! He snatched my heart with such unexpected warmth and happiness that even his flaws didn't bother me. His need to protect Cherish and love her only made me love him more. Some parts of the Colonies and how they interact with each other, becoming a whole and connecting everyone is creative. Instead of using words to express their emotions and the others around them, they use images and emotions and are never alone. Even with it being unoriginal, I liked this part about the book a lot. Arclight is a fun story, even with it being unoriginal. With a fun ending that's open enough to leave room for more improvement for the next installment, I'm excited to read what happens next with Rue (don't really care about Cherish though). I recommend this to anyone new or newish to the genre of Dystopia/Dystopian because it's too predictable to fully enjoy the novel otherwise.