Series: STANDALONE
Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Mystery
Subjects: supernatural, ghosts, small towns, memory loss, magic
Setting: Summer Falls, Colorado
POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense,
rotating between Elyse and Marshall
Age/Grade Level: Teen
Length: 347 pgs.
HC/PB: Hardcover
List Price: $17.99
Publisher: HarperCollins: Balzer and Bray
Summary/ product description: “When Marshall King and
Elyse Alton suddenly wake up tangled in each other's arms with zero memory of
how they got there or even who they are, it's the start of a long journey
through their separate pasts and shared future.
Terrified
by their amnesia, Marshall and Elyse make a pact to work together to find the
answers that could restore their missing memories. As they piece together clues
about their lives, they discover that they're in the idyllic mountain resort
town of Summer Falls. Everyone seems happy there, but as Marshall and Elyse
quickly learn, darkness lurks beneath the town's perfect facade. Not only is
the town haunted by sinister ghosts, but none of its living inhabitants retain
bad memories of anything—not the death of Marshall's mom, not the hidden
violence in Elyse's family, not even the day-to-day anguish of being a high
schooler.
Lonely
in this world of happy zombies, Marshall and Elyse fall into an intense
relationship founded on their mutual quest for truth. But the secrets they're
trying to uncover could be the death of this budding love affair—and of
everyone, and everything, they love in Summer Falls.”
My Review: I’ve
had Glimmer sitting on my shelf waiting to be read for year. It came out in
2013. I bought it because I liked the cover and I love a good mystery with
paranormal elements. And nothing says paranormal mystery like amnesia, a
strange small town and ghosts.
Glimmer was different from how I expected it. It
wasn’t scary or dystopian or full of odd twists. It kept me guessing, and
sometimes I was able to predict things correctly, but I liked it when I was
surprised. I also really enjoyed the setting. I visited Colorado in 2003 on a
family vacation and it was beautiful.
Summer falls is this magical made-up Colorado town in
which it’s always balmy summer weather and tourist feel like they’re on a drug
when they are there. It sounds great, except anyone who experiences anything
negative, like a fight or sadness, suddenly passes out in a “heat nap” caused
by ghosts. Only Elyse can see the ghosts are causing it.
I also enjoy stories about memory loss. It’s always
interesting to see character deal with the present without knowing their pasts.
Elyse and Marshall don’t even know their names when the wake up, but since
their names are already in the book’s description, it’s not read a spoiler.
They wake up in bed with each other, naked. They don’t know how they got there.
Elyse think’s she was kidnapped, that Marshall drugged her. It’s a real mess
and they find clothes and leave out the window. And soon after Elyse sees a
ghost.
I really did enjoy the characters. They didn’t like it
when they found out about their pasts. Things didn’t fit to them. But their
personalities were pretty interesting. Elyse was stubborn and strong willed,
but also honest. She didn’t like how everyone noticed her. She used to be
popular apparently. Marshall had a strong ego, but everyone seemed to treat him
like he was invisible. Everyone else in Summer Falls suffered from selective
memory loss, and acted like happy zombies or pod people.
I recommend this book to those who enjoyed the
Shadowlands series by Kate Brian, Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton, or books with
ghosts or people with memory loss.
Cover Art Review: Pretty colors and I like the effect
on the type, but I realize now that this it generic and kind of boring for a
cover actually.
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