Review: Whisper by Alyson Noel

Whisper (Riley Bloom, #4) by Alyson Noel
215 pages, paperback
Finished on 22/7/2012
Genres: Young Adult, Coming of Age, Some Adventure, Romance, Paranormal
Synopsis via Goodreads:

This time, Riley might really have bitten off more than she’s ready for. After practically begging the Council for a more challenging Soul Catch, she is assigned an actual Roman gladiator—Theocoles, the Pillar of Doom. How is Riley, a skinny twelve-year-old, supposed to get through to him? Then she meets the beautiful Messalina, who convinces her that her only chance is to become part of this world. To accomplish this, Messalina helps Riley through a dramatic, mystical makeover, transforming her into the beautiful and mature teen she’s always wanted to be. Finally, Riley can experience her first boyfriend and her first kiss. With a dream this enchanting, will she ever want to leave?

Motivation to Read It: I really liked the first books in the series, so I jumped at the chance to buy this one! (I'd honestly forgotten all about it; *shakes head* I'm telling you: there are too many books coming out every week.)

Review: Alyson Noel is amazing. What a marvelous end to the Riley Bloom series! Not only was Whisper a quick, fun read, but I felt like it really was a coming of age noel because Riley matured so much in this one.

I realize that I didn't do a review for books 2 and 3 in this series, and for that I'm truly sorry. Believe me when I tell you, however, that they were really good and worth the time!

At the end of Dreamland, Riley has had a talking-to with the Council -- or rather, the Council had a talking-to with her -- and they've given her something to appeal to her wishes: a harder Soul Catch. Off to Rome she flies, discovering when she reaches the Colosseum that she must handle this one on her own. No help from Bodhi (although in the end he does sort of provide her with some).

The characters: wonderful. Riley was still a little short-tempered, but she controlled it for the most part and tried to get her job done. Messalina was a great character to me. Whether she was playing the best friend or the evil person that wanted you to never leave, she made it very believable. Dacian was very sweet; I think he makes a great match for Riley. All the characters have good personalities that make them enjoyable.

The plot carried along nicely. We got to see Riley live in Messalina's world for about what counted as 4 - 6 days. There's a point where it seems like several days might've been skipped, but when you read it, it's pretty obvious what happened during that time period if there were any skipped. It wasn't fast-paced, but it wasn't exactly slow either. I would say that it was at that comfortable in-between place.

I'm so sad to see this series come to an end, but it's given me an incentive to finaly finish the Immortals series. It's about time I did!

Satisfying eBook

(Rating System)

Radiance by Alyson Noel

Radiance: A Riley Bloom Novel
By Alyson Noel
Publisher: Square Fish, 2010
178 pages, paperback
Date Finished: 20/ 11/ 2010
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Coming of Age, Adventure

~First Line of Book: "Most people think that death is the end."
~Last Line of Book: "Occasionally gazing down at the earth plane as I soared through the clouds, knowing that just like all of the people rushing around right below me, I too had somewhere important to be."

Review: This was the first time that I had ever read a novel by Alyson Noel, and from how I enjoyed this one, I am sure I will enjoy others as well.

Radiance was about a girl named Riley Bloom who has recently died and crossed the bridge to the perfect afterlife. She and Bodhi, the dorky-looking ghost who is now her guide, go on a crazy visit to the earth plane to rid a mansion of a "Radiant Boy" and, eventually, that same boy's mother.

This novel had some awesome characters. Riley and bodhi, the main two, were definitely my favorites. The plot was really awesome. I liked how the place between the afterlife and the earth plane was called "Summerland." From what Noel described, it was a very pretty Summerland indeed. I can't wait to get my hands on Shimmer, the sure-to-be-epic sequel :).



Quotes from the Book:

"That's what they call it, 'Here.'
And if you're dumb enough to ask what time it is, they'll say,'Now.' "

"And now that I was settled it was time for my first day of school (yes, we have school Here -- it's not all cloud lounging and harp playing, you know)."

"I couldn't say I saw all that much. Ot at least nothing important anyway. Nothing that could be considered heart stopping (and no, my heart doesn't really beat anymore, it's just a figure of speech.)."

" 'Based on your accumulated history and your strong attachment to the earth plane, you will train as a Catcher. Any questions?'
Train as a what? A question that was soon followed by a gazillion others just like it.
'A Soul Catcher,' Samson said. 'A catcher of souls.' As if that made any more sense."

"The reasoning of some ghosts was beyond me. Some of them just didn't make the slightest bit of sense."