April 23rd, 2013 from Greenwillow
The Arclight is the last defense. The Fade can’t get in. Outside the Arclight’s border of high-powered beams is the Dark. And between the Light and the Dark is the Grey, a narrow, barren no-man’s-land. That’s where the rescue team finds Marina, a lone teenage girl with no memory of the horrors she faced or the family she lost. Marina is the only person who has ever survived an encounter with the Fade. She’s the first hope humanity has had in generations, but she could also be the catalyst for their final destruction. Because the Fade will stop at nothing to get her back. Marina knows it. Tobin, who’s determined to take his revenge on the Fade, knows it. Anne-Marie, who just wishes it were all over, knows it.
When one of the Fade infiltrates the Arclight and Marina recognizes it, she will begin to unlock secrets she didn’t even know she had. Who will Marina become? Who can she never be again?
With no memory of how she was rescued from the Fade and no friends because she is an outsider, life in the Arclight is pretty much crap. Marina is living in a compound that is dedicated to keep the good in and the bad out. Only problem, that doesn't happen, the Fade find their way in, and sometimes she feels like she doesn't know what side of the wall she belongs on. Eventually, Marina is forced to make a decision based on a pile of lies from the people she trusted the most.
Arclight makes a good addition to the dystopian genre. The concept is really original and pretty darn complex. I liked the world building of the Arclight, but was a little confused as to what the Fade were. Robots? Aliens? Something new? I was hoping to have a little more understanding of what these things were. It does come in time when Marina comes face to face with one. This is where story got especially good for me. Marina and Tobin, a boy who lost his mother to the Fade, start going past the boundaries and breaking rules. Love rule breakers! They soon become romantically involved, which wasn't a giant surprise. The build up was there since the beginning. There are a few doozies in store for us, though! The last few chapters move pretty fast when the tensions are at an all time high and the secrets just start spilling over. Every time a question is answered, another one turns up.
Good pick for a young reader looking for mystery, suspense, and science fiction. Readers who are looking for complicated story lines and a whole new world will be especially pleased. 14+
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