Waverly and Kieran are finally reunited on the Empyrean. Kieran has led the boys safely up to this point, and now that the girls are back, their mission seems slightly less impossible: to chase down the New Horizon, and save their parents from the enemy ship. But nothing is truly as it seems…Kieran’s leadership methods have raised Seth’s hackles— and Waverly’s suspicions. Is this really her fiancé? The handsome, loving boy she was torn from just a short time before? More and more, she finds her thoughts aligned with Seth’s. But if Seth is Kieran’s Enemy No. 1, what does that make her?
In one night, a strange explosion rocks the Empyrean—shooting them off course and delaying their pursuit of the New Horizon—and Seth is mysteriously released from the brig. Seth is the most obvious suspect for the explosion, and Waverly the most obvious suspect for releasing him. As the tension reaches a boiling point, will Seth be able to find the true culprit before Kieran locks them both away—or worse? Will Waverly follow her heart, even if it puts lives at risk? With the balance of power precarious and the clock ticking, every decision counts… every step brings them closer to a new beginning, or a sudden end...
Release Date: July 17, 2012
Now, I can only tell you how wonderful it was to read Glow and Spark back to back, because now I’m going to have to wait desperately for the third installment to figure out what is going to happen to Waverly and these characters that I have grown to love. Oh, so I guess that I gave away that Spark ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger–with some people in a somewhat precarious position.
Overall, if you were somewhat iffy about Glow, then Spark is definitely a must-read. Not only does Ryan manage to step up her writing, but the plot becomes even more complex and the characters even more realistic and lovable (well, some of them).
Waverly has been through a lot since her time on the New Horizon, and she struggles to regain what little bit of herself she still has and stay away from Kieran’s Ann Mather-ish behavior. Their disagreements about the use of religion and “services” make for a very interesting social question that we can apply to the growing turmoil surrounding religion now. I mean there is always going to be the question of “separation of church and state,” right? This comes into play MUCH more in Spark.
While it seems that the synopsis sets up the relationship between Kieran, Waverly, and Seth to be a love triangle (which is what everyone expects in YA novels now) but it isn’t. In fact, the relationship between Kieran and Seth, and Kieran and Waverly becomes so strained, that the only interactions that occur between them are very tense and involve a lot of disagreements.
My problem with Glow was the pacing, but Spark had no pacing issues.
I’m not going to say much more, but there is a SERIOUS twist at the end that I was not expecting. Go pick up a copy of Spark on July 17…Then let me know what you think!
4.5 Bards
Moving! 
Great review! I'm looking forward to read Spark. I liked Glow, but I agree with you that the pace could be a bit slow, although I didn't mind it while reading the book. It would be great if that's better in the second book.