Blog Tour ARC Review: All That Glows - Ryan Graudin

Title: All That Glows
Author: Ryan Graudin
Pub Date: February 11th 2014
Publisher: HarperTEEN
Page Count: 480

Emrys—a fiery, red-headed Fae—always embraced her life in the Highlands, far from the city’s draining technology, until she’s sent to London to rejoin the Faery Guard. But this isn’t any normal assignment—she’s sent to guard Prince Richard: Britain’s notorious, partying bad boy and soon-to-be King. The prince’s careless ways and royal blood make him the irresistible for the dark spirits that feed on mortals. Sweet, disheveled, and alive with adventure—Richard is one charge who will put Emrys’s magic and heart to the test.

When an ancient force begins preying on the monarchy, Emrys must hunt through the London’s magical underworld, facing down Banshees, Black Dogs and Green Women to find the one who threatens Richard’s life. In this chaos of dark magic, palace murders and paparazzi, Emrys finds herself facing an impossible choice. For despite all her powers, Emrys has discovered a force that burns brighter than magic: love.

My Thoughts

Faeries, Guardians and a whole lotta action! This is a new and exciting read! - Nova @ Out of Time

I enjoyed this book way less than I should have. I felt like my expectations were high —for whatever reason. Lets just say that it was a minor disappointment; this is still a positive rating.  The first 1/4 was like me being strung without wanting to be and it was after that when I started enjoying the ride.

This is a story about the Frithmaeg. These are reminiscent of a Fairy Godmother. Emrys is one of them and all Frithmaeg are to protect the Crown (Royals of England because of past history). But who she's protecting happens to be future king, Richard. And their relationship is...problematic to say the least. Y'know the fact that there's something going on that's just not quite right.

Emrys and Richard as characters were great. They had smooth dialogue, actions that didn't irritate me and some very cute scenes. But thy didn't make me feel. I like to feel personal connections with characters and these two gave me nothing. Somehow, I just felt so indifferent about these characters. On a personal level, they could've been part of the scenery.

What I actually would rate 5 stars hands down? Ryan's beautiful prose. Her descriptions were graceful and almost song-like as I had no problems in the imagination department. Her dialogue also reflected on the character in a flattering light and she was consistent. Her dialogue also held the right emotion in the right situation. If her entire novel was like this prose, I would've had no problems giving it 5 stars off the bat.

However...

Jumping back, the relationship between Emrys and Richard was Instalove. They have some sort of "connection" when they first meet which later we find out is actually explainable. But Emrys takes an interest in him and...BANG, they're in love. They were both taken with each other despite Emrys not actually being allowed to reveal herself as his guardian. There was close to no development in how they got from strangers to lovers but as loves, they shared a lot of moments. Their actual relationship is pretty strong but how they got there lacks some serious progression. Plus, besides mini gushing, I didn't feel for this relationship either; in the beginning.

Overall, this story was enjoyable, light with dark themes, cute and full of magic! I recommend to people who like faeries, conspiracy or a good mystery.

Author Info

Ryan's Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website |

I write books. Some are about rowdy-partying princes and their faery guardians (ALL THAT GLOWS, HarperTeen, 2/11/14). Others are about teenagers fighting for their lives in the slums of the Hak Nam Walled City (THE WALLED CITY, Little, Brown, Fall 2014). I love writing, traveling to new lands, drinking chai lattes and hanging christmas lights. I also love Jesus. I'm repped by Adams Literary. I can be reached at rgraudin [at] gmail [dot] com.