Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis

Review: Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis

Glimmer
by Pheobe Kitanidis
Release Date: April 17th, 2012

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What if you forgot your identity and had to rely on other people to tell you who you were?

And what if to discover your true self, you first had to unravel a mystery so big and terrifying you were not sure you’d survive solving it?

When Marshall and Elyse wake up in each other’s arms with zero memory of how they got there or who they are, it’s the start of a long journey through their separate pasts and shared future.

Terrified by their amnesia, the two make a pact to work together to find the answers that could jog their missing memories. As they piece together clues, they discover they’re in the idyllic mountain resort town of Summer Falls, where everyone seems mysteriously happy, 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 shame in Elyse’s family, not even the day-to-day anguish of high school.

Lonely in this world of happy zombies, Marsh and Elyse fall into an intense relationship...but the secrets they uncover could be the death of this growing love—and the death of everyone, and everything, they love in Summer Falls.

When I first glanced at Glimmer I was really confused at where to place it. First off, I have a lot of cover love for this read: the image is mysterious and beautiful, with a lot of my attention directed towards the eyes. The shadowing around the entire image is beautiful, and gives that ghostly, paranormal vibe that drove me to pick up the book in the first place. Ok, so we have an interesting cover but what about the back cover summary? The summary does not really give much away when it comes to what the book is really about; is it paranormal? Futuristic? Dystopian? Are there actual zombies? Cause let’s face it I am a sucker for a good zombie read. Well, Glimmer is one book that skims the line where it’s attention is but is it the book for you? Let’s dive in . . .

Let me just begin by telling you that Glimmer is basically selling itself as a ghost story, but from the first chapters I assumed it was a kind of cult/dystopian centered book. To start off we are introduced to two teenagers waking up next to each other in bed completely naked with no memory of who they are or how they go there. After the initial freak out, both teens flee the house – fully clothed – and have only each other to rely on as they try to figure out who they are and what led them to their current memory loss. However, along the way Elyse – the girl – discovers that she can see people that others cannot and that residents of the town are missing certain portions of their memories – referenced to have a brain like Swiss cheese. It seems like the town of Summer Falls is hiding something sinister beneath its waters, and our two teenage amnesiacs need to remember themselves fast before it’s too late.

Ok let’s talk about our two leads: Marshall and Elyse. What I was a bit confused about was what brought these two characters together and their connection. Elyse is basically the YA teen that I don’t usually root for and she was hard for me to connect to because even Elyse doesn’t like herself. Upon first waking up and discovering her clothing, she is shocked and automatically dismisses it as her own. Actually that is a running point in the book: Elyse does not like the person she was before her memory was wiped including how she looks, her treatment of others, and her life at home. Marshall was a bit harder for me to pin down, and many probably won’t understand his place in the town until the last few “revelation chapters”. However, I enjoyed Marshall more than Elyse because we went more into his home life and his past; his father especially is in a tragic situation and I only wish the author focused more on his struggles too. In fact, I wish more focus and attention was given to the side characters including Marshall’s two friends. Elyse and Marshall just did not feel completely strong enough or believable enough together for me.

Now, the overall tone of the book was creepy. The whole town reminded me of a cross between The Stepford Wives and the town in Stephen King’s IT. The perfection of the town and the zombie-like actions of its citizens definitely sent off the ‘something is not right here and you should leave now’ vibe. But the supernatural elements and the secrets hidden beneath the surface reminded me of the elements of King’s IT. In addition, the town seems to be cut off from society and its strange happenings are overlooked by outsiders. The creep factor is only increased with the introduction of the –spoiler- ghosts, which just appear to be pure evil until the “revelation” chapters. I found myself getting a bit confused at the end with how Elyse and Marshall were able to ‘free’ everything, and I wish the author had gone into more of the abilities that Marshall possessed. For me it felt a bit like that element was the more unbelievable aspect of the book.

Also, I feel like the author could have gone into more about the asylum. Yes, there was a chapter where Elyse went into the building and discovered some secrets but that was really it. If there was one place that upped the creepy factor it was the asylum. I wanted to know why the mayor set up the place and kept people there. Would it not have been simpler to just turn the people into ghosts, thus sustaining the town more? Just a point that I felt could have benefited from the some more information.

Overall, I would say that Glimmer had both its strong points and weak points for me. The setting, tone and the overall story was what kept me entertained but I felt that the main characters were a bit less believable for me. I am a big fan of the seemingly creepy, perfect zombie community that this book focused on and I would have loved if the author had perhaps delved into the background more. In the end though I did enjoy this book, and highly recommend it to readers looking for something different and familiar.

RATING

4 out of 5