Radiance (book)
| Author | Alyson Noel |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Riley Bloom Series |
| Genre | Children's Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Middle School Paranormal |
| Publisher | Square Fish - an imprint of Macmillan |
| Pages | 192 Pages[1] |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0-330-52691-3 |
| Followed by | 'Shimmer' |
Radiance is the first book of The Immortals Series's spin - off called The Riley Bloom Series.
Plot
Riley Bloom crossed the bridge into the afterlife following a car crash - with her parents and her beloved dog, Buttercup. The afterlife is situated in - Here & Now . And it turns out that the afterlife is not just an eternity of leisure. Riley meets The Council where she is assigned a job as a Soul Catcher, with weird but maybe cute boy as her guide whose name is Bodhi. Her first assignment will take her back to earth, to everything she's left behind - where she must find the Radiant Boy, a ten-year-old, long - lost spirit in the haunting castles of England for centuries, who doesn't want to move on.
Characters
Riley Bloom
Riley Bloom is a 12 year old girl who died in a car crash with her parents and her dog - Buttercup. She had first chosen to live with her sister Ever but then she finally crossed the bridge into the after life. Riley has blond hair and blue eyes just like her sister Ever. But her nose is identical to her Dad's 'stubby' nose, as she complains. She gets assigned the job of a soul catcher and has to make the radiant boy cross the bridge to the Here & Now.
Bodhi
Bodhi is a 14 year old boy who died of bone cancer. He was training to be a professional skateboarder.He is Riley's mentor/teacher/guide/coach. As Riley says, he is a 'dorky kid' wearing a thick, nerdy pair of glasses and has greasy hair falling over his face. He has guilt over the fact that he died just a year before the millennium. Bodhi has to help Riley with her quest to send the radiant boys over to the afterlife of the here and now.
Radiant Boy
The Radiant Boy has been haunting an old castle in England for more than 1000 years and are world wide famous. But, Riley's task is to get him over the bridge to a place called Here.
Buttercup
Buttercup is a yellow Labrador dog. He has big brown eyes and pink nose. He found the bridge to Here & Now and led Riley and her parents to the bridge though Riley didn't crossed. Riley thinks that he has some kind of unique canine ability to figure out solutions. As The Council tells Riley that dogs are a gift to mankind with a pure and positive energy and happy, joyful and loyal nature. By this Buttercup is also the part of assignments given to Riley.
The Council
The Council are the people who take an afterlife test and give a soul work - a task to accomplish. In the book, five members of The Council are introduced.
Aurora
Aurora is a girl in a beautiful blue gown, swished all around which gleamed in a way that made it look like a woven robe made from a generous pile of star dust and long yards of laces. She radiated a vibrant and brilliant purple light. Her curly hair transformed in a sequence from yellow to brown to black to red. Her skin in the same way converted from the palest white to the darkest ebony.
Claude
Claude is a boy with a long and dark ponytail and has a long and scraggly beard almost coming until his waist.
Royce
Royce is a boy with wavy brown hair, dark skin and green glinting eyes. As Riley describes him with good looks of a movie star.
Samson
Samson as per Riley, he looked so much old and then again so young.
Celia
Celia is a petite girl almost like a person in miniature and wearing a creamy silk robe covered in the most beautiful embroidery of bright blossoming flowers and long, spindly vines. She radiates a cornflower blue light - almost opposite to Aurora's light.
Reviews
“Riley, who appeared in ghost form to her older sister, Ever, in Noël’s bestselling Evermore, takes center stage in this middle-grade spinoff, first in a lanned series. . . . her wit, attitude, and maturation should have readers gladly following her into the second installment.”—Publishers Weekly
“Narrating in a contemporary voice with an honest and comfortable cadence, Riley is imperfect, but always likable as she sweeps readers to her faraway land where she makes herself and readers assess their behaviors and, quite possibly, make adjustments. In the midst of this wildly fanciful setting, Noël is able to capture with nail-on-the-head accuracy common worries and concerns of today’s tweens.”—School Library Journal
“A tale for lovers of the genre . . . For those preteens who like a mild supernatural adventure with romantic overtones, you go, ghost.”—Kirkus Reviews
Radiance is rated 3.57 out of 5 at Goodreads.com [3]