Review: Glimpse: The Dwellers Book #1 By Sara Daniell

Glimpse: The Dwellers by Sara Daniell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'd like to thank the author, Sarah Daniell, for providing me with an ecopy ARC of this book for an honest review.
Orion is a Dweller living in the Sphere who does not conform to her society. She is angry, curious and always looking for trouble. It's no surprise when she finds her suddenly transported from Dandux to a place called "Earth", a place she has never heard of that has been kept secret from the Dwellers. When she gets stuck on Earth, she is desperate to find a way back. She is fights for her life and she lives on the run trying to keep away from Hunters who are sent to Earth to find those Dwellers who escape. When she meets Plath, a hunter, she believes she is done for. But Plath is not who he seems to be. Will she continue to run from those trying to kill her, or will she face them and return home?
Orion is a spunky girl. She is doesn't take anything from anyone. She speaks her mind and doesn't allow herself to become emotionally involved with anyone, except her brother. And she doesn't conform to what her society believes she should be. This gets her in trouble on more than one occasion. And her curiosity for adventure puts her in danger and keeps her on the run throughout the story. She is also selfish, wanting to return home to Dandux and find her family but not caring who she sacrifices along the way. She has no intentions of spending the rest of her life on Earth and on the run.
Her friend Sage joins her on this adventure. She moves around with Orion. I have to say that I didn't get much of a feel for Sage as a person: who she was, why she chose to go with Orion other than being a good friend, what she looks like. Of course the story wasn't focused on Sage as it was told from Orion's point of view.
Plath is a hunter sent to find and kill all Dwellers who have left the Sphere. The Contsble, the government within the Sphere, believe that Earth will taint their society, and cause them to lose control over their people. They rely on hunters such as Plath to help keep the peace. Plath is specially trained, the best of the best. He is chosen specifically to find Orion because there is something different about her that the government wants to use. He forms a relationship with her, but he is torn throughout the book because he has feelings for her that he is finding hard to deny.
I have to say it was a bit unclear to me how Orion and Sage actually ended up on Earth. I suppose that is part of the mystery of how the Sphere is kept separate from the rest of the planet. At one moment she and Sage are in Dandux and in the next sentence they are on Earth. This lends to the reason why Orion is unable to get back to Dandux, she has no idea where to go in order to get back.
This book is fast paced. I was able to read it in less than a day. I love the concept behind it: a society that completely separates themselves from everyone else so the government can have complete control over it's inhabitants. The dystopian elements are cleary present, despite the fact that we don't get to see much of what it is like living in the Sphere as Orion reaches Earth in the very beginning of the book. Perhaps we will get more of an idea of what the Sphere is like in book #2. And there are paranormal elements present towards the end of the book which I find very inuring.
Daniell has written a fast paced, adventurous story that keeps you wanting to turn the pages and see what happens next. And the end is certainly a cliff hanger making you want to read the next story in this adventure.
I give this book a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Review also posted on the following sites:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008...
http://www.librarything.com/work/1285...


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