Review: Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis

Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: April 17, 2012
Pages: 352
Source: Received from the author
Rating: 3.5 Stars

When Marshall King and Elyse Alton suddenly wake up tangled in each other's arms with zero memory of how they got there or even who they are, it's the start of a long journey through their separate pasts and shared future.
Terrified by their amnesia, Marshall and Elyse make a pact to work together to find the answers that could restore their missing memories. As they piece together clues about their lives, they discover that they're in the idyllic mountain resort town of Summer Falls. Everyone seems happy there, 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 violence in Elyse's family, not even the day-to-day anguish of being a high schooler.
Lonely in this world of happy zombies, Marshall and Elyse fall into an intense relationship founded on their mutual quest for truth. But the secrets they're trying to uncover could be the death of this budding love affair—and of everyone, and everything, they love in Summer Falls.

In short: Though the big reveal of the mystery wasn't as satisfying as I wanted, I was still kept entertained with Glimmer's intriguing premise and the piecemeal revelation of the big secret.

Strangers Elyse and Marshall wake up naked in bed next to each other and can't remember a thing about themselves or their lives before. But it gets stranger: in their town of Summer Falls, Colorado, it never gets cold and everyone seems perfect in a freaky Stepford Wives kind of way. The inhabitants are also susceptible to these things called "heatnaps" in which any upsetting incidents cause people to faint and are forgotten upon waking up. There is a hint of something more sinister afoot in this seemingly perfect, sleepy town and together, Elyse and Marshall must unravel the town's dark secrets to get back their memories.

I love these psychological mystery kind of stories. I love being confused, if that makes sense. It's kind of fun losing yourself in the mystery and not knowing what's going on, unravelling the mystery as the characters do. Stories like Glimmer are also guaranteed to maintain your interest throughout, if only because you feel like you NEED to find out the solution to the great enigma presented in the beginning. Glimmer is told through alternating POVs between Elyse and Marshall, but there is little overlap between the dual narratives ensuring the story moves along at a good pace. The mystery comes together piece by piece, which was great fun. Glimmer is a standalone so thankfully there were no major loose ends left hanging at the end.

The characterization was interesting with respect to the plot because the characters essentially wake up as blank slates, not knowing who they are or what they were like before. Over the course of Glimmer, they slowly uncover some nasty things about their life before and some unpleasant things about themselves that indicate they weren't as good people as they thought they were. The result is an interesting look into the characters' psyche.

I did have a few issues with Glimmer, however. Though there were no major loose ends left hanging at the end, there were still more outstanding questions leftover upon closing the final page than I would like. I also had a major problem with the plausibility of the concept. So I would say Glimmer's conclusion with the big reveal of the mystery wasn't as satisfying as I wanted, but I still had fun with the story. I was still kept plenty entertained at the intriguing premise and the piecemeal revelation of the big secret. I don't think Glimmer will be particularly memorable for me in the long run, but I had fun with it while it lasted.

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