Arclight by Josin L. McQuein

No one crosses the wall of light . . . except for one girl who doesn’t remember who she is, where she came from, or how she survived. A harrowing, powerful debut thriller about finding yourself and protecting your future—no matter how short and uncertain it may be.

The Arclight is the last defense. The Fade can’t get in. Outside the Arclight’s border of high-powered beams is the Dark. And between the Light and the Dark is the Grey, a narrow, barren no-man’s-land. That’s where the rescue team finds Marina, a lone teenage girl with no memory of the horrors she faced or the family she lost. Marina is the only person who has ever survived an encounter with the Fade. She’s the first hope humanity has had in generations, but she could also be the catalyst for their final destruction. Because the Fade will stop at nothing to get her back. Marina knows it. Tobin, who’s determined to take his revenge on the Fade, knows it. Anne-Marie, who just wishes it were all over, knows it.

When one of the Fade infiltrates the Arclight and Marina recognizes it, she will begin to unlock secrets she didn’t even know she had. Who will Marina become? Who can she never be again?

I haven't been too excited lately when it comes to dystopian books, but I am glad that I took a chance on Arclight. The premise for this book isn't entirely original, as a lone hub of humanity in the midst of a supposedly barren wasteland has been the subject of quite a few books in the past couple years, but McQuein does take her world in an interesting direction by playing with the perspective of good and bad in a truly surprising way. With a satisfying plot, well crafted characters, and deep emotion, Arclight is both a solid debut and strong addition to the dystopian genre.

Rating: 4.25

Review copy from Amazon Vine