ARC via Andye (The All-Knowing) at readingteen.net
Pub Date: January 2016
Goodreads // Amazon // My Reviews
Can the best thing happen at the worst time?
Her dad went crazy. Her mom left town. She has bills to pay and a little sister to look after. Now is not the time for level-headed seventeen-year-old Lucille to fall in love. But love—messy, inconvenient love—is what she’s about to experience when she falls for Digby Jones, her best friend’s brother. With blazing longing that builds to a fever pitch, Estelle Laure’s soulful debut will keep readers hooked and hoping until the very last page.
But I'm sorry I let her fall. (ARC)
Breaking, broken, and raging, raging, raging. Her dad went
crazy. Her mom left town. She has to care for her younger sister. And she’s
terribly in love with the most inconvenient of boys. This book wracked my being
with sadness. Pretty much this entire book was me feeling like this girl needed
a hug, some time off, and a nice big, home-y meal.
THIS RAGING LIGHT was beautiful and so, so sad. It felt a
whole lot like a drowning person struggling to keep their head above water.
Although the beauty of this book is undeniable, this is a VERY emotion-driven
book. And, unfortunately (me being a mood reader) I wasn’t totally head over
heels for it. I need a bit of happiness. As much as I ship the love, I also
really DON’T ship the love. As much as I love Eden, I also want to punch her.
So let’s talk the plot. After being sufficiently abandoned
by those meant to take care of her, Lucille works herself to the bone and
deeper to take care of her fourth-grade sister and to keep their little family
fed and together. She doesn’t shy away from doing what she has to do in order
to keep her head above water.
And then the character… There is Lucille, her younger
sister, Eden, and Digby. The brief flashes of minor characters are what I think
make this novel sort of build to a ‘fever-pitch.’ This community is what makes
this book unique. Their willingness to be helpful. Anyways: Digby. I’m half in
love with him, and half disappointed in him. But, then again, those disappointments
and awe-moments is what makes the boy who he is.
That’s sort of what I like about this book, and also what
makes it a 3-Star novel. The flaws and the mistakes develop the character and
are used as a building technique instead of some kind of growth point.
Basically, THIS RAGING LIGHT was a very half-full,
half-empty book for me. I didn’t feel as much as I wanted to. I was pretty
monotone while reading it, and when I did feel something it wasn’t joy of amusement.
It was the kind of sadness that weighs you down. After finishing it I had to
read some upbeat book about friendship where no body is left. I think this book
plays a lot on fears. Or at least some fears of mine. And maybe because it was
so startling it deserves more stars, but for me…. this book just wasn’t it.
The novel was beautiful, and totally quote worthy. However,
it wasn’t as emotion-inducing as I was hoping. I need to be able to connect
with the characters. Unfortunately, I couldn’t.
I've been seeing this a lot lately about this one, which makes me sad because I have it on my TBR and I was really looking forward to it. I'm definitely not in the mood for a sad book D: I'm sorry you didn't love it
ReplyDelete-Mikayla @ Bookmarks
I KNOW I WAS TOO GIRL. Better luck next time, hopefully!
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