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williamabookworm's review
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I am not so sure about this book...
On one hand, it is very well written (good phrasing, excellent wording, emotions are so well described you can instantly put yourself into Arias position).
I of course appreciated the queer representation! The foremost reason, together with the beautiful cover, for reading a scatter of light, which was written by a lesbian woman.
The sapphic, nonbinary, all together queer characters (most of them anyways) are really important and authentic.
Furthermore, I really enjoyed the ending. My only criticism here's it's just to short in my opinion.
Anyways, now to the contra:
The cheating was just aweful and destroyed all the great things I already mentioned. I can only speak for myself here, but it gives me a constant queasy feeling in the stomach. This storyline was just so unnecessary. It made a pretty good book into an dislikeable one, where the main characters became uncongenial a lot of the time .
On one hand, it is very well written (good phrasing, excellent wording, emotions are so well described you can instantly put yourself into Arias position).
I of course appreciated the queer representation! The foremost reason, together with the beautiful cover, for reading a scatter of light, which was written by a lesbian woman.
The sapphic, nonbinary, all together queer characters (most of them anyways) are really important and authentic.
Furthermore, I really enjoyed the ending. My only criticism here's it's just to short in my opinion.
Anyways, now to the contra:
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
leweylibrary's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I absolutely adored this book and may have even liked it more than I liked Last Night at the Telegraph Club which is saying something because I loved that book. I appreciate that this book wasn't a straight up sequel of that one but it still incorporates it and you get to see a glimpse of Lily and Kath's lives so many years later.
I feel like a lot about Aria's character resonated with me, not sure what that said about me exactly lol, but I do enjoyed reading her POV as she went through this tumultuous summer before college. She doesn't always make the best decisions, but that's part of growing up and starting to figure out who you really are. They're are quite a few possible triggers in this book, so be sure to check those. There's also one scene that's quite spicy for a YA book š„
I feel like a lot about Aria's character resonated with me, not sure what that said about me exactly lol, but I do enjoyed reading her POV as she went through this tumultuous summer before college. She doesn't always make the best decisions, but that's part of growing up and starting to figure out who you really are. They're are quite a few possible triggers in this book, so be sure to check those. There's also one scene that's quite spicy for a YA book š„
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
melliedm's review
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It's settled: I absolutely adore Malinda Lo.
A Scatter of Light follows Aria, a young woman in her year between high school and college, spending it with her grandmother instead of her friends because lewd photos taken without her consent were leaked by a boy. Yeah. I know. But stick with me. At her grandmother's in California, Aria meets the gardener taking care of the old property, a butch named Steph, who not only gives Aria a support network in California, but who (along with her queer friend group) act as a gateway for Aria to discover herself outside of the definitions placed on her by the society she came from.
Scatter of Light is a beautiful, poignant coming of age and coming out more than a romance (though Aria does explore a romance). It's got mistakes, grief, confusionāhope. Aria's coming out experience resonated with me so clearly, making this a ride to the stratosphere and back. I cannot recommend it enough. I was a puddle of tears by the end (some sad, some happy) I cannot wait to see what Lo does next.
A Scatter of Light follows Aria, a young woman in her year between high school and college, spending it with her grandmother instead of her friends because lewd photos taken without her consent were leaked by a boy. Yeah. I know. But stick with me. At her grandmother's in California, Aria meets the gardener taking care of the old property, a butch named Steph, who not only gives Aria a support network in California, but who (along with her queer friend group) act as a gateway for Aria to discover herself outside of the definitions placed on her by the society she came from.
Scatter of Light is a beautiful, poignant coming of age and coming out more than a romance (though Aria does explore a romance). It's got mistakes, grief, confusionāhope. Aria's coming out experience resonated with me so clearly, making this a ride to the stratosphere and back. I cannot recommend it enough. I was a puddle of tears by the end (some sad, some happy) I cannot wait to see what Lo does next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Bullying, Homophobia, Sexism, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment
hobbithopeful's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I enjoyed this book by Malinda Lo, however I don't quite love it as much as Last Night at the Telegraph Club. (I am giving this book 4.5 stars so if that tells anything about how much I enjoyed it)
This is a queer coming of age novel that follows teenage Aria during the years that gay marriage is legalized. Fantastic read, just didn't have the magic of the other book for me.
This is also touted as being a "companion novel" to Last Night at the Telegraph Club. In my opinion this is not really true, we get a brief mention of the characters but they never *actually* appear on page. They are somewhat distant cousins once removed and Aria reads a newspaper article about them and her Mom talks about meeting Lily and her girlfriend at a birthday party. That is all you get, I was really disappointed especially considering how much it was a companion novel, the characters never even interact which is odd because they have similar career aspirations.
Malinda Lo has a beautiful way of writing, whenever I read anything by her I always feel drawn into the pages. If she is talking about sandy beaches I feel the heat on my face, and the sand in between my toes. If she talks about brush strokes on a canvas, the stiff fabric feels as real to me as the thick paint that glides across it.
I also love the cover, it so perfectly encapsulates the feeling of the book and the title. The way it draws your eye across the page and is full of colors, the symbolism is very well done.
If I had to nitpick I wish the toxic relationship between Steph and Lisa was addressed more. It is quite obvious as the book goes on that Lisa is very controlling and toxic (no justification for the infidelity...but still) Also the relationship between Aria and her Mother is left very much unresolved. (Even at the end she isn't at her art show) Which really is sad, but I guess that is also the harsh reality of life. (We don't always get happy endings)
A must read for sure.
And the ending, while bittersweet, I don't think it could have ended any other way. BUT there were several threads and unanswered questions I had about several characters that felt very open ended and just left me with more questions. (Not always a bad occurrence, but still. I want to know who is engaged to who etc)
This is a queer coming of age novel that follows teenage Aria during the years that gay marriage is legalized. Fantastic read, just didn't have the magic of the other book for me.
This is also touted as being a "companion novel" to Last Night at the Telegraph Club. In my opinion this is not really true, we get a brief mention of the characters but they never *actually* appear on page.
Malinda Lo has a beautiful way of writing, whenever I read anything by her I always feel drawn into the pages. If she is talking about sandy beaches I feel the heat on my face, and the sand in between my toes. If she talks about brush strokes on a canvas, the stiff fabric feels as real to me as the thick paint that glides across it.
I also love the cover, it so perfectly encapsulates the feeling of the book and the title. The way it draws your eye across the page and is full of colors, the symbolism is very well done.
If I had to nitpick I wish the toxic relationship between
A must read for sure.
And the ending, while bittersweet, I don't think it could have ended any other way. BUT there were several threads and unanswered questions I had about several characters that felt very open ended and just left me with more questions. (Not always a bad occurrence, but still. I want to know who is engaged to who etc)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Sexism, Grief, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying, Homophobia, and Racism
kappafrog's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Big disappointment after how much I liked Last Night at the Telegraph Club. Boring characters, pretty predictable plot, and the infidelity made the main character very unsympathetic. I only kept reading for the promised update on Lily and Kath but it was very anticlimactic and felt shoehorned in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer, Incest, Racism, and Religious bigotry