Reviews with content warning for Grief - Too Bright to See

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff

34 reviews

micaelacccc's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring fast-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

5.0

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queerafictionado's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Most people tend to have a moment, a person, an experience…something that helped them on their journey of discovering their identity as a queer/trans* person. Sometimes it’s lots of individual pieces that eventually come together and reveal something to you that you hadn’t seen before. Sometimes it’s more of a light bulb moment when everything just suddenly makes sense in a way it hadn’t before. In Bug’s case, that help came in the most unexpected of ways - through the paranormal.

Bug’s house had always been haunted. But suddenly, following the death of Bug’s beloved uncle, new things begin happening. And they all seem focused on Bug. And while Bug’s best friend Moira is focused on preparing for middle school, make-up, shopping, boys, and other things that Bug has no interest in…Bug is focused on figuring out what message Uncle Roderick is trying to send. I don’t want to say a lot about the story details because it’s hard not to do it without spoilers. I want other readers to be able to experience the journey alongside Bug, so I’ll keep my review to general thoughts and my reaction/feelings.

There are two main themes woven through this story - grief and identity. The loss of Roderick hit hard on their family. Especially Bug’s mom, but also on Bug. Throughout the story you get little snippets of the past and you learn more about Roderick and Bug’s relationship. And as Bug begins to put together all the pieces of the past with all the coded messages from Roderick’s ghost, new questions arise that send Bug on two distinct yet connected journeys: to find out what Roderick is trying to tell them and to figure out who the real Bug is. It’s a story about friendship, growing up, and finding yourself with a fun cozy mystery/paranormal twist that ultimately leads to a beautiful story about trans* joy. And it’s a reminder that even when you grow up in a supportive and progressive family, it can still be hard to find the answers you need and share your truth. Because being vulnerable like that is always a little scary, even when there aren’t ghosts involved.

🏳️‍🌈Rep: Trans MC, Gay uncle (SC)

📝Genre/Themes: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Paranormal, Coming of Age, Coming Out, Small Town Vermont, Single Parent, Friendship

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midgereads's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

3.0

This book was pretty mid for me. I didn’t dislike it, but I wouldn’t recommend it either. Maybe it’s because I’m a lot older than the target audience. Still, i think this book is a good introduction for kids who feel uncomfortable with their gender or who have questions about gender in general.

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scmiller's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition

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emotional reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

5.0

This focuses on Bug, a kid whose Uncle dies at the beginning of the summer before middle school. While there is a lot about grief and friendship, there is also a lot about self-discovery. The descriptions of gender dysphoria and social discomfort hit so close to home for me.

I did feel like some of the mystery part felt more obvious to me, but perhaps it would be different for its intended audience

(but to be fair, I'm thinking about the bit after they get the Oji board message. And while it's onvious from the outside what the message was, him being clueless is 100% realistic. I, too, have overlooked clues about my gender that are painfully obvious) While the end where everything goes super smoothly coming out at home and school isn't realistic per se, it is really wonderful and so vital to see stories without queer trauma

Really the only big issue I had was the lack of care with the Oija board. Always say goodbye and don't do it alone, kids!

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americattt's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

“Being around Griffin, just for a few minutes, felt like practicing how to be a better version of myself. It needs work, but maybe if I practice often enough it will start to feel natural. Maybe it will stop being something I have to practice, and something I’ll just be. Maybe that’s what growing up is like. Practice makes a person.”

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wardenred's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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 don’t feel like a boy that everyone thinks is a girl. I just feel like an uncomfortable, misshapen, squishy humanoid.

What a great book! This is probably my favorite middle grade novel ever (not that I read too many of them, admittedly), and I have a feeling it might be a very long time before another story comes along to knock it off the pedestal. Whyyyyy did I keep delaying reading it for so long???

I absolutely loved the descriptions of the haunted house and the whole concept of getting benevolently haunted by a deceased loved one who just wants you to be true to yourself and figure yourself out. It was so clever how the author took some of the popular ghost story tropes that are normally staples of horror and made them heartwarming instead. There's a lot to be said about the poignant depiction of grief, and not just Bug's, but also his Mom's. Around the middle of the book, there's a beautiful scene where Bug's Mom tells him about the five stages of grief. He starts naming them one by one, asking if she's on this stage or that, and she deflects and redirects the conversation just before he reaches depression. That was truly heart-clenching to read. I also loved that the grief, while very real, never felt too heavy somehow. Instead, there was always a kind of bright hope tinting it, an underlying understanding that Bug's uncle would want his family members to move on and thrive in his absence, and so that's what they're trying their best to do.

Bug was such a relatable character who constantly made me think back to when I was his age and to the experiences I had, especially with figuring out my gender. I never got that "Oh, that's my gender moment"—I stayed forever in the "shapeless squishy humanoid" spot and I'm very comfortable here at this point—but like, the dysphoria, the constant trying to fit into what a person of your assigned gender is probably supposed to be and never getting it despite all the effort while your friends just effortlessly *are*? All of this felt so viscerally relatable and made me feel so seen. It's such a pity I can't travel back in time and hand my pre-teen self this book, it would have made a world of difference to them. Oh, and also, Bug's habit of narrating his life as if it were a story to make it more livable, and how he let go of that habit once he became comfortable in his own skin? I thought I was the only one who constantly did that!

There's perhaps one tiny hiccup I had while reading, and it's an arguable one. On one hand, from the structural standpoint, the last few chapters felt kinda... drawn out? Tacked on? BUT! I wouldn't trade those several chapters FOR THE WORLD. They're THE BEST. They're basically just a string of coming-out scenes, and each of them is 100% transphobia-free and full of acceptance and validation. Each of them made me tear up in earnest, and I hate that there was that little voice at the dark, hurt back of my mind whispering that this was getting unrealistic, because nope. This can't be unrealistic. This should be the only acceptable version of reality, and I believe that one day, we'll all live in it and that books like this will help make it happen. Seriously, it was amazing to see so much acceptance, and to realize that none of the interpersonal problems Bug faced were in any way connected to his gender. Here, coming out as trans isn't seen as a problem by a single person. If anything, it's a solution.

So who cares about structural hiccups? The entire book is awesome.

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