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melodyseestrees's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The "too long, won't read" version is that the story has minor pacing issues, telenovela level twists right at the end, and if you can handle the majority of the content warnings you will enjoy yourself. There is the kind of ableism inherent to the time period of Elizabeth's youth, especially when concerning someone who is not neurotypical.
A story of women, young and old, discovering who they are. The exploration of Elizabeth's past through journals kept by her father is a novel plot vehicle. The scene of Morgan frantically trying to recover one of the journals is handled very well, especially concerning her desire to know the missing segment of time. Elizabeth handles the unveiling of her past like a champ and 'sees' behind the wall Morgan built up in her hurt over the loss of her grandfather.
Morgan and Derek's relationship is fairly jarring and barely mentioned throughout most of the story. You just get into the pace with Morgan and Elizabeth working on the journals and then suddenly you are dealing with Derek's drug dealing, toxic relationship creating, gaslighting self. Derek coerces Morgan into being romantic with him and he tries to convince her to steal medicines from the old people in the senior home. Luckily there are many chapters where he doesn't appear and you can kind of forget his portion of Morgan's troubled life.
You think you know where the story is going and in the last third of the book you get a few wild swings. Elizabeth was actually a baby her 'dad' found on a boat with a dead woman. He brought her in to fill the void actual dead Elizabeth left in the heart of her sister. This sister whom was sexually assaulted and impregnated years later. Their mother steals the newborn baby and gives her away. This baby grows up to be Morgan's mom. The 'out of nowhere' value of the twists brought the story rating down for me as they felt like telenovela plot conveniences. I think there were less dramatized ways to still get the story to hit on the same key points. In the audiobook it also seemed to switch which sister was which right at the end though I may have simply missed a line and confused myself.
A story of women, young and old, discovering who they are. The exploration of Elizabeth's past through journals kept by her father is a novel plot vehicle. The scene of Morgan frantically trying to recover one of the journals is handled very well, especially concerning her desire to know the missing segment of time. Elizabeth handles the unveiling of her past like a champ and 'sees' behind the wall Morgan built up in her hurt over the loss of her grandfather.
Morgan and Derek's relationship is fairly jarring and barely mentioned throughout most of the story. You just get into the pace with Morgan and Elizabeth working on the journals and then suddenly you are dealing with Derek's drug dealing, toxic relationship creating, gaslighting self.
You think you know where the story is going and in the last third of the book you get a few wild swings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault, Drug use, Rape, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, War, Child death, Addiction, Terminal illness, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Mental illness, Ableism, and Body horror
Elizabeth's sister is coded neurodivergent though a label is never explicitly applied to her. Several of the content warnings explicitly involve the sister.maggiel77's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
*slight spoiler in last paragraph*
Have your siblings ever bothered you so much that you tell them that they’re adopted? We start the book off by hearing about a boat accident on an island near Canada. Then switch to a young girl who has been charged with vandalism and now has to do community service at a local nursing home (the same place she vandalized). Her name is Morgan, and while she’s a vibrant girl, she has done some bad things in her past, and her boyfriend’s done even worse. At the nursing home, a blind resident is sitting on the lawn while Morgan is fixing the fence.
Have your siblings ever bothered you so much that you tell them that they’re adopted? We start the book off by hearing about a boat accident on an island near Canada. Then switch to a young girl who has been charged with vandalism and now has to do community service at a local nursing home (the same place she vandalized). Her name is Morgan, and while she’s a vibrant girl, she has done some bad things in her past, and her boyfriend’s done even worse. At the nursing home, a blind resident is sitting on the lawn while Morgan is fixing the fence.
The resident, Elizabeth, is near-blind, and she receives a shipment of journals recovered from the previous shipwreck. They belonged to her father, someone beloved to her who had died earlier in her life. Eventually, Elizabeth and Morgan bond over shared stories from the past and present.
Overall, I think that the book was written well, but I think there could’ve been a little more thrilling, especially in the beginning. The lack of excitement about reading it also led to me having a problem following along (since I would only read a few pages at a time for the first part, leaving me to forget everything). Along with that, the ending got very confusing and complicated, making it difficult to keep up with the story. Remember when you asked your parents if your sibling was adopted? It was kind of like that, but x10. I would recommend this book to a few people, but I wouldn’t tell a random stranger all about the book because of how good it is (which, believe it or not, I WOULD do for some books). Overall, I would give this book 2 1/2 stars out of 5.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use and Rape
chalkletters's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The Lightkeeper’s Daughters is very much a story divided into halves. As well as a split between past and present, the book is also divided between two viewpoint characters. Each of those parts have weaknesses, but each also has at least one strength, which I suppose proves that all of them are necessary.
For example, Morgan’s relationship drama isn’t all that interesting. It had none of the raw emotion that books sometimes manage to capture. And yet, Morgan’s section near the end of the book when she’s recovering the water-logged journal is so captivating that I read it without even checking what page I was on.
On the whole, I was most interesting in the story of Elizabeth and Emily’s childhoods. The tension in the scene where they discover a ship about to be wrecked is probably The Lightkeeper’s Daughters’ best scene. The family drama and the impact that the past has on the present is a little predictable, especially as I’ve read several other lighthouse books that work on a similar premise.
That said, Jean Pendziwol draws the reader through the story, which feels well-paced. The prose is enjoyable, especially in those parts that I’ve already mentioned, and the characters are mostly interesting.
The setting is, of course, my favourite part of The Lightkeeper’s Daughters. I just love stories about lighthouses, especially ones that are still working. There’s a lovely sense of the community, especially during the summer months, which feels like something you don’t get any more. The fact that Elizabeth also clearly loved growing up at a lighthouse makes this particularly enjoyable to revisit.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
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