Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - We Light Up the Sky

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

We Light Up the Sky by Lilliam Rivera

2 reviews

foreverinastory's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Thank you to B2Weird book club & tours as well as Bloomsbury for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Aliens come to earth and everyone has a good time (jk no one does lmao).

Rep: Latine (Puerto Rican) female MC, Latine (Mexican-American) pansexual male MC, queer (Mexican-American) Latine male MC, Latine side characters.

CWs: Blood, body horror, colonisation, death, fire, gore, grief, gun violence, injury/injury detail, medical content (death from COVID-19), murder, violence. Moderate: police brutality, racism.

Content Warnings

thebookworm_queen's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

3.5

A solid 3.5 stars. I will definitely be reaching for that sequel! That ending? omg NOT cool!

We Light Up The Sky by Lilliam Rivera is a YA sci-fi novel that follows three young adults who take on defending Los Angeles, CA from an invading extraterrestrial. The odds are against them as the bunch barely know each other and are facing an e.t. that can morph itself to look human and sound like anyone it interacts with. It has turned LA into an overgrown jungle filled with obedient poisonous subspecies of mountain lions and coyotes and the gang need to find it’s weakness to stop it from taking over the planet.

The story takes place after COVID-19 and uses this as a theme throughout the book, creating a parallel between the virus and the alien. It is a timely novel that I was very excited for, but I did not fall in love with it like I had hoped. The story did not grab my heart due to the lack of connection between the reader and the protagonists. The writing was good, but it felt choppy with each new character narration, it felt like I was left wanting more with each chapter. Also the romance was poorly executed and felt forced. HOWEVER I did enjoy: being able to see the city that I know so well reflected on the page, the latinx representation, and the main message of the story.

"A radical change is about to be imposed on this planet, and to hide from it is to be complicit. She won't be complicit again. She must do something" (Rivera 188).

Let's talk about the positives: Pedro, Rafa and Luna are amazing! I loved them all… separately. Not so sure if they work well as a group? Pedro: an influencer who would never be caught dead wearing the same outfit as the day before; he is loud and talks before thinking, he’s lovable and hilarious. I’ll admit, I loved Pedro instantly from page one and he is my favorite. I connected to him the most from his desire to always look cute and his tendency to rely too much on horoscopes/astrology. I also empathized with Pedro as we’ve both had to deal with racist people at work/life (on one too many occasions). Rafa: is quiet and keeps to himself; an introvert not by choice, but due to the immense responsibility he feels to take care of his family and keep up with family expectations. I related to Rafa as he struggled to uphold family expectations and respected his need to protect his little sister. Luna: who has chosen to close herself off from those who love her and hide behind a mask of superficial friends. She grieves the loss of her cousin in silence. She is also smart and independent; she doesn’t listen to what the guys have to say, instead she goes with what her mind tells her is the right thing to do. Her ability to brave everything the crazy alien storm throws at her was admirable. They’re all amazing individuals and relatable, but they did not ever click in my opinion as a group and it was a bit disappointing.

Though our cast of heroes did not click, I loved the representation and the fact that the main characters represented real Latinx young adults and their struggles! I loved that, it’s something so rare ro read and seeing it was amazing! As I mentioned, I empathize with Pedro as he had to deal with racist people at work. The scene features Pedro working the In-n-Out drive thru line. A car rolls up with two obnoxious teens asking for burritos. Pedro keeps his cool and says they must be confused, but these customers push him further. Pedro easily makes a witty comeback which I applauded and revealed in his ability to shut them up. So many times I have wished I could’ve said the right thing to the same type of people, but most of the time you gotta just stay quiet. There are other scenes like this pointing out how unfair it is that we are quickly pointed out and misjudged due to our ethnicity or race. Having these scenes and this book gives me a sense of relief, like “hey I see you and maybe one day this won't happen again, but until then your struggle is heard.”

I also appreciated how the author practically yelled out through her book that police brutality will not be left unchecked. Most of racist moments depicted featured cops, bringing to light how often skin color is all that is seen by the police force. How quickly can a cop forget that he is pointing a gun at a young teenager with his whole life ahead of him? Very quickly. Moments like this are depicted multiple times and there are allusions made to a specific shooting: on March 29th 2021 13-year old Adam Toledo was shot and killed by Chicago Police. It is never stated specifically but I’m pretty sure this is what the author was referencing.

This book was also a lot of fun. As I read it I felt transported to my city of angels. I vividly read about the observatory by Griffith park, the Beverly Center, and the Eggslut restaurant! Ultimately, I did not like the characters as a group as I felt there wasn’t a strong connection between them. This was due in part to the ominous tone and also in part to the multiple pov narration. Also the romance aspect of the book felt like it was too rushed. I love the idea of it and hope that if there is a sequel that this is more developed. If anything though this book would be a great conversation starter in school!

Check this book out if you’re looking for:

Speculative Fiction
E.T Invasion
A Quick Read
A Powerful Message
Latinx Representation
LGBTQIA+ REP

Thank you to the publishers and to B2weird Book Tours for the free finished copy of this book in exchange for a review and for posting on my instagram!

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