Reviews with content warning for Death - We Are the Light

Reviews tagging 'Death'

We Are the Light by Matthew Quick

39 reviews

brynstonehouse's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

As a therapist myself, this book was initially a struggle to read. Especially as it reminded me of some of my previous highly codependent clients. But the last 50ish pages really turn it around and redeemed that aspect of the book.

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shyleek's review

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challenging emotional reflective tense slow-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

I have to admit that the writing style threw me for a loop and I didn't know how I was going to feel about it. The more I read though, the more I wanted to read.

This book deals with some deep concepts including loss, grief, healing, and family trauma just to name a few. It will take you on an emotional roller coaster but it is worth the read.

There are some big triggers including murder and gun violence.

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laura_berger's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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myinfinitetbr's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced

4.5

Lucas lives in Majestic, PA, a town recovering from a recent tragedy. Townspeople call Lucas a hero, but he doesn't see it that way.
Everyone's healing (or not) in different ways. Lucas looks forward to nightly visits from his deceased wife, and writes letters to his Jungian analyst Karl.

I wasn't expecting this small book to pack such an emotional punch. I loved that it was written in the form of unanswered letters from Lucas to Karl in the wake of this town tragedy, slowly unveiling the tragedy itself and its aftermath.

It was such a timely story, and exemplified an alternate way to heal through grief and come together in situations that are often divisive.

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cassidy's review

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dark emotional sad 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? Yes

5.0

</3 this book was so sad -- also I like that we were fully taken along with Lucas and could be with him in his journey. and although the trope of "healing isn't linear" is cheesy the way that it was portrayed wasn't. also loved the theme of that we all have monsters inside of us (as opposed to labeling people as either good or bad). made me want to learn more about Jungian analysis.

Also, I kind of liked the portrayal of the politician character not as being villainous but as not being what the town needed to heal. I'm not trying to be all "thoughts and prayers" and obviously gun control is needed, but that does seem separate from a healing process and i like the perspective of "yes we need gun control, but i can't put my pain on a pedestal for political gain" idk I guess survivors of any sort are often expected to be political voices that call for change/ that is the only acceptable option presented to deal with trauma and that feels a little unfair to them. so anyways i liked the perspective that this book took in respect to that.

I'm not sure how I feel about the conclusion that the idea that Darcy was with him as an angel was fully him dissociating or a hallucination -- but I guess still this is the perspective of Lucas as he is an unreliable narrator and I guess I'm okay with finding my own truth somewhere in between

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