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emma_jade91's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
amidala7567's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
rgoodhart's review against another edition
4.0
Where the Light Goes by Sara Barnard
This was a tough read – the trigger warnings at the beginning are there for a reason – but on the whole, with care in who this is issued to, I would be happy to have this in my school library.
The story focuses on Emmy, the younger sister of Beth/Lizzie deals with her sister’s suicide. In one sense it’s not a book about suicide, then, but about grief and loss and how that affects different people.
Beth/Lizzie, who takes her own life, was a young member of a girl group launched through a TV talent show. As such, matters relating to fame, social media, drugs etc. are present in the book and that should be considered too in recommending the book. There is sex and bad language but it’s not graphic and the emphasis throughout is on pain, grief and loss.
Emmy’s parents don’t come out of this well – and the book definitely gives the teen perspective on events – but it’s also made clear that the parents are also traumatised and are incapable rather than unwilling to give Emmy the care and support she so desperately needs. At the same time, Emmy treats many people badly as she struggles to process what has happened – to cope with her loss and her guilt and the lack of knowing what might have changed the outcome for her sister.
The theme of friendship is also explored – what does it look like to be a real friend to someone who is going through unimaginable suffering? Emmy’s friends try to help her but she pushes them away over and over again – treating them so badly – yet they ultimately remain faithful to her – unlike the boy in whose arms she tries so hard to find release from her feelings.
I think this could be a helpful book for young people today – it doesn’t shy away from the painful reality of death and loss, and it doesn’t glorify fame and social media notoriety – but in the end it shows that there can be hope beyond the pain and grief.
This was a tough read – the trigger warnings at the beginning are there for a reason – but on the whole, with care in who this is issued to, I would be happy to have this in my school library.
The story focuses on Emmy, the younger sister of Beth/Lizzie deals with her sister’s suicide. In one sense it’s not a book about suicide, then, but about grief and loss and how that affects different people.
Beth/Lizzie, who takes her own life, was a young member of a girl group launched through a TV talent show. As such, matters relating to fame, social media, drugs etc. are present in the book and that should be considered too in recommending the book. There is sex and bad language but it’s not graphic and the emphasis throughout is on pain, grief and loss.
Emmy’s parents don’t come out of this well – and the book definitely gives the teen perspective on events – but it’s also made clear that the parents are also traumatised and are incapable rather than unwilling to give Emmy the care and support she so desperately needs. At the same time, Emmy treats many people badly as she struggles to process what has happened – to cope with her loss and her guilt and the lack of knowing what might have changed the outcome for her sister.
The theme of friendship is also explored – what does it look like to be a real friend to someone who is going through unimaginable suffering? Emmy’s friends try to help her but she pushes them away over and over again – treating them so badly – yet they ultimately remain faithful to her – unlike the boy in whose arms she tries so hard to find release from her feelings.
I think this could be a helpful book for young people today – it doesn’t shy away from the painful reality of death and loss, and it doesn’t glorify fame and social media notoriety – but in the end it shows that there can be hope beyond the pain and grief.
ellajappinen's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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? It's complicated
3.5
withlovejoy's review
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-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
4.0
Have you ever thought about how you only truly know one version of a person? How you will never know your best friend like others know her? How you will never see your mother the way your little brother sees her? How you will only know the things about your grandma she wants you to know, but not the ones her best friend in high school knew about her, a memory long forgotten, buried beneath all the stress of becoming an adult?
Trigger warning: mentions of suicide.
In Where the Light Goes we follow Emmy, Em, Embop on her very own journey of grieving her older sister Beth. Beth the superstar. Beth the druggie. Beth the scandalous one. Beth, the singer, who suffered from all the fame and was too depressed to see any way of her life ever becoming better and decided to take her own life, leaving behind her younger sister.
This is a story you don't read. You fully experience it. The sadness, anger and frustrations that the protagonist feels, you feel too. Not only through the writing, which was exceptionally, but also through the formatting. The way the font and spacing was used made this book feel lively, the Emmy's emotions felt more real and closer to your heart. If her thoughts were jumbled, so was the text. Words littered all over the page, a single big word taking up all the space or tweets that Emmy reads, all these things made this read an experience I believe I will never have again when reading another book.
Many important topics were touched in this book and each one of them was handled with so much care, I just know that the author has spent a lot of time dedicated to researching and informing herself. On the one hand there is obviously grief and the many different ways people will deal with the traumatic loss of a sister, daughter, friend. Then there's how fame can ruin people, how cruel the music industry is and how hate and rumors can ruin a person. I believe this is especially important right now with social media on an all time high, when it's so easy for people to spread hate in the comforts of anonymity.
To me however, the most important and impactful message is that we will never fully know anyone. We will only see parts of all the people in our life, taking these pieces and gluing them together, creating our very own version of them. Someone else might know a different version of them, a better one, a more complex one, simply another one. But that doesn't't mean that the version we know of a person is any less real than any of the other ones. And that's okay because isn't that what makes each and every one of us so unique?
Trigger warning: mentions of suicide.
In Where the Light Goes we follow Emmy, Em, Embop on her very own journey of grieving her older sister Beth. Beth the superstar. Beth the druggie. Beth the scandalous one. Beth, the singer, who suffered from all the fame and was too depressed to see any way of her life ever becoming better and decided to take her own life, leaving behind her younger sister.
This is a story you don't read. You fully experience it. The sadness, anger and frustrations that the protagonist feels, you feel too. Not only through the writing, which was exceptionally, but also through the formatting. The way the font and spacing was used made this book feel lively, the Emmy's emotions felt more real and closer to your heart. If her thoughts were jumbled, so was the text. Words littered all over the page, a single big word taking up all the space or tweets that Emmy reads, all these things made this read an experience I believe I will never have again when reading another book.
Many important topics were touched in this book and each one of them was handled with so much care, I just know that the author has spent a lot of time dedicated to researching and informing herself. On the one hand there is obviously grief and the many different ways people will deal with the traumatic loss of a sister, daughter, friend. Then there's how fame can ruin people, how cruel the music industry is and how hate and rumors can ruin a person. I believe this is especially important right now with social media on an all time high, when it's so easy for people to spread hate in the comforts of anonymity.
To me however, the most important and impactful message is that we will never fully know anyone. We will only see parts of all the people in our life, taking these pieces and gluing them together, creating our very own version of them. Someone else might know a different version of them, a better one, a more complex one, simply another one. But that doesn't't mean that the version we know of a person is any less real than any of the other ones. And that's okay because isn't that what makes each and every one of us so unique?
twinklstarcandy's review
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Actually good and very addictive
kellyhav's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
yasmonalisa's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.0
ode_to_readers's review
emotional
reflective
4.0
A poignant book about grief and loss. About how it feels once someone so close to you suddenly feels unrecognizable as a person. About how are you don't know someone as well as you think because different parts of them are shown to different people and you can't gather all of the parts.
"That's not the same as knowing her," I say.
"I don’t think..." She trails off, considering. "I don’t think its about knowing her better. In a different way, sure. But not better. Maybe its more like ..
your story of Beth is different. You know? I have a story of me and Beth, and who she was to me, and in your head, there's another story. You don't know mine, and I don't know yours, because they're ours. Be neither one is wrong, or less real"
This book talks about how grief can turn a person, who is albeit slightly messed up, into an idol once they're gone because no one wants to talk about bad sides of the person when they're not there to defend themselves. It's also about how you have to try to find (or fill) that missing piece in your heart that that person has left behind, by leaving you behind. It means that you make mistakes, that you push people away, that you feel lost until suddenly you don’t.
I loved how the book was written. How the font changed and how pages were just somewhat left blank, feeling as if you also had a mind blanked with grief. Everything about this book was so poetic. Highly recommend.
"That's not the same as knowing her," I say.
"I don’t think..." She trails off, considering. "I don’t think its about knowing her better. In a different way, sure. But not better. Maybe its more like ..
your story of Beth is different. You know? I have a story of me and Beth, and who she was to me, and in your head, there's another story. You don't know mine, and I don't know yours, because they're ours. Be neither one is wrong, or less real"
This book talks about how grief can turn a person, who is albeit slightly messed up, into an idol once they're gone because no one wants to talk about bad sides of the person when they're not there to defend themselves. It's also about how you have to try to find (or fill) that missing piece in your heart that that person has left behind, by leaving you behind. It means that you make mistakes, that you push people away, that you feel lost until suddenly you don’t.
I loved how the book was written. How the font changed and how pages were just somewhat left blank, feeling as if you also had a mind blanked with grief. Everything about this book was so poetic. Highly recommend.
crystalmethany's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5