88 reviews for:

The Light Always Breaks

Angela Jackson-Brown

3.54 AVERAGE

layaareads_'s review

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

4.0

tashasd's review

3.0

I liked this book but it took me a while to get through. The beginning and end were so good, but the middle was a bit of a long, slow slog. The book is the story of biracial Eva who finds success in Washington, D.C. It's a good piece of historical fiction, but I wanted more from the romance.

angelaptrice's review

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a really immersive read. The characters were well-crafted. The settings, Washington DC and Georgia,  (two of my favorite places in the country) as a backdrop added greater insight into those times.

I didn’t love the ending because there was such tension built between the forbidden relationship between Eva and Courtland for the book to just end with no real resolution.

llcoolzhay's review against another edition

emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book was so beautifully written…up until the end. It felt like everything was building up for some kind of payoff, except there wasn’t any. Slight spoiler:

don’t expect a happy ever after.

goofybookaholic's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

jamiejello's review

Writing style was a bit immature, hard to take book seriously. 

y_mouse's review

emotional sad fast-paced

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

2.75

taaaylove's review

challenging emotional reflective

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

I really did want to love this book. Historical fiction has always been my favorite, and the characters had so much love in their hearts. It was so good…

Until it wasn’t. The ending was a cop out. She could have written a bold, brave, and heartbreakingly honest ending to the story, but she didn’t. Definitely disappointed. 

wengergal's review

3.0

The Light Always Breaks is a historical fiction set in the 1940's in Washington DC during the height of civil unrest. Eva Cordon, the black owner of a popular French restaurant, crosses path with Courtland, Georgia's white senator. Sparks immediately begin to fly. Eva is involved in the civll rights movement. Courtland finds himself torn between his love for Eva, the right thing to do, and his father's prejudice ways and thoughts.

I found that I had a love hate relationship with this book. I loved the book at times and I hated the book at times. I wanted to scream at the characters and other times my heart broke for them.

Here are just a few of my thoughts about the hate part.

- Early in the book, Courtland and a mutual friend of Eva and Courtland, Adam goes to Eva's restaurant with Courtland. Before arriving at the restaurant, Adam warns Courtland not to get involved with Eva. At the restaurant, the men end up eating lunch with Eva. During the lunch, Adam leaves Eva and Courtland alone. It felt unrealistic to me that after warning Courtland of the perils of being with Eva, Adam would leave the two alone in a very public setting.

- Eva is a twenty-four-year old black woman who owns a French restaurant in Washington DC in 1947. I never could find how Eva got the money to start a business this fancy in Washington DC at this time in our country. This felt unrealistic to me. This fact bothered me the entire book.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

annereads's review against another edition

5.0

Wonderful civil rights era historical fiction. Highly recommend reading!