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levilore_'s review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was definitely a slow burn, but it was also entertaining. I was yelling at Gil for a lot of the book lol but he wasn't such an annoying character that I didn't enjoy him. In fact, I think the author did a good job at using the inner thoughts to enhance Gil's growth, so while I found him frustrating at times, I also saw his reasoning based on his upbringing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent
_isabel_'s review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
5.0
"Light Up the Lamp" is incredible.
An unexpected, highly impressive and ridiculously gorgeous gem of a book, featuring the most heartwarming, slow-burn, second chance romance.
I really don't know where to start because I have so many thoughts.
"Light Up the Lamp" is a hockey romance, but in many ways it's much more than that: it's about life after, and around, hockey too. It's about finally learning that a sport won't love you back the same way people do, and that sometimes it's okay for your goals and ambitions to change, that success doesn't necessarily mean a successful team or winning a cup.
Gil and Sebastian meet, after ten years apart, ten years of pain, confusion and misunderstandings, but this time as a player and a coach on the same down-on-their-luck, falling-apart hockey team. Second chance romance romances are so tricky to get right, but I thought that Kit Oliver managed it beautifully: Gil and Sebastian's past, the love and pain they feel for one another, shines through every one of their interactions, as does the fact that, after ten years apart, they both have to get to know each other anew, as adults this time.
Sebastian is both familiar and unfamiliar to Gil, and his confusion and his heartbreak, the jarring, startled realization that Gil has, probably, messed up, and that Sebastian has had a life in the meantime, was so gut-wrenching to witness.
Gil and Sebastian were both two extremely lovable protagonists, and their relationship had me in a chokehold from the start. Tentative and complex, fraught with doubts and misunderstandins, but also sweet, playful, hopeful and subtly sexy. I loved them together so damn much, even when one (or both) of them were acting like idiots.
But Gil stole my heart and soul. His is the only POV we get, so of course his view of how things went down colour the readers' perception of him and Sebastian, and of every other character too, but I have to applaud Kit Oliver for how Gil's arc and growth was handled.
The reader, alongside Gil, slowly realizes that maybe Gil's view on how things went down (with Sebastian, with Gil's parents and his brothers, with everything) is probably a bit skewed and, maybe, probably, some of it was his fault too.
So yeah, I was still fiercely protective of him for the whole duration of the novel, but I also ended up recognising that he's obviously flawed too: clueless and oblivious, a bit immature, but also so very ready to change and grow as soon as he realizes it.
The writing was brilliant, absolutely masterful: poetic, vivid, touching and Kit Oliver managed to beautifully convey the whole range of Gil's feelings. I felt his hope, his anxiety, his fears and his longing like they were my own, and my heart broke and soared with his.
And his journey throughout the book was equally brilliant, and brilliantly plotted by the author.
Again, I felt like I was changing with him: my feelings on everything that was going on, from his complicated history with Sebastian to his new team and the "unusual" way the Sea Lions work, were constantly changing, growing, alongside his own feelings.
And if that isn't a sign of a great author, I don't know what is.
The main characters were wonderful, but so were all the side characters. Gil's family, his mother especially, but also Tommy and Joey, were fantastic and lovable, and their complex family dynamic was so realistically portrayed. And the Sea Lions! Steph and Frank, all the wacky players: I learnt to love and accept them as they were, just like Gil did.
I have no idea if the author has any specific plans for a possible sequel or a book about another one of these characters (*cough* Joey *cough*) (no, seriously, I'd sell my soul for his story, especially with how his character was left), but I'm already gearing up to devour the rest of Oliver's backlist. Because whew: I was taken on an emotional, moving rollercoaster ride of a book, and my mind and heart are still reeling from it.
I fear an enormous book hangover coming on, but it was so worth it.
I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
An unexpected, highly impressive and ridiculously gorgeous gem of a book, featuring the most heartwarming, slow-burn, second chance romance.
I really don't know where to start because I have so many thoughts.
"Light Up the Lamp" is a hockey romance, but in many ways it's much more than that: it's about life after, and around, hockey too. It's about finally learning that a sport won't love you back the same way people do, and that sometimes it's okay for your goals and ambitions to change, that success doesn't necessarily mean a successful team or winning a cup.
Gil and Sebastian meet, after ten years apart, ten years of pain, confusion and misunderstandings, but this time as a player and a coach on the same down-on-their-luck, falling-apart hockey team. Second chance romance romances are so tricky to get right, but I thought that Kit Oliver managed it beautifully: Gil and Sebastian's past, the love and pain they feel for one another, shines through every one of their interactions, as does the fact that, after ten years apart, they both have to get to know each other anew, as adults this time.
Sebastian is both familiar and unfamiliar to Gil, and his confusion and his heartbreak, the jarring, startled realization that Gil has, probably, messed up, and that Sebastian has had a life in the meantime, was so gut-wrenching to witness.
Gil and Sebastian were both two extremely lovable protagonists, and their relationship had me in a chokehold from the start. Tentative and complex, fraught with doubts and misunderstandins, but also sweet, playful, hopeful and subtly sexy. I loved them together so damn much, even when one (or both) of them were acting like idiots.
But Gil stole my heart and soul. His is the only POV we get, so of course his view of how things went down colour the readers' perception of him and Sebastian, and of every other character too, but I have to applaud Kit Oliver for how Gil's arc and growth was handled.
The reader, alongside Gil, slowly realizes that maybe Gil's view on how things went down (with Sebastian, with Gil's parents and his brothers, with everything) is probably a bit skewed and, maybe, probably, some of it was his fault too.
So yeah, I was still fiercely protective of him for the whole duration of the novel, but I also ended up recognising that he's obviously flawed too: clueless and oblivious, a bit immature, but also so very ready to change and grow as soon as he realizes it.
The writing was brilliant, absolutely masterful: poetic, vivid, touching and Kit Oliver managed to beautifully convey the whole range of Gil's feelings. I felt his hope, his anxiety, his fears and his longing like they were my own, and my heart broke and soared with his.
And his journey throughout the book was equally brilliant, and brilliantly plotted by the author.
Again, I felt like I was changing with him: my feelings on everything that was going on, from his complicated history with Sebastian to his new team and the "unusual" way the Sea Lions work, were constantly changing, growing, alongside his own feelings.
And if that isn't a sign of a great author, I don't know what is.
The main characters were wonderful, but so were all the side characters. Gil's family, his mother especially, but also Tommy and Joey, were fantastic and lovable, and their complex family dynamic was so realistically portrayed. And the Sea Lions! Steph and Frank, all the wacky players: I learnt to love and accept them as they were, just like Gil did.
I have no idea if the author has any specific plans for a possible sequel or a book about another one of these characters (*cough* Joey *cough*) (no, seriously, I'd sell my soul for his story, especially with how his character was left), but I'm already gearing up to devour the rest of Oliver's backlist. Because whew: I was taken on an emotional, moving rollercoaster ride of a book, and my mind and heart are still reeling from it.
I fear an enormous book hangover coming on, but it was so worth it.
I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
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