Scan barcode
cortanasreadingnook's review
Thanks to North Star Editions for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my thoughts about the book in any way.
This is the best possible way I could articulate my thoughts about this book, but it is unfortunately, very terrible. I rarely DNF when I’ve progressed to 41%, but I cannot say anything that makes this book redeemable. I am part of the minority who disliked this and these are just my thoughts.
CWs/TWs: Sexual Assault, Suicide, Depression, Mental Illness, Adult/Minor Relationship, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Sexual Harassment, Sexism
Bell’s writing paints an eerily atmospheric picture. It is poetic and has lots of potential but is very dragging. Almost halfway through and I could see why other readers did not like this at all. With these amount of CWs, you’d think the writer would’ve handled these issues in a manner that compliments the story and its main character’s purpose, but the execution was bad. I am not intentionally being mean, but this story made me so uncomfortable, especially with the Adult/Minor relationship and how Temperance (the fmc) dealt with SA. The FMC’s goal was to provide for and protect her sister, which I have nothing against, and SA survivors do not owe the world their story, but Tempe was clearly protecting her sister and she failed to do so by hiding substantial information from her, defending her abuser by disguising his actions as rejection. This was a constant reminder throughout the book that it just lost how crucial this should’ve been addressed. In the end, her sister ends up with a pedophile who preyed on her emphasizing how he’s “pushing her for another child” despite her not being ready and our main character loses her mind. It strayed away from the purpose of the story as a whole. I am not trying to be harsh here, but if you want to write a book that says “fuck the patriarchy” then don’t write a book where men still win.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Grief, and Sexual harassment
susanpevensie's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
2.5 rounded to 3 "atmospheric" stars
"a man can make mistakes. a man can change his mind. a woman? no. if she makes a mistake, she is unfit. if she changes her mind, she is fickle.
incompetent."
first and foremost, the writing in this book is absolutely beautiful. the author has a talented gift with her words. i saw that other reviewers said the lamplighter felt atmospheric, and i agree. the way she weaves them made me feel like i was transported to warbler myself—experiencing being enveloped by the constant fog, feeling watched and claustrophobic, as i followed temperance on her journey. the book was incredibly slow at first, but i did not particularly mind it because i felt like the pacing fit the story. it slowly draws you in, and once it picks up its pace, it moves very fast.
temperance was not an easy character to love. while i wanted to root for her, she did not always make the best decisions—in fact, most of her decisions were just poorly made, point black—so i became increasingly frustrated with her as the book progressed. it did not help that her mistakes were extremely costly because they did not just cost her; they cost literally everyone in her life. i had to constantly remind myself that she was a traumatized eighteen-year-old girl, and her actions read as such. after sleeping on it, i realized that it wasn't temperance—it wasn't her fault. not really. she was just destined to be doomed by the narrative. this is not a criticism of the way the narrative is set, but rather the world temperance was living in. she never had a chance.
there was a sense of hopelessness and complete futility as i slowly went through 80–90% of the story and then, the ending. i think that is why i couldn't give this book a higher rating because i am the kind of person who needs a huge pay-off after being put through hardship and pain—something i don't think i got out of the lamplighter. however, i know this book will definitely find an audience once it debuts. the writing is way too good to not have people falling in love with it. will i ever pick another book by this author? the answer is unequivocally yes.
ᡣ𐭩 i received an advance reader copy from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review ᡣ𐭩
"a man can make mistakes. a man can change his mind. a woman? no. if she makes a mistake, she is unfit. if she changes her mind, she is fickle.
incompetent."
first and foremost, the writing in this book is absolutely beautiful. the author has a talented gift with her words. i saw that other reviewers said the lamplighter felt atmospheric, and i agree. the way she weaves them made me feel like i was transported to warbler myself—experiencing being enveloped by the constant fog, feeling watched and claustrophobic, as i followed temperance on her journey. the book was incredibly slow at first, but i did not particularly mind it because i felt like the pacing fit the story. it slowly draws you in, and once it picks up its pace, it moves very fast.
temperance was not an easy character to love. while i wanted to root for her, she did not always make the best decisions—in fact, most of her decisions were just poorly made, point black—so i became increasingly frustrated with her as the book progressed. it did not help that her mistakes were extremely costly because they did not just cost her; they cost literally everyone in her life. i had to constantly remind myself that she was a traumatized eighteen-year-old girl, and her actions read as such. after sleeping on it, i realized that it wasn't temperance—it wasn't her fault. not really. she was just destined to be doomed by the narrative. this is not a criticism of the way the narrative is set, but rather the world temperance was living in. she never had a chance.
there was a sense of hopelessness and complete futility as i slowly went through 80–90% of the story and then, the ending. i think that is why i couldn't give this book a higher rating because i am the kind of person who needs a huge pay-off after being put through hardship and pain—something i don't think i got out of the lamplighter. however, i know this book will definitely find an audience once it debuts. the writing is way too good to not have people falling in love with it. will i ever pick another book by this author? the answer is unequivocally yes.
ᡣ𐭩 i received an advance reader copy from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review ᡣ𐭩
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Sexual assault
not_another_ana's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher
Set in a whaling town in the 19th century the story follows Temperance, a young woman who's been forced to take up her late father's job as a lamplighter in order to provide for her mother and younger sister. It's a very important job, the fog in this village is dangerous and it's common for people to disappear in the dark. The responsability is heavy on her shoulders, not helped by the distrust of the men in power who consider her less competent for being a woman. When a girl goes missing the same night two lights go out not only is Tempe's job on the line but also her safety, as something is haunting the streets and endangering everyone.
The concept is quite solid, I picked this up because I was intrigued by the choice of a lamplighter as a protagonist. The writing is good and I generally liked the characters. My issue with this book was how much the middle dragged. The first chapters do a great job of setting the scene and the plot, and then the book just meanders until the middle or so when a very obvious reveal happens. After that it starts picking up again but the previous slog had lost my attention.
There was something else that took me out of the immersion and it was how heavy handed the author handled certain messages. I get it, it's a YA but the constant (very obvious!) references to how bad the misogyny was and how men were ruining everything felt like getting hit in the face by a shovel. I think a lot of my complaints can be traced to me not being the target audience for this book and that's fine, perhaps a young teenaged girl will appreciate the message way more. I will say I did enjoy the ending, it felt like a perfect way to wrap up the book. I'm glad the author decided to go there, this is (after all) a horror book. I also want to mention the cover, the illustrator did a fantastic job.
Set in a whaling town in the 19th century the story follows Temperance, a young woman who's been forced to take up her late father's job as a lamplighter in order to provide for her mother and younger sister. It's a very important job, the fog in this village is dangerous and it's common for people to disappear in the dark. The responsability is heavy on her shoulders, not helped by the distrust of the men in power who consider her less competent for being a woman. When a girl goes missing the same night two lights go out not only is Tempe's job on the line but also her safety, as something is haunting the streets and endangering everyone.
The concept is quite solid, I picked this up because I was intrigued by the choice of a lamplighter as a protagonist. The writing is good and I generally liked the characters. My issue with this book was how much the middle dragged. The first chapters do a great job of setting the scene and the plot, and then the book just meanders until the middle or so when a very obvious reveal happens. After that it starts picking up again but the previous slog had lost my attention.
There was something else that took me out of the immersion and it was how heavy handed the author handled certain messages. I get it, it's a YA but the constant (very obvious!) references to how bad the misogyny was and how men were ruining everything felt like getting hit in the face by a shovel. I think a lot of my complaints can be traced to me not being the target audience for this book and that's fine, perhaps a young teenaged girl will appreciate the message way more. I will say I did enjoy the ending, it felt like a perfect way to wrap up the book. I'm glad the author decided to go there, this is (after all) a horror book. I also want to mention the cover, the illustrator did a fantastic job.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Suicide, Body horror, and Sexual harassment
More...