Reviews

We Light Up the Sky by Lilliam Rivera

yurwity's review

2.0

I liked getting to know these three characters in the first half, but the second half was too ungrounded (the sense of space during the attacks was especially poor and confusing). Some of the dialogue was really bad and hard to believe, especially Luna’s bratty friend. Worst of all, I didn’t understand why the alien took the shape of her cousin and none of its victims, how it had her cousin’s memories, or the “rules” of its powers. It made the entire story fall flat.

stories_and_sweaters's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

3.5

triptych_turning's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

2.5

I wanted to like this book, but instead, I'm firmly neutral towards it. The characters and plot had so much potential, but I feel as though it all just... fell flat. It had very good descriptions, though.

jarka120's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.75

for a book about an alien invasion this sure was slow and boring. 

melannrosenthal's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

theblerdyreader's review

3.0

I rarely read books about alien invasion although I’ve seen my fair share of movies. As I read We Light Up the Sky, I definitely feel as if I need more alien invasion stories in my life! I’m soooo close to the end. I’ve been reading every single opportunity I get. This book feels as though it would be a great addition to the Netflix collection of teen horror/thrillers. Pedro, Luna, and Raffa are trying to survive their of already complicated lives in L.A. nearly post ‘Rona and then…BOOM…the Visitor’s land on Earth. Disrupting their entire world even more. Ohhhh, it’s definitely an interesting story that is sustaining my attention, but I found the alien invasion itself to be a bit lackluster. I just want to give all of the central characters a hug. And I want Pedro’s sequin joggers. I appreciate what the author attempted to do. This would make a fascinating Netflix movie with more details flushed out.

allthaterricka's review

3.0

It took a while for me to get invested into the story and by the time that happened it ended..abruptly.

readwithjuna's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

km_cajigas's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

4.0

bekkabergamot's review

3.0

If you are reading or watching a Science Fiction/Fantasy book or movie, how important to you is that everything is believable within the confines of the story? For me, it's pretty important and unfortunately that's what made this go from a highly recommended book to one that I am on the fence about.

The plot follows three Latinx teenagers who attend the same high school. They are all dealing with serious issues: Luna is mourning the loss of her cousin who died from COVID-19, Pedro is part of the LGBTQIA+ community which makes him not fit in at school or home, and Rafa is trying to hide the fact that his family is homeless. Just their hardships would be enough for a poignant story, but an alien visitor joins the story.

Once on Earth, the Visitor kills dispassionately and without mercy. I do have a major gripe with the logic of the alien's powers.

Spoiler

The alien, or the Visitor, is described as being this viscous blob that can shape shift. It has powers over flora and fauna. All of that I think is pretty neat. What does bother me is that when the alien shapeshifts to look like Luna's dead cousin Tasha from a photograph, the alien somehow absorbs some of Tasha's memories and emotions that take place after the photograph was even taken. Firstly, I find the concept of memories and emotions being stored in a picture to be highly suspect logically, but when the picture predates those very memories and emotions it becomes completely nonsensical to me. I understand that the author wanted to be able to make it even more emotional that the alien had a connection with Tasha, but there are other more truthful (to the story/ reader's belief system) ways to achieve said goal.

Caught in the alien's crosshairs, Luna, Pedro, and Rafa struggle with whether they should make themselves vulnerable to a violent entity for a world that has treated them so poorly. This is only exaggerated with the multiple instances that security, police, and other adults treat the Latinx teens as inferior throughout the book. Another pet peeve is that while the author refers to the alien as The Visitor throughout the book, so does Pedro.

Spoiler

I am aware that this is a small pet peeve.

While much of the writing was very good, I found that it felt rushed and some details just didn't feel resolved. I do feel that a younger person, whom this young adult novel is more geared towards may or may not like the brevity and the fast paced action.

This book does deal with: loss of a loved one, homelessness, toxic masculinity, police brutality, COVID-19, and violence towards animals and humans.