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friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.0
This was a very unique story, spanning over many years, and is apocalyptic and beautiful. I liked the first half better than tge second, the writing is beautiful and the story heartbreaking. Would recommend if you're interested in ecology and the potential future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Child death, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Grief
cnowery's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Beautifully written, I was ALL IN from the first chapter. I was so invested in this little family (biological and found) and the fight to survive. There were moments of horror and tragedy, and yes I did ugly-cry. But there were also beautiful moments of mundanity that come with simply being a human trying to survive. While this book gave me anxiety about climate change and our fate in the distant/not-so-distant future, it did so in a way that wasn’t preachy/hopeless OR overly optimistic. I can’t say enough good things honestly, I loved it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Child death, and Death of parent
Minor: Violence and Gun violence
jessismoore's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Murder, Dementia, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Car accident
Minor: Animal death
Natural disasterskelseylee123's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Dementia, Gun violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, Animal death, and Body horror
hmatt's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
It's a rarity, at least in the range of speculative fiction that I usually read, to encounter a book that so thoroughly looks at the "in-between times". So often, we're plopped into a near-future where things have mostly transitioned to a "new" way of being post-climate disaster/pandemic/whatever. The Light Pirate doesn't do this: It takes the reader through the before, mid, and after in heart-wrenching detail, and is a much better story for it.
That said, this book is definitely a slower burn. Very, very dramatic things happen but they almost feel muted because of how they're described. I didn't hate this, it's just something to note. We're taken through the entire life of the main character (who is "The Light Pirate") from multiple perspectives.There are maybe supernatural elements to this story, but I thought the author did a great job of keeping that mostly vague, as though they could also be explained through science. I've tagged the book as hopeful because it is - despite experiencing incredible loss throughout her life, the main character persists.
I've started and not finished one of the author's other novels multiple times, and my enjoyment of this one may just be the push I need to actually push through it this year
Loved the little romance at the end.
That said, this book is definitely a slower burn. Very, very dramatic things happen but they almost feel muted because of how they're described. I didn't hate this, it's just something to note. We're taken through the entire life of the main character (who is "The Light Pirate") from multiple perspectives.
I've started and not finished one of the author's other novels multiple times, and my enjoyment of this one may just be the push I need to actually push through it this year
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Death, Bullying, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death
cyndi1966's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Dementia, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
ree333's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Death, and Child death
orireading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
This was so beyond my expectations. I especially appreciated that though Phyllis’s version of survival (and what Wanda initially learns) is individualist, Wanda eventually moves toward collective survival and realizes that she needs community . I felt like this reflects where a lot of preppers are right now, and shows the long-term limits of that rugged individualism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death
silodear's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This book really took me on an unexpected journey. The first third of the book wasn’t compelling to me. It felt like a mass market paperback drama with all the usual tropes. But for the final third of this novel I could not set the book down. I was so drawn into the post apocalyptic world and very compelled by the storyline. I read the final 100+ pages in one sitting, past 10:30pm on a work night! That’s about as compelling as it gets around here.
That being said, there are elements of what feels like indigenous cultural appropriation throughout this novel that felt off-putting. Also, this book is so white. It felt jarring. There were several really weird narrative choices that felt impossible and confusing. I guess just many moments of the author trying to “write the other” that felt forced and wrong.
This author writes nature so well. There was something extremely beautiful about the post apocalyptic landscape. Nature was its own character in the book - and honestly maybe the most well-developed character written here.
I’m sure I have more to say but I am so tired from frenetic page turning. Maybe read it?
That being said, there are elements of what feels like indigenous cultural appropriation throughout this novel that felt off-putting. Also, this book is so white. It felt jarring. There were several really weird narrative choices that felt impossible and confusing. I guess just many moments of the author trying to “write the other” that felt forced and wrong.
This author writes nature so well. There was something extremely beautiful about the post apocalyptic landscape. Nature was its own character in the book - and honestly maybe the most well-developed character written here.
I’m sure I have more to say but I am so tired from frenetic page turning. Maybe read it?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Child death, Pregnancy, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, and Vomit
tigger89's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I find it very difficult to describe this book, because parts of it are so different from each other. Sometimes the action flows at a tense, rapid pace, and other times it slows, taking a quiet moment to grieve or love. It's tense and sad and emotionally ravaging, fast and slow all at once, and the only thing I can say about it with confidence is that I never felt bored with the pacing. When it slowed, it was because it needed to, and when it raced it was because trying to hold it back would have been unbearable. I also hesitate to describe the tone as hopeful, because most of it was incredibly bleak. The hope shines through only at the very end, after you've already spent all your tears. This is not a lunch break book!
My absolutely favorite part of the book was, hands down, the characters. I don't have words for how much I loved Phyllis, but my heart also ached for Kirby, Lucas, and all the rest. I loved them despite their flaws and mistakes, because those were what made them human. They felt so real, like actual people who might be living in a town like Rudder. The one character who fell kind of flat to me was Brie. She felt underdeveloped during her entire involvement in the story, because everything interesting about her happened off-screen.
The other thing that felt underdeveloped to me was the magical realism elements involving Wanda's light powers. I'm okay with not having all the answers about where they came from, but they just kind of exist and don't really do anything other than orchestrate a couple plot points? I feel like the novel could have been written without them being a thing, and very little would have had to change.
All that said, I highly recommend this book to anyone who's into cli-fi! Just make sure you're emotionally prepared, because it's going to put you through the wringer.
Before I go, an important question needs answering: does the cat die?During the course of the story, Wanda acquires a pet kitten. This kitten does not die after the events at the end of part 2, when you'll be worrying that it might have(personally, I was so distressed that I had to skim ahead until I saw it mentioned, and only then could I go back and read normally). It does not, however, survive forever. After a few more years, it's lost off-screen, with a vague description indicating it got out of the house and most likely did not survive.
My absolutely favorite part of the book was, hands down, the characters. I don't have words for how much I loved Phyllis, but my heart also ached for Kirby, Lucas, and all the rest. I loved them despite their flaws and mistakes, because those were what made them human. They felt so real, like actual people who might be living in a town like Rudder. The one character who fell kind of flat to me was Brie. She felt underdeveloped during her entire involvement in the story, because everything interesting about her happened off-screen.
The other thing that felt underdeveloped to me was the magical realism elements involving Wanda's light powers. I'm okay with not having all the answers about where they came from, but they just kind of exist and don't really do anything other than orchestrate a couple plot points? I feel like the novel could have been written without them being a thing, and very little would have had to change.
All that said, I highly recommend this book to anyone who's into cli-fi! Just make sure you're emotionally prepared, because it's going to put you through the wringer.
Before I go, an important question needs answering: does the cat die?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Dementia
Moderate: Death, Grief, Gun violence, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail