Reviews with content warning for Mass/school shootings - A Spark of Light

I really enjoyed this! It did start off slow, but I got into it when I started to learn and care about the characters. I really liked the topics did and how they were discussed. I learned a lot. I do wish that this was told a different way. I wish it was from start to Finish not kind of the finish to the start and then the end.

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kyrstin_p1989's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Even with the weird plot structure that kept confusing me (the book is written backward), I can’t discredit the way Jodi tells a story. The social commentary, the unexpected plot twist, the dissection of the human experience, and the understanding that everything is complex. This is a story about women. Their choices, their secrets, their battles, their love. Another stellar Picoult novel.

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beffynicole's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

3.75 stars rounded up, simply because I love Picoult & the twists she creates. Also enjoyed the author's letter at the end.

I have recently been on a Jodi Picoult kick & normally love her books. However, this one jumped around A LOT and in a way that made it very hard to follow. Normally when Picoult's books do time jumps, its very easy to follow. It's "linear" enough to understand that they are the events leading up to the major event, and usually follow a progression forward. However, this book jumped all over.

One second you would be during the hostage situation at the abortion clinic, the next you would be a couple days before. Then maybe you would be several years before, then 8am at the abortion clinic. But it also rotated characters so even then, I didn't feel like you had a great sense of every character. It was very jarring to have a narrative by "Olive" the woman who died, see before she died, then see her dead for several scenes, then jump back to her narrative when she was alive. It was so confusing that at the end, when it was revealed that Hugh's sister was actually his mother & that the daughter of the shooter, "Lil" was also "Beth," a character we had followed for awhile.. I just went, meh.

All in all, probably wouldn't read again but I'm still glad I read it.

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