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melodyseestrees's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
3.0
The "too long, won't read" version is that the story has minor pacing issues, telenovela level twists right at the end, and if you can handle the majority of the content warnings you will enjoy yourself. There is the kind of ableism inherent to the time period of Elizabeth's youth, especially when concerning someone who is not neurotypical.
A story of women, young and old, discovering who they are. The exploration of Elizabeth's past through journals kept by her father is a novel plot vehicle. The scene of Morgan frantically trying to recover one of the journals is handled very well, especially concerning her desire to know the missing segment of time. Elizabeth handles the unveiling of her past like a champ and 'sees' behind the wall Morgan built up in her hurt over the loss of her grandfather.
Morgan and Derek's relationship is fairly jarring and barely mentioned throughout most of the story. You just get into the pace with Morgan and Elizabeth working on the journals and then suddenly you are dealing with Derek's drug dealing, toxic relationship creating, gaslighting self. Derek coerces Morgan into being romantic with him and he tries to convince her to steal medicines from the old people in the senior home. Luckily there are many chapters where he doesn't appear and you can kind of forget his portion of Morgan's troubled life.
You think you know where the story is going and in the last third of the book you get a few wild swings. Elizabeth was actually a baby her 'dad' found on a boat with a dead woman. He brought her in to fill the void actual dead Elizabeth left in the heart of her sister. This sister whom was sexually assaulted and impregnated years later. Their mother steals the newborn baby and gives her away. This baby grows up to be Morgan's mom. The 'out of nowhere' value of the twists brought the story rating down for me as they felt like telenovela plot conveniences. I think there were less dramatized ways to still get the story to hit on the same key points. In the audiobook it also seemed to switch which sister was which right at the end though I may have simply missed a line and confused myself.
A story of women, young and old, discovering who they are. The exploration of Elizabeth's past through journals kept by her father is a novel plot vehicle. The scene of Morgan frantically trying to recover one of the journals is handled very well, especially concerning her desire to know the missing segment of time. Elizabeth handles the unveiling of her past like a champ and 'sees' behind the wall Morgan built up in her hurt over the loss of her grandfather.
Morgan and Derek's relationship is fairly jarring and barely mentioned throughout most of the story. You just get into the pace with Morgan and Elizabeth working on the journals and then suddenly you are dealing with Derek's drug dealing, toxic relationship creating, gaslighting self.
You think you know where the story is going and in the last third of the book you get a few wild swings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault, Drug use, Rape, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, War, Child death, Addiction, Terminal illness, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Mental illness, Ableism, and Body horror
Elizabeth's sister is coded neurodivergent though a label is never explicitly applied to her. Several of the content warnings explicitly involve the sister.chalkletters's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The Lightkeeper’s Daughters is very much a story divided into halves. As well as a split between past and present, the book is also divided between two viewpoint characters. Each of those parts have weaknesses, but each also has at least one strength, which I suppose proves that all of them are necessary.
For example, Morgan’s relationship drama isn’t all that interesting. It had none of the raw emotion that books sometimes manage to capture. And yet, Morgan’s section near the end of the book when she’s recovering the water-logged journal is so captivating that I read it without even checking what page I was on.
On the whole, I was most interesting in the story of Elizabeth and Emily’s childhoods. The tension in the scene where they discover a ship about to be wrecked is probably The Lightkeeper’s Daughters’ best scene. The family drama and the impact that the past has on the present is a little predictable, especially as I’ve read several other lighthouse books that work on a similar premise.
That said, Jean Pendziwol draws the reader through the story, which feels well-paced. The prose is enjoyable, especially in those parts that I’ve already mentioned, and the characters are mostly interesting.
The setting is, of course, my favourite part of The Lightkeeper’s Daughters. I just love stories about lighthouses, especially ones that are still working. There’s a lovely sense of the community, especially during the summer months, which feels like something you don’t get any more. The fact that Elizabeth also clearly loved growing up at a lighthouse makes this particularly enjoyable to revisit.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
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