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jodar's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The novel explores themes of family love and of heart-breaking loss that tears families apart. The MCs face terrible moral dilemmas upon which they stumble because of their almost tragedy-like virtues. The characters and dialogue are well-crafted and believable, notable given this is the author’s first novel. There are some genuinely moving, emotionally charged passages throughout the story.
And yet… I found some of the plot a little too tidy in places, a bit too melodramatic. And at times the characters felt almost stereotypical and uncomplicated; the feeling that “this is exactly how this dramatis persona would think, speak and act ”.
Further, the male MC holds some grim, cynical philosophical attitudes to life:
And yet… I found some of the plot a little too tidy in places, a bit too melodramatic. And at times the characters felt almost stereotypical and uncomplicated; the feeling that “this is exactly how this dramatis persona would think, speak and act ”.
Further, the male MC holds some grim, cynical philosophical attitudes to life:
A life had come and gone and nature had not paused a second for it. The machine of time and space grinds on, and people are fed through it like grist through the mill. (Chapter 10)
and:
Years bleach away the sense of things until all that’s left is a bone-white past, stripped of feeling and significance. (Chapter 37)
and:
Soon enough the days will close over their lives, the grass will grow over their graves, until their story is just an unvisited headstone. (Chapter 37)
These thoughts are, I suppose, understandable in light of his experience, though it is difficult to see how such a view didn’t darken his interactions with other people more significantly.
And the authorial voice, too, comments of the society:
And the authorial voice, too, comments of the society:
History is that which is agreed upon by mutual consent.
That is how life goes on – protected by the silence that anaesthetises shame. (Chapter 17)
So yes, it is a story of love and grief and of love reclaimed despite the loss and tragedy, but in the end it feels to me to be a story of ultimate despair.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Child death, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Infertility, Xenophobia, War, Cancer, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexual harassment, Vomit, Confinement, and Alcohol
hanngigi's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Miscarriage, and Child death
Moderate: War and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
heidekrauthonig's review against another edition
It annoys me so much somehow
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Death, and Miscarriage
Minor: Death of parent and Sexual harassment
chalkletters's review
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Though there’s not a lighthouse on the cover of The Light Between Oceans, it’s very much a lighthouse book. It might even be the book to kick off the trend of historical lighthouse books, especially as it was made into a film. For this reason, the setting is an automatic win for me. I just love books about lighthouses, and I especially enjoyed seeing Lucy reflect that love right back out of the pages. She calls herself ‘Lulu Lighthouse’, which is adorable, and talks about the light being a star. It even inspired me to make a soundscape.
The Light Between Oceans is a very well-structured book and the story is compelling, especially once M L Stedman gets to the inciting incident which introduces a tension between Tom and Isabel that just keeps winding tighter and tighter until the climax. I would have liked a bit more of the courtroom drama that was hinted at, but there’s enough there to whet the appetite.
The character development is exceptionally well-paced. Just as I had decided I didn’t trust Isabel to do the right thing, M L Stedman inserted a scene to soften her just enough that I was genuinely unsure which way she was going to go. Both times I’ve read this, I’ve cried at the ending, which is heart-wrenching, but not so unjust that it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Unfortunately, despite all these good things, I just couldn’t get past the prose. The narrative starts several sections in the present tense, then slips into the past tense in the middle of a paragraph. Since third person past tense is my default for narrative fiction, every time M L Stedman switched back into the present, it brought me out of the story. This happened all the way through and, while I’m sure there was a stylistic justification, I couldn’t track when the different tenses were used. There were issues with the perspective, too, jumping back and forth between characters. Early on, I noticed that we’d jumped from Isabel’s head to somehow knowing how cold Tom felt. I’m not sure if that persisted, perhaps I just stopped noticing it.
The Light Between Oceans is a good book, but I am uniquely qualified to say that it’s not the best lighthouse book available. At least for now, Skylarking by Kate Mildenhall remains my favourite book with a lighthouse on the cover. That said, The Light Between Oceans does give us the perspective of the lighthouse keeper, rather than one of his family, and it gets extra points for that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Infertility, and Miscarriage
Minor: Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, and Xenophobia
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