A review by mynameismarines
In Perfect Light by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

5.0

I talked about this book in my Hispanic Heritage Reads wrap-up video.

I stayed up past my bedtime to read the last 50% of this book and I'm pretty sure there were tears for most of that time. This was not an easy book to read for me and part of the reason I just sat down and finished it off was because prolonging it was making me "dread" the reading experience. I kept thinking, "oh no! Sad things are going to happen!" I know, weird. And still I gave it five stars because this is a beautifully written story.

There are multiple threads here but the story centers around Andres Segovia, a man struggling so much with his rage that he lashes out twice in the beginning chapters of the story. The story tells us in bits and pieces why Andy carries around that rage and and what has happened in his life, starting with the death of both his parents when he was just 10 years old. It never got easier for Andres from that moment. Never got easier than being orphaned. We hear the bits of his story as he relives them or tells them to his lawyer Dave (who we learn is more connected to Andres than we realize at first) and his therapist Grace (who is a widow and dealing with a new diagnosis). We also meet Grace's son, Mister, who is trying to adopt a little boy who happens to be blind.

I don't know if I've mentioned yet but it's a devastating story. The prose, though, was fluid and effortless and lyrical, but in an understated way. It isn't that Alire Saenz is particularly flowery, but just that his words seem like they all fit perfectly. His words flow and speak so much truth into this devastating story. Anything more sensational or less thoughtful or less grounded in human experiences would've come off as tragedy porn. This was devastating (have I said that yet?) because it was too real.

I love, love the way the prose was set-up. We followed around the four characters and got their points of view, but every once in a while, there was this piece of omniscient text that placed everyone within a stretch of time. Something like, as Andy left the bar, Grace was with her Doctor and Mister was kissing his wife and Dave was in the courtroom. It just gave you such a sense of the whole story with all of its moving parts. It was a lovely way to tie everything together and anchor it down in specific times.

This book definitely explores some difficult topics including sexual assault, child molestation, child abuse, terminal illness and drug abuse. I would proceed with caution if need be.