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A review by dembury
The Lightness by Emily Temple
2.0
I heartily agree with the reviews that compare "The Lightness" with books such as "The Girls" by Emma Cline and "Catherine House" by Elisabeth Thomas. This novel is one of those written in heady, saturated prose about young girls, their bodies, their desires, and the many relationships they build with family, friends, religion, and beliefs. Although I didn't end up loving the book as much as I hoped I would, I feel really compelled to say a couple things. (minors spoilers for the rest of the review)
First, Temple is a truly talented writer. Her writing submerges the reader into a richly woven world, and I was practically drooling over some of the sentences. I would read more by Temple simply for this! On the downside, there are also so many rambling moments that, while written nicely, just took me right back out of the book and made reading feel like a chore. The main character, Olivia, often waxes about theological concepts and ideas, Buddhist tales, and other topics, and while some were interesting I think overall it made the book less impactful, more difficult to tell what direction the book was taking. Although from the start it seems like a journey for a father and self-discovery, it then turns into an array of other plots and ideas to the point where I wasn't sure what I was reading. Again, these bits are written so nicely, but pingpong all over the place and don't always add to the plot.
Secondly, I kind of wish the phrase "meditation on female friendship" wasn't being used to market this book. While the relationship the main female characters have in the novel could sort of be called "friendship", it's not a good one, and I was ultimately disappointed with the fact that NONE of the girls had a healthy, lasting friendship with each other. There was so SO much potential for it! I kept thinking two particular girls were going to last in their friendship but even that was ripped away. One of the early quotes from the book is this:
“Girls love to be unlike other girls, because of the lies we are told about what other girls are like.”
Such a great line, and I assumed the characters in this book were going to overcome that girl-on-girl hate that embeds itself way too much in girls minds. But Temple took the story in another direction, one that is much more sad. I feel like what is being said by the author and what is being done by the characters is just so contradictory that both parts ended up falling flat.
(bigger spoiler warning in this paragraph)
Third, there was some stuff that got excused that I don't think should have. The big thing is Oliva's mother and her child abuse. Young Olivia is constantly beaten by her mother, and this obviously causes Olivia a lot of physical and mental pain. But at the end of the book, Olivia's mom says, "I'm sorry for hitting you so much. It was what I needed at the time." And that's it. Olivia and her mom are back to being friends, and Olivia later decides that "Love may be uglier than worship, but at least is has bones, fingernails, and skin. At least is can reach back to touch you. At least it braids your hair, even if it tears your scalp in the process." That's not love, but this book pushes the idea that a parent being physically abusive is okay and just a demented sort of tough love. Her mother saying "it's what I needed" is SO problematic and never truly addressed. The fact that Olivia ends up going back to her abuser like that was hugely disappointing.
Finally, I just ended up feeling so cheated! The book starts off with the promise of a shocking twist and lots of suspense - but there just isn't. Literally every couple chapters Olivia (who is writing this from the future) is like "wow, if only I knew what would happen next", but what happens next is super predictable and not shocking. Like at all. The last two pages of the book make up for it a LITTLE bit, but not enough that it lives up to what the book promises at the beginning. If you've never read a similar book then maybe it would be more shocking? But the events are so strongly foreshadowed that it would be tough to not predict.
If you loved the books "The Lightness" is being compared to then I'm guessing you'll like this. It's just for me personally it didn't work out, as much as I wanted it to. There is so much potential in this book but unfortunately that potential is undermined at almost every (non-existent) twist and turn.
First, Temple is a truly talented writer. Her writing submerges the reader into a richly woven world, and I was practically drooling over some of the sentences. I would read more by Temple simply for this! On the downside, there are also so many rambling moments that, while written nicely, just took me right back out of the book and made reading feel like a chore. The main character, Olivia, often waxes about theological concepts and ideas, Buddhist tales, and other topics, and while some were interesting I think overall it made the book less impactful, more difficult to tell what direction the book was taking. Although from the start it seems like a journey for a father and self-discovery, it then turns into an array of other plots and ideas to the point where I wasn't sure what I was reading. Again, these bits are written so nicely, but pingpong all over the place and don't always add to the plot.
Secondly, I kind of wish the phrase "meditation on female friendship" wasn't being used to market this book. While the relationship the main female characters have in the novel could sort of be called "friendship", it's not a good one, and I was ultimately disappointed with the fact that NONE of the girls had a healthy, lasting friendship with each other. There was so SO much potential for it! I kept thinking two particular girls were going to last in their friendship but even that was ripped away. One of the early quotes from the book is this:
“Girls love to be unlike other girls, because of the lies we are told about what other girls are like.”
Such a great line, and I assumed the characters in this book were going to overcome that girl-on-girl hate that embeds itself way too much in girls minds. But Temple took the story in another direction, one that is much more sad. I feel like what is being said by the author and what is being done by the characters is just so contradictory that both parts ended up falling flat.
(bigger spoiler warning in this paragraph)
Third, there was some stuff that got excused that I don't think should have. The big thing is Oliva's mother and her child abuse. Young Olivia is constantly beaten by her mother, and this obviously causes Olivia a lot of physical and mental pain. But at the end of the book, Olivia's mom says, "I'm sorry for hitting you so much. It was what I needed at the time." And that's it. Olivia and her mom are back to being friends, and Olivia later decides that "Love may be uglier than worship, but at least is has bones, fingernails, and skin. At least is can reach back to touch you. At least it braids your hair, even if it tears your scalp in the process." That's not love, but this book pushes the idea that a parent being physically abusive is okay and just a demented sort of tough love. Her mother saying "it's what I needed" is SO problematic and never truly addressed. The fact that Olivia ends up going back to her abuser like that was hugely disappointing.
Finally, I just ended up feeling so cheated! The book starts off with the promise of a shocking twist and lots of suspense - but there just isn't. Literally every couple chapters Olivia (who is writing this from the future) is like "wow, if only I knew what would happen next", but what happens next is super predictable and not shocking. Like at all. The last two pages of the book make up for it a LITTLE bit, but not enough that it lives up to what the book promises at the beginning. If you've never read a similar book then maybe it would be more shocking? But the events are so strongly foreshadowed that it would be tough to not predict.
If you loved the books "The Lightness" is being compared to then I'm guessing you'll like this. It's just for me personally it didn't work out, as much as I wanted it to. There is so much potential in this book but unfortunately that potential is undermined at almost every (non-existent) twist and turn.