A review by arnavsam
A Bright Ray of Darkness by Ethan Hawke

dark sad medium-paced

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

1.0

This is a really difficult read. My main emotion while reading the whole thing was cringe. I couldn't quite believe that someone so talented at acting could have written something so bad. I am a very big believer that strong dialogue is the cornerstone of good writing and the dialogue in this book was atrocious. Nearly every conversation was filled with preachy monologues from characters who all sounded the same. They all spoke the same way about the same vague morals. I'm not even sure what this book was about or what the message was supposed to be. It's also an extremely pretentious read about theater and tries so hard to be deep or insightful about the process of theater and how magical it is but it fails and makes it seem trivial. The central conflict of the book is so lame because the protagonist never grows or understands his mistakes which makes the book feel like a chore to read when the characters are not exhibiting any growth. I was extremely disappointed by this read.