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kattheloremistress 's review for:
A Sudden Light
by Garth Stein
Boy oh boy, did I miss out by putting this read off for so long! Honestly, this book has been sitting on my TBR shelf for years, and I have only just got round to it! Now that I have read it, I really wish I'd picked it up sooner. It's the perfect Halloween read - ghosts, mystery, a huge house and family secrets. And, from start to finish, I was totally hooked.
The MC Trevor was likeable enough, but it was the characters he surrounded himself with that I found the most interesting. His jittery, secretive father; manipulative, beautiful aunt; and forgetful but often tender grandfather. I really enjoyed watching the story progress and following these complex characters as I learnt more about their pasts and built up a picture of their agendas. The atmosphere in this book was built up very nicely too, especially when Trevor would go exploring on his own and meet up with some spooky ghosts! Stein put a lot of work in building up the backstory prior to the setting of the book, and it showed!
My two slight upsets with this book stopped it from being a five star read. Firstly, Trevor was likeable but a bit bland. Whatsmore, he really didn't read like a fourteen year old POV. More like a thirty year old guy trying to pretend to be fourteen by shooting hints of teenage angst and puberty related erotic thoughts in there. The general voice was far too mature to be a fourteen year old, no matter how clever. Secondly, the pacing was just a tiny bit too slow. I was hooked by the mystery of it all, but nothing really happened until the very end! It suited me okay, but others will find this a little boring as a result, especially if you're looking to be scared.
The MC Trevor was likeable enough, but it was the characters he surrounded himself with that I found the most interesting. His jittery, secretive father; manipulative, beautiful aunt; and forgetful but often tender grandfather. I really enjoyed watching the story progress and following these complex characters as I learnt more about their pasts and built up a picture of their agendas. The atmosphere in this book was built up very nicely too, especially when Trevor would go exploring on his own and meet up with some spooky ghosts! Stein put a lot of work in building up the backstory prior to the setting of the book, and it showed!
My two slight upsets with this book stopped it from being a five star read. Firstly, Trevor was likeable but a bit bland. Whatsmore, he really didn't read like a fourteen year old POV. More like a thirty year old guy trying to pretend to be fourteen by shooting hints of teenage angst and puberty related erotic thoughts in there. The general voice was far too mature to be a fourteen year old, no matter how clever. Secondly, the pacing was just a tiny bit too slow. I was hooked by the mystery of it all, but nothing really happened until the very end! It suited me okay, but others will find this a little boring as a result, especially if you're looking to be scared.