A review by nightingaelic
The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I'm not sure how scientifically-accurate this read is in terms of climate change causing sea levels to rise, but I don't really care that much. Lily Brooks-Dalton focused on the important parts of living at the edge of disaster, watching the world crumble into a new shape that isn't concerned with how attached you were to the old shape. 

This is a mournful read throughout, but it breathes hope into the darkest parts. It's as if Brooks-Dalton is bringing Wanda's communion with emerging bioluminescence in the waters of Florida to the reader through her word choice, lingering on the importance of acceptance, adaptation, and community in the metaphorical hurricanes of survival. In the end, I wish we had lingered a little more on the last aspect, as the author cuts off and jumps ahead to the future right as Wanda truly begins her own community, but I still understand the lesson being imparted.

Shout-out to a fellow book club member who used the word "canoe-dling" in his own review of this book - I'm not sure he coined it, but it certainly was appropriate.