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A review by michellekmartin
The Lightness by Emily Temple
4.0
I've been wanting to read this book since it came out this summer and I vowed to myself that I would pick it up before year's end. The story takes place a Buddhist Summer Camp for Bad Girls and centers around a group of teenage girls who are seeking enlightenment through levitation.
The comparisons to Donna Tartt's The Secret History are apt for this book but imagine if you had also been getting a beginner's lesson in Buddhism. I enjoyed how Temple wove her story through with lessons from Buddhism and other popular eastern "self-help" methods that have made it to the western world to be commercialized. It is clear that Temple did her research and though I did enjoy the interludes they, at times, also detracted from my enjoyment of the story. I wanted a little more plot at moments and a little less history lesson.
Overall, though, this is a really interesting book. She managed to take the classic dark academia/teenage girl/cult story and put a new spin on it with smart commentary throughout. I definitely look forward to more from her.
The comparisons to Donna Tartt's The Secret History are apt for this book but imagine if you had also been getting a beginner's lesson in Buddhism. I enjoyed how Temple wove her story through with lessons from Buddhism and other popular eastern "self-help" methods that have made it to the western world to be commercialized. It is clear that Temple did her research and though I did enjoy the interludes they, at times, also detracted from my enjoyment of the story. I wanted a little more plot at moments and a little less history lesson.
Overall, though, this is a really interesting book. She managed to take the classic dark academia/teenage girl/cult story and put a new spin on it with smart commentary throughout. I definitely look forward to more from her.