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kp_khera 's review for:
Light Up the Dark
by Suki Fleet
This book is intense, creepy, and throughout I had my misgivings about what I’d find on the end of this journey.
Before I started it, I should have read the other reviews classifying this as horror. Because it is. It really is. Not the monsters are monsters kind, but the humans are monsters kind. I didn’t, and then I started reading it and I was wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into. So, before you proceed - if your question is whether I’d recommend it? My reaction is mixed. On the one hand it’s Suki Fleet, and her writing is poetic as always, and you’re reminded (or introduced) of the fact that she’s a good story teller. Her characters always go through hell and fire before they get their happy ending. Which is awesome because you’re rooting for them every step of the way, since she can make you care. A lot. You get emotionally invested in the outcome. You get attached to the characters. You face the truth of how messed up this world is.
This is trademark her by now.
But, the plotline of this book is quite different from her other stories. This book is not for the faint of heart, and contains material which can be nightmare inducing as it reminds us about the creeps out there in the world. This is horror, and the reader going in should consider the genre and whether this is something they’re willing to handle.
Fleet’s books are heavy on a good day. The angst which can make you feel as though you’re drowning in all the self-doubt and feelings that have trouble being expressed. The characters that break your heart. The circumstances you can’t take them away from. Their surrounding environment which pisses you off. This was all that, plus a creepy as hell mansion carrying so many secrets within its walls it’s not even funny.
Because I believe that the slow but sure revelations of this book are what make it stand on its own, I won’t actually delve into the plot itself. What I will give you is what I thought of these characters, though incomplete because the characters that show up are crucial to the progression and slow unravelling of the mystery surrounding Thorn Hall itself, and what I felt when I was reading this book.
Both Nicky and Cai haven’t been dealt the best hand in life. While Cai was unlucky, I can’t even begin to describe Nicky's. He’s gone through so much, and it’s his will to live which I am frankly in awe by. Human resilience in the face of unspeakable terror. When Cai enters his life, it’s like he can breathe again.
Plagued by ghosts, and the mansion he can’t seem to leave, Cai’s presence brings Nicky out of his shell.
Cai’s sister, Sophie, and Loz relieve some of the tension that this book inspires. And the discussion on who Loz is to Sophie between Sophie and Cai was one of this book's highlights.
This the first time I’ve seen Fleet use multiple points of view within her books, and it was a really good choice here because it wouldn’t have worked otherwise. It would have made everyone an unreliable character, and made me wonder whether what was going on was even real. Or whether it was an elaborate scheme to mess with the narrator. And the reader. I mean, sure, due to the genre I had my misgivings about any character whose point of view I couldn't read, but this relieved some of my suspicion at least.
Throughout I had this sense of foreboding. I knew something bad was going on, that much is clear as day from the first page. But, we’re only given pieces to this puzzle one at a time. Given enough pieces you can guess at what the puzzle ultimately is about.
Here you’re given enough pieces to know that there’s a tree, a house and a person. Although you have a clear picture of the tree, you don’t know whether the house even has any windows, you don’t know what the person looks like and you know there are some pieces missing from the box you can never get your hands on.
The revelations sure but steady. However, it’s as though the answers to my initial questions just generated more questions and we’re left hanging in the end. Although it ends on a happy note, I am left wondering what the overall picture was and what I ended up missing. The conspiracy aspect of it all, a nice touch, but one that ended up opening another can of worms.
There isn’t a lot I can add, because it would either give away the plot or be a reiteration of what I’ve said. It comes down to this. This book is well-written, emotional, intense, dark and full of suspense. It’s about two people finding and falling for one another when not only outside forces, but their own hesitancies stand in their way. I’d recommend it because overall this was a great read, but this book is not for everyone and you should decide for yourself whether you can handle over 300 pages of tension, suspicion and confusion.
Received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review via ABC.
Book no longer on sale.
Reviewed by Kudrat from Alpha Book Club
Before I started it, I should have read the other reviews classifying this as horror. Because it is. It really is. Not the monsters are monsters kind, but the humans are monsters kind. I didn’t, and then I started reading it and I was wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into. So, before you proceed - if your question is whether I’d recommend it? My reaction is mixed. On the one hand it’s Suki Fleet, and her writing is poetic as always, and you’re reminded (or introduced) of the fact that she’s a good story teller. Her characters always go through hell and fire before they get their happy ending. Which is awesome because you’re rooting for them every step of the way, since she can make you care. A lot. You get emotionally invested in the outcome. You get attached to the characters. You face the truth of how messed up this world is.
This is trademark her by now.
Those meditation books had talked about centring yourself, but every time he tried the more he became certain there was nothing at the centre of him, nothing solid, nothing to hold on to. He was empty right the way through. All he could imagine was wind blowing through him as though he were a ghost.
But, the plotline of this book is quite different from her other stories. This book is not for the faint of heart, and contains material which can be nightmare inducing as it reminds us about the creeps out there in the world. This is horror, and the reader going in should consider the genre and whether this is something they’re willing to handle.
Fleet’s books are heavy on a good day. The angst which can make you feel as though you’re drowning in all the self-doubt and feelings that have trouble being expressed. The characters that break your heart. The circumstances you can’t take them away from. Their surrounding environment which pisses you off. This was all that, plus a creepy as hell mansion carrying so many secrets within its walls it’s not even funny.
In a world full of dangerous things, trust was perhaps the most dangerous thing of all.
Because I believe that the slow but sure revelations of this book are what make it stand on its own, I won’t actually delve into the plot itself. What I will give you is what I thought of these characters, though incomplete because the characters that show up are crucial to the progression and slow unravelling of the mystery surrounding Thorn Hall itself, and what I felt when I was reading this book.
Both Nicky and Cai haven’t been dealt the best hand in life. While Cai was unlucky, I can’t even begin to describe Nicky's. He’s gone through so much, and it’s his will to live which I am frankly in awe by. Human resilience in the face of unspeakable terror. When Cai enters his life, it’s like he can breathe again.
Fear hurt more than knives, more than broken bones. Fear was what was going to destroy him
Plagued by ghosts, and the mansion he can’t seem to leave, Cai’s presence brings Nicky out of his shell.
Cai’s sister, Sophie, and Loz relieve some of the tension that this book inspires. And the discussion on who Loz is to Sophie between Sophie and Cai was one of this book's highlights.
This the first time I’ve seen Fleet use multiple points of view within her books, and it was a really good choice here because it wouldn’t have worked otherwise. It would have made everyone an unreliable character, and made me wonder whether what was going on was even real. Or whether it was an elaborate scheme to mess with the narrator. And the reader. I mean, sure, due to the genre I had my misgivings about any character whose point of view I couldn't read, but this relieved some of my suspicion at least.
Throughout I had this sense of foreboding. I knew something bad was going on, that much is clear as day from the first page. But, we’re only given pieces to this puzzle one at a time. Given enough pieces you can guess at what the puzzle ultimately is about.
Here you’re given enough pieces to know that there’s a tree, a house and a person. Although you have a clear picture of the tree, you don’t know whether the house even has any windows, you don’t know what the person looks like and you know there are some pieces missing from the box you can never get your hands on.
The revelations sure but steady. However, it’s as though the answers to my initial questions just generated more questions and we’re left hanging in the end. Although it ends on a happy note, I am left wondering what the overall picture was and what I ended up missing. The conspiracy aspect of it all, a nice touch, but one that ended up opening another can of worms.
There isn’t a lot I can add, because it would either give away the plot or be a reiteration of what I’ve said. It comes down to this. This book is well-written, emotional, intense, dark and full of suspense. It’s about two people finding and falling for one another when not only outside forces, but their own hesitancies stand in their way. I’d recommend it because overall this was a great read, but this book is not for everyone and you should decide for yourself whether you can handle over 300 pages of tension, suspicion and confusion.
Received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review via ABC.
Book no longer on sale.
Reviewed by Kudrat from Alpha Book Club