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A review by thereadingmum
All the Golden Light by Siobhan O'Brien
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
First off, I've never read The Light Between Oceans. However, going by the description, there are a few similarities: post WWI vet returns emotionally scarred and becomes a lighthouse keeper; he meets a lovely female distraction and they fall in love. There is one other minor shared plot point, but that's it.
All the Golden Light is about Adelaide finding love, thinking said love murdered someone, marrying someone else to save her father and herself from ruin and discovering that the man she married is a very troubled man whose demons threaten everything she loves.
I read this in conjunction with another historical fiction novel with a similar main female character. Both are strong, resourceful and have to triumph over domineering males. However, Adelaide makes a few very bad decisions, which are understandable but frustrating to spectate. I also felt the portrait of her father kept flickering between horrible and redeeming so that you get a very confused image. He was overall an unlikeable character so their reconciliation at the end was a bit unbelievable. I think perhaps if she had added in his anguish at losing his wife, Adelaide's mother, it would have gone a ways to filling in the gaps.
The ending was also rather fantastical.Just a day after suffering a miscarraige, Adelaide traipses off to confront her errant husband with a rifle?!
However, compared to the book I read just before this, it was much more enjoyable. Therefore, I've given it a slightly higher rating of 3.75/5.
All the Golden Light is about Adelaide finding love, thinking said love murdered someone, marrying someone else to save her father and herself from ruin and discovering that the man she married is a very troubled man whose demons threaten everything she loves.
I read this in conjunction with another historical fiction novel with a similar main female character. Both are strong, resourceful and have to triumph over domineering males. However, Adelaide makes a few very bad decisions, which are understandable but frustrating to spectate. I also felt the portrait of her father kept flickering between horrible and redeeming so that you get a very confused image. He was overall an unlikeable character so their reconciliation at the end was a bit unbelievable. I think perhaps if she had added in his anguish at losing his wife, Adelaide's mother, it would have gone a ways to filling in the gaps.
The ending was also rather fantastical.
However, compared to the book I read just before this, it was much more enjoyable. Therefore, I've given it a slightly higher rating of 3.75/5.