Review : What Light by Jay Asher

Posted by on December 29, 2016 12:23 pm in 3 stars reads | 5 comments

what-lightWhat Light by Jay Asher
Pages : 316
Genre : YA, Contemporary
Stand alone
My Rating : 3/5

About the Book  :

Sierra’s family runs a Christmas tree farm in Oregon—it’s a bucolic setting for a girl to grow up in, except that every year, they pack up and move to California to set up their Christmas tree lot for the season. So Sierra lives two lives: her life in Oregon and her life at Christmas. And leaving one always means missing the other.

Until this particular Christmas, when Sierra meets Caleb, and one life eclipses the other.

By reputation, Caleb is not your perfect guy: years ago, he made an enormous mistake and has been paying for it ever since. But Sierra sees beyond Caleb’s past and becomes determined to help him find forgiveness and, maybe, redemption. As disapproval, misconceptions, and suspicions swirl around them, Caleb and Sierra discover the one thing that transcends all else: true love.

My Thoughts :

With Christmas behind us and the new year just ahead, this is a perfect time to review Jay Asher’s cute contemporary novel, What Light.

Having enjoyed the author’s previous two books, I was really looking forward to reading his new one, especially because this is my favorite time of the year. I love the snow, the lights, the food, and most of all, spending time with loved ones and family. And while there isn’t much snow in What Light, there’s a little bit of everything else, which makes it a perfect read for the season!

There are some really fun things to love about the novel : Sierra is an interesting character, the Christmas tree farm is an original setting, I loved her parents. There’s the question of whether this is Sierra and her family’s last Christmas in California, which I thought brought a nice dimension to the story. There’s fear and excitement in change, and I felt that this aspect added an additional layer of nostalgia to Sierra’s Christmas.

My main problem was Caleb. The “cute boy with a dark secret” has been done again and again, and I didn’t feel that Caleb brought anything new or special to it. In fact, I wasn’t even convinced that, by the time the story ended, his character had been redeemed. There’s a lack of depth there, in how the author chose to deal with the serious of the situation. The more I thought about it, the less satisfied I was with it.

Overall, What Light is a cute contemporary romance. While I found it lacking in some aspects, I appreciated the setting. It’s also not too “christmasy”, so if you find yourself reading it later in the year, it would still be enjoyable.

Also, bonus points for the pretty cover 🙂

5 Comments

  1. I admit, I kinda skimmed my way through this one, quick enough to not even add it to my list of read books this year. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t see much to make it memorable either.

    • I agree, it wasn’t very memorable. I didn’t skim yet a week after I couldn’t remember much of it, sadly.

  2. I didn’t love Thirteen Reasons Why so I’ll probably skip this one.

    • This one had a different tone, but yes, it’s probably better to skip if you didn’t enjoy the author’s previous book.

  3. I do like the cover. Sorry the story did meet your expectations. Thanks for sharing.

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