Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - A Scatter of Light

This is the fourth book by Lo I’ve read. I’m not sure what it is exactly about her writing that keeps me coming back - perhaps I know she can deliver a story and characters that feel real. At any rate, I enjoyed Last Night… and was curious about what a follow up could be like. For awhile I was reading to find the connection, but I quickly became invested in the story. Aria’s snafu felt relatable, in that 18-year-old way. Who wouldn’t want an artsy grandma with a little house on the California coast to spend the summer at? How the hell would you make friends in that situation? Oh. I see. How will this play out? How is this related to Lily? And then I couldn’t turn away. I definitely have a lot of questions but I respect leaving some stuff out. A sweet coming out story with bits of family issues mixed in.

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carlyoc's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Aria's plans to spend the summer after senior year in Martha's vineyard are ruined when nudes photos of her are leaked online by a boy she hooked up with at a party. Her parents decide to send her to spend the whole summer with her grandmother in California instead.
The situation isn't all bad. Aria loves her grandmother, who she addresses by her first name, Joan. Joan is an artist and Aria begins experimenting in painting while also assisting Joan with a project to turn her late grandfather's scientific notes into an art piece. Aria plans to become a planetary scientist like her grandfather.
There's also Joan's alluring gender queer gardener Steph, who sets off Aria's own queer awakening.
The novel explores coming to terms with your own sexuality as a young adult, grief, Aria's complicated relationship with her distant opera singer mother, the intersection of art and practical concerns, and the impact of the legalization of gay marriage in 2015 on the queer community.

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maddiereadswords's review

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4.5

So here's the thing: this book is really heavy and messy and there's very little about it that was actively pleasant to read, but it was so beautifully written and so palpably real that I kind of can't help but love it anyway. I think it also helps that most of this book is set in 2013 and while I'm a little younger than Aria, the descriptions of some of the outfits and the songs and the atmosphere of it really took me back to that era of finding myself as a teenager in the early 2010s. Maybe Aria's not really an aspirational protagonist, and maybe some of her choices (and those of the adults around her!!) aren't always the best, but it felt so raw and real that I fell like it's going to stick with me for a while. (Also there's really not much of Lily and Kath in here, but what is there is so sweet and it did have me a little emotional, I can't lie.)

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claudcloud's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Yeah... I'm just as disappointed as you think I am. I was so excited to read this, especially after enjoying Telegraph Club so much, but it just fell completely short for me.

I will acknowledge that there is something to be said about how Malinda Lo is not afraid to show just how messy life can get. Infidelity happens on the daily, and with Aria being practically fresh out of diapers - especially in her journey as a queer person - it was to be expected that she'd get swept up by the Steph of it all and make some incredibly poor decisions. (As an aside, Aria Tang West is eighteen years old. She does not feel like that at any point in the book).

But then we get to the second person in the equation and it just? It makes no sense? Steph might only be a couple of years older, but she is way more experienced, and she absolutely should've known better than starting something with Aria before having the guts to break up with Lisa. The whole time I was expecting Lisa to notice the growing tension between them and Steph to finally speak her mind and acknowledge that she and Lisa "hadn't been working for a long time" (IN HER OWN WORDS!!!) but instead she chooses... to cheat. Repeatedly, and as often as she can. Have some backbone, my dude.

I guess at least she suffered some consequences for her actions i.e. losing Lisa, while Aria just... didn't. Which is also extremely confusing to me because how is she going to be the other woman in someone else's relationship, talk about her "overwhelming guilt" in only a few sentences, then go on with her life as if she did nothing wrong??? Even get rewarded for it by having the opportunity to emulate her grandmother with an art show?

Maybe I'm too dumb to get it, but in that case, I really didn't get it. The redeeming quality of this book was Aria's relationship with her grandmother Joan, who I really enjoyed and who I really didn't want to die. I wonder how she would've reacted to what her granddaughter did.

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meheehee's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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mnerd63's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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pipsqueaky's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I didn’t like this book as much as its predecessor, Last Night at the Telegraph Club - mainly because I couldn’t sympathize with or relate as much to the protagonist. She’s quite immature and selfish, and I don’t think she grows & changes very much by the end of the book.

She claims to be in love with Steph, but she doesn’t actually care about what Steph is going through in her current relationship, or have any respect for Steph’s actual feelings? She just wants Steph to drop everything else in her life and make out with her all the time. That’s not love, that’s an uninformed crush, and it was annoying to read.

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saucy_bookdragon's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Sapphics who would adore Chappell Roan have life-altering problematic situationships. What else is there to say besides it slaps?

Also I have to disagree with everyone who rated this low because the relationship had cheating, this isn't a romance there's a reason it ends with them separated. This is about a situationship where Aria discovers her queerness through someone older (already questionable), but it ultimately fails and I for one find that a lot more raw and relatable (not all of us end up with our first queer crush/situationship nor should we) and applaud Malinda Lo for it. Also she was not a homewrecker because Steph lied to her about being poly.

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