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maranda_maria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Sexual content
imstephtacular's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Grief, Sexual harassment, and War
mothumn's review against another edition
3.5
by Mark Oshiro
YA, contemporary, thriller
Thank you Tor Teen for the arc copy in return for my honest review.
Into the Light follows Manny, a homeless queer teen who has spent his entire life in and out of foster homes and group homes. His whole life he has only ever had one thing that stuck with him, his sister Elena, until a year earlier when they were separated and now Manny is on a mission to find his sister. Throughout the book you slowly unravel the mystery of how they were separated and where she might be now, if she is even alive.
For a YA book, it did not shy away from difficult topics, Into the Light explores teen homelessness, the flawed foster and adoption systems, racism, homophobia, religious trauma, how religion is often used to manipulate the vulnerable, among just a few. These issues affect young people but I rarely or never read them in YA and I felt that the author did a good job of touching on them.
I liked the book, I thought it did a good job of exploring the themes and slowly revealing the mystery. Until the last 100 or so pages however, the twist felt like it came out of nowhere, changing the genre of the book completely, and was in my opinion kind of confusing as to what actually happened. There was practically no build up prior to the twist or foreshadowing. Aside from the ending though, I thought it was a good YA book with a bit of a mystery side plot but ultimately was a queer coming of age that I think a lot of young adult readers would really benefit from reading.
Also! I want to bring up another thing, it does kind of spoil a relationship, but there’s a scene where two of the characters get together, both of whom are minors so I don’t know, but reading it just felt kind of uncomfortable. It’s very brief but it didn’t feel necessary and for a YA book, it could have just cut to black. It’s a normal thing for teens to be getting together but in my opinion it just didn’t need to be described in a book. It just felt weird but I don’t know, it’s up to your decision I guess.
Graphic: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Violence, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Abortion
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
- Wow, fans of teen thrillers, you must get your hands on INTO THE LIGHT. This book is heart pounding, page turning, gut punching.
- The subject matter of the book is very difficult, but the light supernatural element here is a fantastic way to address how queer kids and kids of color are often quickly cast aside in the real world.
- Amid the mystery, Oshiro also builds a beautiful found family story. None of them are perfect people, and yet they are committed to doing better and to helping each other survive and grow.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Abortion