Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Into the Light by Mark Oshiro

17 reviews

happily_undignified's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

"I control what I can: the stories I tell. Who I tell them to." ⠀
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Mark Oshiro, Into The Light⠀
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Into The Light  by Mark Oshiro was a heavy book with a slightly supernatural twist that included difficult themes like religious cults, abuse of foster care children, homelessness, and conversion camps. ⠀
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Main character Manny is a jaded, queer, teen who is running from his past but also wants to confront it to try to save his sister from the evil people who have brainwashed her. The story follows his haphazard journey down the California coast as he comes to terms with his trauma and learns to trust the people who come alongside him to help. ⠀
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I enjoyed the first person narration and Manny's cynical yet hopeful personality. The religious trauma was hard to read through but I found it incredibly authentic. This is a remarkable story with an autobiographical feel and I loved the supernatural twist. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Murder, Religious bigotry, Grief, Homophobia, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Racism

sglance9's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Murder, and Racism

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

citrus_seasalt's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion

happilyhalliwell's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

maranda_maria's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? No

5.0

Mark Oshiro will tear you apart just to put you back together in the end. Into the Light is a heartbreakingly beautiful reflection of the impact religious trauma has on queer people. There is a twist you will not see coming that ties the book together, and is as disturbing and unnerving as it should be. Overall, Into the Light is an ode to queer people who have or are in the process of healing from religious trauma with the overall message that hope is never lost. We are never too broken to find love and joy even after the worst of times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Abandonment, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual content

ladygetslit's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Into the Light is a story about Manny, a teen who's living on the streets after his adoptive parents kick him out. As he travels with the Varelas, a family who takes him along on their van ride around California, Manny reveals his story of growing up in foster care, being adopted into a religious cult, and escaping to wander the streets for the last year.

The story itself, about a kid who's struggling to trust again after all the abuse he went through, is incredible. I was fully bought in with Manny's fear and his determination to go back for his sister, Elena. The more he revealed about his past, the more heartbroken for him I felt. No one should feel unwanted, passed along from one placement to the next, but this is the reality for so many children in America. This book really sheds light on how broken our foster care and adoption system is, along with the disturbing truths about powerful religious organizations that do more harm than good. 

My issue with this book, as other reviewers have stated, is the supernatural twist that comes at around 80% of the way in. I knew on some level that it was coming, but it just didn't sit well.

Spoiler

Throughout the book, Manny's past and present narratives are woven with the story of Eli, the golden child within the cult community Manny left behind. When a body is found, Manny goes to identify it, thinking that it's his sister, and it turns out to be...Manny himself? Which we then find out is Eli. Because Manny's self was miraculously split into two halves, the one that wanted to belong in the cult, and the one that rejected their lies and abuse.

And sure, maybe it's a powerful metaphor, but what threw me off and ultimately made the book less powerful, in my opinion, was the fact that this supernatural element is never explained. The characters just accept it as truth, despite its impossibility in the real world, and it's never explained how it happens. I think there could have been a way to connect the dots of the story without the twist, and as it stands, this aspect of the story really takes away from the powerful narrative about religious abuse, trauma, and the life of a kid who goes from foster care to being unhoused.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Abandonment, and Religious bigotry

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Religious bigotry

bookmarkedbyfi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, and Cursing

Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Bullying, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Homophobia, Body horror, Xenophobia, and Blood

Minor: Physical abuse, Vomit, Drug use, Sexual violence, Child death, Death, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and War

mellowreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

What thefuck 

-I really liked this book until like 350 pages in. I liked the characters, I liked the themes and real-world commentary explored. I’m a sucker for anything found-family. I had a hard time putting it down, and felt it was really well paced. I was very engaged and on the edge of my seat waiting to see how things turned out

And then the twist happened

I still really liked the book, but the twist was a bit too far out of left field for me. It went from a thriller/drama to a sci fi/horror super quick? With no build up? And all of the characters just. Accepted it. The randomness and unbelievability of it + the unfazed reaction of the characters really soured it for me. I don’t even necessarily think this book would’ve needed a twist - the anticipation of finding the body was nail-biting enough alone. I think Oshiro was going for shocking and accidentally fell into the realm of ridiculous/unbelievable. I think that the book, with its themes of the foster system and religious trauma, would’ve been more impactful had it NOT been for the twist. The end of the book also felt a bit rushed to me in comparison with the rest, because the weird new plot point needed to be explained and addressed as quickly as possible for the conclusion. There were also a couple of plot points (Carlos’ adoption and just. Rakeem.) that seemed resolved extremely conveniently and frankly just didn’t make sense (I did read an ARC copy though, so maybe this was resolved in the final!). TLDR; a plot twist being shocking and completely unpredictable doesn’t necessarily make it good. 

Despite all of my problems with the ending of this book, I still really enjoyed the majority of my time with it and it helped me get out of a reading slump. A book that I couldn’t put down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Violence, Mental illness, Confinement, Child abuse, Racism, Child death, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Abortion, Incest, Pedophilia, and Body horror