Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - The Light Through the Leaves

Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Light Through the Leaves by Glendy Vanderah

6 reviews

mthereader's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

Hoo boy. Where to start with this book?

I guess I'll start by saying that I really did like it. Lots of nature in this book, and it's actually very accurately depicted which is a big bonus of Glendy Vanderah's biology background - I'm very drawn to her books because of that. This story is also a great deep dive into different types of relationships. It wraps up so nicely after a lot of hard emotions get sorted out, and you're definitely meant to have all sorts of warm fuzzies when this book is over.

However. This book should come with about a hundred trigger warnings stamped on the cover. The official blurb only gets at a fraction of them: abandonment, abduction, abuse, addiction - and I'm only in the A's! (I tagged 20[!] content warnings for this book on StoryGraph.)

I honestly would have given this book all 5 stars if the last two chapters didn't

have such an intense focus on teen pregnancy and a very weirdly crowded birthing scene. Absolutely unnecessary and not my vibe at all.

But if you like books where the characters are very close to nature, and like books about complicated familial relationships, and don't mind about a zillion potential triggers, you'll love this book!

Content Warnings

sara_phoenix's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

Ellis is a young mother of three having given up her former hopes as a biologist to live the picket-fence lifestyle. But when a horrible mistake leads to the abduction of her infant daughter, Ellis is destroyed. Abandoning her former life and children, Ellis escapes to the natural world while falling deeper and deeper into addiction and hopelessness. But on the other side of the country, a girl named Raven is being raised by “Mama,” the reclusive old magical woman who abducted Ellis’s baby and raising her as a gift from Nature. As Raven grows, she begins to question the magical origins of her past and longs to alter her present circumstances. And when Mama disappears, Raven begins the journey towards finding out her true identity as she is reunited with Ellis. This story was hauntingly, achingly beautiful. It is not just another abduction story or thriller. As a former biologist herself, Vanderah creates a beautiful description of the healing powers of nature and the comfort it provides even in our darkest moments. The natural elements described in the book were perfection. But this book is also about so much more: motherhood and the mistakes we make along the way; guilt and forgiveness; the process of grief; the journey love takes us on; and the redemptive power of nature. CW: maternal abandonment, child abduction, attempted rape/assault, drub abuse, parental gaslighting, mysticism/magic

Content Warnings

julia_fldo's review

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challenging hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I absolutely loved this book which for some reason I hadn't really expected to. I enjoyed the writing style and the multiple stories that are told throughout. I think that the time jumps also helped keep me engaged because it allowed the author to include a significant number of relatively major events and character development.

I also wasn't sure how she was going to reunite them in the end (or even if she was going to) but I thought that the way she brought all the characters together was really beautiful. Obviously you can't erase the events that occurred but I thought it was a very hopeful ending and shows the capacity for healing relationships that felt quite natural in the book.

Content Warnings

boba_n_books's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Glendy, please write more novels!! This one and her debut are some of the best I’ve read this year. Such complex characters that develop well throughout, interesting plot line with plenty of intrigue, and so many emotions. If you’re up for a rollercoaster, this is the book for you.

Content Warnings

pixiekp's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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

5.0

Content Warnings

bobbijopmh's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

“The astrophysical, geological, and evolutionary processes that made you—and all life on earth—are the great wonders of our universe.”

Glendy Vanderah has done it again. I absolutely loved Where The Forest Meets The Stars; so I had high expectations for Vanderah’s second novel. Those expectations were met, and well exceeded. If you enjoyed Where The Forest Meets The Stars, you’ll love The Light Through The Leaves! I put off reading this when it was first available via Amazon first reads, as I wasn’t sure it would live up to my expectations. (How wrong was I?!)

Like Vanderah’s first novel, nature is interwoven throughout the entire story, but not just as a setting or location. Nature becomes its own character.

The story line is engaging, the characters are well developed, and the writing is atmospheric, almost poetic, at points.

The style and content both remind me somewhat of Barbara Kingsolver’s novels, but there is something unique about this book as well. It was the sort of book that you honestly (as cliche as it sounds) just cannot put down. I read the entire book in two days.

The story is heartbreaking and joyful and stressful and relief-filled all at once. It’s a story of loss, and family, and friendship, and finding a place to belong, and finding love.

I can’t wait to see what Glendy Vanderah writes next!

Content Warnings

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