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contemporarymeepsie's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The Light Between Oceans is a story about right and wrong and how sometimes they look the same. Set in Australia, this novel follows Tom Sherbourne, a man returning from the horrors of the Great War to try pick up the shards of his life and settle in to a new purpose; that purpose is to become a lighthouse keeper on the remote island of Janus. During one of his off-shore leaves he happens across a new light in Isabel Graysmark. At first tentative and unbelieving, Tom holds off their engagement but Isabel is determined and soon they are married, living together on Janus' isolation and desperate for a child. After Isabel's third miscarriage a miracle appears from the ocean. What happens next is a story of motherhood, loss, regret and a battle of morality.
I really enjoyed this book. I already knew I loved the story as I had seen the movie long before reading the book. I find the characters very realistic and heartfelt, their struggles, plight and reactions to things that happen are believable and grounded in their previous experiences. This book really makes you think about what is right and what is wrong and how single choices can have grave consequences. My only issue that stopped it from being 5 stars is that the tense seems to change in every chapter, often starting the chapter in present tense and then by the end of it, it has flipped to past tense. I found that mildly annoying but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the whole book.
I would recommend this to anyone like me who likes a book to make you cry. I cried many times.
I really enjoyed this book. I already knew I loved the story as I had seen the movie long before reading the book. I find the characters very realistic and heartfelt, their struggles, plight and reactions to things that happen are believable and grounded in their previous experiences. This book really makes you think about what is right and what is wrong and how single choices can have grave consequences. My only issue that stopped it from being 5 stars is that the tense seems to change in every chapter, often starting the chapter in present tense and then by the end of it, it has flipped to past tense. I found that mildly annoying but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the whole book.
I would recommend this to anyone like me who likes a book to make you cry. I cried many times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Xenophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Blood, Suicide attempt, and War
Minor: Cancer, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Terminal illness
michaelion's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
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
4.5
Autism dad, ADHD mom.
I knew exactly when to stop the book before the shit hit the lighthouse fan but I also knew I didn't wanna dnf! I also wanted to give it away but the ending was so lovely now I'm like I might as well keep it. That was so sweet and sad and beautiful. Extra points because this book actually got me to root for a man!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Minor: Misogyny and Vomit
jg34's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I listened to this on audiobook but I did try to start reading this years again and never got into it before it was due to the library. It was still challenging to get into, maybe because the beginning is pretty dry and it takes a long time to start getting into actual dialogue and the real story. However it was such a unique subject and I really did enjoy the story once it got started and definitely shed some tears for this unconventional family. I can’t decide if I like how it ended because obviously returning Lucy to her actual mother was the right thing to do but that poor little girl!! I sorta wish some sort of compromise could have been made but I suppose that’s not realistic. Damn them for even keeping her in the first place and putting me through this ugh
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer and Vomit
I think you could consider the entire premise of this book is about kidnapping thought not exactly in a criminal way. Lots of description and grief over miscarriages and stillborn birth, some mention of war and death.udari's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Death
Minor: Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, and War
waytoomanybooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I think the book had a great set up, and the characters were compelling at first with complicated feelings, motives, and pasts...until second half/last third. A book disappoints me most when the ending is super rushed and doesn't make any sense with where the characters are. The ending was incredibly anticlimactic after an initially fascinating build up.
Spoilers:
After having to give up Lucy, there was no reason to keep Tom and Isabel together. There was irreparable harm done. And if they were married 30 more years, then it would've been nice to see them heal and grow together instead of literally ending it with: "And then Isabel died before Lucy got the chance to see her again, but that's life."
And why didn't we then get to see Hannah grow and heal? Why didn't we get to see Lucy learn to love her birth mother?</spoilers>
I wouldn't recommend this book unless you're content with only 80% of a story.
Spoilers:
And why didn't we then get to see Hannah grow and heal? Why didn't we get to see Lucy learn to love her birth mother?</spoilers>
I wouldn't recommend this book unless you're content with only 80% of a story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
sarahamelias's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Blood
chalkletters's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Though there’s not a lighthouse on the cover of The Light Between Oceans, it’s very much a lighthouse book. It might even be the book to kick off the trend of historical lighthouse books, especially as it was made into a film. For this reason, the setting is an automatic win for me. I just love books about lighthouses, and I especially enjoyed seeing Lucy reflect that love right back out of the pages. She calls herself ‘Lulu Lighthouse’, which is adorable, and talks about the light being a star. It even inspired me to make a soundscape.
The Light Between Oceans is a very well-structured book and the story is compelling, especially once M L Stedman gets to the inciting incident which introduces a tension between Tom and Isabel that just keeps winding tighter and tighter until the climax. I would have liked a bit more of the courtroom drama that was hinted at, but there’s enough there to whet the appetite.
The character development is exceptionally well-paced. Just as I had decided I didn’t trust Isabel to do the right thing, M L Stedman inserted a scene to soften her just enough that I was genuinely unsure which way she was going to go. Both times I’ve read this, I’ve cried at the ending, which is heart-wrenching, but not so unjust that it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Unfortunately, despite all these good things, I just couldn’t get past the prose. The narrative starts several sections in the present tense, then slips into the past tense in the middle of a paragraph. Since third person past tense is my default for narrative fiction, every time M L Stedman switched back into the present, it brought me out of the story. This happened all the way through and, while I’m sure there was a stylistic justification, I couldn’t track when the different tenses were used. There were issues with the perspective, too, jumping back and forth between characters. Early on, I noticed that we’d jumped from Isabel’s head to somehow knowing how cold Tom felt. I’m not sure if that persisted, perhaps I just stopped noticing it.
The Light Between Oceans is a good book, but I am uniquely qualified to say that it’s not the best lighthouse book available. At least for now, Skylarking by Kate Mildenhall remains my favourite book with a lighthouse on the cover. That said, The Light Between Oceans does give us the perspective of the lighthouse keeper, rather than one of his family, and it gets extra points for that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Blood
Minor: Cancer, Death, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and War
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