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A review by anjina
The Light Through the Leaves by Glendy Vanderah
2.0
1.5 stars
I was super excited for this book as I had loved the author’s previous book but sadly this was disappointing.
I think I’m in the minority here but this book was unnecessarily long and rushed at the same time. Do you get what I’m trying to say? The main problem I had with it was I just couldn’t connect to the characters. Ellis starts a new life after abandoning her boys, leaving them with their toxic grandmother, which ofc in the future results them in resenting their mother and being in an unhappy family. I mean It just doesn’t make sense to me. Ellis being emotionally distraught after leaving her daughter in the parking lot is completely understandable but I do not understand her need to leave her boys behind and start a new life. And in her new life she doesn’t as much so think about them or try to come back to them. It just doesn’t seem like something a mother would do.
Another thing I really couldn’t get my head around was the naivety of Raven. Her being that naive( believing in whatever her mama tells her) was completely understandable till she was sheltered from normal people but her not questioning anything of the outside world even after being a part of the outside world doesn’t sit well with me.
The meeting of Raven with her family was so rushed, there was no depth there which I would have really liked. The reunion of Ellis and Raven was so bland, there were no emotions that needed to be there. And don’t even get me started on the revelations around the end of the story. I wish It could have unfolded subtly but there was too much information and too many revelations all at once.
Overall the story did have potential, the premise was interesting to say the least but it lacked proper execution.
I was super excited for this book as I had loved the author’s previous book but sadly this was disappointing.
I think I’m in the minority here but this book was unnecessarily long and rushed at the same time. Do you get what I’m trying to say? The main problem I had with it was I just couldn’t connect to the characters. Ellis starts a new life after abandoning her boys, leaving them with their toxic grandmother, which ofc in the future results them in resenting their mother and being in an unhappy family. I mean It just doesn’t make sense to me. Ellis being emotionally distraught after leaving her daughter in the parking lot is completely understandable but I do not understand her need to leave her boys behind and start a new life. And in her new life she doesn’t as much so think about them or try to come back to them. It just doesn’t seem like something a mother would do.
Another thing I really couldn’t get my head around was the naivety of Raven. Her being that naive( believing in whatever her mama tells her) was completely understandable till she was sheltered from normal people but her not questioning anything of the outside world even after being a part of the outside world doesn’t sit well with me.
The meeting of Raven with her family was so rushed, there was no depth there which I would have really liked. The reunion of Ellis and Raven was so bland, there were no emotions that needed to be there. And don’t even get me started on the revelations around the end of the story. I wish It could have unfolded subtly but there was too much information and too many revelations all at once.
Overall the story did have potential, the premise was interesting to say the least but it lacked proper execution.