A review by hazeyjane_2
Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down

challenging dark emotional reflective relaxing sad
  • 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? No

5.0

I didn't expect to be so moved when reading this. There is an intimacy to this that I love: the same voyeuristic sense I get when reading a diary. Down takes us inside Maggie's life and builds her, failed relationship by failed relationship, escape by escape, breakage by breakage to a final, contented resolution.

The middle third dragged on a bit, but the end third picked up.

Don't be misled by the blurb - this is not a crime fiction novel; it isn't the story of a mother with Munchausen's by proxy. The prose is superb, like a spoon of honey, sweet enough but not overwrought.
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