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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
I’ve never been so emotional an entire book as I have with this one. I’m not going to give too much away because I hate when reviews have a ton of spoilers, but this just goes to show that you can love someone and not know what they even look like. Two teenage penpals forced together for a project for school becomes one of the greatest love stories, and one of the hardest wants to read. This is considered a young adult historical fiction but quite honestly. I think everybody that loves historical fiction. Will enjoy this just as much. This is one of my favorite reads. I will recommend this until the day I die it is so beautifully written, I will definitely be looking for more of his work. I’m very upset about the ending though. I will spoil that for you. It is very very heart wrenching and not how I expected it to end.
emotional
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
emotional
tense
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:
Complicated
Type of read: Commuter.
What made me pick it up: Suggested in a weekly email from my library or found on Goodreads, can't remember.
Overall rating: This book is heartbreaking. I don't know if I have words to describe how much I felt the story and emotions of 'This Light Between Us.' The narrators of the audiobook version I enjoyed, Emily Ellet and Greg Chun, were absolutely fantastic and truly made the story come to life. I would absolutely recommend 'This Light Between Us' and think it could be read and enjoyed by a wide variety of audiences. It's a beautiful historical fiction that pulls you in.
What made me pick it up: Suggested in a weekly email from my library or found on Goodreads, can't remember.
Overall rating: This book is heartbreaking. I don't know if I have words to describe how much I felt the story and emotions of 'This Light Between Us.' The narrators of the audiobook version I enjoyed, Emily Ellet and Greg Chun, were absolutely fantastic and truly made the story come to life. I would absolutely recommend 'This Light Between Us' and think it could be read and enjoyed by a wide variety of audiences. It's a beautiful historical fiction that pulls you in.
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, War
Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Hate crime, Excrement, Grief, Deportation
This is really an amazing feat- managing to connect Japanese internment in the US with the Holocaust. Fukuda does it seamlessly, weaving together French Jewish Charlie with west coast Japanese American Alex. There are 3 parts, which makes this an ambitious novel and not for the faint of heart. Life in Bainbridge Island as Pearl Harbor happens and the beginning of the pen pal relationship that starts when they are in elementary school. Part two is in Manzanar, the internment camp. The uprising that really happened there is depicted. Part three is war, when Alex enlists and fights in Italy and Germany and liberates Dachau. The 442nd Japanese American regiment is real and they really did that and free a regiment of Texans held by the Nazis. The yearning Alex and Charlie feel for each other is real and holds the story together. For WW II aficionados, this book really delivers. Beautiful if a bit long.
When I tell you I almost cried after reading this…
Keep in mind, I don’t usually get teary over books. So the fact that I was so close to crying and the only thing that stopped me was the fact that I was in public is a big deal.
This book broke my heart in the best way. It’s such a wonderful story. I have to respect the author, because this is truly amazing.
If you’re about to read it, all I have to say to you is get some tissues. You’ll need it.
Enjoy!
Keep in mind, I don’t usually get teary over books. So the fact that I was so close to crying and the only thing that stopped me was the fact that I was in public is a big deal.
This book broke my heart in the best way. It’s such a wonderful story. I have to respect the author, because this is truly amazing.
If you’re about to read it, all I have to say to you is get some tissues. You’ll need it.
Enjoy!
This covered yet another side of WWII that I'd never read about before, and dang did it do a good job.
Shaking and crying on campus as I read this. It was so good and so sad and so... so many things I can't put into words right now. The way Alex and Charlie captured me in the first few letters was an incredible feat of writing because the two worked so well with each other. I loved seeing the balance between them.
In many ways, Frank and Charlie played similar roles to Alex albeit in different ways. Both were a counterweight to Alex's... almost accepting defeat ways? I don't believe he did accept, and that he tried to fix things / survive things in his own way! His anger and pain was very real, and I fault no one for simply trying to survive through trauma. I only bring this up because Frank was protesting and sharp and adamant and Charlie had a fire in her that led to her defiance in everything. I noticed Alex was content to follow along in their wake -- and his turning point was the lack of Charlie and Frank in his life which we see most notably in part three. It's when he unfolds as a character in some ways - and crumples in others.
I feel as though Alex lost many things in this war. His dreams of the future were one of them -- he let go of his belief in Frank fixing everything, in the US realizing their mistake, in becoming a comic artist, in meeting Charlie. It was... painful to witness the way this happened. The light in Alex most certainly dimmed. And yet the ending was so hopeful. I want him to hold onto that. I'm glad he found the light. I'm glad he found hope again.
Anyway I cried.
In many ways, Frank and Charlie played similar roles to Alex albeit in different ways. Both were a counterweight to Alex's... almost accepting defeat ways? I don't believe he did accept, and that he tried to fix things / survive things in his own way! His anger and pain was very real, and I fault no one for simply trying to survive through trauma. I only bring this up because Frank was protesting and sharp and adamant and Charlie had a fire in her that led to her defiance in everything. I noticed Alex was content to follow along in their wake -- and his turning point was the lack of Charlie and Frank in his life which we see most notably in part three. It's when he unfolds as a character in some ways - and crumples in others.
I feel as though Alex lost many things in this war. His dreams of the future were one of them -- he let go of his belief in Frank fixing everything, in the US realizing their mistake, in becoming a comic artist, in meeting Charlie. It was... painful to witness the way this happened. The light in Alex most certainly dimmed. And yet the ending was so hopeful. I want him to hold onto that. I'm glad he found the light. I'm glad he found hope again.
Anyway I cried.