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bookmarvel's review against another edition
5.0
5/7
Omg this book is so cool! I’m not sure exactly what about it I love so much, but maybe it’s like a fictional hidden society that could be real and we could never know, or just reading stories about kids who do cool things like go to Greenland with their parents, or kids from fictional fantasy places that I wish I grew up in. Also I love all the dogs, from both worlds, like I love the concept of everyone gets a dog companion and they’re yours for life and they live about as long as humans. Oh and I would absolutely love to ice skate everywhere.
Also self-sufficient communities that survive with no influence from the outside world are super cool and so fascinating to me.
5/14
This book had me hooked the whole way through! I so wish that I could live in Gracehope, like it’s such a cool place and I love almost everything about it! Also the characters are so young like what?? Thea is 14 and Peter is 12 I think? Like they seem at least 15-16 years old and I cannot believe this.
So yeah, I love the characters, love the premise, plot is cool, and I want a cool lifelong wolf/dog companion so bad, like I would give anything to have a Chikchu, bonus points if I was an ear adept and could hear its signals.
Also the cover of the book I own is not the same as the one on goodreads, and honestly they’re both super cool and it’s such a good cover.
Omg this book is so cool! I’m not sure exactly what about it I love so much, but maybe it’s like a fictional hidden society that could be real and we could never know, or just reading stories about kids who do cool things like go to Greenland with their parents, or kids from fictional fantasy places that I wish I grew up in. Also I love all the dogs, from both worlds, like I love the concept of everyone gets a dog companion and they’re yours for life and they live about as long as humans. Oh and I would absolutely love to ice skate everywhere.
Also self-sufficient communities that survive with no influence from the outside world are super cool and so fascinating to me.
5/14
This book had me hooked the whole way through! I so wish that I could live in Gracehope, like it’s such a cool place and I love almost everything about it! Also the characters are so young like what?? Thea is 14 and Peter is 12 I think? Like they seem at least 15-16 years old and I cannot believe this.
So yeah, I love the characters, love the premise, plot is cool, and I want a cool lifelong wolf/dog companion so bad, like I would give anything to have a Chikchu, bonus points if I was an ear adept and could hear its signals.
Also the cover of the book I own is not the same as the one on goodreads, and honestly they’re both super cool and it’s such a good cover.
cimorene1558's review against another edition
4.0
Good book. Kind of a sci-fi-ish coming of age novel.
brandypainter's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.
Being greatly fond of both When You Reach Me and Liar & Spy I thought is was high time I read Rebecca Stead's first novel First Light. I am very glad I did.
Like Stead's other works First Light is a mystery of sorts. I love the way she writes, creating a tone of uncertainty and yet connecting the reader to the characters so well. This is not as flawlessly done in First Light as it is in her later works, but it is still there. And saying that a book by Rebecca Stead is not quite as good as her others still puts it far above most other things available for reading. I will say I think the mystery was handled better here. I was genuinely surprised by the turn of events in this book. I am going to say little about the plot so as not to give too much away, but it was well executed in most respects. There was quite a bit of background in mitochondrial DNA at one point (just a couple pages) that had my eyes starting to glaze over, but I have long since established I am not a person to be interested by talk of the scientific.
I enjoyed both Peter and Thea as characters, though I liked Thea just a little more. She felt more real and fleshed out to me. I don't know if this is due to the nature of their personalities or because I happen to be a girl. I loved the little details of both of their worlds that made the settings come to life. There are a lot of unanswered questions regarding the past of Thea's people and the technology available to them that may bother those of a more scientific bent than myself. I was fine with the unanswered and was willing to accept the world as Stead presented it.
This is a great choice for anyone who is wary of sci-fi and fantasy but required to read one. Or if you are just looking for a wonderful story, something Stead always delivers on.
Being greatly fond of both When You Reach Me and Liar & Spy I thought is was high time I read Rebecca Stead's first novel First Light. I am very glad I did.
Like Stead's other works First Light is a mystery of sorts. I love the way she writes, creating a tone of uncertainty and yet connecting the reader to the characters so well. This is not as flawlessly done in First Light as it is in her later works, but it is still there. And saying that a book by Rebecca Stead is not quite as good as her others still puts it far above most other things available for reading. I will say I think the mystery was handled better here. I was genuinely surprised by the turn of events in this book. I am going to say little about the plot so as not to give too much away, but it was well executed in most respects. There was quite a bit of background in mitochondrial DNA at one point (just a couple pages) that had my eyes starting to glaze over, but I have long since established I am not a person to be interested by talk of the scientific.
I enjoyed both Peter and Thea as characters, though I liked Thea just a little more. She felt more real and fleshed out to me. I don't know if this is due to the nature of their personalities or because I happen to be a girl. I loved the little details of both of their worlds that made the settings come to life. There are a lot of unanswered questions regarding the past of Thea's people and the technology available to them that may bother those of a more scientific bent than myself. I was fine with the unanswered and was willing to accept the world as Stead presented it.
This is a great choice for anyone who is wary of sci-fi and fantasy but required to read one. Or if you are just looking for a wonderful story, something Stead always delivers on.
menaquinone's review against another edition
5.0
I really like how Stead weaved science, fiction and the exploration of the human condition together. I was probably too naive to appreciate it then but looking back I get why I enjoyed reading her books a lot
luisasm's review against another edition
4.0
Very good. The mystery is so intense and complex. The main characters are a little two dimensional, but the supporting characters are incredible.
kathleenww's review against another edition
4.0
This is a wonderfully creative author who I think we will see some wonderful books from in the next decade or so (I hope!).
This story is set partly in New York City and partly in Greenland. There are also two main characters, Peter and Thea. And this kind of writing, where the author is not gearing the story to either gender very specifically, really appeals to me. This is what we need in thew world!
I don't even want to get into too many plot details, as that will ruin the surprises, but you are transported into another world, really. Not a magical one, a very real and imaginable world. That's what I like about this book. I can envision some 11 year old (like my own kids) reading this and coming to me and asking a parent, does such a place exist, Mom?Stead is THAT good. Aside from a few holes in the plot(that would not be glaringly noticeable to a teen or a child with an excellent imagination!), this is a great story, that many children will want to revisit. In fact, I'm an anti-sequel kind of girl, but when this one ended, I was kind of hoping Stead will write more about this place and these really neat people. A charming book.
This story is set partly in New York City and partly in Greenland. There are also two main characters, Peter and Thea. And this kind of writing, where the author is not gearing the story to either gender very specifically, really appeals to me. This is what we need in thew world!
I don't even want to get into too many plot details, as that will ruin the surprises, but you are transported into another world, really. Not a magical one, a very real and imaginable world. That's what I like about this book. I can envision some 11 year old (like my own kids) reading this and coming to me and asking a parent, does such a place exist, Mom?Stead is THAT good. Aside from a few holes in the plot(that would not be glaringly noticeable to a teen or a child with an excellent imagination!), this is a great story, that many children will want to revisit. In fact, I'm an anti-sequel kind of girl, but when this one ended, I was kind of hoping Stead will write more about this place and these really neat people. A charming book.
jennchandler's review against another edition
4.0
I thought it started out a bit slow, but I got caught up in the story as I kept reading. Definitely worth the time! I liked that it was a bit fantastical, but not complete fantasy, if that makes any sense whatsoever!
calamityin's review against another edition
The pacing was a bit unusual. It felt fast and jolting, with whole scenes only covering a few sentences.
sandraagee's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting story about a tribe who lives beneath Greenland's glaciers. I liked the alternating narration and the way that Thea and Peter's stories finally came together - never quite fully murging, but definitely intertwined.
leahbargnesi's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0