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nuin_giliath 's review for:
This Light Between Us
by Andrew Fukuda
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:
No
I really liked the premise of this book - especially after finding out what inspired the author to write it. Alex's journey was difficult and heart-wrenching to read at times, but I'm glad the author chose to highlight the experiences of Japanese-Americans after the Pearl Harbor attack. I haven't seen that topic featured as often in WW2 novels. I also appreciated how Alex's emotions about these events were contrasted by his brother's. Both reactions were logical responses to the sudden shift in how others saw and treated them. But Alex's decision to rise above the prejudice (even if he had some selfish reasons) was admirable.
His friendship with Charlie was particularly sweet (albeit kind of rushed right at the start) and I enjoyed reading the letters they sent back and forth. The longer the book went on, the more I was anxious for Alex to find out what had happened to her. I wish there had been more interactions between them, even if I know that would not have made sense for the story.
Two things that I didn't like as much:
1) the magical realism - I wasn't expecting this and it really caught me off-guard. In my opinion, it took away from the seriousness of the situations that the characters were in.
2) there were some lengthy portions where the author did more telling than showing. While some of what was presented was interesting and relevant to the plot, I felt like I kept getting taken out of the story in order to attain this information.
His friendship with Charlie was particularly sweet (albeit kind of rushed right at the start) and I enjoyed reading the letters they sent back and forth. The longer the book went on, the more I was anxious for Alex to find out what had happened to her. I wish there had been more interactions between them, even if I know that would not have made sense for the story.
Two things that I didn't like as much:
1) the magical realism - I wasn't expecting this and it really caught me off-guard. In my opinion, it took away from the seriousness of the situations that the characters were in.
2) there were some lengthy portions where the author did more telling than showing. While some of what was presented was interesting and relevant to the plot, I felt like I kept getting taken out of the story in order to attain this information.