Can’t Wait Wednesday – Spotlight on IN SIGHT OF STARS by Gae Polisner
/36 Comments/by Suzanne
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about. It is a meme that I have loved participating in for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll just be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.
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My selection for this week is In Sight of Stars by Gae Polisner. I read Polisner’s The Memory of Things a couple of years ago and fell in love with her writing style, so I was thrilled to learn that she has another book coming out next month, and that it is a coming of age story that focuses on mental illness. That appealed to me right away, but then these early reviews sealed the deal.
- “An intense, sometimes graphic, totally heartbreaking portrait of a character who will keep pages turning.” – Booklist, Starred Review
- “An unapologetic and wry story about a teen finding his way out of a personal crisis.” – Kirkus Reviews
- “An achingly fierce exploration of the way the world wounds us and heals us. If you love exquisitely written coming-of-age stories that will leave you breathless, In Sight of Stars is for you.” – Jeff Zentner, William C. Morris award-winning author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days
- “What a book. So human and kind and forgiving and real.” – Geoff Herbach, award-winning author of Stupid Fast and Hooper
IN SIGHT OF STARS by Gae Polisner
Publication Date: March 13, 2018
From Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Klee’s father was the center of his life. He introduced Klee to the great museums of New York City and the important artists on their walls, he told him stories made of myths and magic. Until his death.
Now, forced to live in the suburbs with his mom, Klee can’t help but feel he’s lost all the identifying parts of himself—his beloved father, weekly trips to the MoMA, and the thrumming energy of New York City. That is until he meets wild and free Sarah in art class, with her quick smiles and jokes about his “brooding.” Suddenly it seems as if she’s the only thing that makes him happy. But when an act of betrayal sends him reeling, Klee lands in what is bitingly referred to as the “Ape Can,” a psychiatric hospital for teens in Northollow.
While there, he undergoes intensive therapy and goes back over the pieces of his life to find out what was real, what wasn’t, and whether he can stand on his own feet again. Told in alternating timelines, leading up to the event that gets him committed and working towards getting back out, Gae Polisner’s In Sight of Starsis a gorgeous novel told in minimalist strokes to maximal effect, about what makes us fall apart and how we can put ourselves back together again.
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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂
Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read
/46 Comments/by Suzanne
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read. I’m a little embarrassed to say that all of these books were added to my Goodreads ‘Want to Read’ shelf back in 2012 and I still haven’t touched any of them. There’s something about each of them though that still appeals to me, so even when I do occasionally go in and purge, these books still remain. Considering they’ve been sitting there for six years, it seems doubtful that I’ll ever actually make the time for them, but we’ll see. Maybe 2018 is finally the year…
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Top 10 Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read
NECESSARY LIES by Diane Chamberlain
PRODIGAL SUMMER by Barbara Kingsolver
SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST by Anne Tyler
OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham
THE STREET SWEEPER by Elliot Perlman
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO by Boris Pasternak
SOPHIE’S CHOICE by William Styron
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Question: What books have been on your TBR the longest?
Review: When Light Left Us by Leah Thomas
/16 Comments/by SuzanneAlso by this author: Wild and Crooked
Published by Bloomsbury USA Childrens on February 13th 2018
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Science Fiction
Pages: 416
Source: Netgalley
Amazon
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
MY REVIEW:
When Light Left Us by Leah Thomas is one of the more unique books I’ve read lately. At its heart is the Vasquez family, in particular, siblings Milo, Ana and Hank, who are reeling from the fact that their father has just walked out of their lives without so much as a goodbye. They are all trying to cope with the loss as best as they can, until one night something happens that changes everything…a shimmering alien figure named Luz appears in the canyon behind their house. Luz fills the void left by their father, bonding with each of the siblings in his own way. Until Luz disappears without a word too…taking something vital from each of them.
Struck by the sense of loss all over again, Milo, Ana, and Hank are left to pick up the pieces and attempt to go about their lives as normal. It’s much easier said than done and all three siblings flounder, filled with questions about why their father left them, why Luz left them, and how can they ever feel close to or trust anyone again.
Will the Vasquez kids get their lives back on track? What were Luz’ motivations for coming into their lives and then leaving them so abruptly? What did he take from them when he left? All of these questions and so many more began filling my head as soon as I started reading this moving story about family.
I thought the focus on family was the highlight of When Light Left Us. Even though the book itself centered a lot on the alien Luz and the impact he had on each of the Vasquez siblings, it was the family itself and how the siblings dealt with the losses they experienced that really kept me reading. Their struggles to function on a daily basis, their hesitation to trust and connect with others, and even their own now-awkward interactions with each other at home all felt so realistic as was their mother’s reaction. First, Maggie’s husband walks out on them, then her children experience something together that can’t really even be explained but obviously continues to haunt them many months later, to the point where they can barely function. Maggie loves her children more than anything in the world and is overwhelmed and frustrated that there doesn’t seem to be anything she can do to help them. All of the pain this family experiences is just so palpable. I ended up really caring about them and wanting to know that they could make it through this.
Expected the unexpected. I’m kind of a sci fi nut, so I was also a big fan of the twistedness of the whole Luz storyline. I loved how original this part of the storyline was and I loved how I initially felt a bit of an E.T. vibe from Luz with the way he came into these children’s lives and filled the void left by the father who abandoned them. The E.T. vibe didn’t last long though as Luz ultimately ends up being a much more complex character than I was expecting and a bit more of an ass if I’m being truly honest. I won’t go into any more details so as not to spoil anything but definitely if you like complex characters like I do, keep your eyes on Luz.
A final element that I thought was very well done was the way the story was presented from multiple points of view. Thomas gives us the perspectives of each of the three Vasquez siblings, as well as a few chapters from their mother, and even as we move further into the book, a few chapters from Luz himself. Since I was so invested in this family, I liked being able to have a glimpse directly into each of their thoughts to get an honest look at how they were each doing. The Luz chapters were especially illuminating since we finally get a look at what is driving his actions with respect to this family.
As much as I enjoyed When Life Left Us overall, I have to admit that it started out super confusing and I almost DNF’ed it about a quarter of the way through the story. I like reading and putting together the pieces of a mystery as much as the next person, but in this case, for the longest time it didn’t feel like any of the pieces were fitting together at all. I just kept getting more and more pieces and setting them aside, waiting for them to finally make sense. Once they did start to make sense, it was very satisfying, but I just thought it took way too long to get to that point. I’m glad I pushed through and made it to the end, but if I hadn’t become so invested in the family so quickly, I’m pretty sure I would have given up on the book.
When Light Left Us is a beautiful story about how a family has the power to overcome their struggles if they stick together. I’d obviously recommend it to anyone who loves stories that focus on families and relationships, but any science fiction fan would probably enjoy this as well. If you’re impatient and like for the stories you read to make sense from the get-go, this might not be a good fit for you. Even though I had issues with that, however, I still very much enjoyed the story overall.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
When the Vasquez siblings’ father left, it seemed nothing could remedy the absence in their lives. . . until a shimmering figure named Luz appeared in the canyon behind their house.
Luz filled the void. He shot hoops with seventeen-year-old Hank’s hands. He showed fourteen-year-old Ana cinematic beauty behind her eyelids. He spoke kindly to eight-year-old Milo. But then Luz left, too, and he took something from each of them. As a new school year begins, Ana, Hank, and Milo must carry on as if an alien presence never altered them. But how can they ever feel close to other people again when Luz changed everything about how they see the world and themselves?
In an imaginative and heartfelt exploration of human—and non-human—nature, Leah Thomas champions the unyielding bonds between family and true friends.
About Leah Thomas
Leah Thomas once wrote from a house in the woods, and now an apartment more or less by the sea (well, less). Her debut novel BECAUSE YOU’LL NEVER MEET ME was a 2016 Morris Award finalist, and its sequel, NOWHERE NEAR YOU, is out now from Bloomsbury. Her third YA science fiction novel, WHEN LIGHT LEFT US, hits shelves in early 2018.
A graduate of Clarion 2010, her short fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, Black Static, Ideomancer, and Three-Lobed Burning Eye, among others. She’s mostly a dork and always feels uncomfortable about author bios. If she’s not writing, she’s likely teaching or cosplaying. Follow her on instagram (@fellowhermit), or on tumblr (cuttoothom).