What Light by Jay Asher

What Light by Jay Asher

Publisher: Razorbill

Genre: YA Fiction-Holiday Romance

Pages: 256

Publication Date: October, 2016

Rating: 1/5

Summary:

Sierra’s family owns a Christmas tree farm in Oregon; each year the family travels to California to sell their trees at Christmas time. She has dealt with having a separate life in each state her whole life; this means adjusting to splitting time between her best friends, schools, and homes.  Sierra usually spends her Christmases selling trees and hanging out with one of her best friends, Heather. That is, until she meets Caleb, a kind-hearted guy who made a huge mistake in the past. Sierra becomes determined to help Caleb find redemption in the eyes of the community and his family.

Pros:

·       Following the life of a girl whose family operates a Christmas tree farm sheds light on a profession that not many people think about.

·       Caleb is a likable main character with some redeeming characteristics.

·       I enjoyed the Christmas setting.

Cons:

·       The plot was rather predictable and boring; the whole time I was reading I kept wondering when something interesting would happen.

·       Sierra fell into the romance novel trap of pursuing someone who, in the long-run, will probably not work out and using the L-word far too soon.

·       The parents seemed to cater to Sierra the second she complained and were wishy-washy.

Final Thoughts:

            I really wanted to like this book; I loved Jay Asher’s other book Thirteen Reasons Why. I just could not get into this one. It felt like there were so many interesting plot lines that could have been explored, yet the author went with the more cliché plot. It felt like the story and the characters fell flat. Perhaps if the plot was less predictable, I would have felt the intended heartbreak and cared about the romance in it.  If you want a quick holiday read, maybe this book is for you.