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The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo (2017)


Laura’s Rating: 2/5 Stars


At the beginning of this month, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I asked for suggestions of romance novels that I could read and review. My friend Meghan, who loves all romantic reads, suggested this book. Disclaimer: this book is sad in places so if you are looking purely for lighthearted romance, steer clear.


The Analysis:


The story is narrated by Lucy, a college student who meets a boy named Gabe on the day of the attacks on the twin towers in New York City. The tragedy brings them together on 9/11, and while they are leading separate lives by graduation, they soon find themselves back together again. Gabe and Lucy are passionately and unapologetically in love with each other, pushing aside their differing ideas of a future together until the crucial moment when decisions must be made. Eventually, Gabe leaves for a job abroad and Lucy meets a sweet and stable guy named Darren. Does this mean the end of Gabe and Lucy’s electric relationship or are they meant to be together forever?


Romance novels aren’t usually my thing, but sometimes a love story can be fun and I enjoy romantic comedy movies. However, I didn’t love this book, mainly because of the arguably problematic relationships. Lucy’s ideas about relationships seem flawed to me and I wanted her to demand more for herself. She doesn’t seem to know the difference between love and infatuation and when she is missing Gabe, Lucy talks about him as if he is living perfection. She writes off his flaws because of the way he makes her feel when they’re together, but it doesn’t seem to me that Gabe ever has Lucy’s best interests as a priority. Meanwhile, Darren is smart, kind, and thoughtful. He is also flawed, expecting Lucy to care for children and not taking her career seriously, but Lucy seems to fault Darren more frequently. When he plans several big romantic gestures, Lucy resents that he didn’t ask for her input. She calls it infantilizing and patronizing and even says Gabe would “never do something like that.” The problem is that he would and did make huge decisions without her, but Lucy seems blinded to Gabe’s faults.


The Light We Lost is a pretty quick read and I did enjoy parts of it. I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens in the end, but I was a bit disappointed overall. Objectively, I think a lot of people would enjoy this book, it’s just not really my thing. The plot was too dramatic and I didn’t like Lucy’s philosophies on love. I’d recommend it to lovers of romance books, but not anyone else.


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