This Raging Light Review

Distiller: Hikari Loftus
3/5 Stars



This Raging Light
by Estelle Laure
288 pages
HMH Books for Young Readers (December 22, 2015)

When her mom decides to take an extended vacation (read skip out on her two daughters and leave them to fend for themselves) and her dad MIA, Lucille Bennett has to step up and try to keep everything together for the sake of her 9 year old sister, Wren. 

And since Lucille is still months away from turning 18, no one can know that she and Wren are alone so no one can try to split them up and throw them into the system. 

Naturally, when Lucille has no time for anything but the huge responsibilities thrown at her, she finds herself falling in love. But one thing after another goes wrong for Lucille and if she can barely keep her life together, how can she find room for love? 

I’m not sure if this is one of those things that makes me old, or if it was the story, but I had a hard time with much of this book. Hear me out though because there was also a lot that I loved. 

Lucille has a ton on her plate and I was very interested in what was going on with her family and their situation, but most of that takes a back seat to total boy obsession. I thought that the real story got buried under paragraph after paragraph of Lucille fixation on Digby. 

All the in-between parts—the parts about Lucille’s job, her sister, wondering about their parents, trying to keep their situation a secret… I was SO into that. I wanted her little sister to have more space to voice her feelings and thoughts and for the sister relationship to expand. 

I felt like there was maybe one plot line too many in this, and each was a layer keeping me from what I really wanted to read about. 

HOWEVER, once you get to the point that explains the title, it’s very powerful. There were times that I just wanted to cry for Lucille. My mama heart just broke for her. There were a lot of great quotes in here about what makes love matter. Does it matter if you love someone if you abandon them?

This is a super fast read with a great message. Maybe it’s my age or my mama status that wanted to focus on everything besides the love interest. I can’t tell. But I think a quick read like this with such a good final message, is a good one to take for a spin and see if it fits you.