This Raging Light by Estelle Laure is about a girl called Lucille (age 17) whose mum has left to go on holiday, and dad has gone mad, and is left to look after herself and her sister Wren. The book begins on the first day of the school year, when her mum has been away two weeks, and was the day that she said she would come back.
Her best friend Eden immediately knows what’s wrong, but Lucille tries to hide it from the rest of the world. But soon she can’t do it alone, so she gets a job and accepts help form Eden, and her brother Digby who Eden is madly in love with. The book follows how Lucille copes without parents, and being in love with an out-of-reach boy.
I think the best way to describe this book is ‘average’. First of all I found it quite easy to read, so I feel that it would be better suited to readers in their early teens. I found the story itself quite stereotypical of YA romances of a similar standard, and only one vaguely interesting thing happened which seamed rushed over, but could have made the book a lot better if it happened earlier on.
If you are looking for a romance book specifically, I would not choose this one as even though it is heavily advertised as a romance, which is also emphasised in the synopsis, I found that the book was more about the relationship between Lucille and Wren, and how she coped with essentially becoming Wren’s mother. Overall I would give this book 2.5 out of 5 stars, as it was okay, but it was a good thing that it was short, as it wouldn’t have held my attention much longer.
- Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop
