Broken But Still Beautiful

Boy Meets Girl. Boy comes from a broken home, and Girl is a little bit broken, too. Boy and Girl connect. Then it all goes wrong.

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That Was Then...

Elliot Youngblood and Catherine Calhoun bond one summer when Elliot is on his yearly visit to his Aunt Leigh and Uncle John. Catherine's father has just lost his job, and Catherine needs an escape from the suffocation of her parents' arguments and her mother's sullen anxiety.

Unlike Catherine, Elliot is a routine escape artist. Growing up with an abusive and manipulative father and a mother whose backbone is sorely lacking, Elliot understands the pain of having a home that doesn't feel like HOME. Amidst a summer of long walks, picnics, photography, and honesty, Elliot and Catherine find something kindred in their spirits. They start to develop that pure first love.

Unfortunately, good things can't always last, and Elliot is ripped away from Catherine right when she needs him most. It takes two years, and a lot of effort, before Elliot can get back to her, but does she still even want him?

This Is Now...

The first half of the book focuses on the beginning of Elliot and Catherine's relationship and his return to Oak Creek. In the years that Elliot has been gone, things for both him and Catherine have changed and yet still remained the same. Elliot has "glowed up" and become a talented football player, and he finally has the opportunity to force his way back to Oak Creek. His mother has some deeply rooted issues with the town, its close-mindedness, and ill-treatment of First-Nation families.

Catherine, on the other hand, has sunk even further into a self-imposed isolation. Her mother has transformed their decrepit estate into a bed and breakfast, and though it doesn't seem remotely successful, Catherine finds herself trapped under the whims of the "regular" guests (who are all a bit strange, and really not so regular at all). More importantly than that, she has to dedicate her life, her choices, to guarding the secret of the Juniper house and what happens inside it. If she doesn't, her life will spiral even further out of her control, and she'll lose the little semblance of family that she has left.

I loved both Catherine and Elliot, and even more love that we get to experience All the Little Lights through both of their perspectives. McGuire does a great job of creating each character's individual voice, and making the reader feel for both of her protagonists. Elliot is a boy who is trying his best to keep his head above water, to break free from the trauma and baggage that his parents weighed him down with throughout his life. Catherine, at her heart, is lonely. She's a girl who desperately NEEDS to be loved, and supported, and accepted, but she's forgotten how to let someone do that. She's afraid to let someone do that.

Elliot and Catherine are a perfect match. Their love for each other is so sweet, so endearing. I'll admit, there were a few moments when I wanted to tell Elliot to take a little bit of a chill pill, but, overall, his devotion to Catherine is beautiful, and the way they accept each other starts to heal some of those broken pieces that their lives have left within them.

Storytelling

As for the story itself- First of all, I want to caution readers to be patient. The BIG mystery doesn't escalate until almost halfway through the book, but I think there's still a lot to dig into in the meantime, and I had no issue with the pacing. I liked that McGuire didn't rush into the BIG mystery, and let it build up in a natural way. We needed the time to invest in the characters and really develop their social relationships and their world in order for the aftermath of the mystery to make sense. I was totally invested in Elliot, Catherine, and the Juniper House secret, so I felt like the book even went by fast.

By the way, the ending totally surprised me, and I love a twist. I'm going to be rereading pretty soon, so I can try to "collect" clues that I might have missed the first time around. I think McGuire's twist makes sense, and it was TOTALLY not what I'd expected.

Great Potential

There are some tough issues to tackle in All the Little Lights, and I love that young adult readers will be exposed to a book that will make them think. Elliot faces overt racism from many of the people in Oak Creek who continually stereotype him and even denigrate him for his First Nation background. The book also deals with mental illness, anger management, and substance abuse. As someone reading the book for enjoyment, I liked that it made me think and didn't just give the characters fluffy issues that would be easily solved or washed away.

As a teacher, I see a lot of potential for this book to generate some rich discussion among students, both those who do and do not have firsthand experience with these tough topics.

As you can probably tell, I really enjoyed the book, and I definitely recommend others give it a try! :)