Hmm, I was sold this book as an epic, tragic romance with set in the times of the 9/11 attack but the main characters POV was obnoxious. Lots of telling, the love and attraction are epic, etc but nothing really showing on the page

https://lbwritesx.wordpress.com/2018/07/08/insert-cliche-here/

I... should have just put this book down and not finished it when it opened with the romance starting on 9/11 as some sort of edgy amazing love story... it just felt tacky and gross and wrong. And her entire life and marriage with this other guy while pining for her first love and dropping everything but not actually leaving her husband idk I really have no words to describe how utterly disappointed in this book I was. I really wanted to love this novel more as it is set in my home city and there's even travel out to Montauk which holds an incredibly special place in my heart but even with all of that nothing could override the story being a let down.

3.5

In case you didn't know already, I love stories set in New York City, so when I first heard about Jill Santopolo’s debut novel The Light We Lost, I immediately wanted to grab and read it! Although the novel is set in a genre that I normally wouldn’t gravitate towards, I’m trying to broaden my horizons and be open to different styles of books.

This is a love story about Lucy Carter and Gabe Samson, two young Columbia University students who meet on September 11, 2001. Anyone who’s lived and worked in NYC on this day knows the immense tragedy this day holds, and for both Lucy and Gabe, the events mold the people they would become throughout the years.

Gabe and Lucy have a whirlwind romance that sadly ends, yet they continue to stay intertwined within each other’s lives. Both Lucy and Gabe have successful careers and budding adult lives, yet there is an invisible pull that keeps the communication alive.

This novel is told in the second person, with Lucy speaking to Gabe throughout the book. This style opens up their lives for the reader, revealing secrets and desires that both people hold. We also receive an inside look at the other people who are close in Lucy’s life, and how they influence her path as time moves on.

The one thing I felt about this novel is that all the characters hold a strong degree of selfishness. Both Gabe’s and Lucy’s desires overrule the sensible choices that would be best for them. Even when they welcome other intimate relationships, there’s that degree of ‘what if?” that constantly hangs over them. Tragedy and love can spark strong emotions in people, and Lucy and Gabe both hold onto the memory of their young love desperately.

Despite this small setback, I truly appreciated the message that Jill Santopolo conveyed in The Light We Lost: holding onto true love is powerful, and leaves a strong mark on one’s soul long after the relationship is over. It tells us to value the moments and friends we have in our lives while they are still present, since life can change in an instant.

I'm not sure where I heard about this book, but it was somewhere because I put it in my hold at the library. But then I promptly forgot about it until it arrived and I was left to wonder... where did I hear about this book? The description didn't even seem familiar. But then I started reading it and realized it must have been from this list of books I found that realistically portray love. And that's exactly what this book did. That's all it did. It was the story of a girl, Lucy, and a boy. Gabe, who meet at the end of college, lose touch, find each other again, fall in love, and are then separated by their respective dreams; she to produce children's television in New York and he to Iraq, then Afghanistan, and a bevvy of other places as a photojournalist.

So they break up, but never quite forget each other as they proceed with their lives and become involved with other people. I think this is where it lost the people it lost. I read quite a few reviews that took issue with the lead character having essentially an emotional affair for the entirety of her marriage. They complained that Darren, the husband, wasn't enough of a villain. And maybe he wasn't. Lucy gets a very comfortable life with her well off husband, two lovely kids, huge apartment in Brooklyn, vacations in the Hamptons. Everything is great on paper. But paper isn't reality and I felt like Darren's good qualities were what made Lucy's dissatisfaction interesting. There are ones that get away and sometimes it's just not easy to disentangle your heart from someone with whom a relationships is all but impossible. And I'll just go ahead and say, to me, despite all the amenities, Darren would be my nightmare. He has that sort of alpha male, "I will provide and you will be MY wife" bullshit that I couldn't put up with. And Lucy clearly feels the same way. She repeatedly tells me that she wants to be included in decisions and not be surprised with elaborate surprises and yet he persists. He clearly feels she should be the caretaker of the children even if he "allows" her to work. All of it is subtle but Lucy takes pause several times before dismissing these things. It seemed, more, like she was convincing herself into her life than anything else. I don't think this marriage is a good one even if she wasn't in love with someone else. Which she is, so there's that.

I thought this book was lovely. It wasn't entirely straightforward or completely moral, but it was true. And for me that's the best thing a book can be.

It was ok. Quick.

This book is magic

ABC