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A review by twirl
Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff
5.0
A story about a kids experience with grief, ghosts, and learning who you are.
First off, I recommend you to read this book. Yes, everyone. It is so well written with realistic characters, kid ghost hunting, and a beautiful strong emotional journey. It has also won several awards for children’s literature, and while that may be the target audience, I think it’s reach is much farther than just youth.
If you are going to read this book, I’d encourage you to read it without reading the goodreads synopsis or even the rest of this review. I will remain vague to be “spoiler free” but I think not knowing what this book really means is part of the intended journey of reading it (as even the author said in his closing note).
This book is starts with the loss of Bug’s uncle and it’s depictions of grief are raw and heart wrenching, not enough to render tears but enough to feel a heavy sadness, similar to how Bug felt. Then the ghosts appear and things get interesting. We also learn more about Bug’s friends and family. All the characters feel real, in a way that almost makes me feel like I’m reading a memoir or a child’s diary (especially highlighted with kids doing and saying very young kid things). And in the final chapters I cried, but it wasn’t due to sadness. It was relief and pride and happiness and maybe a little bit of my own sadness, how I wish I could have experienced something similar, how I wish everyone who walks down a similar path could experience their journey like Bug. But also how I am also happy that while my journey looks very different from Bugs, we both have found our way down the path of being ourselves.
I am so thankful to the author for writing this book. It may be written for young preteens but I think it expands much farther beyond that age range. This is not childish at all, instead offering a place for the readers inner child to feel and heal. I also appreciate this book for describing something so hard to put into words. I think the world would be a better place if everyone and their child read this book and understood, even a little bit, what it means.
First off, I recommend you to read this book. Yes, everyone. It is so well written with realistic characters, kid ghost hunting, and a beautiful strong emotional journey. It has also won several awards for children’s literature, and while that may be the target audience, I think it’s reach is much farther than just youth.
If you are going to read this book, I’d encourage you to read it without reading the goodreads synopsis or even the rest of this review. I will remain vague to be “spoiler free” but I think not knowing what this book really means is part of the intended journey of reading it (as even the author said in his closing note).
This book is starts with the loss of Bug’s uncle and it’s depictions of grief are raw and heart wrenching, not enough to render tears but enough to feel a heavy sadness, similar to how Bug felt. Then the ghosts appear and things get interesting. We also learn more about Bug’s friends and family. All the characters feel real, in a way that almost makes me feel like I’m reading a memoir or a child’s diary (especially highlighted with kids doing and saying very young kid things). And in the final chapters I cried, but it wasn’t due to sadness. It was relief and pride and happiness and maybe a little bit of my own sadness, how I wish I could have experienced something similar, how I wish everyone who walks down a similar path could experience their journey like Bug. But also how I am also happy that while my journey looks very different from Bugs, we both have found our way down the path of being ourselves.
I am so thankful to the author for writing this book. It may be written for young preteens but I think it expands much farther beyond that age range. This is not childish at all, instead offering a place for the readers inner child to feel and heal. I also appreciate this book for describing something so hard to put into words. I think the world would be a better place if everyone and their child read this book and understood, even a little bit, what it means.