In Bloom

by Matthew Crow

A poignant and unexpectedly funny novel about Francis - one of the best and bravest teenage boy narrators since Adrian Mole. This is an emotionally honest story about wanting the very best from life, even when life shows you how very bad things can be.

Francis Wootton's first memory is of Kurt Cobain's death, and there have been other hardships closer to home since then. At fifteen years old he already knows all about loss and rejection - and to top it all off he has a permanently broke big brother, a grandma with selective memory (and very selective social graces) and a mum who's at best an acquired taste. Would-be poet, possible intellectual and definitely wasted in Tyne and Wear, Francis has grown used to figuring life out on his own.Lower Fifth is supposed to be his time, the start of an endless horizon towards whatever-comes-next. But when he is diagnosed with leukaemia that wide-open future suddenly narrows, and a whole new world of worry presents itself.There's the horror of being held back a year at school, the threat of imminent baldness, having to locate his best shirt in case a visiting princess or pop-star fancies him for a photo-op . . . But he hadn't reckoned on meeting Amber - fierce, tough, one-of-a-kind Amber - and finding a reason to tackle it all - the good, the bad and everything in between - head on.In Bloom is a bright, funny, painful and refreshing novel about wanting the very best from life, even when life shows you how very bad it can be. It is a novel about how to live.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult Contemporary, Humor

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 2013

About the author

​Matthew was born and raised in Newcastle and began freelancing for newspapers and magazines whilst still at school, writing about the arts and pop culture.

He has written four novels, Ashes and My Dearest Jonah - the second of which was nominated for the Dylan Thomas Prize for Literature - and one book for young adults, In Bloom, which was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and the North East Teen Book Award, and listed in the Telegraph's Best YA of 2014 List.

His fourth book, Another Place​, will also be for young adults and was published by Atom in August 2017.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book has a very pretty cover.

that's the only nice thing i have to say.

this is part of a project i'm doing where i review books i read a long time ago, and also wonder since when i care about being nice.

[enqi ☾⋆˚*̣̩✩ · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise is marketed as the fault in our stars from the boy's point of view, but in truth, the only resemblance to tfios is its premise, and afterwards, the book falls short of its predecessor's standards.

the romance was a no-go for me. it was the worst case of instalove i've ever seen... it seemed like francis and amber had no choice because they were both dying of cancer and they were the most compatible in the whole ward. unlike most of my friends i'm not that averse to instalove, but this was the last straw. there was zero romance development, they talked for three seconds and abruptly kissed? and then they had sex once and nothing else happened? i can't describe how trash it was. the absolute worst part was when francis began pining after amber afterward, and when i say pining, i mean he was fucking desperate and clingy and couldn't leave amber alone even when she was sick and couldn't text him back, obviously.

i didn't like amber. the book made this whole deal about how she was bright, brilliant, brutally honest, snarky and fearless and the world in her own right but all i saw was this selfish empty girl who didn't care about the consequences of anything she did. i didn't hate her, but i definitely disliked her character.

previously, i loved the book because francis has a strange mixture of cynical snark, martyrish self-deprecation and defensive dry humor, and it really shines through in the writing. but after he became amber's #1 Clingy Creep everything just went downhill... i wanted to slap him so many times, honestly.

one plus point of this book (maybe the only one?) was the amazing familial relationships, especially between francis and his older brother, chris. they made me wish i'd had an older brother like that. and francis' mum was pretty badass, too.

there were some quote gems, but in my opinion they weren't enough to offset the atrocity of the second half of the book

anyway so i rated this two stars but then the more i wrote this review the more angry i got, so now it's one star. yes my reviews are biased but we already knew that. (actual rating 1.5 stars)

[Cora Tea Party Princess · Rating 5 out of 5]

North East Teenage Book Awards Nominee 2014

5 Words: Young-love, drugs, love, family, hope.

This was my first read of 2015 and it was amazing. And heart breaking. And it made me cry.

From the very first page, I knew this book would be special. I mean, it doesn't get more powerful that that first short page. That first page kind of stuns you, leaves you slightly breathless.

When I finished this book, I had tears streaming down my face. And I couldn't think straight. I still can't think straight, can't get my thoughts sorted into some sort of coherence for this review. So you're going to have to wait a little while for the full review.

Francis is a fantastic character. And his mum was awesome, I really loved her. The interactions between the two of them just made me smile, reminded me how awesome my own mum is.

This is not a book about cancer. And don't you dare go comparing it to The Fault in Our Stars as so many people have done.

There is something very British about In Bloom. The way it's written, the characters... And being set locally to me, I was very much at home reading it.

Read this book with a box of tissues and a huge cup of tea and then run around and recommend it to everyone.

[Jacquelyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

My thanks to Simon and Schuster for the ARC!

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book. I was highly anticipating this book and I thought it was going to be a very emotional contemporary book that would hit me right in the feels. I was wrong. I am actually going to do this review in a list format because I think it would be easier to put my thoughts together.

Why I Did Not Like This Book:

1. Pacing - This book had such strange pacing. It had SO many page breaks. I usually like page breaks but this one had so many it was getting a bit ridiculous. I thought the pacing was not well at all. It was almost moving too fast. The things that should have been explained more were just sort of skipped over to get to more boring parts which leads to my next reason.
2. Lack of explanation - There was little to no explanation in this book, it seemed. I am not too familiar with types of cancer and I feel like in a cancer book, there should be an explanation of the disease and some details about it. This book, nope. He is diagnosed with this cancer and there was no explanation about the disease. I could not connect or feel for his character at all and I am thinking the lack of explanation may have been causing that.
3. Reminded me of TFIOS.. Not in a good way - I felt like this author was trying to write the next TFIOS. It felt very similar to that book. It also tried to have humorous parts to lighten the load of the cancer plot but I felt like the humor was too far reached. It was not really funny in my opinion. I did laugh one time but other than that, I was not impressed with the attempt at humor to lighten the story.
4. Not connecting with characters - This kind of connects with #2 but I could not connect to these characters. It seemed like they were not fleshed out as well as they should have been. I hate not feeling some sort of emotions for characters, especially in books like these. It just was not I book I could connect with.
5. So boring - I was so bored that at the end of the book, I started skimming. I didn't want to DNF but I did skim and I felt like nothing happened. I was just so bored that skimming was my only option left.
6. The summary - Yes, the summary. I obviously had read the summary before requesting this book. In my opinion, this is one of those spoilery summaries. It gave way too much information away. I was 200 pages in (there are less than 300 pages in this book) and I already knew everything that happened would happen, from the summary. Maybe this is just me and maybe the summary doesn't feel spoilery to others.

I am really disappointed that I did not love this book because I was really hoping I would. I thought the genre, cancer story, and beautiful cover would have made for an amazing book but sadly, that was not the reality for me. Who knows though, you may love this book! I personally would not recommend this book but if it sounds interesting to you, definitely give it a shot because it does have potential.

[Giselle · Rating 2 out of 5]

An unsolicited Advanced Reader Copy was provided by the publisher for review.

Francis is sick with leukemia and being diagnosed changes his life as he knows it. With his mother and older brother, he gets through his treatments. Even when his two grumpy bed mates don't give him the time of day. In comes Amber, a girl like no other. One who speaks her mind, and does anything she wants. She's sick too.

This bright and bold cover really stood out to me and this is probably why I picked this up from the plethora of ARCs I have. Even though I know that one of the characters is sick, I knew that I had to give it a shot. In the vein of The Fault in our Stars, this also includes two sick characters who fall in love, but this one focuses more on family which I really enjoyed. I just found that there was no real story-line, and the daily life that Francis goes through grew to be a real bore. I didn't care too much about the characters, I found the narration to be all over the place, but maybe that's also because he's sick himself? His mom is quite the mother bear, and her actions were quite admirable. Never giving up on her child and pretty protective even then. Then there's Amber who I pretty much threw into the maniac pixie dream girl cliche. She's pretty feisty and I didn't really feel like I knew her at all. I didn't get their relationship either because it spanned pretty quickly.

In the end, I thought the writing was good even though I grew bored, and the characters were there, but I wanted there to be something. Maybe more of a conflict other than their sickness? Because just reading about a character's daily outings can be a bit of a chore, even if they're sick. I don't want to read another lovesick story where one of them dies..Unless it's an epic tragic love story..because I don't really see the appeal anymore.

RATING 3/5

QUOTES

"When something bad happens you have to make sure you're more careful."

"I can cope, just about, in my own way. But I don't know what you need me to be. That's my problem."

"My personality would shine through even the deepest caverns of despair."

"I suppose being in her house reminded me that she was human."

"However bad things get, just remember…they could always be worse."

"A love like that only stops if you let it."

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a letdown for me if I’m being totally honest. The story was good and I did enjoy it but definitely not as much as I thought I would. If I’m reading a book like this I want it to make me cry and FEEL things but this one didn’t check those boxes for me sadly. It all felt a bit too predictable and stale for me, I saw what was coming from a mile away and it spoiled the effect for me.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book isn't a one star book. Just going in my on hold. It's a sweet book but just didn't capture me, I keep finding myself wanting to venture to other books. I'll come back to it though

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

** spoiler alert **

Okay okay where do I begin?

I picked up The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise because, it was an ARC (how cool!) and I liked the cover. (Despite my feelings and opinions of the story, the cover is kind of pretty. . .)

There is a thin line in the contemporary genre: realistic vs believable
The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise may have been realistic, but I have my doubts if it was believable....
So when I finish a book in a day or two, it usually means I loved it. Sorry, but not the case for this book. I do believe the one and only other review here with me, that Amber has no dimension to her character!

Plus, the book's pace was too fast! Insta-love is done either right (but very rarely) or wrong, and this book sadly falls into the latter. A must need for me is character development, which we seriously lacked here.

Crow wrote this book with what appears to be no knowledge about cancer. None of Francis's surgeries or chemo sessions were touched upon. He just simple 'had cancer' and then boom, he's 'cured' by authorly magic or some shit probably.

Francis's sister, Emma who died young, is supposedly responsible for helping his mother's mental state deteriorate. But Emma was mentioned barely two times, evidently having no physical affect on Francis. I believe this detail of the story could have been developed more, or just removed completely.

Simon and Schuster advertised this book as a similar The Fault in Our Stars, but it came across to me more like a washed-up version of instead. The only thing that was similar was the fact the two main characters were teenagers with cancer, that's it.

Another thing to mention: Francis was soooo clingy and naive. Whenever he didn't see Amber for like, four days, he starts to panic I'm in love with Amber. . .I haven't seen her in four days she must hate me like no you're only fifteen and being uber melodramatic, Franny.

Now, don't get me wrong. There were some elements I liked in this book. (Because I'm pretty easygoing with books) I liked Francis's character. He had a fun POV. He felt a bit realistic and I loved listening to him. His family was even better. The story would have been a lot better if A) Amber was a better, less flat, more realistic (perhaps?) character or B) she wasn't there at all! His family could have held the entire story together without her. The chemistry between Francis, Julie, Chris, and Grandma was excellent indeed. (to me, at least)

Conclusion: 3.4 stars because I liked Francis but 3 because of Amber and the fact that I can't do point whatever stars

~ Jill

[Rosanna Threakall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this with all my soul. Matthew Crow is a phenomenally underhyped writer. GET. ON. THIS.

[Sara Grochowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

My goodness, I adore this novel so incredibly much. Yes, it's another cancer book about a teen falling in love with a fellow patient and discovering what it means to live while his body is dying, but here's the thing: this book is so much more than the familiar premise.

“He had to be nice to me at the moment because he had to be surrounded by people. This was because boys like him were, essentially, pasta. Everyone thought they loved him because they had never been forced to experience the true blandness of him on his own.” - from The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise

When you read The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise's description, you might automatically think of The Fault in Our Stars, Before I Die, and all the rest. Then you'll assume you've already read this story. But you haven't... because you haven't met Francis, his family, or Amber, characters that make this novel shine, allowing it to stand out from the mountain of other books with similar plots and conceits. Despite this being sick-lit, it's incredibly funny, due to both Francis' wry observations and his colorful family. His mother, brother, and grandmother all play large parts in the novel and, despite what the novel's summary implies, I think of it as more of an exploration of family relationships than romantic relationships.

“Mum just laughed gleefully at his mounting frustration, like the villainous matriarch in a Roald Dahl story. I suspect a TV guide would describe her idea of comedy as 'dark', or, at very best, 'alternative'.”- from The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise

Like the characters, this book is sometimes happy and sometimes sad. Sometimes it's about cancer, but, most of the time it's about everything but cancer. It truly is a story about learning to live, even when you've been dealt an unfair hand. There aren't any characters within these pages that give up or stop living their lives, even when there might not be that much time left for them to live it. It's not melodramatic and it isn't falsely cheery or optimistic. Instead it feels like you're peeking into Francis' life, watching the exhilarating ups and the difficult downs as they truly are, as people live them everyday despite all types of struggles and drama.

“Grandma's house had the atmosphere of a Tupperware box left out in the sun. Like a tropical flower, she had to be kept warm and moist at all times, or she would wilt and die.”- from The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise

The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise was originally published in the UK as In Bloom and some of the slang and colloquialisms remain, giving the novel an extra bit of charm for American readers like me. There were a couple phrases and references that gave me pause and took a second or two to figure out, but I never found this particularly distracting or troublesome.

Ignore the fact that this book has a familiar premise and add it to your to-read pile. The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise and its quirky characters will undoubtedly lodge themselves firmly in your heart and you'll be glad you took my advice!

[Book Concierge · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the book jacket: Francis has plans to come into his own, forging his way in school and life, despite his loony, awkward, broken family … and noticeable lack of friends. Then he is diagnosed with leukemia. … In the hospital, Francis meets fellow patient Amber. Fierce, tough, one-of-a-kind Amber.

My reactions
I really liked the relationship that Francis had with his older brother. I never did figure out what was up with his Mom, but she grew on me by the end. (This was probably indicative of Francis’ maturation and the way he came to appreciate his mother more as he grew up.)

Amber was an enigma. I liked her bravery and outlandish refusal to conform. But I never really felt the love between her and Francis.

There are some scenes that had me rolling my eyes, but in general, as “teens-with-cancer-romance” genre books go, this is pretty entertaining. It held my attention and was a fairly fast read. And yes, I did tear up.

Note First published in the U.K. as In Bloom

[Maddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally at Heart Full Of Books

(Warning: The blurb of this book is misleading.) On the back cover, this book is compared to ‘The Fault in Our Stars’. Normally, comparing a contemporary book with John Green is a risky business, as A LOT of people in the world love TFIOS. However, I’d say the only similarity with John Green’s most famous novel is that the two main characters have cancer. That’s like comparing Shadow and Bone with The Selection, because they both have a female protagonist!

Plot
Francis, our protagonist, gets cancer. Unlike TFIOS, we experience his journey from diagnosis to semi-recovery. Amber, his love interest, acts as Augustus Waters. (We all know how that ends….maybe the comparison was more accurate after all?) Minor characters play a big role in the book, especially Francis’ family, Chris, his brother and Julie, his mother. This book is more about coping with cancer and how it manages to completely change family life, but in reality, a lot stays the same. It was banal to read in some places because it was just so average. I guess that makes it true-to-life, but I was expecting something a little more adventurous than what I got.

Romance
As with Hazel and Gus, it was hard to discern whether Francis and Amber were in a relationship because they genuinely loved each other, or if it was just convenient, in order to experience a relationship before the end. The two didn’t go over the top with romantic gestures or actions. As with most of the plot, it was an average love story and left me wanting a little more. The book was alternately titled ‘The Brilliant Light of of Amber Sunrise’, which suggests Amber is more manic-pixie-dream-girl, when in reality, she’s just a girl with a new-age mother interested in crystal healing techniques.

Characters
As this was a short book, you couldn’t really get to know the characters in that much depth. I don’t think the experience of being diagnosed with cancer actually changed Francis. He didn’t go through any magical character development when he was cured, realising that life’s too short. Amber didn’t change him either, she was just his girlfriend, not his spirit guide. It was interesting to read something so…normal, for lack of a better word.

One thing I took away from this book was an excellent character analysis quote:
“Boys like him were, essentially, pasta. Everyone thought they loved him because they had never been forced to experience the true blandness of him on his own.” I had to read this out to my family, it seemed so true. So, when I read the next 150 pages, I was disappointed that this witty writing style wasn’t the consistent style. If it had been filled with little gems like this, then I definitely would have enjoyed it more.

Overall, I’d give this book 2 stars. Not because it wasn’t enjoyable, but because I think it will be easy to forget. Nothing much actually happened in this book. What did happen was ‘nice’, but, like pasta, I was always told in primary school that ‘nice’ was a bland adjective.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review By Beth

In Bloom’s synopsis immediately had me thinking of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. Is this just another cancer novel? Yes it’s an emotive topic but can it be overdone? Are there too many novels dealing with this topic at the moment? I don’t think so and I think In Bloom is brilliant and is at least The Fault in Our Stars’ equal. I would even say I prefer it over the huge American hit because it has a British-ness to it which makes it easier for me to relate to.
Crow’s protagonist is Francis Wootton. I immediately liked the idea of this novel because of its Nirvana-esque title and although there’s very little about Nirvana within I wasn’t disappointed. Francis is a brilliant protagonist, he’s funny, genuine and blunt. He’s planning to get on with his life as usual, worrying about moving onto his next educational challenge and then bang. Leukaemia.
Francis’ priorities change, the things that mattered before fade into insignificance and new things become extremely important. With his hard as nails mum, wayward brother Chris and selectively forgetful Gran on his side, it’s heart-warming to see how Francis steels and battles through. The novel is blunt, Francis realises the horror of losing every hair on his body and then everything changes when Amber arrives.
Amber turns up on the unit where Francis is being treated and his priorities change once more. She becomes his reason to keep fighting and get the best out of the life they’ve got.
Crow’s voice is refreshing, it’s not a new story as such and key moments in the plot are unfortunately not a surprise but then that makes the novel more true to life. Crow presents cancer to us without bows and ribbons, there’s no dumbing down to teenagers and no sense of glossing over things, Crow’s story is brilliantly written and yes there are sad moments but they’re more than made up for by the humour and poignancy of others.

[mackenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m pretty conflicted about this book, I’ve gotta say. There were some things I really liked, and others I really hated. The family/friendship aspect of this book was amazing - I absolutely loved the relationship between Amber’s mom and Francis’ mom, the strong bond between Chris and Francis, and just the overall development of the characters that made up Francis’ family. But, unfortunately, Francis was kinda crap. He was immature, whiny and childish; he was always looking for pity from anyone who would listen to him; he put the idea of his love for Amber before her actual needs as a human being .. need I go on? And, honestly, this book was brutally predictable. It was basically The Fault In Our Stars except flipped - the boy is our narrator and his girlfriend dies. I would have liked this novel much more if it was less about Francis’ relationship with Amber (I know, I know, it’s called “The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise” but whatever) and more about his family, how they coped with their father leaving, how they dealt with Francis being diagnosed, etc. Basically, I guess this wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing either. It was pretty average. So, 3/5

[♫✯Em loves Hollenstein✯♫❤the summertime and butterflies all belong to your creation❤]

DNF AT 66 PAGES

The saddest part is that this book didn't have anything specifically wrong with it. Sure, the main character was a bit of a dick, and the plot was a complete cliché, but I thought I could get a bit further through. It had promise- I liked the cover and the quote on the back of the book- but the book simply didn't interest me. It was boring. I didn't want to pick it up and read again, and I was only half reading it when I did- I never got lost in it.
I feel like it's hard to master a cancer love story without a) glamourising it or b) being cardboard and lifeless- and I feel like the author didn't do a very good job on it. I really disliked the style of writing- it was too young sounding, too immature and simplistic.
Before I get any fan girls or something commenting "YOU DIDN'T EVEN TRY YOU BITCHHHHH"- I did try. I tried so many times to get into this novel. It was just too lifeless and two-dimensional.

[ashley 🧡🤍🩷 · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was bad. Just plain bad. I decided to stop reading about halfway through.

[Elisabetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'esperienza della malattia è qualcosa di indescrivibile, qualcosa che forse solo gli psicologi riescono a tirare fuori a parole dal paziente.
Per questo motivo, quando mi trovo di fronte un argomento così delicato, mi avvicino con titubanze e sospetto al libro in questione, sia in quanto potrebbe essere di una colossale banalità, sia in quanto, al contrario, potrebbe essere così profondo da farmi versare fiumi di lacrime.
Beh, questo libro ha stravolto tutti i miei pronostici e si colloca esattamente al centro.

La voce narrante è Frencis e ha 15 anni. E si sente. Non amo particolarmenti le voci narranti immature, ma allo stesso tempo Francis è così simpatico che mi fa dimenticare tutto. Inoltre Nel libro ci sono frasi, scritte in modo semplice è vero, ma che racchiudono esattamente il tuo pensiero.
Ho avuto a che fare con la malattia e non in età matura, e alcuni dei pensieri scritti in questo libro erano i miei.
Al che mi chiedo se la mia voce interiore fosse così infantile a quel tempo!!
Amber è la seconda protagonista di questo romanzo, anche se viviamo tutto dal punto di vista di Francis. Lei è molto matura per la sua età, schietta e diretta e, ovviamente si trova anche lei in ospedale.

Questo libro non parla solamente della malattia, ma anche della famiglia, nelle sue gioie e nei suoi dolori.
Incredibile a dirsi, ma in alcune pagine ho anche riso a crepapelle!

Ed è proprio per questo che ho adorato questo libro, perchè non è perfetto come la vita, racchiude gioie e dolori, non c'è solo il bianco o il nero, ma tutta una serie di colori e sfumature che compongono la vita di tutti i giorni, imperfetta, ma proprio per questo unica.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t cry, but that’s ok. I really enjoy how Crow writes. I will have to pick up more of his books in the future.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I begin this review I just have to let you know I’m listening to Whitney Houston’s greatest hits because this book has made me feel lots of different things and I need some good 80’s music to help me write this review. So, if there are accidental insertions of Whitney lyrics then I’m sorry.

I had never heard of this book until I did some fiddling around on Amazon looking for some good YA reads and this book kept popping up and because I like the name Matthew and because the cover looked pretty I clicked on it and then thought ‘I HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK.’


In Bloom is such a romantic, anger inducing, happy, devastating, brilliant, funny book about cancer.

Now the first thing anyone is going to say is ‘WAIT, YOUNG ADULT FICTION AND CANCER, THAT’S THE FAULT IN OUR STARS.’ No, this book is not –that- book and nor is it in anyway a rip off or a pathetic attempt at copying the idea. Did I love this book more than The Fault In Our Stars? I think…I think I might have done. It is one of those books that now I’ve read it I need to get a copy to put on the top shelf of my bookcase which is reserved for the bestest books ever.

In Bloom is about Francis and his battle with Leukaemia. Whilst in the hospital during treatment he meets three other teenagers his age who are all going through the same fight and he becomes close with Amber, another patient who shows Francis how to (share my life, take me for what I aaaaaaam (sorry, Whitney happened)) who shows Francis how to embrace life and live every day as if it is your last. Francis has to deal with a weepy mother, a jokey brother (who was ace) and his grandmother who is slowly become intolerable to everything in the world; mainly people.

Ok, I’m going to use one of those semi-annoying phrases right now. ALL THE FEELS. This book was SO emotionally charged and I went from laughing on minute to grasping my chest and on the verge of ugly crying the next. This book was only 230 pages long but I honestly went (again, clichéd phrase) on an emotional rollercoaster without having the chance to stop for a break and gather myself together. You won’t put this book down after you’ve picked it up and, as I write this review, I am clutching it tightly to me, wondering if it would be so bad to incur a preposterous library fine just so I can keep it forever. Anyway, I digress…

Matthew, I think I love you. I don’t think I have felt such a genuine adoration for a character for a long time. I ‘love’ characters and find them brilliant but I wanted to lift Francis from the pages of this book and hold him tightly (WHERE DO BROKEN HEARTS GOOOOO?) and not let him go. Matthew has managed to create a cast of characters that although small, were perfectly formed. I had a constant need to find out what would happen to them next and this kept me turning the pages in rapid succession. The honesty of the characters was refreshing and I particularly loved a moment when Francis realised he was losing all of his body hair and the events that ensued had me giggling quite loudly, I even did an unattractive snort.

The fact Matthew could lace this plot with such comical and humorous moments yet still tell a story that included heartbreak was impressive and I think he managed to do this with such ease. I think I’m gushing now but whatever you do, make sure you read this book because as Matt Haig says on the front cover ‘It will improve your life.’

I am going to save my pennies and make sure I have a sparkly paperback copy of this book on my shelf in the near future to stroke.

Matthew Crow, I love you and I think you should write another book soon. That is all.

A beautifully told coming of age tale that will make you hug those you love that little bit tighter and remember to live life like every day is your last.

[Melliane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

Mon avis en Français

My English review

Je ne lis pas énormément de romans mettant en scène de jeunes personnes luttant contre des maladies. Pas que ce n’est pas intéressant hein ? C’est juste que ce n’est pas le genre de romans vers lesquels je me tourne… Puis je sais aussi pertinemment que je vais pleurer à un moment de ma lecture, surtout quand il est question de cancer. La quatrième de couverture mentionne plusieurs fois Nos Etoiles Contraires mais je vous dis tout de suite que je ne pourrais nullement comparer les histoires étant donné que je n’ai pas lu le livre, ni vu le film.

Revenons plus particulièrement à l’histoire… Francis est un jeune garçon de 15 ans qui va découvrir qu’il est atteint d’un cancer. C’est quelque chose d’assez soudain et c’est vrai que notre héros ne sait pas trop gérer tous les changements de sa vie. Mais voilà que tout se met en suspens quand il doit rentrer à l’hôpital pour batailler contre sa maladie. C’est d’ailleurs là qu’il rencontre Ambre, atteinte de la même maladie. C’est une jeune fille pleine de vie, explosive et qui n’hésite pas à dire ce qu’elle pense. Quelque chose de très touchant se créé entre eux doucement au cours des pages, ils vont se battre ensemble, trouver l’amour ensemble et évoluer à travers toutes les difficultés.

J’ai été assez surprise de voir que l’auteur ne s’attardait pas vraiment sur la maladie dans le roman. Bien sûr c’est la place essentielle de l’histoire mais je veux dire qu’on ne se concentre pas sur les parties où Francis était très malade, sur les détails, mais plutôt sur ses interactions avec les autres. On voit donc les changements au niveau de sa mère, de son frère mais aussi d’Ambre ou des gens autour d’eux. Les personnages sont d’ailleurs vraiment très intéressants à découvrir ! J’ai adoré Julie, la mère de Francis. C’est une femme qui s’impose, qui est prête à tout pour son fils mais qui essaie aussi de voir outre tout ce qu’il se passe. Chris lui est le grand frère qu’on rêverait d’avoir, drôle, présent et à l’écoute. C’est une dynamique de famille très intéressante à découvrir et vraiment touchante. Et puis il y a Ambre. Elle est tellement différente de Francis qui est beaucoup plus discret et calme mais ils se complètent parfaitement aussi.

Quand on commence l’histoire on se doute que leur histoire ne se finira pas bien, qu’un des deux succombera à la maladie et c’est vrai que je me suis mise à pleurer toute seule devant mon livre. Mais c’était aussi intéressant d’avoir une introspective des années plus tard à la fin du roman pour voir l’évolution des personnages. Une bonne découverte.

[Natalie (Never trust a duck) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Andye from readingteen.net for your Review My Books program!

If you've read the synopsis, you'll know that Francis, our main character, is diagnosed with leukemia. If you managed to read past that line in the summary, you'll find that he falls for a fellow patient. If you're like most literary analysts, you'll have made an immediate connection to The Fault in Our Stars. But let me be the 31st person to tell you: not every book that deals with cancer and love is automatically a copy of Hazel and Augustus' story. Just like how not every dystopian has to be called "The next Hunger Games" or whatever. Point made. Right, moving on :D

Maybe it's a British people thing, or maybe Matthew Crow just has a fantastic way with words, but he has some brilliant lines in this book. Maybe I just have a weird sense of humor (most likely), but I was just smiling so often because of the clever things Crow wrote.

"This was because boys like him were, essentially, pasta. Everyone thought they loved him because they had never been forced to experience the true blandness of him on his own.”

"'Okay, I suppose. I think I'm misunderstood, though, like van Gogh was.'”

"'Your fly's undone,' Kelly said eventually from across the room, pointing to the white patch of underwear that had begun to poke throught the lowered zip of Amber's old jeans.
Amber didn't blush. She barely even moved. She just glanced down at her crotch and then back up at Kelly,
'Yeah, I know, supposed to be. It's mating season,' she said, and then carried on unpacking.”

Francis was a great main character. He may just be one of the most dramatic male protagonists I've met, so naturally, I loved it. His family was a masterpiece of hilarious banter and melodrama. Crow did a splendid job of creating them.

My main fault with it was I felt it was sort of insta-lovey. Now, I understand that Francis is an extremely passionate boy, so it was understandable, but I'm all for the angsty, tension filled build up between the shippees. Given my fondness for Francis, I let it slide. Amber made him happy. So I was happy.

All in all, I thought The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise was a quick and fun read. Yes, there were serious moments, but no, it wasn't a tear jerker (maybe I just have a heart made of stone. JK You should've seen me at the end of Clockwork Princess). Though, I'll admit, still not sure why the title says Amber Sunrise. Her last name was Spratt. I don't know. I'd say it was an entertaining read, go give it a go!

Happy Reading!!!


All quotes taken from an ARC

[Megan Wynne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not one to usually leave reviews but I felt very passionately about my one star for this book. First of all, the inside cover summary basically alludes to what happens to Amber at the end so the whole book you kind of know what's going to happen to her.. So no element of surprise at all. Also this book is about how Francis gets cancer- specifically Leukemia- and falls in love with Amber who is also sick. But the biggest thing that bothered me was how little the author did to actually write about the more specifics of dealing with and being treated for Leukemia. I've had Leukemia twice now and it just makes me mad how little the author researched it... Like how are you going to make your book based on the sickness and then not even write about the realities of it?? A book that is similar is Zac and Mia by A. J. Betts and this author did an amazing job of writing about the realities of dealing with cancer as a teenager. Matthew Crow only brushed the surface on a story that he could have and should have dug deeper into. Also Francis and Amber's relationship was completely unrealistic. I felt like one second they met and the next they're dating and in love? There was just so much that went wrong in this book and truthfully I have no idea how it even got published.

[- ̗̀ jess ̖́- · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have I ever hated a main character so much? This kid had his head so far up his own ass he was talking out of his asshole but the sound came out his mouth. Look - I'm all for smart kids. What I can't take is the 'better than thou' attitude that Francis had throughout the whole book. He called himself a sophisticate, an intellectual, which is annoying, but then Matthew Crow would give him an "impressive array of literature" and make him like Romantic poets and then go ahead and put down Kelly and Paul, making them caricatures of teenagers. He didn't even have any redeeming qualities either. He whined a lot. Like, actually whining.

And Amber - typical Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She dies at the end to change Francis's life. It's typical and annoying and unsurprising. Bad trope. She's a Cool Girl who Changes The Boy's Life and Gets Him Into Trouble and shit like that.

This book was trying too hard to be The Fault in Our Stars, too, but at the same time ... cancer really wasn't a huge part of the book? There was no explanation of treatment. It was very badly written. Oh, and it was romanticising a terminal illness as well. Yeah. Not good all around.

[OwlBeReading · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was good but extremely predictable. Today after the Fault In Our Stars everyone tries to make a cancer love story. Some succeed, others fail. This book was almost done right. The plot was well thought out but the main character was so cheesy about the romance that he almost creepily created. The ending was sad but almost a good sad because I feel like it closed the story on a good note. I would give this a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

[Noémie · Rating 4 out of 5]

ON s’intéresse plus aux personnes qui entoure le malade qu'aux malades eux-mêmes ce que j'ai apprécié.

[Sunshine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the family aspect of this story
Francis had a very strong support system throughout
his ordeal. However, I had a difficult time liking him,
at times in the story he came off as a self-righteous
asshole.

This is a direct quote from the book of what
Francis thinksof his mother:

"Mum only completed half of her college entry exams before
before giving up and taking the first job she could get.
With a track record that never strayed beneath a B, I was
already her intellectual superior and didn't want her getting
ideas above her station."

I kept trying to ignore how horrible, judgmental, and
dramatic and annoying he truly was throughout the
story, but after reading these two sentences I just had
to admit that he was a douche. The way he
described his friendship with his only friend Jacob
was deplorable. Quzzing his friend about the
capital of Peru to see if he still is the smarter person
out of the two was just too much.
He always wanted to feel smarter and
better than everyone around him. And his complete
obsession and infatuation with Amber was so over
the top. The author didn't do a good job at developing
their relationship in a positive way. Throughout the story
it felt like Amber was just going trough the motions, while
Francis kept insinuating himself in her life in
a creepy way.

Also, why did the author have to make him so
dramatic, it borderline on cartoonish. When Amber
doesn't answer his texts he lies on top of the stairs
and moans about his fragile broken heart, when his
mom brings over a male friend he causes an
embarrassing scene, and on and on they go. I don't
know if the author did this because Francis is
15 and experiencing young love but come on,
that was a bit much.

Overall, I really disliked/ liked Francis at times,
but I loved his family so I gave this book a solid
3.5 rating.

[Brenda Zalegowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've seen a lot of comparisons to The Fault In Our Stars (most unfavorable) and I think that's just unfair. The only similarity is the fact that two kids with cancer fall in love. Well guess what, John Green does not have the market on kids with cancer stories. Lurlene McDaniel was writing stories about kids with serious illnesses decades ago so I'm sick of the TFIOS comparisons.

I actually enjoyed this book much more than TFIOS, mostly because of Francis. He was just so likable as were his mom and brother. Honestly, if you take Amber out of the story and just make it about Francis and his family I probably would have been just as pleased. I loved the way his mind was all over the place while telling his story. I loved how he exaggerated things and saw things with his own biased perception. The oddity of Francis that kept him from really connecting with his peers is what made me love him.

I didn't feel that Amber was fully fleshed out as a character. There was just enough Amber there for me to get the idea of who she was supposed to be but not enough to connect or care much about her. That was okay for me because (for me) this story was about Francis not Francis and Amber. It was about how Amber affected him. The bucket of tears I cried over this book were for Francies, not Amber so I was okay with her not being fully fleshed out. That said, if she had been a more solid character I probably would have been able to give that one extra star.

Also, I'm glad I got to read a used copy of the original Brit version. I'm not sure if there were any changes made to the book when it was released under a different title in the US but for some reason I prefer the originals.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise by Matthew Crow is an emotionally moving story about Francis. Francis, despite is awkwardness and broken family, has great plans for school and life. When he is diagnosed with leukemia, his plans seem to not be possible, but soon starts to see the positive side of his situation ; kindness is shown to him now that he is sick.
Amber, a resilient and one of a kind girl is Francis’ fellow patient. As both of them battle cancer together and develop feelings along the way, things take a turn. Francis seems to be getting better, but Amber’s battle is taking another route. Francis struggles to find out who he is and how to continue if Amber isn’t by his side.
Crow is able to vividly describe life’s twists and turns as these two cancer patients and their families battle their struggles and enjoy the good moments that are offered to them. I highly recommend this book, as it is uplifting and inspiring to those who read it.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was okay

like genuinely, just okay

i like francis and his mom and his brother, but he didn’t act like he was 15. i had to keep reminding myself because he acted very immature.

him and amber’s relationship also felt very surface level.

did i enjoy? yes. will i ever recommend it or pick it up again? no.

[Célia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Je ne sais pas quoi dire ou penser de ce livre. C'est horrible mais je l'ai trouvé inutile. Je me doutais de la fin dès le début donc bon, forcément c'est décevant et puis Ambre m'a saoulé tout le long du livre. Je suis contente d'avoir enfin finie cette lecture. 😭