Kat's Reviews > Gives Light
Gives Light (Gives Light, #1)
by
by

Kat's review
bookshelves: injured-or-disabled-mc, ya, coming-of-age, glbt, terrific-covers, boys-in-our-books-blog, buddy-read, bouts-of-fangirl-craziness, favorites, friend-recs, heartwarming, life-s-longings, my-goddamn-emotions, pampers-the-emo-within
Aug 17, 2013
bookshelves: injured-or-disabled-mc, ya, coming-of-age, glbt, terrific-covers, boys-in-our-books-blog, buddy-read, bouts-of-fangirl-craziness, favorites, friend-recs, heartwarming, life-s-longings, my-goddamn-emotions, pampers-the-emo-within
Only a few weeks ago, Susan got dragged into a kinky BDSM-y buddy read with us. Little did I know that Susan may not be a fan of BDSM, she surely has a neat little sadistic streak. According to her, revenge apparently is a dish best served in the form of sexless YA.
Vengeance at its finest!
Not only don’t I like YA anymore, I’m shallow. I want my gay sex cake and eat it too. But I suppose that one who forces kinky books upon others must gracefully accept the consequences... So looking at those burly toddlers on the cover of Gives Light, I took a deep breath and dove in, fully expecting another melodrama fueled childish angst-fest.
...and was blown away instead.
When you lose your vision, your ears will pick up on more sounds, your nose will distinguish more scents. When you take away sex as a means and a climax, will you cling to the simplest of touches? In the expert hands of this author, yes. A kiss no longer is a rushed foray into something more, but an earth-shattering experience. A meaningful look becomes more penetrating than a..well.
In a pace that’s more soothing than anything, you’ll get invited into a Native American reservation along with the endearing and admirable main character, the 16 year old Skylar. What follows is a heart-warming, slowly unfolding coming of age story, in which past and present clash and love conquers all.
I’ll admit it! The unhurried pacing and sharp focus on little, gentle gestures made my cynical heart swell. It didn’t take much; a discarded jacket, a soundless laugh or charcoal drawings. Until a scene involving a bedroom and a photo occurred and I simply couldn’t feel any more feels than I felt in that one breath-catching moment. For me, the essence of love is captured beautifully in this book, in all its facets and depth. This is how I feel love too and I applaud Christo for making its power palpable.
My only niggles would be that the story slowly petered out in the final pages, whereas I had expected a final assault on my senses that, I’m sure, would’ve sent me straight to cloud nine. And I personally would’ve made these boys 2 years younger. Their behavior and acts (or more accurately, their lack thereof) felt a bit too innocently sweet and at odds with their given age. All in all, I will say (not even grumpily anymore!) that Gives Light is very beautiful indeed and highly recommended. I wish schools would include this one on their reading lists.
You can check out our group review plus enter the giveaway to WIN all 4 books in the series (Posted 16/03/2014):
Vengeance at its finest!
Not only don’t I like YA anymore, I’m shallow. I want my gay sex cake and eat it too. But I suppose that one who forces kinky books upon others must gracefully accept the consequences... So looking at those burly toddlers on the cover of Gives Light, I took a deep breath and dove in, fully expecting another melodrama fueled childish angst-fest.
...and was blown away instead.
When you lose your vision, your ears will pick up on more sounds, your nose will distinguish more scents. When you take away sex as a means and a climax, will you cling to the simplest of touches? In the expert hands of this author, yes. A kiss no longer is a rushed foray into something more, but an earth-shattering experience. A meaningful look becomes more penetrating than a..well.
In a pace that’s more soothing than anything, you’ll get invited into a Native American reservation along with the endearing and admirable main character, the 16 year old Skylar. What follows is a heart-warming, slowly unfolding coming of age story, in which past and present clash and love conquers all.
I’ll admit it! The unhurried pacing and sharp focus on little, gentle gestures made my cynical heart swell. It didn’t take much; a discarded jacket, a soundless laugh or charcoal drawings. Until a scene involving a bedroom and a photo occurred and I simply couldn’t feel any more feels than I felt in that one breath-catching moment. For me, the essence of love is captured beautifully in this book, in all its facets and depth. This is how I feel love too and I applaud Christo for making its power palpable.
My only niggles would be that the story slowly petered out in the final pages, whereas I had expected a final assault on my senses that, I’m sure, would’ve sent me straight to cloud nine. And I personally would’ve made these boys 2 years younger. Their behavior and acts (or more accurately, their lack thereof) felt a bit too innocently sweet and at odds with their given age. All in all, I will say (not even grumpily anymore!) that Gives Light is very beautiful indeed and highly recommended. I wish schools would include this one on their reading lists.
You can check out our group review plus enter the giveaway to WIN all 4 books in the series (Posted 16/03/2014):

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Reading Progress
August 17, 2013
– Shelved
August 17, 2013
– Shelved as:
to-read
August 17, 2013
– Shelved as:
injured-or-disabled-mc
August 17, 2013
– Shelved as:
ya
August 17, 2013
– Shelved as:
coming-of-age
August 17, 2013
– Shelved as:
glbt
August 17, 2013
– Shelved as:
terrific-covers
February 18, 2014
– Shelved as:
boys-in-our-books-blog
February 18, 2014
– Shelved as:
buddy-read
March 1, 2014
–
Started Reading
March 1, 2014
–
35.0%
"Feck, it so happens that I enjoy this. \n \n My rep, my rep! What to do? :-0\n \n
"

March 2, 2014
–
60.0%
"Gah, I hate Susan for making me sniffle and smile over sexless (read: rewardless :p) YA...\n \n
"

March 3, 2014
– Shelved as:
bouts-of-fangirl-craziness
March 3, 2014
– Shelved as:
favorites
March 3, 2014
– Shelved as:
friend-recs
March 3, 2014
– Shelved as:
heartwarming
March 3, 2014
– Shelved as:
life-s-longings
March 3, 2014
– Shelved as:
my-goddamn-emotions
March 3, 2014
– Shelved as:
pampers-the-emo-within
March 4, 2014
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 64 (64 new)
message 1:
by
Rosalinda *KRASNORADA*
(new)
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rated it 5 stars
Feb 18, 2014 05:04AM

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You would think so, yes! It's a strange experience..reading and knowing there will be no reward, no sex, no... I should be ashamed of myself.:p
Still...
(view spoiler) ["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

Nah, I kind of like it too. Shit, there goes our rep.


LOL! Thanks for making me laugh on a Monday morning. And yeah, say goodbye to your rep! *face palm*

Dude, just stop trying.

Nina, you haven't even read this book yet, dudette. You're such a lo~oo~ser!>:)


Kids these days.. It's a shame corporal punishments are prohibited.

Grandma, Lo? *snort laugh*
Who's that girl? I like her already.

Anne, meet Nina.
Teenage dirt bag, meet Anne.:)

Don't listen to Tinka. I am so charming it's not even funny. Are you charmed yet?
On a more serious note: Tinka, when shall we expect a review? Because I want to see your reputation shattered and destroyed on my very own screen.

Anne, meet Nina.
Teenage dirt bag, meet Anne.:)"
Her wha-? Wait, where? Where?

Don't listen to Tinka. I am so charming it's not even funny. Are you charmed yet?"
Absolutely.


Don't listen to Tinka. I am so charming it's not even funny. Are you charmed yet?
On a more serious note: Tinka, when shall we expect a review? Because I want to see your r..."
Not all my buddy read girlfriends have finished yet. It goes live on the 17th, which will give me plenty time to either find a large rock to hide underneath until, what will possibly become a scary cotton candy rave review, has vanished from everyone's feed or..to balance out my rep by luring a certain bratty adolescent with Nutella and locking her up in my chilly cellar.

Anne, meet Nina.
Teenage dirt bag, meet Anne.:)"
Her wha..."
Anne, that'd be Vivian, the cute little thing.

Also, it's so cute when you try to be threatening. *pinches cheek*

Anne, meet Nina.
Teenage dirt bag, meet Anne..."
Did you just call me "Vivian, the cute little thing" ?
*pushes sleeve up* *dons leather jacket* *straps the closest sharp object to my thigh (aka pencil)*
I believe some re-education is in order, submissive or not.
I'll show you cute, baby. 凸ಠ益ಠ)凸

QUOTE
A meaningful look becomes more penetrating than a..well.
UNQUOTE
LOL
I love your review! I don't know who you are anymore but I am soooooo glad you loved Skylar & Rafael <3
xxx

QUOTE
A meaningful look becomes more penetrating than a..well.
UNQUOTE
LOL
I love your review! I don't know who you are anymore but I am soooooo glad you loved Skylar & Ra..."
Don't you try to make me say (view spoiler) , you evil woman!:D

"
You too!<3 And I heart that you loved this one too, so I don't have to feel busted and exposed as a weakling on my own.;)

Anne, meet Nina.
Teenage dirt b..."
You're simply not believable.
And cute as fuck.

Okay, maybe my expectations were too high with this one (due to all the rave reviews) and therefore I was disappointed. And your expectations were sufficiently low that you were blown away by the sweetness.
Or, you know I have a cold, cold heart.


Viv, you're being cute now. Just saying.

Viv, you're being cute now. Just saying."
RIGHT?

Haha, I didn't even know that these dolls were called "Blythe". I'd to check it on Google. Good, now when I know may I find "my doll" with some stylish summer wear soon. ~ Thanks Anna B!! :))))


Well, apparently 2 books now.

I bought a book of Blythe postcards years ago and I still have a couple of them on the corkboard in my kitchen. They're cute.

...now that we're entirely off topic. Sorry Loco!


I'll look more ... I love the cute doll I have. Stylish coat, too. LoL!
