The Light We Lost: Reese's Book Club (A Novel)

"Ordinary days sometimes turn into extraordinary days when you least expect them to." All the stars to Jill Santopolo for this gorgeous book!! “I tried to forget that day, but it was impossible. I couldn’t forget what happened to New York, to America, to the people in the towers. And I couldn’t forget what happened between us. Even now, whenever anyone asks, “Were you in New York when the towers fell?” or “Where were you that day?” or “What was it like here?” the first thing I think of is you.” This book touched me in ways I can’t even begin to explain! The passion, the love, the choices and the heartbreak left me utterly exhausted. Lucy and Gabe came alive for me at the skilled hands of the brilliant author. Please add this magnificent and soulful book to your TBR list ASAP! The story of two people and their intertwined lives, 'The Light We Lost' captivated me from beginning to end. This is the kind of book you can read over and over again because the characters are simply so real. This story spans years and examines how the choices we make can change the course of our lives forever. Lucy and Gabe - first love and true love, even though time and circumstances keep them apart. "The moment your body enveloped mine, that’s how I felt—safe, enfolded in the strength and warmth of your arms. Your muscles fluttered against my hands and I buried my fingers in your hair. You wrapped my braid around your palm, tugging it and tipping my head back. And I forgot the world. In that moment, there was only you." Lucy and Gabe seem meant for each other, kindred spirits who seem as though they will be together forever. But Gabe is an ambitious photographer who wants to change the world. He feels compelled to follow his dreams beyond New York City, where he and Lucy share a home. And Lucy has her own life and career and refuses to give them up to chase Gabe across the world. "Was I infatuated with you? Were we infatuated with each other? Can infatuation last this long? Or has it always been love between us? I’d like to think it has. This story has many twists and turns and once I started, I could not put it down! Even after Lucy and Gabe part ways, and even though she is left utterly heartbroken, she still is there for him through the years, whenever he needs her. "I saw the sorrow in your eyes, the loneliness. And I wanted to make it better, to be your salve, your bandage, your antidote. I’ve always wanted to fix things for you. I still do. It’s my Achilles’ heel. Or perhaps my pomegranate seed. Like Persephone, it’s what keeps drawing me back." Lucy tries to be a friend to Gabe even though he broke her heart. It seems as though she is willing to risk everything for him - her career, her personal life and her friends - all for Gabe. But they truly have a once-in-a-lifetime love that seems to have no boundaries. I want to keep this review purposefully vague so that no spoilers are revealed. Yes this book is a heart-breaker but it is so rich and moving that I cannot recommend it highly enough. Regret, first love, choices, career, family - this book touches all the bases. Simply a breathtaking story that is one of my favorites. A must-read! "Love does that. It makes you feel infinite and invincible, like the whole world is open to you, anything is achievable, and each day will be filled with wonder."

An interesting book. It is a book written for women. Emotional, romantic, realistic in parts, down to earth, very believable. Enjoyed reading it, it was difficult to put down. Very gripping and engrossing.

When I hover over 5 stars on Goodreads to write a review 5 stars equates to "it's amazing". I looked a that little "it's amazing" bubble and thought - is this book amazing to me? The answer, I decided, is yes. But not in the usual way I think books are amazing. Examples of what I mean by that: I did not love the protagonist, I did not agree with hardly any of her or the hero's actions, and my heart broke a little by the end. This book is sad. Devastating really. Infinitely overwhelming in how it builds you up and breaks you down simultaneously. I found no hope, no "light" if you will in what I read and for me that's usually a major sign for loving something. So I'm pretty certain, although my thoughts are fairly jumbled about it, that I did not love this book. But I do think it's amazing. And yes, I realize my logic is probably not the same as yours and I'm ok with that. I think this book allows for that. I think Jill Santopolo wants you to feel conflicted about this book. She most certainly can't deny she knows there's going to be a lot big thoughts and opinions once readers reach the end. So why did I find The Light We Lost amazing? The writing falls at the top of the list. The way this book is so carefully constructed and reverently told had me hooked from the very first page. This woman is reliving her history and as readers we don't why. I had a good guess but I truly didn't know until Santopolo wanted me to know. Her construction of the plot and the memories she builds through her protagonist inspire longing, fortitude, and so much questioning of what it means to be happy and how we achieve that happiness as individuals. The scope of the book really focuses on that idea of being content with oneself no matter how that comes across to the rest of the world. How can we find joy in everything that we do? Is too happy the same as too content? And how do we know? Where is the place we find the most fulfillment of our soul? The protagonist is always questioning and it made me question as well. So I'm mad at this book, I think. It broke a piece of my heart. I'll never read it again. But I appreciate it regardless. The parts of romance are so whimsical and fitting. Betrayal strikes the right chords. Lust, obsession, all-encompassing love, and contentment all fight their way for the top. The gift of this specific, beautifully tragic, and brilliant story telling from Santopolo was just that - a gift. And for the excellent writing, how engaged I was, and the multitude of thoughts and emotions garnered from reading The Light We Lost make it worth all the stars from me.

(This review will have some spoilers) I'm torn with this book, it's a little difficult to explain. I found the writing style and some of the context to be a bit dry/boring. The first person narrative annoyed me, the- "you said", "I said", "he said" style of writing, but midway it starts to make sense that the narrator is sharing her recollection of events to another person, so this makes it a little bit more tolerable. There's nothing particularly exciting about the book. I like how another reviewer put it- "there's a lot of foreshadowing without any suspense". I think it really sums it up. But ironically sometimes that's what I like about the book. There is a realness to it. The main character Lucy and Gabe have a bond. And although they break up early in the book and she meets someone else who she ultimately spends more time with. But her bond with Gabe transcends people and time. The book takes you through her perspective of their bond. I enjoyed how their type of bond can be true. Some people can know you for a lifetime but never actually know you. And some people can know you for a short while and completely understand you. When you see them, you pick up exactly where you left off. I like how Lucy's decisions and conclusions seem rational. There is nothing outlandish in this book. Even if you don't agree with Lucy's choices you can completely understand her thought process, why she makes the decisions she does. The reasons of Lucy's choices and accuracy of the "what if" scenarios are relatable, even if the subtext of your real life differs. That said, Lucy and Gabe are the epitome of 'me first', 'I want it all or nothing at all'. It's unclear why they can't compromise at any point in their lives. Since we're only getting Lucy's POV, sometimes her emotions for Gabe seem a bit obsessive. Like she probably needed therapy to get over him. But there are people that can be like that. Only focused on themselves. Searching for the dollar they lost instead of focusing on the millions in the bank. Also, Be prepared to not have any closure. Nothing in this book goes how you want it to. Although I do enjoy a happy ending, the ending in this book seems more plausible in the sense that sometimes things don't work out how we want them, even when we're not sure what we want. Lucy experiences a lot of this in the ending. It's just an okay book, not something I would want to reread.

Gut wrenching. I loved the writing style. Easy to read. I loved the first person perspective. I read the book in 2 days, which I usually never do. This is strictly a chick book, guys wouldn't understand at all. They would probably think that Gabe wasn't at fault at all and not understand what all the hub bub was about. After reading the book I read in the acknowledgements that this book started as small vignettes that the author wrote after a failed relationship that she thought would last forever. Almost like journal entries. Coworkers encouraged her to make it into a fictional book, but at least in the first part I am sure it is very personal. The emotions were completely believable to me. Probably because I had a similar experience, not as intense or tragic, but love lost due to a deliberate decision on his part. I am not 23, I am 63 and I can still feel what Lucy felt. She described Gabe at one point as "self-important", among other qualities, both good and bad. So he left her by choice, but kept just enough in touch to keep Lucy's hope alive and not let her cut the cord. He also continued to rely on her in times of stress which threw guilt into the mix from time to time. That's a real painful limbo to be in. But her husband didn't treat her as an equal and she didn't feel fully respected by him. On the other hand, Gabe didn't put her first and didn't respect their relationship, altho he respected her dreams and aspirations. Both men were imperfect. But then can any one person be everything you need? In the end I had to change my number and stop my guy from calling anymore, and Lucy should have done that too, but then there wouldn't be a story would there. If she had made sensible choices, that's not a story. The point is to explore what it might be like if you DIDN'T think about it with your left brain. Love isn't rational.

I was 20 years old when I met a man I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with. I loved him and he loved me but he made a choice to walk away. Just like I made a choice to try again and again to let him back in so that I could love him again. It wasn’t fate. It wasn’t destiny. It was two people who were never meant to share a life together trying to figure out where our story would end. He broke my heart and I broke his. I loved him so deeply that I know a piece of me will always love him. But he is not who I’m meant to share a life with. To put it into fairy tale terms, he isn’t my Prince Charming. I struggled with that for years. I tried over and over again to fit the heart peg into the star hole. I see my story reflected in The Light We Lost and it was both breathtaking and painful to read about. I was Lucy and he was Gabe. Both of us built lives for ourselves without the other, yet for years, we would pinball back to one another. And you know what? This back and forth, this trying to force destiny? All it created was drama, pain and heartbreak. I don’t believe that The Light We Lost is a love story. I don’t believe it’s their “what if?” Love stories are supposed to end. They have too. Human beings are changeable creatures, with differing emotions, needs and wants. Gabe and Lucy were always heart pegs trying to smash into star holes. They were never meant to be. And neither were we. As Lucy got farther into her marriage, as Gabe’s life started getting harder and reality started hitting, it angered me to see them constantly needing this reinforcement that they were just waiting there, that they were always an option for each other. Cut the ties and burn that bridge if you have too, because there are SO many other people in your full life to hurt when you choose a fantasy over reality. They were a fantasy, that life they were going to or should have had was just a fantasy. I regret nothing about that past relationship because it taught me good and bad things but that relationship is my past. I’m ready to look into my future.

Some books tell stories that are bound to make you a little (or, okay, extremely) emotional. And you have to simply accept that it will happen. You'll re-read passages, feel completely immersed in the scenes and wonder if everyone else who's read it experienced the same thing. For me, this was the case with Jill Santopolo's The Light We Lost. I'd heard a lot about the book, I'd even 1-clicked it for my Kindle but never got around to reading it until last week. Wow. I loved following Lucy and Gabe's story. Theirs is not a conventional love story. There is no HEA. I'm putting it out there for you now. If that's what you want, this is not the story for you, but it is a heart wrenching portrayal of love found, love lost and what happens in between as these two lovers find themselves separated by distance, by principles and sometimes by other people. What I especially liked with The Light We Lost was how flawed both Lucy and Gabe are as characters. Yes, they are both selfish sometimes and they will do things that will often leave you wondering why you even empathise with them, but ultimately they stand by the choices they make and, for me as a reader, I could completely understand their reactions and decisions, even when I could not imagine myself doing the same. I just read that The Light We Lost is in development to be a movie. It will be interesting to see who they cast to play Lucy and Gabe. Anyway, I loved The Light We Lost. I will probably re-read it in a few weeks just because. Do I recommend it? Absolutely. But bear in mind that, even those this is a romance, it's more in the lines of One Day or Me Before You. And if you've read either of those, you know exactly what I mean. My rating? 5 stars.

This book really took me by surprise. I saw the notification on Facebook that the author was coming to make an appearance at my local Book store and it made want to check out the book. I wanted to read it instantly, after I read the blurb. "Our love was a passion that transcended time, space, and all logic. I hope you find love like that-one that is all consuming and powerful, that makes you feel like you are going slightly mad. And if you find that love, embrace it. Hold on to it. When you give yourself over to love like that, your heart will get bruised. It will get battered. But you will also feel invincible and infinite. " The Light We Lost is a story about the one that got away. That first love, that somehow has a huge impact, in the person you will be become as an adult. Love shapes a person, and Gabe and Lucy's love was as intense, as stunning, as it was heart breaking. I fell in love with this author's writing style, from the minute I started reading this book. Her words kept me engaged the entire time, the emotions running thru me as I was reading took hold of my entire being. I laughed, I cried, and I thought some much about the world we live in, and about the way we love and also hate, ourselves and others. Any time the work of an author can cause such a havoc inside my heart and brain, is an instant winner for me. Absolutely beautiful and heart wrenching story, from beginning to end.