I was beyond excited to receive an advanced copy of this book for review! The synopsis of this book was very inviting for a fan of dystopian novels. I knew this was going to be not only a fun read but an intense one. I have to admit that at times, it may have been a little too intense though for some fans of YA.



I say that because of the language. Griffin has a way with words that makes you sit back and think while your reading, which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, the cursing, especially in the beginning of the book just seemed unnecessary. I supposed cursing seems to be incorporated into more and more YA but I am definitely not a fan, especially of the F word. Luckily, the cursing seems to dissipate as the story progresses.



Letting this go, I was able to move forward and enjoy the story and the character development of our main character Louisa. I loved this character. I loved that she has a Spanish heritage, I loved that she seemed to have a neurological condition that is rare, though I do wish it would have been named. Some type of sensory disorder definitely, and I think there would be a lot of people with different types of sensory disorders that can relate very easily to this character. I think Lu's character is very grown for her age, and rightfully so, considering the pandemic the world is facing, but as I read, I loss track that she is indeed, just a 17 year old girl.



Lu's love interest, Kamal is a fantastic character. I imagined him to be the tall, dark, rugged, handsome British, Arabic, that he is. Exactly as Griffin had intended him to be. I loved the diversity in this book. I wasn't too fond of Lu's brother though. Where in moments he seemed to be brave and protective, other times, I found him to be annoying. Maybe I was supposed to feel this way.



Also, I feel that I need to add that there were quite a few religious references throughout the story. However, instead of just one religion, there were many. Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. I think Griffin is a genius for weaving all of this into the book. A true and intense handle for many to grab a hold of in the instance that the plot of this story were to come to fruition.



Light Years is a remarkable debut for Griffin. I felt like the story was real and raw and that it hits close to home for a lot of us. The ending definitely had me guessing, which I still have mixed feelings about so I won't go into too much detail there. All I can end with, is that I hope Griffin writes again soon!

This has been an interesting book to try and write a review for. It’s a book that I really didn’t want to put down, the kind that I felt so engrossed with that I accidentally ignored people when they were talking to me, and I was loving it all the way through. However it’s the kind of book that when I reflected on it, which it does really leave itself open to, there were a few things that I picked up on which then retrospectively lessened my opinion of it. Not at all to the point where I would say that I didn’t enjoy the book because I did but more that I was disappointed that after being so enthralled with it, that instead of it sticking in my mind because I thought it was amazing, instead what stuck there was a lot of questions that I feel need answering.

I liked that Luisa has a different way of experiencing the world; her senses interpret differently to what would usually happen so she can see colours for emotions and certain people have a taste. On doing some further research I found this is an actual condition called synesthesia and I quite liked that I learned something new, and the way that her having synesthesia fit into the story was clever, but it was also kind of a double edged sword. The impression I got from the book was that it was made up, maybe because it’s never given a name but someone who is able to create a code to discern people’s emotions from social media reactions can surely look up this difference about them and put a name to it.

I didn’t particularly connect with any of the characters, well strangely enough possibly Luisa’s Dad was the only one and that is possibly because he was given a lot of depth, whereas the other characters didn’t get explored that much past a superficial level. I did like that it felt as if Luisa was growing as a character as the book went on but I would maybe have liked to have gotten a bit more under her skin. I did, however, feel a lot of emotion throughout the book, not directed at any particular character but because of the situations that arose.

I think that this emotion and the way this book got to me was because of the writing, there was something very lyrical about it, it flowed so well and was able to let you easily picture what Luisa was experiencing. As much as I maybe wasn’t as drawn to the characters, the way some of the relationships are written; especially that of Luisa and her family and even Luisa and Kamal; really stood out, the way the author describes some of these scenes is what keeps you connected to the story.

Some of the concepts in the book were very clever, like Front Line the volunteer organisation that effectively steps in to help run things when it becomes clear that the government doesn’t have the necessary skills. Also the ARNS virus, it turned out to be something that I wasn’t expecting which can be difficult in a book of this nature, so I was pleasantly surprised.

However on reflection, there is a character called Theodore Nam who is crucial to a certain plot point, I’ll try not to spoil it so this might seem a bit vague, but once I finished reading I realized I wasn’t sure what his motivation was in trying to help Luisa. After finishing the book it even seemed counter productive.

Also, I’m not sure on the ending, I hope this isn’t giving too much away, but if this is meant as the first book of a series then I can see why it ended where it did. I still feel like there were too many unanswered questions but that I could live with if there is another book. However, if this is a standalone then for me it definitely was left a little too open. Unfortunately, I’m not sure which it is so I suppose I’ll have to wait and see.

I would still highly recommend Light Years, I was completely engrossed in the story even though there were some points, on reflection, that I was disappointed with. The writing was wonderful and I am very much looking forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.