Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Full review to be found on Goodreads and on my website.

Soon the Light Will be Perfect by Dave Patterson is a realistic novel with characters experiencing the many trials and tribulations that youth face in our society everyday Poverty, sickness, peer pressure, and young love face many often. Coping is a challenge for everyone as this great book demonstrates.

Not my cup of tea to start with so my review may be different from others. I found this to be too much at one time. There are several things happening yet the writing is just not fluid enough to follow along. I had to read and then reread pages to understand what had happened yet ultimately never was able to finish it. The story line is a great concept and thought this had a lot of potential.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I wish I hadn’t wasted hours of my life finishing this. One of the most boring books I’ve ever read. It read like a kids narrative essay. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen, for the book to “start”. Taylor didn’t even show up until the end! The title seemed to have noting to do with the book, the characters all seemed like dislikable people or the author hated every character, I wasn’t sure in the end. I haven’t read a book this bad in a long time. It took me three tries to finish it because I really hoped I might just need to get a little further to find the story, yet in the end it was a frustrating and pointless end.

A thought provoking and beautifully written story of a family dealing with multiple hardships, all of them very significant. The twelve year old boy and his older brother have a reasonably good relationship and this helps to buffer their fear when their mother develops cancer and becomes terribly ill. As she spends more and more time in bed and in the hospital, the boys are left on their own. The father, employed by a local factory which manufactures weapons for army tanks, is a good man who does his best to deal with the difficulties which have developed in his life. When he discovers a problem with the weapons that are being built in the factory and tries to report it, he is told to say nothing. The defective equipment and the soldiers who are injured as a result, wind up costing him his job and the family is left to make do with his unemployment compensation. As the older boy begins spending time with a new girlfriend, the younger boy spends more time on his own and meets Taylor, a young girl whose mother's boyfriend gets a little too friendly with her. The younger brother finds Taylor fascinating and they occasionally spend time together. A disagreement between the two ends their friendship and Taylor moves on to spend time with another boy in the neighborhood.

A memorable read which I definitely recommend. Thank you to Negalley, the author Dave Patterson and the publisher Harlequin for a a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are
completely my own.

There's a lot happening in this coming of age story. A 12-year boy deals with the confusion of growing up in a world that doesn't seem to make sense. Being raised in a deeply religious family, living through the death of a troubled friend, a priest who leaves the church, a mother diagnosed with Cancer and the financial hardships that occur when his father loses his job--all over the period of one summer. It's enough to shake anyone's core but especially a young boy trying to make sense of it all.

This is a tense coming of age story set in a poor rural VT town. The characters didn't have names and I thought that was odd, I wish those personal details had been included to exact more empathy from the reader. Soon the Light Will be Perfect is raw, quick and sharp. Themes of poverty, devout Catholicism, cancer, family ties, and guilt are present. Sense of place was strong in this book. I had the the good fortune to hear Patterson speak at an author event recently and learned that the plot is partially autobiographical. That insight influences the impact and pace of the book and makes this a memorable read. Thanks to Hanover Square Press and Netgalley for a free digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

It’s difficult enough for adults to confront the tough blows that life doles out, and can prove to be more of a struggle for a twelve year old boy. Trying to make sense of his mother’s cancer, the precarious financial situation of their family, while on the edge of the road to “coming of age”, the boy in this story will touch you. This unnamed boy grappling with these things, as well as a connection with a troubled young girl is set against the strict devotion of his parents to the Catholic Church. I didn’t see them as fanatical, but their staunch beliefs at times creates even more confusion for the boy as he tries to find his way.

We never know his name and I always find it bothersome when a character is not named. Is that a message that we are to be sure to consider that this is a universal story and this character can represent any twelve year old boy? I could have deduced for myself that there are some universal themes here. I think I connect better to characters whose name I know. Having said that, I was moved by the story and glad that I read it. I will certainly watch for what else Patterson writes.

A blue collar family who is just getting by, then the family is hit with numerous hardships. Such an amazing tale of strength and love.

This book felt like it was just a coming of age story about a 12 year old boy..
It moved a little slow for me at times, I couldn't really get into this book. Things felt a little graphic to me, more than what they needed to be. The father might lose his job, right after they were finally able to move into a home after living in a trailer park for so long. The boys pretty much had to fend for themselves..

Very unique story, I did struggle with the writing style a bit. It tended to ramble and get off-plot. Overall I liked it, but not in love with it.

3.5 rounded up
There’s so much going on in this story but to me it’s basically a coming of age story of a twelve year old boy and his older brother who are having a bit of troubles in their family. Mom has cancer and is having problems with her treatments, there’s a possibility of Dad losing his job just when they recently were able to move into a home after living in a trailer park. The situation leads to the boys mostly fending for themselves.
I was moved by this story, both beautiful and dark at times.

Thank you to Netgalley and HARLEQUIN / Hanover Square Press for the ARC!

There’s nothing quite like a good coming-of-age-story.

Literature is riddled with great tales of young men and women dealing with that shift in circumstances between worlds, that transition from childhood to adulthood and the expansive gray area in the middle of it all. There’s something primal and undeniable about it all.

Dave Patterson’s “Soon the Light Will Be Perfect” tells the story of two young men growing up in small-town Vermont. The pair must navigate the strictures of their family’s Catholic faith while also coming to terms with their own gradual (and not-so-gradual) changes. As personal and professional problems threaten to overwhelm the family, the boys are left trapped by unappealing choices and hungry for a deeper understanding of the world – the world around them and the world within them.

It’s the turn of the decade – moving from the 1980s into the ‘90s. An unnamed boy, just 12 years old, lives in a small, poor town in rural Vermont. His father works at a nearby factory, building military hardware; there have been numerous layoffs and the father worries about the security of his job. His mother is a homemaker, staying at home to care for both sons, the 12-year-old and his older brother. The family has just moved out of the town’s trailer park – indicative of upward mobility.

They are fiercely Catholic, devoted wholeheartedly to the church; the youngsters serve as altar boys, while the adults are heavily involved in everything up to and including protests of Planned Parenthood. With the lead-up to and onset of the Gulf War, the father begins to feel his job is a bit safer, though it will eventually present a whole different set of complications.

And then, the mother is diagnosed with cancer.

The family’s responses run the gamut. The father winds up obsessing over the new table he’s building for the family’s dining room, a project that leaves him seeing imaginary imperfections and picking at nonexistent nits. The older brother wraps himself in the trappings of teenagerdom, leaving behind the childish adventures he had with his brother in order to spend most of his time with his new girlfriend. The younger boy, at a loss with how to deal with any of it, gets swept into the morass of his own interiority; he’s conflicted about the strange new desires rising within him. And when he meets a girl his age named Taylor – a girl with her own set of problems – his life is changed forever.

All the while, his mother’s life slowly ebbs away.

“Soon the Light Will Be Perfect” is a story of summer, of how one family’s lives were irrevocably altered by the events of a single season. It tells a tale of growing up, and how some aspects of that process can move far too fast while others proceed at a glacial pace. There’s no one-size-fits-all passage toward adulthood; it happens when it happens, whether you’re ready for it or not. It’s that abruptness, the confusion that comes with being forced to take a leap when you haven’t yet had a chance to look – that’s what Patterson captures so elegantly here.

I was the same age as these characters at this same time. I lived in a world not all that far removed from the one in which this family exists. In that realm, there’s a strange vibe, a semi-constant feeling combining misplaced excitement and boredom. That’s as close as I can come to describing it – it’s difficult to articulate – but I’m betting Dave Patterson knows PRECISELY what I mean. Small towns can instill weirdly specific worldviews in their young – a sort of juve-nihilism that kids usually (but not always) mostly outgrow.

“Soon the Light Will Be Perfect” makes some bold stylistic choices as well. By not naming the characters at the center of his narrative, Patterson opens the door for a more direct empathetic engagement by the reader. It’s a gambit that only pays off because the author proves up to the task; it could have read as gimmicky, but instead encourages emotional projection. That character connection is further aided by the first-person perspective, lending a directly experiential feel to the story.

There’s nothing like a good coming-of-age story; Dave Patterson has given us just that with “Soon the Light Will Be Perfect.” It’s a sharp, quick reading experience – one whose specificity and honesty renders it all the more memorable. And if you’re like me – born of a certain time and place – you’ll feel more than a hint of recognition.

There is nothing more thrilling to me than a debut novel.. There is not a previous NY Times Bestseller to live up to or a not so successful book looming in the background. A debut is literally its own entity. The perfect start! I just finished Dave Patterson’s brand new book, Soon the Light Will Be Perfect and loved it! This work of fiction is a coming of age story that not only explores family, love and faith during the gloomiest of times, but is a story that will stir your soul until the very end.

Dave Patterson’s book is narrated by a 12 year old boy (nameless) who lives in rural Vermont with his Catholic parents and his 15 year old brother. Though money is a constant source of struggle, his family gains a small bit of financial freedom allowing them to move out of the nearby trailer park and into a small place of their own. While his father works to make ends meet at a manufacturing plant that supplies equipment for the Gulf War, his mother endures the grueling side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. With the craziness of their lives propelling them forward, the two brothers embark on their own unique teenage journeys filled with temptations, curiosity and at times, despair. Despite the fact that this family endures some tough blows, there is no shortage of family love. Though the main character’s parents are loving with good intentions, he continues to grapple with his inherited faith. With his tantalizing adolescent thoughts and his encounter with sickness and tragedy, this 12 year old is surrounded by a cloud of confusion and unwanted guilt.


Soon the Light Will Be Perfect grabbed my attention from the start. Patterson’s characters are authentic and possess a layer of grit that make them truly authentic. This work of fiction reads very similar to a memoir. Though the time frame of this story is relatively short and the plot appears relatively simple, there is a lot to unpack from his writing. His book is heavy at times with no shortage of details. With themes of Catholicism simmering in the background and metaphors of life lingering in the air, Patterson presents readers with a young boy on the brink of adolescence. He takes a deep look at the stigma and reality of living in rural poverty, the effects of tragedy in a young boy’s life and the unforgettable scar left from a mother’s sickness.

So here is the scoop. I adored this book and loved the narrator of this story. This is the kind of book that sucks you in from the very beginning and is difficult to put down. Maybe it’s the parent in me, but there is something so innocent about this 12 years old’s questions and concerns about life around him. Though his parents were devout Catholics, their beliefs and actions didn’t always match up with this own views of the world and the human spirit. Patterson gives readers an inside look of the muddled, yet honest thoughts of a soon to be teen boy. He invites his readers into the lives of a family that are doing the best they can under stressful conditions. Though his story is at times bleak, it is also filled with hope and love that beautifully shine through. Soon the Light Will Be Perfect is a deeply moving story that needs to be on everyone’s bookshelf. Patterson’s book presents readers with stimulating and thought provoking material that make it the PERFECT book club pic. Go get yourself a copy! Happy Reading!!!!!!!

This is a slim but impactful novel about a young boy struggling with faith, family, and his future. The unnamed narrator is the young son in what we used to call a nuclear family= a family clinging by the fingertips to the middle class and the dream. This starts a little oddly with a bit about procreating cats that is a theme throughout but then settles into something which pings at the heart. The narrator's mind is blown, for want of a better word, by Taylor, a girl with less economically than he but with, in many ways a wider world view. Great setting and interesting time frame- just before the Gulf War. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Fans of coming of age stories featuring boys will enjoy this.

3.5

It’s difficult enough for adults to confront the tough blows that life doles out, and can prove to be more of a struggle for a twelve year old boy. Trying to make sense of his mothers cancer, the precarious financial situation of their family, while on the edge of the road to “coming of age”, the boy in this story will touch you. This unnamed boy grapples with these things, as well as a connection with a troubled young girl is set against the strict devotion of his parents to the Catholic Church. I didn’t see them as fanatical, but their staunch beliefs at times creates even more confusion for the boy as he tries to find his way.

We never know his name and I always find it bothersome when a character is not named. Is that a message that we are to be sure to consider that this is a universal story and this character can represent any twelve year old boy? I could have deduced for myself that there are some universal themes here. I think I connect better to characters whose name I know. Having said that, I was moved by the story and glad that I read it. I will certainly watch for what else Patterson writes.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Hanover Square Press through NetGalley.

Star rating 3.5. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free review copy.

Soon the Light Will be Perfect is a moving story of a family living in a small town in Vermont. They have just been able to move out of the trailer park but as the summer begins the family continues to have some challenges. Told through the eyes of the 12 year old son he watches his Dad struggle to keep his job, his mother who has been diagnosed with cancer become weaker and his 15 year old brother start to rebel more as he gets ready for high school. I found this book to be easy to read and really pulled me into the story quickly. It has an interesting cast of characters and interesting plot lines as both the boys and family really are discovering themselves and who they want to be. I think what I liked the most about it was this could be any family. They were not glamorous, they didn't have it all together but they made things work. They stuck together as a family through all the hardships thrown at them. Wish the ending could have been played out a bit more as it felt a abrupt but I did enjoy it still.

I loved this book!!

Dave Patterson gives us an indelible glimpse into the lives of a small-town, close-knit, hard-working American family who has recently raised themselves out of poverty, and find themselves teetering on the edge again at a time when America is readying itself for war.

The families two young sons 12, and 15 are each exploring coming of age; the youngest a bit embarrassed about it, the older more steady on his route towards manhood. Both boys adore their mother and watch over her closely as she gets sick and begins to go through cancer treatments. The relationship between husband and wife is especially tender.

Staunch Catholics, the church plays a big role in their home and how they deal with life. Both of the boys are altar boys and the family attends prayer services for their mother. When young Father Brian leads anti-abortion protests, the family soon joins in. That comes to a stop when the mother comforts a young girl injured by another group of protestors as she was leaving a clinic, and fellow church members express anger that perhaps their beliefs aren't "strong" enough.

The childhood of the youngest boy ends abruptly when he comes upon a ghastly scene one night that rips his soul. The family tries to help him through it, but he is forever changed.

This book is a celebration of a family whose members try to do the right thing, though they may not always be successful at that. They love deeply, without hesitation, they work hard, try to help others, deal with what they must and continue on. A slice of American pie that I thoroughly enjoyed!!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hanover Square Press for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased opinion.

A classic coming of age story of a 12 year old boy, living in a trailer part in Vermont. The family is on the verge of a terrible change, and the world as a whole is as well, as the Gulf War looms overheard. Told via the the 12 year old boy, we seen his pain as the world changes for him, both in his family and in his world. He soon meets Taylor, the daughter is a single month, who changes his world.

This is a soon to be classic story on change and life changing people.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book is... fine. A story of a family struggle to find some deeper meaning and purpose... it's relatable and fairly readable.