I was expecting more of a thriller/mystery but this had elements of magical realism and romance and seemed a bit more YA than i realized.

It was a bit of a slow build as well. It take a bit of a twist tho! Wasn’t Expecting the direction it went to.

I wasn’t loving the narrator for the female perspective also. I think this should have been two narrators.

I’ll say i didn’t love this one but i didn’t hate it. Just a bit different. It was interesting tho.

Great story. It has enough twists to keep you interested. Just when you think you have the story figured out, another twist happens that changes the story.

The Lighthouse by Christopher Parker may well be one of the best stories I have ever experienced! This story has notes of Twilight Zone, Ground Hog Day, and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, and I absolutely loved it to the point it took me a few days before I could engage with the next book on my TBR stack.

Amy Tucker, 19, lost her mother a few weeks earlier to a distracted driver. Her father, Kevin, who is a state police officer, is also suffering but is very concerned about his daughter’s withdrawal. Kevin’s brother suggests he take a simple out of town mission to close a case and take a despondent Amy along to try to reconnect. Amy agrees.

The evening of their arrival, Amy decides she needs some space and takes a walk down by the shore in the shadow of the town’s deserted lighthouse. Instead of feeling better, she feels worse upon her return. If she could just get a good night’s sleep! With the help of her father’s sleeping pills and a nice hot bath, it is sleep she will get.

But then she is awakened to an overflowing tub and a strange young man. She screams and he takes off. Amy then cleans up her mess and falls into a deep sleep. But the next day she feels bad about her treatment of him and seeks him out to apologize, then spends a wonderful day with him.

However, things aren’t adding up or making sense and she cannot figure out where her father has gone. As the story unfolds, the reader will be brought into a surreal time and place. One where it is now up to Amy to do the saving.

This story is beautiful and haunting. The characters are so well drawn and the setting is beautifully described. And the well woven plot is so unexpected! I very much enjoyed this book and I wholeheartedly recommend it!

Amy is struggling with her grief from losing her mother. Her relationship with her father, a respective police officer, is strained. To try and reconnect with his daughter, he takes her to the quaint town of Seabrook, while he wraps up a missing person report.
Ryan, is a young man, who is working his family's farm and trying to survive and make ends meet day to day. Dealing with his father's illness, he is also struggling emotionally. These two characters meet after an accidental overdose and establishes an unexpected connection.
I adored this book! It gave me all the feels and touched my heart! There were times were the grief Amy was experiencing was so overwhelming. Christopher Parker does an excellent job of portraying the grief and how it affects us emotionally and physically. How an unexpected connection can save your life!
I love the mystery around the town Seabrook and the lighthouse! It reminds me of one of those little New England towns that you read about!

I ended up really enjoying this in the end. I was very confused in the beginning. It felt like a Hallmark-cheesy rom-com, then I felt like it might be a thriller ghost story, but also kind of a small town mystery. I still think it has a little bit of all of this in it, but it was a bit of a slow build up to make me unsure of what to expect. I listened to the audio, courtesy of NetGalley, and maybe if I had read a physical copy, it would have have felt a bit different.

For a debut novel, this was surprisingly good. I usually don't like romance subplot in thrillers but this one developed naturally and their chemistry was so good I was rooting for them from beginning to end and wanted them to kiss already. This also feels like a case study on dealing with grief. I didn't realize this was magical realism... Loved the whimsical feeling to the novel that usually comes with books centered around a lighthouse or a beach. The only reason I didn't give this one a five star is because of the pacing that was slow at times. I might read more of this author in the future; I see great potential.

<i>Thank you dear author and Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book.<i>

I enjoyed this story about the binds to our family and friends, in life or death, in reality or imagination and how they hold us through dealing with loss. The coastal scenery and the lighthouse add a touch of mystery and melancholy to the unfolding events.
I first listened to the audiobook then read the book. I liked them equally. I would have preferred the magical side of the story be introduced earlier and a faster pace in the first half.
Still, I found myself immersed in the story of Amy and Ryan.

A good debut I do recommend for magical realism amateurs!

(Audiobook - via NetGalley)

Amy is still grieving the loss of her mother. Her father, a detective, is struggling to connect with Amy as she copes with this tremendous loss. When his brother, also a detective, invites him to investigate the case of a missing person in the small coastal town of Seabrook, 200 miles away from Amy's home in Portland, he decides to take on the case and invite Amy along. In this seemingly quaint and simple town, Amy meets Ryan, who works at the local restaurant and handles the horses on his father's farm. She soon learns that things are not entirely what they seem in this town.

This book is a great examination of fate, love, friendship, and the power to heal after tremendous loss. I did not enjoy the audiobook narrator's voicing for Amy and Chloe – the fake falsetto was distracting. Other than that, I thought it was an enjoyable audiobook, and a touching story. The setting makes for some beautiful and dramatic throughout the book, and readers looking to be spirited away to another world will enjoy the rich imagery of the crashing waves against Seabrook's mysterious lighthouse.

When Amy's father, a police detective, has to travel to Seabrook for a case, Amy decides to go along for the ride. In Seabrook, she hears stories about the local lighthouse that has mysteriously lit up for the first time in 30 years. She also runs into Ryan, a handsome boy who lives outside of town. Together they investigate the mystery and what they discover will shock them

When I requested this book, I had no idea that it was a young adult novel filled with magical realism. The story was good, although it had some corny moments.

I couldn’t put this book down. It was a truely awesome read. I loved the characters and the setting. Those who read definitely won’t be disappointed in purchasing this book. Thanks

Amy is grieving the death of her mother. Her father, a detective, decides to take her to Seabrook, where he has some police work to do. She is not interested in the trip or anything her father has to say because he is just an adult who actually cares for her.

There, she meets Ryan at Seabrook (cue shiny stars and romantic music). Ryan is handsome and polite. But he is on the verge of losing his ranch to the nasty bankers who cannot seem to extend his debt limits.


And then, the ancient lighthouse that has lain silent all these years, shines out a bright light. The residents of Seabrook are confused.

As Amy dives deeper into the mystery of the lighthouse, it seems to her that she, Ryan, and the lighthouse are inextricably linked. How this happens and what happens later is the rest of the story.

I had no problem with the Amy-Ryan relationship until it went all weird and magicky. I didn't like the new twist to the tale (looking at you, snow globe).

The narrator also made it all singularly boring, especially when he was talking as Amy.

Didn't work for me.

2 stars

Thanks to Netgalley, Beacon Press Limited, and Christopher Parker for the ARC.

One of the best experiences a reader can have is to start a book selected solely on the basis of its intriguing cover and a quick glance at the publisher’s description and then become completely mesmerized. Such was the case for me as I listened to The Lighthouse by Christopher Parker. Braden Wright is excellent as the narrator.

This story follows a father and daughter moving through the grief of losing a wife and mother. The father is sent to a small seaside town where a long ago abandoned lighthouse has mysteriously started to shine again. Taking his daughter with him, they embark on a journey to reconnect as a family and reconcile to their loss.

All of the characters are beautifully drawn and connected. At first, it feels like it may be a dark story but quickly moves to something almost ethereal in nature. It is truly enchanting and immersive. The author unfolds the story in a way that gently moves the reader through several twists to a truly satisfying conclusion.

It's December 26th, and The Lighthouse will be among the best books I've read this year, and a book I will recommend to many people.

Thank you to NetGalley and Beacon Press Limited for the Advanced Listener’s Copy of the audiobook in exchange for my review.

#JourneyToSeabrook #NetGalley #TheLighthouse #ChristopherParker #bookstagram #beaconpresslimited

🌊 What a breathtaking and enchanting novel! Christopher Parker has written an intriguing story about love, loss, and acceptance.
🌊 Amy and Ryan meet in the small town of Seabrook when Amy’s father is given an assignment to travel there for work. The story follows them as they get to know one another amid many mysterious occurrences.
🌊 I was genuinely surprised and saddened when the backstory was revealed. However, I love the way that the story wrapped everything together at the end with Amy and her father’s decision to move on with their lives.
🌊 There are a few other things I felt about the book, but I don’t like to give any spoilers, so I will end by saying that the magical world that Christopher Parker created is superb and I do recommend this to all!

🖊 Thank you to NetGalley and Beacon Press Limited for the ARC in exchange for an honest review 🖊

Such a unique perspective on how to navigate your way through grief. I loved the story, the flow and the characters were all loveable. There was growth within the characters as well.
The narrator kept me engaged and I could feel the pain through his words.

The Lighthouse started off a bit slow and I wasn't sure where this was going. At times, it felt like a YA read.

Amy has just lost her mother in a car accident and is having a difficult time with her death. Steve, her dad, a cop, takes her to Seabrook on a case. Thinking this will do Amy and himself some good.

While her dad, is investigating a case, Amy is on her own. While out she meets Ryan, a devoted son, to a ranch owner. Both of them hit it off and he explains the history of the Lighthouse. Seabrook is known for The Lighthouse. A lighthouse that hasn't turned on in years. Until one day, it starts to glow.

What starts off as a coming of age romance is only the tip of the iceberg. There is more elements to this Lighthouse that I can't explain without spoiling it. Therefore, I will leave you with this....the story takes a twist I didn't see coming, that puts this novel on a different level.

For me, I am on the fence with this one, I neither loved or hated it. I can't place my finger on it, however, it was missing something. Perhaps it was the narrator. He just didn't nail the female voices. At times, I could not differentiate who was speaking. The flow of the story was a bit slow, however, I loved the concept..

For a debut novel, it was pretty good. I think this would make a better read than a listen.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook.

The Lighthouse by Christopher Parker is an imaginative story about coping with grief after the loss of a loved one with elements of the supernatural. The story begins with Amy still grieving the loss of her mother after a tragic traffic accident. Three months has passed and she barely talks with her friends or her father who is a detective with the state sheriff's office. Her father decides to take Amy "up north" to investigate a cold case with hopes of connecting with her.

Once in the charming seaside town of Seabrook, Oregon, Amy eventually breaks out of her doldrums. She meets a charming young man, Ryan, who lives on a nearby ranch. Amy soon discovers that she is sort of a "horse-whisperer" when she and Ryan go riding the trails. Both are also enchanted by the town's lighthouse that appears to be glowing after 25 years of being shut down. Together they investigate the secret of the lighthouse and learn much about each other in the process.

I enjoyed listening to this story, which was narrated by Braden Wright . His performance for Ryan was spot on for a young 20-something facing extreme hardship running a horse ranch practically alone following the stroke of his father. I also enjoyed his version of Amy who was a young college students taking time off to cope with her grief. I recommend this story to anyone who enjoys bittersweet ghost stories.

'The Lighthouse' by Christopher Parker, narrated by Braden Wright.

Thank you to NetGalley, Beacon Press Ltd and the author for an audio-ARC for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this beautiful, heart-warming story! The emotional connection between the characters was instantaneous. Even though it dealt with death and grieving, it was very touching. The magical realism had some unexpected twists, and concluded in a satisfying way.

I enjoyed listening to the narrator, he did a wonderful job.

I look forward to the next book by Christopher Parker.

#NetGalley #TheLighthouse #BeaconPress #ChristopherParker

Amazing story! Enjoyed Amy and Ryans story, two souls meeting by fate in a mysterious town. The lighthouse is suspenseful, intriguing, spiritual. Makes you wonder about the great beyond.

Between fiction, love, and family, a little bit of magic sneaked its way into Amy and Ryan's lives. Both had something heavy on their hearts. Both needed healing. And both needed to find each other to do it.

This is a beautiful story about family, friendship, and love. There is grief and healing, crying and smiling, hard truths and beautiful moments.

I really enjoyed my time listening to this audiobook. Maybe it was more young adult/teen fiction than an adult, but from time to time it is alright. The book had the perfect balance between mystery and romance.

If you are looking for something easy to follow but also a little fantastical, then this book is perfect.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Beacon Press Limited for sharing a copy of this book with me in exchange for an honest review.

This was an excellent story. I'm surprised this was the authors debut. Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this advance copy. Very heartwarming yet sad story.