Lucas Goodgame is viewed as a hero in his town of Majestic, PA for the role he played during a mass shooting that leaves 17 dead, including Lucas' wife. Based on that alone, I wasn't sure that I wanted to read this book. But ultimately it focuses more on the aftermath, including the developing relationship between Lucas and the shooter's brother, Eli. The town ostracizes Eli, making him guilty by association, but Lucas teams up with Eli and they work together to try and heal the people and the town.

I enjoyed Quick's writing style, but despite it being a short book it felt a bit slow to me. I appreciated the care that the author took when dealing with such a sensitive subject matter.

I DNFd this book about 30% in. I wasn't enjoying the story at all. It was too strange for me having our main character have conversations and "relations" with the ghost of his deceased wife. I understand it was about his grief and the trauma that he experienced, but didn't understand where the story was going. For such a short story it felt very slow and plodding. It did not draw me in at all.

DNF - I can certainly see what so many other reviewers appreciated about this story. I think this was simply a case of me not being the target reader.

Matthew Quick is hands-down an auto-buy author for me. I’m so excited to be reading his newest release, We Are the Light. I’m only on page 51, and it’s already made me laugh and broken my heart, tenfold. ⁣
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Much thanks to @NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy for review. ⁣
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This book was all over. There were parts I LOED, and many I didn't. Maybe the editing was to blame. Overall just an ok read for me. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher!

One of the best books I read in 2022! Heartwarming and heartbreaking, making me laugh out loud and cry within the same page. I recommend this book to anyone looking for an inspiring story of what community is all about.

This novel bears the weight of profound themes, delving into the depths of grief, loss, mass shootings, suicide, and mental illness. Yet, within this somber landscape, it manages to shine as a beacon of hope. Lucas takes the reins as the narrator, conveying his story through a series of heartfelt letters exchanged with his therapist.

From the beginning, I knew that an inevitable plot twist was going to play out, and when it finallyhappened, its predictability did not diminish its emotional impact. Instead, it evoked a profound and overwhelming response within me, closely mirroring Lucas’s own experience.

This book exudes realism and intensity, with the epistolary format providing a unique and engaging storytelling approach that I truly appreciated.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story is told in a series of letters written by Lucas to his therapist, Karl. Lucas was present when his wife was killed, along with 16 others, in a shooting at a movie theater. Karl's wife was also killed, and though Lucas desperately needs his friend and analyst, Karl refuses to see him or answer his letters.

Lucas saw each victim turn into an angel, and his wife visits him each evening in her angel form. When a young man begins camping out in a tent in Lucas' backyard, his wife tells him that the boy is the answer. Instead of turning his back on the boy as most of the town has, Lucas shelters and feeds him, and they begin a partnership, with the goal of finding a way for their town to process their grief and heal.

In the beginning, Lucas felt/sounded very simple and methodical. He relied heavily on the "Jungian analysis" Karl provided, and kept busy navigating this trauma at surface level. As the letters continue, Lucas works through deeper levels that are thoroughly painful to read. Though there is nothing overtly graphic, there are parts of this story that will take your breath away.

Thank you to Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Matthew Quick is an author that is at the top of my list for favorite books. His book, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is one I have purchased a number of times to give as gifts to colleagues. I try to read everything he publishes. But, We Are the Light did not win me over. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that we were just climbing out from under the weight of the pandemic, but the book seemed overly depressive to me and I was not wanting to read something like that. Certainly, the book was interesting and unusual and even memorable. The quality of writing from Matthew Quick was high, as usual, but that wasn't enough to make me want to save the book and read it again or even to give it to anyone as a gift. Publishers, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this. I am grateful.

Wow! I didn't know what to expect when I read this book but I wasn't expecting it to be such an emotional read. Lucas's wife died in a mass shooting and he finds it cathartic to write letters (which is how this story is told in epistolary style) about his grieving process. The story illustrates just how much mass murder doesn't affect only the family's of victims but entire communities. One day a young man shows up and Luca's wife (an angel now) encourages him to help him.

I was a bit confused about some things but it all came together after reading the epilogue. If it hadn't been for the epilogue, I wouldn't have enjoyed the book quite as much. So I am thankful that was included.

Read this book in one sitting. I had to figure out what was happening.
Very sad but also an important/emotional read. Thank you again to NetGalley

I highlighted this book on my Booktube channel. The video can be found here: https://youtu.be/Vhsxktm3fWU

I really wanted to like this book, especially since I loved Silver Linings Playbook so much. The similarities are apparent, but I had a hard time getting into the narration. Maybe it’s because I did this story on audio. Or perhaps it was because it’s such a difficult subject matter, heightened lately in the news. Either way, I felt like, although there were many similarities to his previous work, this story didn’t resonate in the same way with me.

This book had everything that I've come to expect from a Matthew Quick novel - Complicated relationships, lots of grey area and exceptional first person narration that provides a window into the mind of someone struggling with their mental health.

After a town tragedy, an unlikely duo come together to heal the town and themselves along the way. This was a beautiful book. Matthew Quick has a gift of writing and expressing mental illness and tragedy in a way that invokes immense feeling, empathy, thought, and even humor. this book was…WOW

I wanted to like this book but i couldnt get into the story. It just fell flat for me. The premise was good but it lacked enough to keep my attention.

Dear Matthew Quick,

When I first began reading your latest book, I wasn’t sure that the whole epistolary theme was working for me. I have enjoyed books in the past with this style of writing, most notably The Perks of Being a Wallflower (one of favourites) but perhaps my head space wasn’t quite in the right frame of mind for it this time around.

I am now sitting on my couch with fresh tears sitting on my cheeks and a warm glow from such an overwhelming, trauma-laden, yet hopeful book. Obviously I was completely wrong, and it was working for me. Or perhaps psyche wanted me to keep going.

I learnt so much about Jungian Analysis, and while you claim not to be an expert, in the academic or learned sense, your delivery of Jungian Theory is nothing short of expertness. Your seemless blend with fiction and such beautiful characters made it palatable, enjoyable even. To the point of wishing to learn more about the practice.

Trauma is such a complicated subject, so fraught, and those of us who do experience trauma and mental ill-health often find it difficult to read and write traumatic stories. It is why it took me so long to read this book. 2022 was a bad year for me and I wasn’t ready. I apologise for the lateness in returning my review.
I’m better now. Your book is perfect. Inspiring even. And I hope you’re better too.

I thank Avid Reader Press and Simon & Schuster for an arc of this book. My heart is full from this amazing reading experience.

Yours truly

Erin

I made it half way through this book before I had to stop. I couldn't take listening to someone so mentally ill anymore. There was no way I could relate to him. If I was supposed to eventually "get" him, it was taking too long. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

We Are the Light is a clever novel written in letters from Lucas Goodgame to his Jungian analyst, Karl. The one-sided correspondence focuses on a recent movie theater mass killing in Majestic, Pennsylvania where Lucas's wife was killed and Lucas stops the assailant. Matthew Quick creates good characters and weaves them into a suspenseful plot. The novel offers a lot of opportunity for discussion about crime, family, mental illness, and love.

One of my top books of 2022!

Lucas Goodgame is being hailed as a hero after a mass shooting at the movie theatre in his small town of Majestic, Pennsylvania. But Lucas doesn't see it that way. He is struggling with his grief, walking miles and miles a day, writing letters to his therapist, and nightly chats with his beloved wife Darcy, now a guardian angel.

When the brother of the shooter sets up a tent in Lucas' back yard, he is determined to help him, as he couldn't help his brother. The two involve the town, including family members of the victims in a project that fosters understanding and sparks healing.

What a gorgeous novel. Quick wrote a beautiful exploration of grief, shared trauma, healing, forming the family you need and closing the door on the family who harmed you.

Many thanks to the author, NetGalley and Avid Press/Simon Schuster for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.