I’ve felt this before.
I think we all have.
Alone.
Secluded.
I’ve been Manny.
Running fast towards nowhere.
It’s true, in this world if you do not fit the mold then sometimes there is no where to fit. I realized this is what manny struggled with and I’m sure he secretly hoped that even though he was lost that he would be found; loved. But he’d already scarified so much of himself for what he believed was love, could be love.
Elena.
His sister; the the only person in his life that gave him validation, made him feel real, and useful in this world had put so much distance between them and manny had lost all that he was trying to shorten that distance.
He’d lost himself
He’d lost his sister
He’d lost his hope.
But he was determined to get it all back. All he had to do was break a couple more rules.

Thank you, Tor Teen, for allowing me to read Into the Light early.

This is the third book by Mark Oshiro that I read and while I liked the previous ones, I can't put into words how much I loved Into the Light. It's full of emotions and I couldn't stop reading. I devoured this book within 24 hours and want to start all over again. One of the best books I've read this year!

Thank you Netgalley and TorTeen for this eARC, these opinions are my own. This story ended up being a lot different than I thought it would be but still really good! You have Manny who is homeless and hitches rides from place to place with people. He used to live with a religious group but was kicked out for some reason. He doesn’t know where they are but his sister is still with them and he has a love/hate relationship with her. When he hears someone died close to where the religious group is he has to know if it is his sister. Then there’s Eli who is with the religious group, he has an important place in the group when he is deemed ready. Will Manny find his sister? Will Eli become leader? And is there something more at work? This is quite the tale and it was really interesting putting all the pieces of the story together! It was intriguing, thrilling, and I couldn’t put it down! Can’t wait to read it again!

Wow this was such a great novel. I sobbed at this one; The angst and emotion in this are unreal. The cover alone... holy cow. This reminded me in a way of MORE HAPPY THAN NOT by Adam Silvera but with a twist. I was totally invested in Eli trying to figure out his past.

Into The Light is an absolutely incredible mystery and coming-of-age story that truly sucks you in and keeps you wanting more from the very first moment that you meet Manny, a queer, latinx teen adoptee who is also homeless and desperately trying to survive the world and find his sister. The book is told through flashbacks to various points of Manny's life and his present, traveling on the road with the Valera family.

I truly loved this book, and I really loved the style it was written it. It kept me on the edge of my seat, giving me enough pieces of the story to put together Manny's past but it still kept me wondering and constantly guessing at what might be next. The end truly had me emotional in the best way possible and wanting even more from the characters that I had fallen in love with and who I had seen grown so much.

this books does delve into very heavy topics, so I do recommend looking at the trigger warnings before picking his book up. However, I do highly recommend his book as I absolutely loved it and could not put it down!

*****SPOILERS*****

The one part of this book that I didn't love was the big twist about 80% in. The twist itself was interesting, however it seemed to come out of no where. I wish there had been some indication of it before, something to lead up to the twist. It seemed as if Manny's memory had been erased by trauma, which I understand was the red herring however there was nothing supernatural before that point, and after the fact we got very little reaction to it and no explanation or questioning how it happened. I wish it had been expanded upon.

***** END SPOILERS*****

4.5 stars, rounded up.

From page one, I was completely engrossed. It's the story of Manny, a gay, latinx orphan who is currently homeless, travelling from place to place by hitching rides with strangers, and doing odd jobs just to survive. How Manny got there is told in flashbacks of the past woven seamlessly with the present.

I don't really want to reveal too much about the story, because I enjoyed piecing things together as the story came together, as the flashbacks and the current day story came together.

I've been a fan of Mark Oshiro's for a few years now, discovering him first from his blogs, and now reading his novels. From what he's said about his own childhood experiences, I can tell how personal and powerful this story is.

I really only had one issue with it. <spoiler>Up until the big reveal at about the 85% mark, I was expecting Eli to have been another personality of Manny's, or that Deacon had done something to cause Manny to have amnesia. I definitely wasn't expecting anything supernatural in the story, and so it felt like it came out of left field. Maybe if we'd had some hint of supernatural happenings earlier, it wouldn't have been so jarring to me.</spoiler>