♡ Audiobook Review ♡
♤ Release March 5 ♤
- Children | YA book
- 4.5 🌟
. First, this book cover is gorgeous to me. Once I saw the cover, I just had to listen to the audiobook!
. If you're looking for a book with "Anna of Green Gables mixed with Little Princess." This book is HIGHLY recommended for you!
. Lucy, a spirited French-Ojibwe orphan, is sent to the stormy waters of Lake Superior to live with a mysterious family of lighthouse-keepers—and, she hopes, to find the legendary necklace her father spent his life seeking.
. Lucy just lost her father and is now having to leave with Martin's a large Anishinaabe family living on a lighthouse in the middle of Stormy Lake Superior. She is doing everything in her power to have them look at her as family as well. Lucy is a very strong minded little child that, sometime throughout the book, annoyed me, but overall is a child that's just doing her BEST with the cards that dealt to her.

* Thank you, Netgalley, this is my honest review.

This one was interesting at times, but some of it was lost on me.

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Lucy. She has had a rough childhood after she lost her mother and later on her father, and then the older woman who was taking care of her after all that. I felt bad for her and I think that is why she used her imagination a lot. Kids obviously are imaginative, but I think she used it as an escape for her own life. She just wants a place she can be herself, be vulnerable, and have people who care about her.

Lucy is French-Ojibwe and I wish we explored more of her culture. There were a few Ojibwe words used and smaller things said, but I just wanted to know more.

Even though she finds the love she needs by the end it takes her a long way to get there. She screws up a lot or at least that is what the family she lives with thinks and finds her worth in her actions instead of just being there for her when she needed it the most. I wish that they would have talked to her about her feelings and what she has went through. I think it would have made the family aspect a lot more heartwarming.

Overall, this was good. I did like the setting and was happy to see her find what she needed.

**1/2 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for gifting me this ALC of the audiobook to review.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, the atmosphere of this book with the lake and the lighthouse was phenomenal on the other hand, I felt that there were a lot of missed opportunities regarding the messages children could take from this book.

As a reader who is not from North America, I would have liked to see more explanations about the Ojibwe culture. The message that keeping your heritage alive is very important, came across well in the book, but as a reader who doesn’t know anything about Ojibwe culture, the essence of it got lost on me. Apart from some word translation the word ‘Ojibwe’ could have been exchanged with any other culture and I would have been none the wiser. It feels like the book is aimed at children who already know about the culture and are seeking a book in which it is represented, rather than taking in a wider range of readers who also want to learn about this culture. This feels like a missed learning opportunity here.

I don’t think I could recommend this book to younger readers, without someone co-reading this book along with them and giving some more input, because of some aspects like ‘what it means to be part of a family’ and ‘what to do if something doesn’t go the way you want it to’ were handled rather poorly, because they were never really resolved and younger readers might get the wrong takeaways from the story. Let me explain:

When Lucy joins the family, she just wants to be accepted and loved. She thinks that this will happen if she is useful to them. Unfortunately, mishaps keep occurring, even though Lucy’s intentions are always good. Every time a mishap occurs Lucy internalizes this and looks down on herself. It also leads her to separate more from the family instead of feeling closer to them. It also does not help that she hears other family members talking about her and complaining about her clumsiness. Lucy learns by herself that rather than doing something because she thinks what she is doing is helpful when it might not be, she should ask before helping to make sure it is the right thing. This is an excellent lesson.

But what about the rest? Where are the parents in all of this? Don’t get me wrong, the parents are not mean or anything, they are even understanding, but they are just not very present. Lucy deals with most things by herself. When the other children mention that Lucy has nightmares no one goes to talk to her.

Why don’t the parents talk to Lucy about how she is feeling? Why pay so much attention to what Lucy is doing wrong rather than what she is doing right and how good her thought processes are? Why don’t they try to build up her self-esteem?

The story is resolved when Lucy shows her courage and saves almost the whole family. Then she feels part of the family. This makes it seem a bit like Lucy was right in thinking that she would be accepted by the family when she is useful, which would be a harmful lesson for children to learn. Being loved and accepted should not be contingent on your usefulness. The whole story is a bit one-sided to me as well: Lucy keeps trying and trying, while the rest of the family (apart from Forrest) just watches on and basically waits for what Lucy comes up with to then judge how they like it. Lucy is still very grateful because the family took her in, and she gives away everything she has for everyone else to be happy. The whole family dynamic seemed very transactional this way.

There are plenty of things to like about this book: As I mentioned the atmosphere of the lighthouse is compelling. There are very many likable characters, especially Forrest and the story definitely didn’t get boring. The different personalities of the siblings also came across very well. If this was not a children's book, but a book for adults, I probably wouldn’t be as strict with my rating, but for the reasons that I explained, I feel like the story was not resolved in the best way to convey important lessons.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a good job. It’s an audiobook, not a play, so no sound effects or anything. With a length of 5,5 hours, it would probably have to be listened to in multiple sittings.

A sweet and wholesome story of an 11-year-old orphan settling into her life in a newly found family.

It's 1912. Selena Lucy Landry is the daughter of a sailor and an actress. Unfortunately, both of her parents have passed on. She ends up moving in with the Martin's - a big family with an even bigger heart. The family lives in a lighthouse, the father of the family being the caretaker of the lighthouse. Lucy is struggling to fit into the equation that is the new family. Oh, and she also discovers that the long-lost treasure her father hoped to find as a young boy is buried somewhere near the island. Will she find the treasure? And will she also find herself along the way?

I liked this book a lot. It is a middle-grade children's book, but I think anyone would enjoy reading it. It's just so wholesome and makes you feel warm and cozy. I especially loved the old-timey fictional setting in a lighthouse. It has everything a good book should have - adventure, love, finding yourself, friends and family, hardships, and a great ending where everything comes together.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the chance to read the book.

A young girl (Lucy) has lost her only parent and now she is shipped to a tiny island to live with the family residing in a lighthouse post. Her fear of water only grows and though the family is homely and warm, she just can't see herself fitting in. Now all that keeps her going is to keep looking for the antique necklace her father always talked about. But situations reveal that she is not the only one in search of it.

This adventure tale reminds me of the childhood of so many children, each of them slightly notorious and coming from a little privileged background. Life at this lighthouse reflects beautifully how one learns to be responsible for their actions even at a young age if the circumstances require it.

As much as I enjoyed the author's capacity to bring alive the characters, I felt that Lucy was a tad irritating at times, as every time she tried helping, the universe conspired to give the opposite results. The ease at which everything falls in place may work well for a middle-grade reader, but as an adult, I missed a bit more obstacles to the adventures Lucy had.

Thank you @netgalley @dreamscape_media @annarosewriter for the digital ARC.
Genre: #middlegrade #multicultural #fiction
Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️

#TheLuminousLifeofLucyLandry #NetGalley

<i>The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry</i> is a good book. There is so much heart and meaning behind so much of the story that you cannot help but deeply appreciate everything the author is trying to do. I just wish I had enjoyed it a little bit more.

The thing about Lucy Landry and her story is that, while meaningful, it’s kind of boring. So while I could appreciate the importance of the message regarding maintaining one’s culture, ensuring that the knowledge is always passed down to the new generation and never lost, I had a rather difficult time investing myself with the characters and their journeys.

Now, a fair amount of this might be my personal likes as far as stories go. And that’s okay. I’ve never been super invested in contemporary real-life books. Therefore, I do genuinely think that this book will be deeply loved by a great number of people. But I think it’s also very possible that others may be bored with this book, might have a tough time feeling connected to Lucy’s journey.

So, I’ll likely recommend this book to the kiddos who I think will connect to it, who will feel close to the meaningful messages this book sends or those who really need to learn about that sort of experience. But it’s probably not the first book that’ll come to mind.

I did enjoy the narrator of this book’s reading—she captured the story beautifully.

Thank you to Anna Rose Johnson, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This children's book was pretty good. Lucy was very sympathetic and I wanted so badly to just give her a hug. Her coping mechanism of switching to her alter egos was easy to follow, though I wish by the end she'd have stopped needing to use it so often; if she continues with them for long, we're talking about a mental disorder.

The problem of having trouble fitting into a new group is entirely relatable, but I'm leery of the message that you won't be accepted unless you make a huge superhuman gesture and save everyone's lives---if you're lucky and don't die in the effort. That part isn't so relatable, though it does make for a good climax.

The Native heritages of the characters were a welcome and interesting aspect, though it feels like more could have been done with it.

Overall, it was a good, heartwarming story I'd recommend to my nieces when they're old enough for chapter books.

3.75 stars

This middle grade historical fiction will give readers some great representation in the titular Lucy, who is indigenous, and some warm fuzzies, too.

After Lucy experiences a painful loss, she goes to live with the Martins, where she is alone no more. This large family welcomes her as a unit, but it is most charming to see how they connect with her individually. Like all reasonable kids of her age, Lucy integrates into her new situation with a noteworthy level of awkwardness, though the ways in which hers manifests are generally more palatable than some of her peers. She takes on a royal persona and focuses her attention on the seemingly improbable exploits of her predecessors in an effort to connect with others and simultaneously move through her challenges.

This is my first book by this author. I loved the representation and the general storyline, though I did find it a bit saccharine at times, even by general middle grade standards. I will recommend it to students primarily for its genre, representation, and motifs.

5 stars!!

This book was so adorable!! Thank you Netgalley and Anna Rose Johnson for the audiobook arc in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy Landry is an 11 year old girl tackling some hard loss, after losing her dad and her guardian, she is sent to the Martin's, living on a light house in Lake Superior.
To cope with her emotions she switches her personalities to suit the situations that she's in, eg. her queen impression when she first meets the Martin's and her waif girl disposition when she does something wrong. This is all to help her cope with her new and sometimes overwhelming environment. I loved seeing this theme be explored in the book and getting a better sense of Lucy through these moments.

All the characters were really well developed. Even the Martin kids, with so many of them it could have been easy to make them similar and blend into the background but Anna Rose Johnson did an amazing job of making them feel real.

The plot with the necklace was really interesting and i honestly could not stop listening to the audiobook, I was completely enthralled. This is definitely a book I would recommend to younger readers.

Although the book tackles harder topics such as grief and overwhelming fears, Anna Rose Johnson still manages to keep the storyline pretty heartwarming and overall very digestible for younger audiences.

A charming historical fiction novel for children with the vibes of Anne of Green Gables and an indigenous heroine! Lucy is a young Ojibwe girl who has been orphaned and is taken in by a large and loving family that runs a lighthouse. She's full of imagination, but that tends to get her into trouble as she struggles to adjust to her new life and find her place. All the while searching for a fabled ruby necklace that was lost in a shipwreck...

This is the second book I've read from this author and I think the way she writes young characters feels very reminiscent of LM Montgomery. This was funny and heartwarming, with plenty of mistakes and adventure. Definitely worth a read! The audio narration is excellent too. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.