"A real book is not one that is read, but one that reads us," - W. H. Auden
I discovered Ruth Morse through Instagram, and when I saw that she was publishing a YA contemporary, I had to get my hands on it. I feel like there aren't many self-published authors who are writing contemporary stories, so I had to support a fellow author!
This book seemed like a perfect fit for me - and for the most part, it was. But alas, there is no book without flaw. Without further ado, let us dissect . . .
While not anything groundbreaking, I did enjoy Morse's writing style. At times it was profound and moving, and other times the descriptions pulled me right into the scene while not being too overbearing.
Back to the 'profound and moving' bit. I know some people hate this kind of writing, but I love the 'philosophical musings' type of writing, and FGOITD had a significant amount of that in it. I live for prose/dialogue that points out universal truths/reveals something new about the human experience. Cue favorite quotes here:
"People come to the most unbearable places when they can no longer bear themselves," -page 19
"It sucks loving someone who reminds you of your unfulfilled happiness," -page 27
"Tragedy isn't unique, nor is happiness or any other feeling," -page 28
"It's funny how nothing prevents me from being anywhere at all. And that's what bothers me," -page 85
"I wished that at least for a moment, I could see the world through his eyes," -page 110
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This book seemed like a perfect fit for me - and for the most part, it was. But alas, there is no book without flaw. Without further ado, let us dissect . . .
The Bad
1. Character/Theme Development
I think this is my biggest flaw with FGOITD. Neither Lana nor Max felt fully fleshed out. Sure, they had personalities and we knew a little bit about their backstories, but not enough for me to get a full picture of who this character was, and why.
First, Lana. Despite her nightmares, she seems to be relatively unaffected by her dysfunctional family, which is virtually impossible. The problem is that we know very little about Lana or her life. We know a little about her family - about Jax and how her parents fight. We know about her friendship with Mel . . . and that's about it. What else has happened in Lana's life that has impacted who she is now? What was her school experience like? What about her other friends?
This severe lack of knowledge of Lana's past leads to an undefined character, and it all comes down to the question of: "How does Lana's past impact who she is today, and how does that impact her choices?" We don't know nearly enough about who Lana is to answer that question. Sure, one could argue that that's the point: Lana doesn't know who she is. However, the thing about people is that we are just the sum of what has happened to us until we grasp ahold of who we want to be and therefore form our own identity. This concept was not expanded upon in FGOITD.
Max is nearly the same way. All we really know about his past is that his dad is an alcoholic, that he ran away, and a sliver of his interaction with Jack and Lily. How was Max's childhood? What kind of person was he in high school? And because we knew so very little about Max and Lana's pasts, it was hard to connect with their journey and their romance.
This also comes down to the fact that FGOITD doesn't go deep enough into its characters to make the themes and relationships impactful. What makes these coming-of-age contemporary stories so good is that they are often a deep dive into the characters and their backstories, and how they overcome and accept their past in order to face the future. Way too much time is spent on the romance and other regular-life things than on the actual coming-of-age aspects that could have been explored. Many very interesting themes were touched on, but not fleshed out to their fullest potential. How does Lana finally move past her self-hatred and blaming herself for her brother's death? How does her family come back together after Lana's revelations? However, FGOITD seemed more interested in describing the romance and the alt-rock scene of Lana, Max, and Mel.
I think this is my biggest flaw with FGOITD. Neither Lana nor Max felt fully fleshed out. Sure, they had personalities and we knew a little bit about their backstories, but not enough for me to get a full picture of who this character was, and why.
First, Lana. Despite her nightmares, she seems to be relatively unaffected by her dysfunctional family, which is virtually impossible. The problem is that we know very little about Lana or her life. We know a little about her family - about Jax and how her parents fight. We know about her friendship with Mel . . . and that's about it. What else has happened in Lana's life that has impacted who she is now? What was her school experience like? What about her other friends?
This severe lack of knowledge of Lana's past leads to an undefined character, and it all comes down to the question of: "How does Lana's past impact who she is today, and how does that impact her choices?" We don't know nearly enough about who Lana is to answer that question. Sure, one could argue that that's the point: Lana doesn't know who she is. However, the thing about people is that we are just the sum of what has happened to us until we grasp ahold of who we want to be and therefore form our own identity. This concept was not expanded upon in FGOITD.
Max is nearly the same way. All we really know about his past is that his dad is an alcoholic, that he ran away, and a sliver of his interaction with Jack and Lily. How was Max's childhood? What kind of person was he in high school? And because we knew so very little about Max and Lana's pasts, it was hard to connect with their journey and their romance.
This also comes down to the fact that FGOITD doesn't go deep enough into its characters to make the themes and relationships impactful. What makes these coming-of-age contemporary stories so good is that they are often a deep dive into the characters and their backstories, and how they overcome and accept their past in order to face the future. Way too much time is spent on the romance and other regular-life things than on the actual coming-of-age aspects that could have been explored. Many very interesting themes were touched on, but not fleshed out to their fullest potential. How does Lana finally move past her self-hatred and blaming herself for her brother's death? How does her family come back together after Lana's revelations? However, FGOITD seemed more interested in describing the romance and the alt-rock scene of Lana, Max, and Mel.
2. Personal Nitpicks
FGOITD has a lot more romance than I was originally led to believe. Based on the synopsis - which you can read here - it sounds like I was promised a journey of self-discovery and catharsis, with probably a romance side plot. However, I got a lot more romance than I signed up for. Now, romance isn't bad, it's just not what I was expecting/looking forward to when reading this book. Maybe that's my fault, or maybe the synopsis was misleading.
But really, I think that it stems from my burning hatred of the trope 'book advertizes growth and change but it's really just a romance where said significant other comes in and changes the main characters life'. Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't all that FGOITD does, but it's a significant part of it. I even thought that the romance was pretty realistic and sweet at times. I think they said 'I love you' too quickly, but bygones....
Don't get me wrong again, because I'm fully aware that people can come into your life and help you, change you, and make you realize things about yourself and about life - because there have been people in my life who have done just that. My problem with this idea arises when this significant other cures all of said character's problems - their crops are flourishing, their grades are higher, the sun shines brighter, and their mental health is cured. That's just so unrealistic - and problematic because it furthers the cultural idea that once you find love, your life will be wonderful and perfect. Now, FGOITD doesn't take it to the extreme, but I saw some of this trope throughout the novel, which I didn't like.
Alas, now that that's out of the way, the rest of this review should be a breeze.
FGOITD has a lot more romance than I was originally led to believe. Based on the synopsis - which you can read here - it sounds like I was promised a journey of self-discovery and catharsis, with probably a romance side plot. However, I got a lot more romance than I signed up for. Now, romance isn't bad, it's just not what I was expecting/looking forward to when reading this book. Maybe that's my fault, or maybe the synopsis was misleading.
But really, I think that it stems from my burning hatred of the trope 'book advertizes growth and change but it's really just a romance where said significant other comes in and changes the main characters life'. Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't all that FGOITD does, but it's a significant part of it. I even thought that the romance was pretty realistic and sweet at times. I think they said 'I love you' too quickly, but bygones....
Don't get me wrong again, because I'm fully aware that people can come into your life and help you, change you, and make you realize things about yourself and about life - because there have been people in my life who have done just that. My problem with this idea arises when this significant other cures all of said character's problems - their crops are flourishing, their grades are higher, the sun shines brighter, and their mental health is cured. That's just so unrealistic - and problematic because it furthers the cultural idea that once you find love, your life will be wonderful and perfect. Now, FGOITD doesn't take it to the extreme, but I saw some of this trope throughout the novel, which I didn't like.
Alas, now that that's out of the way, the rest of this review should be a breeze.
The Good
1. The Writing Style
While not anything groundbreaking, I did enjoy Morse's writing style. At times it was profound and moving, and other times the descriptions pulled me right into the scene while not being too overbearing.
Back to the 'profound and moving' bit. I know some people hate this kind of writing, but I love the 'philosophical musings' type of writing, and FGOITD had a significant amount of that in it. I live for prose/dialogue that points out universal truths/reveals something new about the human experience. Cue favorite quotes here:
"People come to the most unbearable places when they can no longer bear themselves," -page 19
"It sucks loving someone who reminds you of your unfulfilled happiness," -page 27
"Tragedy isn't unique, nor is happiness or any other feeling," -page 28
"It's funny how nothing prevents me from being anywhere at all. And that's what bothers me," -page 85
"I wished that at least for a moment, I could see the world through his eyes," -page 110
2. The End
The end of FGOITD really redeemed the novel for me, as many books often do. For the most part, I felt the middle sagged. Plot threads meandered and themes floundered, and other than the relationship progression between Max and Lana, not much else happened. However, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution of FGOITD saved it for me, since it was emotional, there were lots of character breakthroughs that happened, and the purpose of the story became clear. My only nitpick about the end is that certain things seemed to wrap up just a bit too nicely. However, despite that, the end really solidified my positive feelings about FGOITD.
The end of FGOITD really redeemed the novel for me, as many books often do. For the most part, I felt the middle sagged. Plot threads meandered and themes floundered, and other than the relationship progression between Max and Lana, not much else happened. However, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution of FGOITD saved it for me, since it was emotional, there were lots of character breakthroughs that happened, and the purpose of the story became clear. My only nitpick about the end is that certain things seemed to wrap up just a bit too nicely. However, despite that, the end really solidified my positive feelings about FGOITD.
3. Personal Preferences
I have been - and probably always will be - a massive sucker for contemporary stories about life, finding yourself, mental health, family, and love - and FGOITD was just that. For that alone, I have to say that I enjoyed it.
I also liked that while Lana had obvious problems and was definitely depressed, she didn't always act depressed or mopey. I loved that Morse deconstructed this stigma: that people with mental illness/trauma/problems have to act sad or anxious all of the time, because in reality, we hide how we're truly feeling. And just because someone has a mental illness, doesn't mean that they can't be happy sometimes or that they can't have fun. Hats off to accurate portrayals of mental illness and deconstructing the stigma!
This was one of the few times that I liked it when the main character was a writer/reader. Most of the time, I don't really like this trope because it makes the main character feel like a self-insert, but the way that Morse describes Lana writing were some of my favorite passages in the book.
Final Thoughts
While Fireflies Glow Only In the Dark is a solid novel in my favorite genre, it suffers from half-formed character development, which therefore makes the themes and plot less impactful. What saves it is the profound writing, the end, and my sheer enjoyment for these kinds of stories.
Objective Rating: 7/10
Enjoyment Level: 8.5/10
I have been - and probably always will be - a massive sucker for contemporary stories about life, finding yourself, mental health, family, and love - and FGOITD was just that. For that alone, I have to say that I enjoyed it.
I also liked that while Lana had obvious problems and was definitely depressed, she didn't always act depressed or mopey. I loved that Morse deconstructed this stigma: that people with mental illness/trauma/problems have to act sad or anxious all of the time, because in reality, we hide how we're truly feeling. And just because someone has a mental illness, doesn't mean that they can't be happy sometimes or that they can't have fun. Hats off to accurate portrayals of mental illness and deconstructing the stigma!
This was one of the few times that I liked it when the main character was a writer/reader. Most of the time, I don't really like this trope because it makes the main character feel like a self-insert, but the way that Morse describes Lana writing were some of my favorite passages in the book.
Final Thoughts
While Fireflies Glow Only In the Dark is a solid novel in my favorite genre, it suffers from half-formed character development, which therefore makes the themes and plot less impactful. What saves it is the profound writing, the end, and my sheer enjoyment for these kinds of stories.
Objective Rating: 7/10
Enjoyment Level: 8.5/10
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Thank you all for joining me once again on the 'Olivia goes on a spree of reviewing books and then won't review books for another 3 months' blog. It's one hell of a journey.
~The WordShaker
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