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The Girl in the LighthouseThe Girl in the Lighthouse by Roxane Tepfer Sanford
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Okay here are the pros:

This book captivates the reader from the start. The characters unfold quiet nicely and although told from the point of view of the protagonist, who is only nine years old when the book begins, the reader is able to connect and relate to, or at least understand the other characters. The author's writing is enjoyable; descriptive, without being too wordy. The emotions are believable and raw. The scenery vivid and highly imaginable.

What I didn't like or didn't understand:

If you have not read the book stop here! SPOILER ALERT
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Okay, something that confused me a bit were the ghosts. Why were only Ayden and Lillian able to see the ghost of Victor? I thought I understood that he was there to help the families or to be some type of protector, and only kids could see him. However, if that's the case, why didn't Heath also see him when he was just a fourteen year old kid? And then, later on Amelia also sees him and he scares the crap out of her(?). Why would his ghost scare her, if number one she was out of her mind and living in the past (so she wouldn't even notice his presence anyway) and two, he wasn't suppose to be scary, but helpful to the families? Then there's the ghost of Jacob-Thomas, why was he still lingering around the house? Okay, it was somewhat explained when his mom stated that she would never leave the mansion because her son still lived there, but then his mother ends up leaving with Eugenia anyway!(?)

Now here are some things that I really didn't like and I felt like did an injustice to the characters and it ruined the unfolding of the story. Why in the freaking world would Garret leave his beloved daughter with the woman who tortured the love of his life?! Why would he devote his entire life to protect her from secrets, pain, and his family to then just hand her right over?! Why not leave her with Opal and Edward until he could better provide? Heck, why not leave her in an orphanage? Anything would have made better sense to Garret's character than what ended up happening. This is where I felt the story stop unfolding flawlessly. It was as if the author got impatient and wanted to just get to the "twist." I wish that Sanford would've chosen a different way of getting Lillian to the mansion. A way that was more believable and authentic to the characters. You can't build Garret up, make him this loving, protective father, and then just make him a weasel who drops his kid off to the monster who ruined his life! It doesn't make sense to who he is.

Also, the entire story revolving around Warren was just stupid and creepy. Okay, one incestuousness relationship I can understand (well not really, but you know what I mean). It's believable that Amelia fell in love with a brother who she never knew. However, it's not believable that Warren can go from a protector, who risks his life for Lillian, who is kind and gentle, to a freaking nasty brute who rapes his own daughter. Again, a character assassination. Why couldn't Lillian get on that train with Richard and lose Warren in another way? Why couldn't some jerk from the town have raped her (destroying her innocence) and then Warren maybe be so angry that he treats her (the victim) like crap because he warned her to stay away from men and she didn't listen, so she leaves because of her shame and hurt over Warren's reaction, etc. My point is that there were more believable ways to come to the same place without throwing in useless scenes just to create another "twist," and to add more pain. To me it was useless "fluff." Again, the author makes us believe certain traits about a character and then destroys them. And no, I don't believe it was clever, sorry. Maybe had it unfolded slower with foreshadows of truth then maybe it would've been more believable, but for it to just come out of nowhere was stupid. And then he is suppose to be remorseful, but a few pages later turns around and justifies his actions and even wants to continue them?! Makes no freaking sense.

I didn't like the way it ended. Yes, it was a cliffhanger and I know more books are coming, but there are ways to have a tidy ending, even with a cliffhanger...

I will read the sequel because the author is talented and I am hoping that the second book will make sense of the first.

This had potential of being a five star book, but because of the flaws that I mentioned it was just okay. Reminded me of a cheesy V.C. Andrews' book.




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2 comments:

  1. The story starts out with promise about a naive, impressionable girl whose character and emotional stability doesn't progress as her life experience family tragedy. Should have stopped reading about half way through if I had realized the second half was so depressing. It ends with the reader thinking there is no hope for the young woman as she matures.

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  2. I agree France. I however, was dumb enough to read the entire book and I learned that it was poorly executed.

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