A haunting and hopeful tale of discovering light in even the darkest of places.
For his whole life, the boy has lived underground, in a basement with his parents, grandmother, sister, and brother. Before he was born, his family was disfigured by a fire. His sister wears a white mask to cover her burns.
He spends his hours with his cactus, reading his book on insects, or touching the one ray of sunlight that filters in through a crack in the ceiling. Ever since his sister had a baby, everyone’s been acting very strangely. The boy begins to wonder why they never say who the father is, about what happened before his own birth, about why they’re shut away.
A few days ago, some fireflies arrived in the basement. His grandma said, There’s no creature more amazing than one that can make its own light. That light makes the boy want to escape, to know the outside world. Problem is, all the doors are locked. And he doesn’t know how to get out….
I Liked the First Part I really wanted to like this more than I did. I almost came and left a review after the first section of the book, but I’m glad I didn’t. It would have been a very different review. Once the book went into the Eleven Years Earlier part, it just went downhill from there.Â
~~The Cricket Man/The Chick/The Cactus~~ Just imagine living in a basement for the entire ten years of your life. Your parents, your Grandmother, your sister and your brother are also with you. Things begin to change after your sister has a baby and not in a good way. This is a captivating read in that there is a lot of suspense built around that basement scenario. For me, I kept wondering about The Cricket Man…is he real or imagined? That was the ‘who’ part and then the ‘why’ appears – why has this family been in a basement for…
Suspenseful but flawed story about a dysfunctional family who makes terrible choices I chose this book as my March Kindle first selection and finished it in just two sittings. The first 165 pages or so of The Light of the Fireflies are told from the point-of-view of an unnamed 10 year old boy who lives in a basement with his nameless Mom, Dad, Grandmother, older sister, and mentally disabled older brother. All the family members except the boy have been badly injured in a fire before the boy was born. His sister is so grotesque that the family forces her to wear a mask in front…