"the curse of feeling everything,
is that you're painfully aware when you feel nothing."
Alright folks, this book blew me away, but before I jump into anything, let me just say that since this book has been out for like two weeks and there are a lot of people who haven't read it yet, I'm going to stay away from spoilers. So, if you haven't read it yet, keep reading so I can convince you to read it. 😊
(Disclaimer: I might be slightly biased because I've been a big fan of the author for like 6 years but I promise I'm not too biased... this book is just really freaking good, okay? Okay.)
A Lite Too Bright is a debut novel about Arthur Louis Pullman the Third. He's eighteen and everything about his life has just changed, and not for the better. His grandfather, Arthur Louis Pullman, was a very famous author who suffered from Alzheimer's during the end of his life. Five years ago, Arthur's super famous and super mysterious grandfather turned up dead in Ohio after disappearing from his home in California. How did that happen? Nobody knows and nobody but our buddy Arthur III seems to care. After Arthur finds a poem that his grandfather wrote, he takes a road trip (if it's by train, is it a train trip?) throughout the country trying to find answers about his grandfather's past.
My synopsis skills aren't the best, but the point is Arthur goes on an epic adventure, and along the way he meets a ton of cool people who help him piece together things about his grandfather's past, while the reader simultaneously tries to figure out Arthur's own past that he seems to be running from.
ALRIGHT, now I get to fangirl. I can't believe this is a debut novel, because it does not feel like one at all. I was reading a lot of reviews on Goodreads before I actually read the book, and everyone kept calling it "ambitious," which I didn't really understand until I picked up. Oh MAN, I get it now! It is, in fact, ridiculously ambitious, and it is executed extremely well. First of all, every character we meet feels very three-dimensional and developed, which is hard to do when we know so many of the characters for such a short amount of time. And our protagonist, Arthur, is so complicated and intricate, and you just want to know everything about him. I loved unraveling mysteries piece by piece by getting to know these characters, and there's still so much about them that I haven't unpacked yet! AGH, the characters are great.
Something that continued to blow me away was throughout the novel, there were poems, journal entries, and newspaper clippings that were found along the way as clues to the next stop of Arthur's journey. The use of these things and the way they were woven into the narrative is honestly so genius and it adds so much to the story, and also, all of the poems were just so freaking beautiful and important and I love them.
The entire novel is just so intricate, and the voice of the author really comes out. His writing style is so distinct and poetic and lovely and I'm obsessed with it, oh my goodness.
ALSO, THE END IS JUST WONDERFUL. IT MADE MY HEART WARM AND HAPPY. AND I FELT LIKE THERE WAS A MIC DROP WHEN I CLOSED THE BACK COVER.
I think that's all I've got for now. Seriously, read this book, it won't disappoint you. If it does, let me know why and we can duel it out or something. 😄
This was phenomenal, I'm giving it 5 stars.
^^ Arthur (and also me) trying to figure out all of the clues about his grandfather
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