Book Review - The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton

 

 The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton is about a woman named Wanda Lowe who tries to survive in the world while everything is changing around her. Kirby Lowe is an electrical line worker in Florida. It is his job to prepare for the worst and then help others recover from the aftermath. When news hit of a pending hurricane, he thought he and his family would be prepared for the worst.

He left his two sons, Flip and Lucas, with his pregnant wife, Frida, as he prepared for the storm. As the storm starts picking up in momentum on its path, his two sons escape to the outside to enjoy some fresh air before the storm reaches them. A few minutes later, the hurricane picks up and the boys are nowhere to be found. 

Kirby leaves Frida at home while he searches for his kids as the storm ravishes the town. Frida goes into an unexpected premature labor and gives birth to a girl with an unusual innate power that she names after the horrifying storm that brings the town to its knees. 

As storms and environmental change continue to destroy Florida, Wanda grows from a child into an adult learning how to deal with the rapidly changing environment.

I was a bit torn on liking the novel and not loving it. It was an interesting read and I thought it was thought provoking. It was a bit scary to read about the world basically collapsing and mankind barely holding on to existence. However, I think it causes us to think about our current landscape and what we can do to improve the environment so we can avoid going extinct. 

At times, I found the novel to be boring and moved at a snail’s pace. I would read pages after pages and nothing would happen plot wise. The author would spend a lot of time explaining some of the nitty gritty but I wish she spent more time explaining why Wanda was so unusual. I wish the author included a note on why she gave Wanda her ability and if there are others. I also wondered what the point of this book was and what genre of book it was supposed to be. If you like reading books about the effect of climate change and the slow demise of civilization, then you might enjoy this book.