Reading about certain people’s readings and the messages of love and forgiveness really had an affect on me.

This novel is achingly beautiful. The characters are incredibly well-drawn, especially Charlie whose characterization happens mostly through letters. To invest in the two main characters is to invest in the heart of the novel and while that hurts at times, it’s so worth it. FRANK. I LOVE FRANK. The whole world needs to know that I will marry Frank. I don't think readers were supposed to like Frank as much as I did LOLOLOL!! He is so strong and manly, and he fights for what he believes in. He has flaws, but I don't mind a troubled man 😂😂ok, I'm done. He needs his own book. Period. Shortly after Isabel's second miscarriage, a rowboat containing a dead man and a newborn baby girl washes ashore near the lighthouse. Tom knows that he is required by law to report the discovery. However, Isabel fears that the baby will almost certainly be sent to an orphanage and persuades Tom to pass the baby off as their own daughter, to which he reluctantly agrees. He buries the man on the island, and the couple names the infant girl Lucy. I can't tell you how much my heart hurt for these two. The story is told through Alex's eyes. We see the despair around him while they are in the Japanese internment camps. We watch as members of the 442nd are killed around him as they storm Suicide Hill to save the Lost Battalion. And then we see glimpses of Auschwitz and Dachau when the American troops arrive. Alex and Charlie’s story is told through correspondence between the two as well as being narrated in the third person for the most part. In the beginning these letters are frequent and flippant, the children discuss the view from their window and their disdain for certain persons in their life. As the two mature so does their letters content, discussing crushes and their own friendship that crosses oceans, before finally turning to their plight in the war. Eventually the letters stop completely once the war hits its peak devastation and the third person narration takes the forefront. Honestly, at first, I thought this would become tedious but the skill with which Fukuda has intertwined this pairs fates feels effortless and extremely well thought out.

Alex and Charlie become pen pals when they are only 10 years old. Charlie is a Jewish girl living in Paris with her family. Alex is a Japanese American boy at a time when being of Japanese descent is more than just a little difficult. We get to know Charlie and Alex through the letters that they write to each other and we get to see how things are changing in both of their worlds. That said, have you ever believed in something so much, you couldn't think about anything else except that one thing? Have you ever felt so determined to prove people wrong, you end up doing things out of character? Some might say that that is going overboard. Others might say that being passionate isn't a bad thing. But, if you end up being close to losing people you love because your mind is heading down one path, and one path only, sometimes the only question you need to ask yourself is, 'Is this all really worth it?'. The flow of this story and the usage of American history is really what I applaud Andrew Fukuda for. He expertly connects a Japanese American to the two distinct moments in their history in America and it really made sense. Although I was skeptic that Alex, the introverted book worm, would join the military, I can understand his reasoning and he didn't run into the situation like some hard-headed teenager. The scenes of war were well described with several losses for Alex making it feel more real. I honestly felt like I was reading the story of someone's grandfather.

Thea, like us, has sat pondering about her life and wondered 'what if'. Two short ones, yet they're full of copious amounts of uncertainty. Unlike us, Thea has science at her fingertips, and boy does she know how to use it. I'm no science buff at all yet I believed I could turn into a physicist after reading this book! Not going to happen, obviously, but Thea made me believe! Whilst I didn't understand the scientific experiment completely, I still managed to get bowled over by the intelligence within, including the outstanding historical facts that feature later on in the book. People say that you don't learn anything from fictional books, and I can say that that is a load of tosh as Katie Khan and 'The Light Between Us' taught me multiple things! Alex's decision to join the military in the hopes of helping his father really demonstrated the strength of his character. The descriptions of the battles that Alex's unit faced were incredibly vivid. I felt like I was right there with Alex, Mutt, Teddy, and the rest of their unit as they faced nearly impossible odds. Alex played a very important part in his unit and was under a lot of pressure but he handled it like a pro. He never stopped thinking about his family or Charlie even when things were at their worst. A brilliant milestone marking our passage toward comprehending the deeper truths of our existence." --Eben Alexander, M.D., author of Proof of Heaven and The Map of Heaven How many of you have sat thinking about your past, wondering what situations would have been like if....oh I don't know, Santa Claus wore green and Christmas Day was in July? Or what would have happened if you chose not to hold a grudge because your best friend borrowed your pencil and never returned it? Or even, what things would have been like if you were brought up differently, your parents chose different paths for you, and the decisions you made weren't the ones you actually wanted to make? We all have done something like that, I'm sure. Granted the grudges and Christmas Day ideologies may be slightly different, but I had to throw them in there just in case. The book is also rather slow, it takes the characters quite a while to find out what truly happened. But when they do, it's a nice twist :)

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The novel was developed into a feature film by DreamWorks, with David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford producing. [13] Derek Cianfrance directed the film, [14] and Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz starred in it. [15] [16] [17] The film was released by Touchstone Pictures on 2 September 2016. [18] Lawsuits [ edit ] Hannah promises to return Lucy to Isabel as soon as Isabel testifies against Tom. Just as Tom is about to be taken by boat to Albany for trial, Isabel reads a letter which Tom had sent her, saying he had not deserved his happiness with Lucy and how carrying the blame will assuage his guilt for surviving the war. A spiritual game-changer . . . For those suffering a terrible loss, you will find peace and comfort in her story. For those who question the afterlife, you will become a believer." --Laura Schroff, author of An Invisible Thread Justin Chang (September 1, 2016). "Review: Grace shines past the emotional manipulations of 'The Light Between Oceans' ". Los Angeles Times.