A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I wanted to like this book. This is a story about a 130 year old ghost, Helen, who attaches herself to writers in order to keep from being sucked into the “void”. In her journeys, she meets another soul, James, and they struggle with finding a way to be together.
What I didn’t like about the book, and what ultimately earned the two star rating from me was the relationship between Jenny and Billy. For a young adult novel, this sure had some weird moments – explicit sex scene, lack of protection, rebellion, drug use. Jenny and Billy weren’t really redeemed in any way and the characters themselves feel half finished, as did Helen and James.
It felt as if Whitcomb had lost track of the story she wanted to tell. There were three stories in this short novel. That of Helen, the ghost and the literary “hosts” (which… somehow gets lost for the last half of the book). That of Helen and James in mortal form and that of Jenny and Billy.
A very strange, disjointed read over all.
