The Light of the Fireflies
Ratings8
Average rating3.3
From bestselling Spanish author Paul Pen comes 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...
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I have nothing good to say about this book. The ending did not satisfy, just condoned horrific/abusive behavior.
Two stars only because I was compelled to finish the book.
This was a hard one to rate. I don't regret reading it at all, but I really didn't like what happened to certain characters at the end. It was an entertaining and fascinating read. But man. The last 20% of the story...whew....what a trip.
A family is living in a basement, with most of them carrying scars from being burned. The youngest child doesn't understand why the family is down there as he wasn't born yet. He has never seen the outside, never played in the sun or swam in a lake. Why is this family stuck in a basement? Why can't they leave?
So I've read some reviews on this one and I understand where the disgust and the disdain come from. Without giving anything away all I can say is that you start out with the family having been in this situation for 5 years. The story then precedes to work it's way backward as little-by-little is revealed.
What I can say is that by the time you are done reading this one you will feel great disgust with the parents and the grandparents, sympathise (mildly) with the daughter, and just outright want to save the 3 boys (including the one this situation revolves around).
What would any of us do in this same scenario? We of course would like to say ‘the right thing' BUT until we are placed in a time and situation where stress, concern and outright fear for our loved ones prevail any logical thoughts...we will never truly know. The heart is a strange creature where loved ones are concerned.
