The phenomenal Where The Light Goes by Sara Barnard was published a week ago today and I wanted to mark this with my review of this incredible title. Thank you so much to Walker Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
To the world, Lizzie Beck is a superstar: famous, talented and beloved.
To Emmy, she is simply Beth: her brilliant older sister, her idol.
But then Beth takes her own life, and all the light in the world disappears.
Now Emmy is lost. Amidst the media storm and overwhelming public grief, she must fight to save her own memories of her sister – and find out who she is without her.
TW: death, grief, death by suicide, suicidal ideation, drug use, addiction, impulsive behaviour
My Thoughts:
Where The Light Goes stole a sliver of my heart. This was an aching, raw and devastating read that cut to my core.
Barnard’s books just stun me with their brilliance every time, but I think Where The Light Goes is an absolute new favourite and staple on my shelf. Rarely has a book hit home that much for me. Sara just completely captured the nuances of grief, particularly following a death by suicide. The complex and varied emotional reactions feed so strongly into the book, showing vulnerabilities, flaws and the exploitative nature of the fame industry. I am endlessly grateful for her books and their emotional vulnerability, which means so much to so many young people. This is so emotionally rich and complex, with one of the best depictions of grief I have ever seen. I cannot fault this book and can only implore everyone to read it.
Emmy is a character that I will never forget. She is angry and distraught at the loss of her sister and we follow her raw emotional journey through this. I liked how Barnard gave her unlikeable moments and those extremities you find in grief, being defensive, pushing people away and making risky choices. Emmy just felt so real and human and authentically teenage. Another major pressure on her is the intense media focus. Barnard weaves in incisive social commentary around the fame and infamy of modern celebrity culture, particularly how exploitative and uncaring it can be. There are layers to unpick in this story, but the beating emotional heart of it all is Emmy and her sister Beth. I will openly say this book broke me entirely at certain points, leaving me a sobbing mess – which very few books have ever done.
With Where The Light Goes, Barnard proves once more why she is such a heavy-hitter in YA. This book floored me.
A Short Book Lover 
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