A Certain Slant of Light

4.5 stars Wow Is this really being shelved in young adult fiction Laura Whitcomb s writing is deliciously wordy, witty, and wonderful, and the story surprisingly complex with many mature themes The author did a fantastic job of minding the formal speech and thought patterns of Helen s background and contrasting them with the jarring reality of present day, all while ruminating on human existence and forgiveness and the value of a life well lived This is an exceptionally intelligent YA book that [...]

This is a book I ve had sitting on my shelf for over a year, I d heard plenty of good things about it but still remained sceptical about the whole ghosts romance thing Eh, really Ghosts are somewhere down near zombies on the sexiness scale, could I really become invested in such a relationship Apparently yes, but these ghosts have found a way around the whole touching predicament and wasted no time getting back into it by possessing the bodies of people whose souls have abandoned them.I have rea [...]

What a disappointing read this was After seeing all the high ratings for this including my own daughter s 4 star rating , I was eagerly anticipating a unique and touching ghost story Sad to say, nothing in this story touched me in any way, and in fact it s one of the worst books I ve read in 2011 so far, filled with ham fisted stereotypes and unbelievable character actions.Whitcomb actually had a fairly interesting premise starting out Helen, a young woman dead for 150 years, makes her way out o [...]

I started this book the day the world ended No, not in a literal 2012 tsunami earthquake kinda way, but in a my cell phone and laptop just so happened to break on the same day kinda way And when you are a 17 year old girl, that is really, really bad So while I was rolling around on the ground suffering from texting withdrawl, a thought occurred to me Go read a book, you idjit So I did And in no time at all, I forgot the outside world existed To say I loved this book would be a severe understatem [...]

I don t think I would have read this book if it wasn t recommended to me I am just not that into ghosts However this book is so much than that It is about love and finding peace and happiness in your after life The motives of forbidden and impossible love and body snatching reminded me strongly of certain Stephenie Meyer novels we all know, but SM s books seem to a be pile of mediocrity in comparison to A Certain Slant of Light The depth of feeling SM failed to achieve in 3000 pages of fluff pr [...]

Opening Line Someone was looking at me, a disturbing sensation if you re dead This is one of the best books that I ve read in a long time And although it s being touted as YA this can absolutely be enjoyed by adults and as one I ll be recommending it to all my friends It s just a beautiful story of fated romance no matter what your age A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT tells the story of a girl named Helen who s been dead for a 130 years She is now a ghost or light as the author calls her existence In or [...]

2 1 2 starsOne of my dearest friends once told me that she does not brush her teeth or do any other hygiene related activities in front of her husband because she wants to preserve the mystery What mystery That your teeth get dirty when you eat and they need to be cleaned I like and respect this friend, but it s little comments like that one which gradually led me to realize that we have completely different views on what is or isn t romantic I am of a warts and all romance appreciator Chivalry [...]

A Certain Slant of Light is often disturbing and very heavy as far as paranormal books go, but it s also a beautiful story of facing the past to find the future, and its characters, though not always likable, are understandable and captivating.

Well, if I had one word to describe this book it would be Weird It is definitely weird and maybe a bit disturbing if you really thing about it view spoiler They basically take 2 bodies and have sex with them Haha hide spoiler But this is fiction so I ll take the disturbing and roll with it, and I still quite enjoyed the story.It s hard to explain what the book is about without getting spoiler y So just quickly, it s about a ghost with no recollection of her death who clings to humans to escape h [...]

What a difficult, beautiful and fascinating book It wasn t riveting or necessarily suspenseful, although it was filled with incredibly unique descriptions from a ghost s point of view, that if I didn t know any better, I would sincerely believe the author actually spent time as one Helen is a ghost and for the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her Those eyes belong to a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now Helen is terrified and also unnerved by the fact that he can see h [...]

For some reason, I feel as though to be able to review this book, I need to qualify whatever I m going to say with the fact that I m not really a romantic person I believe in the possibility of establishing a human connection with someone after first meeting, and I believe in the possibility of lust at first sight But I also believe that there is a giant difference between infatuation and lust, and actual love And yes, to me infatuation and lust are common but much lesser entities than the latt [...]

TBR Reduction Challange 4 Kirsten I have never read anything like this before I must admit that it took me some time to get used to the whole concept of body snatching and that I could never really shake the feeling that James and Helen were doing something wrong by inhabiting those empty bodies but nevertheless, after about 50 pages I was completely hooked I remember going through a mass of different emotions while reading this I loved seeing how James and Helen experienced how it is to be aliv [...]

Now this was an actual ghost story But it is not horror The distinction is an important one Not all ghosts haunt nor all memories hurt It took me a while to understand the title, I am so slow sometimes, but when I finally got it, I was like, ok that s clever.The silence in this book absolutely reminded me of the one in Never Let me Go, it s gorgeous It would be interesting to see if they make a movie out of this Under a stylist director, preferably European, maybe Nicolas Winding Refn But after [...]

Ok, I can here you all shouting We told you so, we told you so It was awesome, unlike any other book i ve ever read WOW, just WOW This is a story of a Spirit, Light as named in the book The Spirit of Helen, who has shadowed people for over 100 years Helen who finally meets someone who can see her, James James who is also a spirit , but he has inhabited a person s body, someone who seemed to have no spirit left Helen is amazed She finds her body A girl named Jenny We follow Helen in the life of J [...]

That I am your heart s secret fills me with song I wish I could sing of you here in my cage You are my heart s hidden poem I reread you, memorize you every moment we re apart This was a real shocker for me that I enjoyed it as much as I did For one, this has been on and off my TBR shelf several times as I would occasionally decide that this is simply not for me and I have no plans to read it But go figure a few months later it pops up on my timeline, I take another glance and decide it may be wo [...]

Oh my, this book was good I only meant to read it during my lunch hour, but I found myself engrossed Needless to say, I didn t get much work done yesterday.It s a ghost story, but not a scary one Helen has been dead for 130 years and remembers only that she was a woman who had been married She finds herself stuck between earth and hell, knowing that something about how she died is keeping her from heaven She attaches to hosts who don t know she s there but still feel her influence somehow She s [...]

Ugh So many things I hate about this book Newsflash, Helen the reason you didn t get into heaven is because you suck It s not a badly written book parts of it are actually quite beautiful But the plot fills me with so much rage For example, right after you and your ghost boyfriend have sex during your free period at school, you tell your mom that he s a gentleman NO HE S NOT First of all, gentlemen don t skip class to do it with you in the auditorium Second of all, those aren t your bodies Posse [...]

Helen had been dead for over 130 years, moving between human hosts who she follows around and lives with If one dies, she must find another host or be dragging into a dark, frightening hell like existence underground She is on her fifth host, an English teacher named Mr Brown Up until recently, no one has been able to see or hear her, except a boy in Mr Brown s class.The boy s name is Billy, but he tells her his real name is James He is also dead, and he had found an empty human body to take ove [...]

There s so much to say about this book that I fear that my words will not be good enough A Certain Slant of Light is unconventional in so many ways.First of all it is labeled as a YA but it is not a YA book The main character is 27 year old Helen who died 130 years ago and she s been haunting people ever since She wants to go to Heaven, wants to cross over, but something mysterious and painfully terrifying is keeping her in between worlds So in order to keep the pain at bay she clings to people, [...]

I was told it is a modern ghost story But really, it is so much then just a ghost story Yes, the main character, Helen, is dead And yes, I will admit Helen haunts people, or rather, attaches herself to certain people But the people she haunts are, for the most part, unaware of her presence She doesn t go around scaring people So I want to make it clear, this isn t a spooky ghost story When all is said and done, this story is about love, self discovery and forgiveness Laura Whitcomb does a fanta [...]

What a beautiful, compelling, and unique story Definitely one of the better young adult novels I ve read The best part is it was almost like getting two stories in one You ve got Helen and James super natural story, then you ve got Jenny and Billy s grounded one I found myself caring greatly for the outcome of both sets of characters The author did an amazing job at keeping the two story lines separate There was never any confusion as to who was who, yet they were also so closely intertwined an [...]

A Certain Slant of Light is both a pleasant surprise andt On one hand, I am incredibly impressed with Whitcomb s story It is a paranormal love story, but of a very different nature than most Helen and James, the couple in question, are ghosts left behind in the Light, having been dead for nearly 130 years Thus, when they find each other and take over two teenage bodies to be together, their relationship is an adult one only in a teenage body Needless to say, this brings up quite a few difficult [...]

There are a few reasons why I decided to give this novel a 5 star rating They are as follows 1 I cried at the end I cannot say that about many books.2 It s just different The story is unique The characters are as well Overall, I ve never read anything like it.3 I adore the main character Helen and her James.4 I enjoy Ms Whitcomb s writing style It s poetic and lovely to read.5 I couldn t put this book down At one point I was reading it while waiting at a red light Yeah Not such a good idea.Overa [...]

5 Haunting Stars It took a few pages before the book grabbed me and then it didn t let go A very emotional read and so different from anything I ve read To summarize it without giving anything away I would say it was about two souls saving two souls Loved it

Whitcomb seamlessly blends literary, fantasy, and even a bit of gothic horror The writing is beautifully poetic but not florid, and the humanity of the ghost protagonist comes through so clearly it was easy to identify with her pain and desires.

This is one of those books that you will remember years from now It s a very original concept for a romantic YA novel Just, lovely.

Parasites use human bodies and impregnate a 15 year old girl That s this book And we re supposed to like the parasites.

InhaltHelen ist ein Geist, ein so genanntes Licht Seit 130 Jahren begleitet sie verschiedene Menschen auf der Erde bis sie eines Tages einem gleichgesinnten Licht namens James begegnet James hat es geschafft den K rper eines Menschen zu bernehmen, er kann wieder riechen, schmecken und f hlen Um sich n her sein zu k nnen, suchen die beiden auch einen Wirtsk rper f r Helen Als sie diesen in Form des M dchens Jenny finden, scheint vorerst alles gut zu sein Allerdings hat Helen nicht bedacht, dass s [...]

This is very close to 4 stars.I m a bit shocked that all quotes listed on from this novel only concern the romance side of the story, because it has much to offer.This is the story of two ghosts who have been haunting people and places for decades, alone, without knowing why they were stuck on earth When they finally meet, they fall in love and try to find their way, to find happiness.The love story is touching and beautifully told, both characters are very likeable It just makes you happy to r [...]

3.5 stars.I liked this tale of two lurid lovers, but I didn t enjoy it enough to give it a higher rating.Laura Whitcomb s writing was wonderful, considering A Certain Slant of Light is her debut novel It s sensational yet sweet, hair raising yet unhurried there were a few quotes I took special notice of but now regret not writing down After quickly scanning the first chapter or two, here s a quote that I think shows her talent I had two strong and seemingly contradictory sensations One was a fea [...]