Qualities of Light by Mary Carroll Moore

Qualities of Light Reviews

• 
  Sierra Alexandra

  Qualities of Light follows Molly through the summer when her life basically falls apart; her young brother ends up in a coma and her parents blame her. Her friend Chad tries perusing her but she is too focused on the new girl, Zoe.
  
  Personally, I felt like this book just missed the mark. The first half was slow and felt like a chore to read through. Molly seems to cycle between two feelings: "It's all my fault my brother is in a coma" and "Who is this Zoe and why won't she pay attention to me?". The second half sped by so quickly I would have to reread parts. The last few chapters went incredibly fast.
  
  Many of the characters felt incredibly flat, including Zoe, who's back-story appears way too late in the book, for my taste. However the exploration into the relationships we got to see were interesting in concept: her mother dreaming of flying away, her father dealing with past griefs, and her aunt trying to hold things together from the sidelines. However a lot of these character 'facts' seemed to just be tossed in at will and left a lot to be desired.
• 
  Ruth Sims

  Qualities of Light
  By Mary Carroll Moore
  Spinster’s Ink (2009)
  9781935226062
  Young Adult/ Lesbian Romance
  PEN/Faulkner nominated book
  
  From the jacket: “An early summer morning, a forbidden boat ride. An accident that puts Molly Fisher’s seven-year-old brother in a coma. And Molly’s life plummets out of orbit.”
  
  Review:
  Sixteen is difficult, and the summer of the sixteenth birthday Molly Fisher is plunged into life-altering situations she could never have foreseen. Life in general has become more and more of an uncertain trail leading who knows where. She is convinced her pilot mother and her artist father are splitting up, and Molly and her parents have become distant from one another. She feels as if her family is splintering apart.
  
  A more-or-less normal, teen-angst-filled summer at the lake takes a horrifying turn when Molly yields to her little brother’s pleas to take him for a secret birthday boat ride on the lake. Sammy adores his big sister and the feeling is mutual. They slip out at dawn; Molly is sure she can get the speedboat back to the dock before her father wakes up. Laughter and forbidden fun suddenly shatter in one of those split seconds that change lives. As Sammy leans out to reach something that fell into the water, he falls overboard, and he is trapped underwater. He is rescued by his sister and one of her friends, but the rescue took precious seconds of his life.
  
  For the next few weeks Molly and her parents take turns sitting vigil at the bedside of the silent, unmoving little boy, not knowing if he will ever awaken, not knowing if the time underwater without oxygen will leave him with brain damage. Ms. Moore portrays the thoughts, situations, and emotions surrounding Sammy and his family in such a realistic and honest way, that the reader really cannot predict the outcome for Sammy.
  
  Molly not only is guilt-ridden over her part in her brother’s life or death struggle, she is dismayed to realize that the rift between her parents has become wider. Will she lose her brother and also her family before the summer is over?
  
  At this time, a newcomer shows up at the lake—beautiful, athletic, grey-eyed redhead Zoe Novato, who is a champion water skier. Brash and outspoken, Zoe is the opposite of the introspective and shy Molly. At seventeen, Zoe’s a tad more than a year older but she’s years older in life experience. Zoe, as you might expect, becomes Molly’s close friend, and before the story is over, she becomes more than a friend. They do make love in a dark cabin, but it’s not sudden, it’s not exploitive, it’s not seduction. The scenes involving love and sex are beautifully written, touching in their portrayal of vulnerable first love.
  
  Will little Sammy ever again hide beneath the cab in’s porch and make up happy little songs? Will Molly’s parents split, as happens so often when there is a major trauma, or will they find their way back together? Will Molly ever again feel close to her parents? And will she be able to confide in them the explosive discovery she has made about herself this summer? Will Molly and Zoe go their separate ways at the end of summer, and have to face that what they had was just a sweet, fleeting teen romance ? Or will it turn out to be more than that? Please read this lovely book and find out.
  
  Although it’s considered a Lesbian romance, it’s much more than that. It’s most of all a story of a young, vulnerable girl and her family who are facing the most devastating situation any family can face.
  Molly and her father are both born artists, and the author permeates many scenes and many of Molly’s thoughts and feelings with color and light the way a painter permeates a canvas. It’s an elegantly simple book. Lovely in every way.
  
• 
  C.M.

  A poetic and original take on first love. I fell in love with MC Moore's fully-realized 'summer on the lake' and her organic prose. Like the main character, Molly, I didn't want to see it end.
  
  What's really interesting and authentic about this novel is the push and pull in Molly's life. Dealing with family hardship, while finding herself attracted to the indelible Zoe? Life rarely hands out joy and despair in evenly-spaced helpings. And that's what makes this a good read. The writing is accomplished, and yet not formulaic.
  
  I look forward to what's next.
• 
  Raquel

  Couldn't tell if this was supposed to be YA or not. It was a quick read with some strong writing, but there just wasn't quite enough conflict for me, and few of the relationships felt fully explored or developed.
• 
  Lauren

  A sweet coming of age story about falling in love, and learning how your actions affect those around you. I confess: i only read this for the lesbian romance angle, and I think my teeth rotted out from all the sap. Some of the teen angst felt really manufactured, especially in light of the greater tragedy happening with Molly’s family. More than the romance, I appreciate the attention to the individual relationships with each of her parents, something rarely seen in young adult literature.
• 
  Bryndís

  certainly entertaining. Not the most original story. Some little images were really nice and sweet.