Review: Under the Light - Laura Whitcomb

Where I got it: ARC from AmazonVine
Rating: 4 stars  
Cover Rating: 4 stars (Love how it matches the first one. I don't entirely get it though.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: May 14, 2013
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Page Count: 237 p.
Add it: Goodreads
Companion novel to A Certain Slant of Light

Jenny has been out of her body for awhile. She didn't really expect it to happen, but it did. When she returns to it she realizes that someone else had lived in it while she was away. She was gone for quite awhile and things are very different in her world. She sort of wishes she could just go back to how it was before she returned to her body.

I read A Certain Slant of Light ages ago, but I apparently remembered enough to make some of the connections between this novel and that one. Because of the fact that I had read the first novel, albeit a long time ago, I can't really tell if this novel stands alone. It was a really beautiful and interesting read. I just love the whole concept of souls and life after death that Laura Whitcomb has created with these books.

This story was very interesting because it alternated viewpoints between Jenny and Helen. Helen was the main character in the first novel and also the ghost that takes over Jenny's body while she isn't in it. It was nice to see both sides of a haunting. It's not really something that gets written about a lot.

The story was a bit predictable, but that didn't make it any less beautiful. Whitcomb just has a nice way of writing about things that makes you feel as though you are in a dream. I felt just as aloof as Jenny as she tried to piece together what had happened.

I would love to be able to experience what Jenny did in the beginning when she was in the field and out of her body. It seems lovely to have that kind of freedom and power. I don't know if it would be fun forever, but it would be amazing for at least some length of time.

This is exactly the kind of novel I always wish that authors would write. A different viewpoint that lets you deeper inside a character that you didn't get to know in the first novel. There were some really great characters in these novels. I love Billy and James (of course). I would love to get to know Billy better.

After reading this one I wish I had reread the first one again, because I found myself missing James. I will probably reread it soon. If you haven't checked out these books yet, I recommend you do. They are an interesting perspective on bodies, souls and what happens when we die.

First Line:
"I used to practice leaving my body."

Favorite Line:
"I was a bad soap opera."