A Scatter of Light, (Hardcover)

After Aria ends up in a bad position during a graduation party, her parents send her to live with her grandmother in California for the summer. Her disappointment in being away from her friends soon ends when she meets her grandmother's gardener, Steph, and is introduced to the queer community that Steph is a part of. A SCATTER OF LIGHT is a companion novel to Malinda Lo's LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB. I thought LAST NIGHT was fantastic and was very excited to read A SCATTER, however it fell somewhat short of my expectations. In LAST NIGHT, I felt completely swept up in the world Lo built as though I was experiencing things along with the characters. A SCATTER had more of a disconnect for me in that aspect. There were areas that I wish had gone deeper. I was left with an overall sense of superficiality which was disappointing because Lo certainly has the writing talent. With regard to being a companion novel – there's minimal reference to LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB, so little that it really could have been cut and A SCATTER OF LIGHT could have been advertised as its own entity void of connection. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more that way. It's possible that I'm too heavily comparing it to LAST NIGHT. It wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't the best. A SCATTER OF LIGHT would be recommended for those looking for a queer coming-of-age book. I'm glad that I gave it a chance, though my preference is for LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB. Thank you to Dutton/Penguin Random House for the finished copy.