This Raging Light

This Raging Light by Estelle Laure

Can the best thing happen at the worst time?

Her dad went crazy. Her mom left town. She has bills to pay and a little sister to look after. Now is not the time for level-headed seventeen-year-old Lucille to fall in love. But love—messy, inconvenient love—is what she's about to experience when she falls for Digby Jones, her best friend's brother. {goodreads summary}

I've wanted to read this since I first read the synopsis before it was released, so I was really excited to snap it up on a Kindle sale last week.

"Explain to me what the point of living is if you aren't willing to fight for the truths in your heart, to risk getting hurt. You have to rage."

Lucille's mum tells her she'll be back in a week, but when school starts and she still hasn't returned, Lucille starts to suspect she might never be coming back at all, leaving Lucille in charge of her nine year old sister Wren. This Raging Light follows Lucille's attempt to keep her and her sister fed, alive and safe. It's about keeping secrets, refusing to give up and knowing when to ask for help, as well as friendship, love and family. 

“All feeling has an equivalent in action or is useless"

"Did you say that?" 

Of course not," she says. "Virginia Woolf”

I do wish I hadn't ended up reading two books where the protagonist was in love with someone else's boyfriend back to back. I'd have probably enjoyed TRL more if I hadn't just read Anna and the French Kiss. There was still a lot to love in this book though. Lu is a really strong protagonist. I love how pragmatic she was - she never crumpled to the floor and gave up; she kept going no matter what was thrown at her. 

"Denial is for losers. Face your crap and move on. Otherwise you’ll get old and depressed and turn into a scary pod person whose most pressing issue in life is when they get to trade in the can of Dr Pepper for the can of Bud.” 

I also liked how open ended the final chapter was. There are loads of unanswered questions, leaving it to the reader to decide what happened to Lu and Wren next. Although, while writing this, I've just discovered that there's actually a spin off/sequel about Eden which comes out in April: But Then I Came Back. I guess the ending isn't going to remain so open after all...