Book Talk: Losing The Light By Andrea Dunlop

Want an “at a glance” look at what I thought? Check out my Review On A Post-It or my “Final Thought”

Brooke, after an affair with her professor, takes an opportunity to go abroad for a year to France. She quickly becomes best friends with Sophie, a beautiful girl from her school who seems so perfect and free, and they experience the ups and downs of their adventure together — their schoolwork, the immersion into the culture, their friendship that is growing in intensity and a French man who draws them into his luxurious world.

OMG IT IS 2AM AND I HAVE TO BE UP AT 6 BUT NO REGRETS BC COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN

These days it’s pretty rare that I will stay up WAY past my bedtime to read a book. Back a few years ago? No problem. But these days I really value (read also REALLY NEED) my sleep and so it’s a testament to any book that makes me stay up HOURS past my bedtime on a weeknight because I’m consciously choosing to be an exhausted zombie the next day because a book has me LIKE THAT.

Losing the Light was thoroughly intoxicating and addictive — from the amazing French setting to the intense friendship between Brooke and Sophie to the very interesting love affair.

What hooked me:

1. The way it started: So it starts when Brooke is 30 and she runs into a man from her past that she met while studying abroad in France in college. Immediately I wanted to know what happened between them that elicited such a strong reaction from her. Plus there’s a sentence as the chapter ends that drops a bomb about something else that makes you go OKAY WHAT HAPPENED TO GET HERE. Then the story eases into the backstory of how Brooke goes on this study abroad trip (drama in itself) and chronicles the trip and what went down.
2.  The setting:  I loved immediately that it was set during a study abroad semester in college but OH MAN….FRANCE. I couldn’t get enough. I loved how Brooke and Sophie really tried to immerse themselves in the culture and I love how throughout their adventure they had that wild and free spirit….the one you especially have at that age where you have all these big dreams and everything seems like it’s super possible. Especially when you are studying in France and your world seems that much bigger.
3.  The complicated relationships: First there is the friendship between Brooke and Sophie. It felt as intoxicating to me as the reader as I’m sure it felt for Brooke. I actually was very intrigued and rather liked Sophie for the most part even though things were intense and complicated between them. It broke my heart that at times Brooke felt so inferior in almost every way to Sophie but oh man I remember having friends I felt like that about. At times I wished we could know more of her story because there seemed to be a lot lying beneath the surface that even Brooke didn’t fully know. But then we add in Alex — a cousin of one of their new friends they meet. He complicates a lot of things and I could see the allure of him from their perspective.

Time for some spoilers!! [spoiler]OMG THE ENDING. I just want to knowwwwww. Is she alive? Is she not?? WHAT WHAT WHAT. Half of me totally could see that maybe she did plan this disappearing act but then I could see him just trying to make talk like he saw her knowing that she stayed around. I really loved Sophie, even after what she did, because you could tell there was some mental health issues at play here. Or at least that’s how I felt. [/spoiler]

+ unputdownable, the setting, the portrayal of messy friendships, writing
–  honestly I can’t think of anything expect sometime I couldn’t figure out the French words thrown in there…normally I can with context clues but there were some sentences I’m like what does this mean??

Should you read it? I think it’s worth the read for sure!

Should you buy it or borrow it? Hard to say! I’m not sure that it would be a book you’d read more than once (I mean, maybe?) but it was SO good so I don’t want to say DON’T buy it. If you buy lots of books, buy it. If you typically are more reserved about your book buying maybe borrow it.

contemporary fiction readers, fans of complicated friendships and love affairs, people looking for a French setting

What an intoxicating read full of love, lust and betrayal. It was so much more than just a “girl studies abroad” story — it was sexy, thrilling and the characters, who are certainly not always easy to love, are so well written and compelling.

* Have you read this one? What did you think? Similar or different from me? I would LOVE to hear regardless!
*If you haven’t read it, does it feel like something you’d be into?
What did you feel about the ending? (mark spoilers pleaaase)