Review: The Lamplighter by Crystal J. Bell

How do I even begin with this book. I do not know. I fell prey to a pretty cover. It's not often I buy books by authors unknown to me. But this book was simply too pretty looking for me to resist. And it sounded awesome too. But I was deceived. Sigh. This book was truly painful to read. And I have many thoughts to share about it.

First, it ended it being a two star for me. And that's even positive. And only because of the last pages. The first two hundred pages were awful and so boring. Things finally started happening during the final part. It was still bad, but at least it was also at last a little exciting. Then the ending ruined it. Yeah. It was all truly that bad.

I'm unsure how much I want to share about this book. I am going to try my best not to share that many spoilers. At least not about the plot. I do have several things to say about the writing and this story. And sadly none of them are positive. It would have been a one star for me if not for the magical twist during the last hundred pages. Not good, but better. But oh, how much this book angered me. The writing was truly the very worst. And it wasn't that it was bad. Because I don't think it was all that bad. But the way this was written was the worst. It was all telling, no showing. It was all the thoughts in the head of the main girl. It was so bad. Shudders. All the thoughts were repeating. They were not good. I never liked Tempe because of this. Her mind was the worst. Ugh.

I'm going to somewhat describe the plot in this book. It tells the story of eighteen-year-old Tempe. She is the head of her family, as her father died by suicide four years ago, and her mother then turned insane, in a way. She has a younger sister, age sixteen. Pru is now considered a woman as well. And she is looking for a husband. Pru takes care of their mother and everything in their house. While Tempe has the work of her father that she must do every day. She is a lamplighter, keeping their whaling town safe from the fog.

This book took place in the past, nineteenth century, I suppose. Though it did not really feel like it, most of the time. Considering we are mostly only in the head of Tempe. And her thoughts all felt pretty modern to me. I would have liked to read more about the town and the time it took place in. As this was interesting, which was also why I got this book. But no. We do not get to spend much time around town at all. As we are pretty much always in the head of Tempe. Ugh. And if not, she is lighting the lampposts. Very boring.

But there is a girl going missing. And Tempe is only thinking of herself, how to keep her family safe. And in doing so she lies to the law and ends up being put on notice. She thinks several times about how it is living, how women mean nothing and cannot do anything without a man. Yet we never get to witness this at all. Sure, they aren't all that nice, but we barely see anyone talking to Tempe at all. Or to anyone else. Which is why it also did not feel like a book set in the past. Annoyed me too much, the way it was written.

The person that Pru wants to marry turns out to be Gideon. A man more than twice their age, above forty. And this was considered okay? No one questioned it? And Pru seemed so in love with him? I don't get it. It was disgusting. And I hated it so. Tempe is confused about Gideon. Her father warned her to stay away, which she thinks about all the time. Ugh. Yet she did not. They had a past, two years ago. She also made it sound worse than it was, honestly. And she obviously had a small crush on him, which was disgusting.

Because Tempe is supposed to be in love with a boy her own age, Josiah. And yet still she cheated, back then. And she did not tell him. And she keeps having secrets from him. And he was not very sweet either. We get to see so little of their romance, just the telling that they love each other, but no physical touches, not really. And it was so annoying to me. The romance could have been so sweet. But no. It was so badly written. Especially when it seems like Tempe is lusting after Gideon, while also being afraid of him. Yeah.

There is just so much I could say about this book. It drove me fully insane. And I'm still angry just thinking about it. I would have not read it, had I not paid a lot for it, ha. So I had to finish it. But oh. This book hurt my head. And heart too. Because it was so bad. I cannot stand it. It could have been so good too. As the setting seemed amazing. If only we had gotten to actually witness it more. But no. Instead we were stuck inside the head of Tempe almost the entire book. I have never before read a book written this way. Ugh.

Oh. Time to mention a little about the twist that happens. It all got more exciting, and a little bit dark too. Finally. There were parts that I liked. When we learn what happened to the missing girls. But then nothing was done with this. Tempe suddenly spends weeks doing nothing. Because she had done something so horrible. And that was the worst twist. It was dark, yes, but I hated it. Ruined the book for me. Especially that ending. It was just stupid. Beyond stupid. And then it ended without us knowing anything more. What.

I just cannot deal with this book. I had really hoped to love it. But I very much did not. And I guess others may love it. But I honestly wouldn't recommend that you read it, I'm sorry to say. There were some parts that I did like. But the writing ruined it. Especially the ending. But yeah. I could not stand the writing. I kept hoping it would get better. It did not. And so, sadly, The Lamplighter was not a book for me. But I'm glad I tried a new book. But sad it ended up being so awful. There should have been more at the end, though.

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