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The Light of the Fireflies

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The Light of the Fireflies

By: Paul Pen, Simon Bruni - translator
Narrated by: Scott Merriman
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About this listen

A haunting and hopeful tale of discovering light in even the darkest of places.

For his whole life, the boy has lived underground, in a basement with his parents, grandmother, sister, and brother. Before he was born, his family was disfigured by a fire. His sister wears a white mask to cover her burns.

He spends his hours with his cactus, reading his book on insects, or touching the one ray of sunlight that filters in through a crack in the ceiling. Ever since his sister had a baby, everyone's been acting very strangely. The boy begins to wonder why they never say who the father is, about what happened before his own birth, about why they're shut away.

A few days ago, some fireflies arrived in the basement. His grandma said, There's no creature more amazing than one that can make its own light. That light makes the boy want to escape, to know the outside world. Problem is, all the doors are locked. And he doesn't know how to get out....

©2013 Paul Pen (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Translation © 2016 Simon Bruni. Coming of Age Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Emotionally Gripping
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I was put off buying this book as I felt from the write up it would be the usual pyscho/sociopath keeping people locked in the basement, with a dash of horror, mental and physical cruelty. However because Audible will let you return a book if you don't like it, this was a good excuse to try it.

I am so pleased I did, it was unbelievably good. Luckily there was no pyschopath, just the most amazing plot, that caught my attention from the start and blew me away.

It made me question what my reaction would be to this family crisis. I understood their motives as to what they did and why, but it still left lots of questions which were revealed slowly over time in the course of the book.

I will not spoil anything for future readers, but there are so many facets to this story to talk about and mull over. I feel this book should be on a school curriculum and certainly a must for any book club as its content is noteworthy of many discussions.

I note one reviewer had compared it to the book Room, but apart from the isolation from the outside world there is no comparison in its merits. I particularly like the way it was narrated with no names for the characters, just references to my mum, grandma, sister etc. So despite the fact I know none of the characters names, I feel I know them all personally.

Enjoy, you will not be disappointed.

Unbelievably good, 5 star plus

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...right to the end. fabulously acted voices were excellent. would highly recommend foe something different.

kept me guessing...

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really easy to listen to, kept me wondering right till the last. dark and twisted

a really twisted tale very easily hooked

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Quite frankly this is a really messed up perverse story, on multiple levels. Every single character in this book is disturbingly interesting. Each of the adult characters have their own twisted reasons for their actions and terrible secrets. It was interesting that the one character I aligned with morally (in the beginning), also turned out to have their demons, which the author challenges you to forgive or condemn every step of the way. The main character is portrayed as a total innocent but I think his decision in the end was highly questionable especially growing into adulthood knowing the full bloody family history.

This book is a very disturbing read but brilliantly written. I was fully focused and engrossed in this story from start to finish. The narrator also did a great job with the various character voices which interchanged smoothly. I would definitely recommend this book, but it is not for the faint hearted.

Bad decisions have serious consequences

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Loved the twists and the backstory, thought wished we knew what happened to the mom and dad

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