This review is a little bit difficult to write because I still have very mixed emotions about this novel. I think the writing was beautiful, there were some very difficult topics that I think were handled extremely well, but I had a really hard time engaging with the characters. It had a very dark quality to it that actually made me sad while reading it. I think this shows the depth of the writing, but I really don't like to be sad while I read!

Does it make sense why I have such mixed feelings now? The characters were complex, and the writing was gorgeous, but the story just got me down a little. I still enjoyed the plot and wanted to know where all of the characters landed, but I also found myself really wanting to finish the novel so I could move on from the sad feelings it was giving me.

All in all, Picture Us in the Light was a well written coming of age story and I would recommend it to readers who enjoy deep contemporary YA novels. It definitely has some dark qualities and heavy topics, so be aware of that before reading. Thank you to Disney Hyperion and Netgalley for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 3/5

My thoughts changed quite a bit as I read this book. I wanted to give up on it early on due to pacing and labored narration, but I was intrigued just enough to continue. Glad I did....I ended up settling into the characters, but not loving them. The twists and turns were nicely done, and some of the character choices/actions/ethnic backgrounds are typically underrepresented in YA lit. I was surprised by how much I wanted to story to continue when it ended.

This book has taken all words away from me. I finished it sobbing and days later I don't think I can even do justice to the beauty of this book. After this book I needed the biggest of all hugs. Picture Us in the Light is wonderful. It has skyrocketed into my top contemporaries. It tackles hard topics: suicide, adoption, family, immigration, and more. But it handles each of them so tenderly, so exquisitely.

As someone who was adopted, seeing this book makes my heart skip a beat. I would never spoil any plot moment for you, so I will just say that as a Chinese American growing up in a basically almost all white school and also being adopted, this book touched my heart in more ways than one.

The sentences are beautiful and raw, evoking emotion in their power and simplicity, like spelling out things you already knew in your heart to be true. There are so many moments where we have to realize that our fears are like bigger and scarier than they are - taking on an abstract light like flickering shadows on the wall.

Beautiful and remarkable. Loy Gilbert touches on so many important things in this novel--and she does it so deftly, tenderly, and believably that it never feels strained by all it is asked to hold.

Wonderful and touching book. Danny is such a relatable character, not because he is perfect but because of his flaws and misgivings. While this is categorized as a YA novel, it is a universal story of love, family, redemption, and regrets that will resonate with readers of all ages.

Though I enjoyed this more than Gilbert's Conviction, I still have some mixed feelings about Picture Us in the Light. The last third of the book was intense and emotional and I couldn't stop reading. The mystery surrounding Danny's sister and parents was by far the strongest plot line, and I was glad when it took center stage and gained some depth.

Unfortunately, I felt like up until that point the story had been unfocused. The story line regarding the death of a girl in Danny's friend group felt underdeveloped and out of place; I still am not sure why it was included. There are also pages and pages of flashbacks--and while I appreciate a good flashback to help flesh out a character or explain a relationship, some went on for so long that they felt like an entire story within the story. I would sometimes forget exactly what the point of the flashback was and be jolted when we returned back to the present.

In addition, Regina and Harry are all but inconsequential to the sister/parents plotline. They end up feeling like throw-away characters when I'm sure they aren't meant to be. In fact, we are led to believe that Danny's feelings for Harry will play a huge role in where the story goes...but they don't. The friendship is never deeply explored or challenged until a tiny little blurb at the end of the book. Overall just disappointed in the missed opportunities here.

Have you ever had that feeling when you read about a character’s biggest insecurities on the page, that you’re really learning about yourself? That was a gut-punch to me as a read this novel. I mean, I requested this galley because it featured an LGBTQ+ protagonist of color, written by a woman of color. That’s what I came for. But I found another layer that really blew my mind: Danny’s Imposter Syndrome.

In the first few pages of the novel, it’s revealed that, even though Danny got into RISD, he hasn’t drawn anything in a year. Every time he puts his pencil to the page, he hears a critical inner voice (which he’s named Mr. X) telling him that he’s not good enough to be an artist and that everyone will soon discover it:

“Anyway. Lately, I’m a reverse Midas, everything I touch turning to crap, and so good old Mr. X has been louder lately: You’re a fraud, you peaked, it’s all downhill from here. The world doesn’t need your art. Get a real job. But now I have concrete proof I’m not a fraud, or at the very least I’m a very convincing one. Which should change everything, right? The fog should lift.”

Unfortunately, as everyone who’s ever had this sort of voice knows, the fog doesn’t just lift on command. Even if you give your inner critic a name, it’s hard to truly get power over it.

Because we see the story unfold through Danny’s eyes, it would be easy for the voice to be all we hear. Kelly Loy Gilbert does an excellent job of fleshing out her secondary characters, though. We get the ins and outs of Harry’s character, and Regina is incredibly well-developed. The novel addresses some in-community prejudices, too, showing the reader that minorities are not monolithic:

“Harry always says my parents are Asian lite – how they’ve never taken me to China, how they barely taught me Chinese, how they’re soft. It bugs me every time. Partly, I’m sure he really does think my parents are Americanized, and in some ways they are, but partly I think it’s just that they’re from a random town in mainland China. Harry’s a snob.”

I love this complexity in the relationships between the characters, particularly as they try to overcome a tragedy together.

The plot is fine, just fine, but the characters are really “where it’s at” in this novel. Strongly recommended for your high school classroom library.

I'm still trying to sort out my feelings after reading this. I think this was a good book. I enjoyed reading it. I really liked Daniel and Harry a lot. Their characters were nice. I feel like I missed some of the cultural stuff not having a lot of knowledge of the Chinese culture.

At first it kind of feels like there is too much mystery going on. There are a lot of things that get mentioned, but not talked about until way later. Most of them connect in some way at the end. You can pretty much guess the main twist in the story early on, but aren't 100% certain because of the way the author goes about writing it.

There are a lot of heavy topics covered in this book. Suicide, depression, anxiety, child abduction and selling, grieving, etc. But overall they were all handled well.

The relationship between Daniel and Harry for most of the book is hinted at very, very subtly, but if you weren't looking for it you'd probably overlook it until closer to the end (which was probably slightly intentional). I found out about this book on a list of LGBT books coming out in 2018 so I was on the lookout for it. I do wish we could have seen more of Daniel and Harry being happy together, but the glimpses were nice.

The parts I found odd were when the story shifted into the sister's POV. I mean, it did add a little to the story and gave some insights, but I'm not really sure I enjoyed it before we met her in the present part of the story. I feel the past maybe could have been told in a different way. That being said, I did enjoy the last part from her POV. That was nice and I think a great addition.

I'm glad Daniel's parent gave him the opportunity to follow his dreams even if it was in a very sad way. At first I thought they were going to allow him to stay with them. When they left I was relieved a little, but very sad about how it had to happen.

Coming of age book about a Chinese American young man. Multpile aspects if his life converge at once. High school, getting into college, parents with secrets ..

While I think the beginning could have used more structure, overall I was very impressed with Gilbert's writing. Her ability to tackle big issues in sometimes subtle ways deserves applauding. While this can get very heavy at times, it's a glimpse into a reality many are intimately familiar with.

Danny is an only child; one whose parents work very hard to help him achieve his goals in anyway but also keep secrets from him. When he stumbles across a box with some information on a very wealthy couple, Danny's life will be changed.
While Danny is trying to figure out his parent's secrets, he is trying to figure out how life is going to be without his best friend, Harry, seeing as they may not be close to one another in college. (Plus, Danny has been in love with Harry for as long as he can remember).
A touching, coming of age story that made me laugh and cry at times. I loved how Danny tried to stay true to himself whatever the universe threw at him. I loved, loved, loved his parents...I can't put into words how amazing it was to see how much they loved Danny.

The synopsis makes this sound like a mystery, but there's way too much teenage navel-gazing through the first half of the book to make it intriguing enough to read.