** I received an early reading copy of this book from netgalley for an honest review**

I finished this book in less than 24 hours. The story was mysterious and I honestly was a little shocked by the big ending. Wow!
My only critique of the book was that the story was very slow moving, it took a while for the storyline to play out. There were a few time jumps during the book that weren’t annotated so it was a little difficult to keep up with the time. I did like the mystery-romance element, I was very surprised. I did not expect that from this book. The ending made up for the long awaited plot. I was pleased with the ending. Although, I wanted a little more of an epilogue included Mavis and the guests. All in all, good read.

Review goes live on May 25 and will show up on Goodreads sometime later.

In a Flutter: Interesting
Fluttering Thoughts:
Worldbuilding: The Oak Creek setting came with the little town with secrets, annoying attitudes, and discrimination moments galore.
Characters: Catherine was torn between tough choices. Elliot was very protective and pretty intuitive, which I really liked.
They both had tough lives, very dysfunctional families. They were both cute, but I can’t say I felt any chemistry there, and I wasn’t emotionally invested in either of their stories.
Plot: The story felt very slow to me for about the first half of the novel, so much so that it barely kept my interest. It covered years of their interaction, which might have been fun had I been emotionally invested, but I wasn’t. The second part of the story was very interesting to me; with the disappearance, it got more and more interesting as the ending was nearer. I really enjoyed the ending.
Writing: First person, past tense narrative, his/her POV.
Curb Appeal: Cute cover, hooking blurb – potential impulsive buy material for my admittedly rare YA moods.

I recommend All the Little Lights to fans of teen romance and stories which include mental illness.

I've read the Maddox Brothers books from Jamie McGuire but I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but it was pretty good. There were some unexpected twists and turns that kept you guessing but you were always missing enough pieces of the puzzle that you can never figure out what the bigger picture was. It was great. It was a lot darker than anything I've read from Jamie McGuire and the first half and second half of the book do feel like totally different books but it was still a good read for me.

I just have to say, it’s so refreshing to read All the Little Lights by Jamie McGuire. Something that was non-Maddox related. And I don’t mean that negatively, I am a Travis Maddox girl through and through. But I was just ready for a different side of Jamie and All the Little Lights delivered just that.

It was really cool to see Jamie go back to sort of a Happenstance type realm. A book where two characters are just trying to survive the day to day struggles of teenage years, parents and school and even bullying. Catherine and Elliot are two very strong characters, especially for the YA genre. That was a huge plus for me. They were actually characters that had depth and weren’t just two dimensional people who were wrote out on a page for you.

I do want to say this: The different types of subjects Jamie touches on in ATLL were eloquently done. From the stereotyping of individuals to the mental illness to the way children are treated in today’s society- just bravo, Jamie. Bravo. Thank you for not doing this for the shock factor or the drama.

My only quirk and downfall of ATLL was the pacing, it was a tad slow at times. Some parts were drawn out and tedious but other than that I had no problem enjoying every minute of this read.

I enjoyed how the story played out and the way the twists and turns played into the story. The plot was strong and there is nothing I love more than a plot driven story. It was all diligently woven in a sense that needed to happen and Jamie did an excellent job at executing that. Her writing was exceptional and definitely something I was not surprised to see. She has a natural flow to her stories and plots that I tend to enjoy so much.

The best part of this entire book was I didn’t know what to expect. I had my suspensions and my guesses but I still wasn’t 100% sure where Jamie was taking this story with Elliot and Catherine. It could have gone multiple ways but in the end- I was completely happy with the route she took with these two characters.

Admittedly, I have this perpetual soft spot for McGuire and her dysfunctional new adult romances. I fell hard for her work back when I first read Beautiful Disaster and am a big fan of the OGs, Travis and Abby. So when I found out she was releasing a new novel, I was beyond excited. I was ready for some more Travis & Abby/Trenton & Cami level fire.

Comparatively, however, All the Little Lights was more lukewarm than fire.

All the Little Lights skews to a slightly younger character set than we usually get with McGuire’s twenty-something MCs. Our leads, Elliott and Catherine, are only about twelve or so when they first meet, and when they reunite they’re high school seniors. Elliott used to visit his aunt and uncle in the small town where Catherine lives, and after a fast and somewhat romantic friendship with Catherine, he is forced to leave right after a tragic event in Catherine’s life because his mom shows up and takes him back home.
Keeping in mind, of course, that he is literally a child, Catherine apparently totally hates him for this and vows to never forgive him. But Elliott returns in high school when his parents split up and he moves in with his aunt and uncle while he finishes his education. And of course, because this is a romance novel, after all this time, he still has a thing for Catherine. Part of the book is spent on Catherine awkwardly despising Elliott and Elliot awkwardly trying to win back her trust, and then the second half of the book is spent kind of meandering through various unimportant seeming events in their lives as they navigate their relationship (awkwardly) and Catherine forbids Elliott from ever coming inside her house because she “has a big secret” which has also caused her to drop her only two friends like hot potatoes. Obviously, Elliott wants her to tell him whatever the “big secret” is and obviously, Catherine reminds us like every five pages that there’s a big secret.

I don’t know, this one just didn’t do it for me. Right from the get go, the stakes didn’t feel very high. At least in the Beautiful Disaster and Providence series, as sometimes over dramatic as they may be, there are some pretty high stakes. The whole first half of this book just felt so inconsequential as Catherine half-heartedly hated Elliott for something he had literally no control over because he was a literal child when it happened. I just couldn’t really get behind it and it seemed really silly. Even the characters don’t seem to have a ton of conviction in their feelings. There’s also some stuff with Elliott’s mom insisting that Catherine will drag Elliott down because she’s from a small town and small towns are terrible and they will go nowhere because nobody ever leaves small towns. Being from a small town myself, I totally get this mentality and I can see where McGuire was trying to go with it, but it was really surface level, not fleshed out at all, and even that concept seemed to lack any real conviction. There was also some stuff where family members half-heartedly implied that Elliott was being targeted by police in the disappearance of a classmate simply because he was Native American, and even that seemed to lack conviction. It seemed like perhaps there was so much that the author was trying to work in, none of it really got the fair chance to be fully developed so that the reader could get truly invested in it. The stakes didn't feel high, which makes it hard to root for the characters or really get super wrapped up in it the way you can with some of her other novels.

And then there was the big reveal or the big twist. Suffice it to say I was not impressed. I didn’t think it was executed very well and it almost felt cheap, if not a bit mishandled (for lack of a better word). There was definitely some effort on the author’s part to be respectful about it and show empathy for the characters involved in the twist, but for some reason, I didn’t feel great about it and I wonder if it might perpetuate certain negative stereotypes about a certain group of people.

On the upside, there was a romance and it did have its cute moments now and then, like when Elliott teaches Catherine to drive or shows gives her an old photo of her and her dad (which was cute, but also a bit…stalker-ish). Catherine also makes friends with a girl from her school named Madison who people seem to think is quiet and shy until she has little outbursts like turning around during a football game to the girls who frequently bully Catherine and yelling at their ringleader to eat sh*t. Honestly, I would have stuck it out just for her little outbursts and random comments which made for great comedic relief. If Madison had a book all to herself, I’d totally read that and she would probably make for a potentially much more entertaining main character.

But I digress.

The friendship between Madison and Catherine after Catherine spent so many years as a loner being bullied is definitely a major upside of the novel. There’s also a cute moment where Catherine and Maddy end up having to ride home from an away football game on the bus with the players and Elliott thinks about how much he likes Catherine as he watches her from the back of the bus. So, yeah, it’s a romance novel, which means it’s not without its cute (though sometimes unrealistic) moments. It has its slightly redeeming moments, and like I said at the start, I have a major soft spot for McGuire that I just can’t shake. As a result, I’d probably give this book about two and a half stars, maybe three.

I still kind of enjoyed reading it at times, I just think there are some ways it could have been better, and I didn't like it as much as I liked her other books. But I also have to be honest with myself about the fact that no book is ever going to be Beautiful Disaster and no other couple is ever going to be Travis and Abby, so I acknowledge it is a little unfair of me to expect that from new Jamie McGuire books.

I do think this would make a really great beach read for the coming summer months! Despite its drawbacks, it is cute and at times lighthearted.

The one word I would use to describe All the Little Lights is irresponsible.

It’s going to be hard to communicate my overwhelmingly negative thoughts and feelings towards this novel without spoiling anything, so bear with me as I navigate the spoiler minefield.

Jamie McGuire introduced me to the romance/new adult genre with Beautiful Disaster and I’ve been a fan ever since. So, when I seen her latest release on NetGalley I requested it immediately. Unfortunately, not only is it an overly long and boring romance, it is also mislabeled in terms of genre. On NetGalley, it’s labeled as general giction (gdult) and on Goodreads it’s labeled as romance, rontemporary, then young adult. All the Little Lights is most definitely a contemporary young adult novel, not an adult novel. This isn’t necessarily a criticism, however young adult romances do not interest me. A combined page long description from both perspectives about holding hands does not appeal to me.

All The Little Lights follows Elliot and Catherine as they fall in love, but are torn apart only be reunited years later. Now, Elliot and Catherine are seniors looking toward the future, but Catherine’s mother and her mysterious bed and breakfast are holding Catherine back.

All the Little Lights is about 200 pages too long. It’s incredibly slow paced with nothing happening other than typical, juvenile high school drama. McGuire employs the mean girl trope with the unpopular main character cliché. These coupled with the star quarterback falling in love with the unpopular main character who then becomes popular herself made All the Little Lights one big eye roll.

The mystery of the bed and breakfast is incredibly frustrating. McGuire hints at the mystery throughout the entire novel, but doesn’t do anything with it until the last 10% of the novel. There is obviously something nefarious happening at the bed and breakfast, but none of the other characters push Catherine to divulge the information leaving the reader frustrated and in the dark until the final moments of the novel. In hindsight, the climax of the novel should have been obvious, but I couldn’t believe McGuire used [insert spoiler here] as a plot device.

Overall, All the Little Lights is an absolute disappointment and incredibly irresponsible.

My mind is blown! This book was freaking amazing! It kept me wondering and speculating the whole time. When the big secret was revealed I was like oh my goodness why didn't I realize it sooner. It's a page turner and everyone should read this book! Heck, I'm going to read it a 2nd time to see where and how I missed things.

The Juniper bed and breakfast at Oak Creek has secrets. The guests that stay there are a motley crew of the flotsam and jetsam of life, thrown together in a house poisoned by years of hate and neglect.

Fifteen year old Catherine meets Elliott when he spends the summer months with his aunt and uncle to escape his warring parents. Their love and friendship blooms but Elliott is ripped away when she needs him most.

Two years later Elliott's back to claim his girl but she is in the clutches of the Juniper. Worked ragged to please the guests that stay and keep the secrets inside.

The way Jamie McGuire wrote this story is superb. The Juniper is a living and breathing thing, a bit like Tarryn Fisher’s Eating House in Marrow. It is sinister with a sense of foreboding. I guessed the secret of the house at around 30% in, but was still enthralled at how it would reveal itself. I was definitely not disappointed.

The dedications at the end of the book will make me smile all week!

Wow, what a book! I loved it...Elliott and Catherine are so well written. This is a great choice as a mystery, a love story, and more!

Jamie McGuire’s “Beautiful Disaster” is one of my all-time favorite YA books. Travis & Abby will forever hold a special place in my heart. I was very excited to receive “All the Little Lights”, thank you NetGalley, Montlake & author Jamie McGuire for a free advanced copy for an honest review.

The first time Elliott Youngblood spots Catherine Calhoun, he’s just a boy with a camera, and he’s never seen a sadder and more beautiful sight. Both Elliott and Catherine feel like outcasts, yet they find an easy friendship with each other. But when Catherine needs him most, Elliott is forced to leave town.

Catherine and Elliot’s relationship in one word, sweet, the book itself in one word, weird. Every person I spoke to about this book I used that word over and over again…. Weird. That being said, I truly enjoyed “Warrior” Catherine & Elliott’s story. I could not read fast enough, I just had to know what that “weird” element was. I had so many ideas running through my head, and I so did not figure it out (so frustrating!). That “weird” reveal at the end was brilliant! Bravo Jamie! This story had more suspense and mystery surrounding the characters than any of her other books.

This is also a story about the effects of bullying, being judged by the color of your skin, your culture, and who your friends may be. But, it’s also about loyalty, protectiveness, and the resilience to overcome every adversity. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA books.

And on a side note; please don’t go into this thinking it’s going to be like any of the Maddox series books, because IT IS NOT. Just enjoy this very different ride, because that’s what it is.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I've read Ms. McGuire's Beautiful Disaster series in the past, but this was a little different. Usually I'm able to figure out the ending halfway through but with this one, I was never quite sure I had it right until the end. It has some great twists and turns.

This is also a very clean read, with very little profanity or sexual content so I will be buying this for my high school library.

When I first started this one, I wasn't sure where it was going to lead. By the end, I was in a pool of my feels and tears - It was awesome!

Catherine grew up in a tiny town where not much has happened since her family ruined the water and now everyone hates her. She keeps to herself, having nobody but her father who really understands her.

When Elliot comes to stay with his aunt in order to take some time away from his home life, he doesn't expect to meet the girl that will change everything for him.

When tragedy strikes for Catherine, and Elliot is sent back home, the two struggle without each other. Catherine and her mother run their home-based inn. The only Inn in town, few people come and go and it's up to Catherine to keep it running smoothly. When Elliot finally returns, he must win back Catherine's affection. This proves more difficult as she has a secret that has her putting up strong walls to let anyone in, even Elliot,

While slow in the beginning, it quickly picks up and has you at the edge of your seat trying to find out what Catherine is hiding. Elliot and Catherine's story is beautiful and tragic ... You'd think McGuire had some kind of theme with her couples or something, but she writes soul mates in such a poetic way that you cannot help but fall in love with every word she writes.

Characters that are so strong and engaging in this book, it was so hard to have to put it down. Jamie McGuire writes so well that you feel the whole story and at times it is very heartbreaking. Elliott will give up everything for Catherine, the love he feels for her is displayed in everything he does.

Catherine's life is not what it should be, her loss is devastating, what she has to live with both at home and school tears you apart, her strength is such that a much weaker person would definitely have their spirit broken.

This book pulls many different emotions from you and the ending is so unexpected, you will certainly be surprised at it.

An unforgettable read and one I am sure I will revisit in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and Montlake Romance for the opportunity to read and review this book. Well worth more than 5*.

A coming-of-age story filled with romance and mystery written by the incredible Jamie McGuire? Count me in. All the Little Lights has been at the top of my most-anticipated list since I first heard of it several months ago, so finally having it in my hands is very exciting. Like, so exciting I cracked it open immediately and read it over the course of two days. It's a different sort of novel from Jamie McGuire and though the story isn't entirely unique, it is unique in the way it unfolds and how it is told. Snubbed due to her family's dark history with the small town Catherine is left with few friends and the inability to share what goes on inside the walls of the crumbling mansion turns B&B. Elliott can't escape the racism he faces due to his heritage, but he can be the bigger man and he tries to be for Catherine despite her insistence that he keep away. Told from the perspective of Elliott and Catherine, All the Little Lights tell the story of two students who are anything but ordinary and the discrimination they face growing up in an old-fashioned small town.

Oh my heart, I have such a hard time with bullying and mean girls and reading about it was even worse, because I couldn't do anything for Catherine. Luckily, there is Elliott in this novel and his wise, determined, and strong character rescues her despite her attempts to rebuff him. Of course, he can't save her from everything and that is what makes this novel so great, it's real. Like is said so often on the news, we never know what is going on in someone's home and behind the walls they hide behind and Catherine is such a prime example of this. She works hard in school, she attempts to keep up with all the household duties, she manages to welcome space into her life for Elliott and his push at her having other friends, but she also sags under the weight of the secrets she keeps and the loyalty she has to them. Her past, her present, her beliefs of what her future may be, make this novel very heavy. My heart hurt for her and then for her and Elliott as they faced in-home and out-of-home challenges with their parents and the mean students who had been raised with hate in their hearts. I appreciated the heaviness as well though and Jamie McGuire wrote about the topics perfectly. There is light in this novel though, like their sweet friendship turned relationship and the fierce protectiveness Elliott has for her and really for anyone being picked on. I enjoyed Catherine coming out of her self-made shell and embracing love, laughter, and help for the first time since she was a little girl. The novel is both sweet and mature, the perfect blend for this YA/NA fangirl.

I know, I'm raving about this novel, but I really liked the story of youth being wise beyond their years due to the battles they face growing up. It's so realistic and with all the bullying we see in the world, very relevant. I think Jamie McGuire is brave to take on the subject of discrimination in a small town, because despite the realness of it the world does like to deny it. The mystery too is very realistic and is an unfortunate reality for many, I just wish I hadn't guessed it so early on. I think I've read just one too many books with a similar storyline so it wasn't a big shock to me, however I like that the explanation of the mystery was saved until the very end. It'll leave unsuspecting readers shocked and I think that'll make it an even better novel for them.

All the Little Lights is such a great novel from Jamie McGuire and one that will stay with readers long after the close the cover on the pages. It is novel that embraces the struggles youth face and the hope that life can become what you so want it to be for yourself. I highly recommend this novel and can't wait to hear what others think of it.

This is one of those books that is a slow burn. All the Little Lights by the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Jamie McGuire is not necessarily a low burn in the romance kinda way, but in that slow build, the gradual incline until BAM! it all goes up in smoke and you are left with no words for how great that was.

I don't want to say too much and I don't care how good you are at figuring books out but this one has topped it for me. DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!

So well written. This book is around 444 pages and you will zip right through them. The strong characters, the plot, the interactions, the situations, emotions, drama and the secrets are so well done, you will just love this book. There is just so much depth to this book, that it truly has something for every type of reader: romance, mystery, values, bullying, general life dealings, death, racism. It just has everything.

Elliott is drawn to Catherine from a young age. The boy with a camera, the outcast of town he spends his summers inside.

Catherine, whom everyone thinks has it all, watches as her world comes crashing down. But the boy she usually turns to is gone too.

When Elliott finally returns, he learns that he as well as Catherine are no longer the "kids" they once were. Elliott is determined to find out Catherine's secrets, but when a classmate goes missing, Elliott becomes the number 1 suspect. Can they survive and hold onto each other? OMG go read this story.

The slow burn will lead to ending that is just explosive. A must read.

5 brilliant Stars.

**ARC provided by author for honest review**
Review by Lisa, Late Night Reviewer for Up All Night w/ Books Blog

3.5-4 stars.

I haven't read a Jamie McGuire book since Red Hill, so I had zero expectations regarding this story.
Overall, I enjoyed the very character driven plot although, it did drag in quite a few places and needed a little more to move the story forward.
I did figure out the "twist" very early on as it held similarities to a few recent movies that tackled a similar plotline, but it didn't alter my enjoyment, only left me waiting for the big reveal to finally happen.
I liked some of the subjects JM tackled including racism, stereotypes, small-minded, small-town hierarchy and ideology, and thought that those parts were well done.
I think this sits very well within the YA market, and expect teen readers to devour this from start to finish. As a more mature reader, I needed a little more from the story.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing me an early copy via Netgalley. Reviewed by Jay at CBB.

Young love can be hard enough, but when you're outcasts in your community with hard lives at home, everything can feel like it's against you. Finding that one person to get through the struggles with can be your saving grace.

Elliott and Catherine meet in a small town when, escaping his family home life, Elliott spends summers with his Aunt and Uncle. Forming a strong bond and friendship the two find they are kindred spirits. As they get older that friendship grows stronger and deeper blossoming into love. One tragic event tears them apart and it's years before they find each other again.

Things have changed for both of them. Elliott has grown stronger and from a boy to a man. His love for Catherine not waning in the slightest, he works hard to right a wrong and win her back. Catherine has grown stronger too as her world seems to crumble with the weight of secrets and lies she protects. Finding their way back to one another isn't always easy and even when faced with, what seem like insurmountable events around them, they fight, and they keep on fighting until the end.

I LOVED Elliott and Catherine. I loved them as individuals, as friends, and as a couple. Both smart, fierce and full a perseverance, even when faced with troubles, these two were fighters through and through.

I will say around the 30% mark I figured out what was going on. The deeper into the story and the more mysterious things became before they unraveled, the more my theory stuck with me. I was going to be pretty upset if I had been wrong and I thought I would even be disappointed being right, having figured it out so early on, but I was right...and I wasn't disappointed. The end starts to unravel perfectly, drawing you deeper and deeper. I even got a bit choked up for a moment as things became quite intense and emotions were running high.

All the Little Lights was a wonderful read. One of my favorite McGuire books that I've read since Beautiful Disaster.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book before I started reading it, might have helped to read the blurb, but I didn't. What I got was good and really hard to talk about without spoiling things.

The one thing that really made me like the book was the relationship between Elliott and Catherine. For some reason I loved that Elliott secretly took pictures of Catherine way before they met. Yes that could come off as creepy, but they were kids and he was smitten. I loved how he was purposely late to dinner due to the first time of seeing Catherine, that he gave her the space to work through her loss.

Later after they started talking they were at that awkward teen stage where you realize boys and girls, where friends are now boy/girlfriends. They didn't really define anything but you could see where things were headed. It's just too bad that life stepped in and screwed things up for them both.

I loved how determined Elliot was to let Catherine know she was important to him, that he made choices that lead him to be around her more, that despite everything that happened he loved her. Catherine was so prickly at first, but just by being himself and there to help broke through Catherine's walls. I loved that Elliot made Catherine feel safe, that he wanted more for her, to find friends, to have a normal life.

The last bit at the end shocked me, totally didn't see that coming even as you knew something was off in the house. I really didn't think it was going to be as bad as it was. I was glad that once the secret came out Catherine could breathe a bit easier, that she could be the kid again.

The ending made me smile, loved that Catherine got to see the depth of devotion that Elliott had to her and that they were starting their lives in a brand new way.

I don’t want to give too much away but read. this. book.

It isn’t your typical YA romance what so ever. It’s light but also dark in ways.

I loved the characters and was instantly drawn to each of them. This is my first experience reading Jamie McGuire’s writing and it’s beautiful.

Go buy this book right now!!

What a wonderful book! I was immediately drawn into the characters and felt connected to them right away. The author's style of writing is such that it keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next, and when it is likely to happen. Do not walk to pick up this book, RUN!