"Humanity was an ecological disaster. A misstep made by an otherwise magnificently intelligent system of life and death. Evolution could do so much better. Someday, it would."

Prescient and poignant, The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton traverses the life and circumstances of a child born into a world being reclaimed by nature herself. Named for the hurricane that slammed against the coast of Rudder, Florida on the day that she was born, Wanda Lowe will watch the world as she knows it slowly unravel around her as she grows from childhood to adulthood. The cause? Humanity's hubris and insatiety, fueling climate change wrought with devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels.

The Light Pirate is told in 4 parts - power, water, light, and time - each with a differing perspective as fleeting yet forceful as the elements themselves. The untamed and rugged wilderness is used as a backdrop to explore the very human themes of loss, grief, guilt, community, and survival. Brooks-Dalton is a gifted writer and is able to effortlessly interweave alluring imagery and lyrical prose to create moments of aching beauty, despite the bleak, apocalyptic world that she's created. I think what made The Light Pirate so remarkable is that Brooks-Dalton invites her readers to observe the slow demise of Wanda's world, eventually forcing us to confront that we are all active participants in a parallel situation.

This book is a 4.5 rounded down to 4 stars. I felt that there were some loose plot points that were not addressed and the pacing in the middle was a little off, but overall found myself enthralled with the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review. The Light Pirate will be published on December 6, 2022.

The Light Pirate takes place in Rudder, Florida where Hurricane Wanda makes landfall. I really wanted to like this book and it pulled me in at the beginning but it dragged so much that I had to thrown in the towel at 44%. I’m in the minority with this rating and I’m sure it’s just me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. To be published December 2022.

Hurricane Wanda is coming in because Freda just lost her mother to hurricane poppy she wants to leave and go somewhere safe. Kirby Lowe grew up in Florida and says he knows hurricanes and they’ll be fine. So when the hurricane bears right on top of them his sons go missing and he must leave Freda alone and nine months pregnant and eventually she’ll go into labor and have a baby girl she’ll name Wanda. Yes want to grows up the water gets further and further inland as others leave Wanda adapts. I don’t want to get any more away because I don’t want to give any spoilers, but let me say this book has a lot of inner dialogue first with Wanda’s mom then her dad then Wanda. I felt so sorry for her. She lost her mom she was bullied ET see I do think this was a good book I just can’t get into the story with so much inner dialogue. But once you get past all that it really is a good book. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving thisreview voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own.

I absolutely loved this book. I loved the touching scenes, I felt like I could crawl right into that book and feel and experience everything that the author described.
Wanda was named after a terrible hurricane that took her brother and her mothers life. Since that horrible hurricane, Wanda has had to learn all about loss.
Loss of loved ones, loss of home, loss of friends, loss of just about everything.
But its also a story of change, adapting, of overcoming barriers, and finding acceptance.

I loved the lyrical wording of the book and the way that the author would integrate climate change and hope in the book.

I can't wait to read more works from this author.

On coastal Florida, a few decades from now, the infrastructure is falling apart. Most people leave, relocating farther inland. If you stay, you adapt to a new reality of living off the land but on the water. One young woman, born during a hurricane, learns how to thrive and survive making her home with a retired naturalist. This is her story.

This will be one of those books that book lovers will read when it hits the shelves and a book that others will read when it’s being made into a movie. I so enjoyed this book! I am very picky about reading a book, if the first few pages do not pull me in, I am on to the next. There are too many books and not enough lifetimes to read them. This book had me on page one. Such a good story about a girl born at the worst time and what our world may become before we realize it. This was a book I saw as a movie in my head as I read it and those are my favorite. I am not the best at reviewing books and wish I had the words to describe how much I enjoyed it.

The Light Pirate is beautifully written. It is a tale of devastating loss, strength and hope. It is chilling to think this could be a true story about the challenges of climate change. Thank you for my copy Netgalley!

This novel brilliantly intertwines environmental changes, family struggles, societal norms, and survival in the face of near apocalyptic events. As global climate changes wipe out cities and states, those who chose not to flee recreated their worlds. despite loss of home, family and friends, work, and human needs. The basic threads woven through this story of love, and strength over fear not only connect these beautiful stories but inspire hope for the future.

I would like to say thank you to Net Galley and Grand Central Publishing for making an electronic copy of The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton available to me to devour. As a fan of 'Station Eleven', this book's description caught my eye and lived up to my expectation. While definitely dystopian in nature, the themes this book explore ring true to life experiences and what we all see occurring in our world and environment today. The limited cast of characters were beautifully shaped and memorable. There are many losses throughout the book but at least two of the characters' old age decline was beautifully detailed and documented leaving me with a smile and joy for their lives. This book will be available December 6, 2022 and I highly recommend it.

I really liked this book. I picked it up because the blurb compared it to Where the Crawdads Sing and Station Eleven and I think those are a good comparison. The book follows Wanda who is named after the hurricane that destroyed her town and killed her mother and brother on the day she was born. The rest of the book follows how storms affect her life, her town and society has a whole. It confronts what could easily become reality when climate change leads to worse and worse storms that slowly eat away cities and put entire states under water. The story is beautifully told and the characters are very real and well realized. And though the book is at times scary because it tells the story of a post apocalyptic world that feels like it very much could be reality someday soon the book isn’t without hope and leaves the reader with the hope that even if civilization fall humanity may still remain intact.

The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton is an amazing story of survival, love, and loss. The author weaves a compelling story of life in a rapidly changing world. Wanda is named after the hurricane that pummeled a small town in Florida during her birth. The weather patterns become more and more intense and sea levels keep rising. In spite of Wanda’s personal losses in the ever-changing landscape, she adjusts and adapts to fit the conditions with courage and stamina. This book will make you reflect on our own world as we know it. We don’t know what future generations will experience as we ourselves are affected by climate change. I highly recommend this book for both the story it tells and the poetic language Lily Brooks-Dalton uses to describe the beauty of the natural world.

I've decided that I dislike it when I'm told that a book is for fans of other books, especially when they pick comparison books that I really enjoyed. I liked this book, but I would not say that others will like it if they enjoyed Station Eleven or Where the Crawdad's Sing because there are so many differences. What I loved about those other books is not what I liked about this one. I see similarities between those books and this one, but I feel like it does a disservice to the new book to give it all the expectations of comparing it other books.

I enjoyed reading this book, though I didn't enjoy the second half as much as the first. The magical realism element was interesting I enjoyed thinking about what Wanda's magic means for the future.

Overall, I liked this book but I wish I hadn't gone into it expecting Station Eleven or Where the Crawdad's Sing. I really enjoyed Lily Brooks-Dalton's Goodnight, Midnight and I'll be looking forward to future books she writes.

One of the most eerily prescient dystopian novels I've read to date (and I've read a lot of dystopian novels.) There's no single apocalyptic event...just a slow descent into climate change chaos. I was 20% of the way into the novel before I even realized the dystopia. Add this to your list. It's heartbreaking, sweet, with well developed characters and some of the best relationships I've read in a long time. Just maybe don't read it when it's 110 degrees out or in a hurricane or you might feel like it's a little bit too real.

The Light Pirate, by Lilly Brooks-Dalton, was an interesting and engaging kind of a sci-fi futuristic read, with believable characters, a wonderful plot and dialogue that was just right for moving the story along. The writing is timely, especially in light of our climate catastrophes already encroaching upon us this summer. Wanda is born into a working class family, to a mother struggling with personal issues and a father who makes his living keeping the powers grids operating in escalating times of climate change. Wanda, our protagonist, is born on the crest of Hurricane Wanda, and the author weaves her life story deftly, skillfully and authentically with the global climate crises, rising tides, and destruction and changes these events bring. I think part of what hit me with this narrative, although it’s not really my favorite genre, was that it was so realistic and plausible. It’s actually caused me to do some further research and thinking, not at all a bad outcome from enjoying a fine spot of writing. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with this ACR.

This book is an intriguing look at what our world will look like in the not too distant future if climate change progresses on its current path. This will be an excellent choice for book groups as there are many topics to discuss. Wanda's mother dies shortly after giving birth to her in a hurricane and asks that her daughter be named after the storm. She grows up raised by her father who is a lineman for the electrical company, a job that is growing more and more difficult with each storm. Before they can repair the damage from one storm, another arrives to create even more problems. Infrastructure is failing around the country and land is being lost to the ocean. As a single father, Kirby seeks the help of a neighbor in caring for Wanda as she gets older, who turns out to be the key to Wanda's survival in the constantly changing world.

The Light Pirate is a book full of hope and full of destruction. We follow Wanda, who when she was born during a particularly horrific hurricane, is given the name of that hurricane in all its strength. We follow her and her dwindling family through generations as Florida (and indeed the rest of the country), is beset by the vagaries of climate change. Her father, brother, and her brilliant and understanding guide and mentor, Phyllis, eventually die or leave the area. The author's, or more accurately Wanda's descriptions of nature are observant, incisive, and often stunningly beautiful. Through the years, Wanda manages to adapt to and appreciate her tumbling surroundings, and eventually she falls in love, giving us hope for her future.

This book strikes a strong emotional chord that deals with the disharmony and ravages of nature while simultaneously illustrating how a girl grows into adulthood by adjusting to and appreciating her surroundings. Wanda's integration into the environment to which she she has been delivered and her brilliant abilities which help her adjust and thrive and problem solve keep the reader engaged and with a sense of wonder. The characters in The Light Pirate struggle and face the almost insurmountable challenges of climate change, but their headlong movement forward is exhilarating and instructive. I simply didn't want this book to end.

Thank you, Net Galley, for the opportunity to read this

I normally am not a fan of futuristic stories but this one proved to be the exception. The Light Pirate deals with the devastating effects of climate change and how it has forced people to adapt and embrace a lifestyle no one could have foreseen. The novel is written in four parts and takes place in Florida. In the first part, a devastating hurricane hits the coast of Florida and wreaks havoc not only on the land but on one particular family as well. Out of this tragedy, a baby girl is born and named after the hurricane - Wanda. The subsequent three parts of the novel follow Wanda as she grows up and has to adapt not only to the changing environment but to her changing family dynamics as well.
This book was so well written! The first part is riveting and a real page turner. The next three parts move a bit slower but are where the author presents her prediction on how climate change has affected the world and created this almost apocalyptic landscape. Not to mention she has written an incredible saga about Wanda and her family. It is evident that she put a lot of thought into her story and the reader walks away with the sense that there’s a very real possibility this could all happen.
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Light Pirate presents us with the terrifying, but also beautiful possibilities of an apocalyptic Florida, dealing with the effects of climate change.

When the book opens, we meet Frida, a young pregnant woman, as her husband Kirby and young stepsons Lucas and Flip prepare for a hurricane. Despite Kirby's assurances that they will weather the storm safely together, everything goes way off track, with the boys going missing, and Frida giving birth to Wanda all alone. The Light Pirate centers around Wanda as she grows up in a new Florida, abandoned to the ocean and the constant heat and storms.

Wanda comes under the wing of Phyllis, a survivalist, who gives her all the skills she needs for this dangerous new version of Florida. Over the course of the novel, Wanda grows from a young child to a young adult, to a much older woman, having helped shape the new society and way of life of those who chose to stay in Florida, after opening her heart and trusting in her fellow humans. There is certainly danger and heartache along the way, but there is beauty and hope for the future as well.

This is a book about what could be and the opportunities humanity will have to take at the edge of civilization as nature and water take over what was once theirs. The prose is gorgeous and the characters are well drawn. I saw comparisons to Station Eleven and Where the Crawdads Sing, but I think this lovely and gripping work will stand on its own.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

Wow! This book is haunting in so many ways, and yet hopeful at the same time. A community and a family riddled with heartaches and losses again and again…the ever-present battle to survive in spite of the intensity of hurricanes and storms due to climate change…and the enigmatic and unlikely hero of our story—a tiny baby born in a devastating hurricane who grows to be an incredible force in spite of it all—these pieces are woven together in quite a lovely way, and it is a sobering reminder that our planet is fragile, and the way we exist may need to evolve if we are to survive the challenges ahead. As someone who lives in a coastal community, this story hits close to home, and I hope that it will be impactful to others who may not understand the grave truth about climate change.

A story that crosses genrations of one family , with the inroduction of Wanda who gets her name from the devasting hurricane . This is sad, tramatic , full of loss and devastion . The world is changing every year , every storm. There was some mystery surrounding Wanda but it kind of baffled me , not sure what to make of it . This story would be good for those who like this type of genre .