Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Like any ocean wave, this book, too, had its ups and downs. I was unsure at first, but by about page 60 or so, the hurricane sucked me in. There was so much destruction; does everyone in this book die????? The story continued on to show Wanda’s courage and resourcefulness, but the pacing was SOOOOOOO slow. 🐌 I struggled to pick it up at times, which was unfortunate because the climate crisis is real! One thing this book taught me: boy, am I glad I don’t live in Florida. Despite my mixed emotions overall, I’d love to see this made into a movie.

WOW was this depressing and beautiful -- such a fun combo! Read this if you loved WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING and STATION ELEVEN.

Vivid, sad and compelling climate fiction that follows one woman's journey through a post-climate crisis (underwater) Florida.

What a unique story!!! Lily Brooks-Dalton builds this beautiful but equally unsettling story around Wanda, a child borne during and named after a hurricane. Written in four distinct parts of her life and those around her, it's amazing readers find themselves walking, no running, through life with Wanda. Emotionally stirring, I just wanted to reach out and push her into the right path, that's how real she is. Easily a 5 star read that my reading circle will love, too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for a copy of The Light Pirate.

I found The Light Pirate to be fascinating.
The writing led me rapidly from one event to the next, at times anticipating tragedy, and at other times fascinated by the new environment Wanda found herself living and growing in.

Lily Brooks-Dalton's storytelling was both mystical and realistic - so much more than I expected.
One of the Top 10 books I read this year - highly recommend

The summary had my attention. I was curious to where this was going to go and how it was going to handle the topic at hand. When it started, I was quickly unsure if it was for me, but I kept going in hopes of getting used to the style. Once that happened though, I was beginning to wonder how much I enjoyed the book at all.

Told in four parts, the story starts off with Frida, Kriby, Lucas and Flip. We learn about them as they are preparing for a massive storm coming in. Through their life we learn that this is Wanda’s family. Now, I was fine with this part. It wasn’t an issue and then we moved to the next part and I was no longer fine with it. There is this whole story about them and then only a few of them continue forward. It was jarring to have this whole section where you are connecting with the characters only for it to be a reason to introduce the lead character.
Once I was able to adjust to the time skip from the first section to the second, I did find myself more involved this section. It was easier to connect with the characters. Their hardships were on display and they were all trying to figure out how to move on from that while being safe in the quickly changing environment. I thought this section was the best from the whole book.

Then we move on again and I’m entirely pulled out of the story. There is a major time jump again, but this section moved in such a way that it is a little confusing and feels alienating. Wanda I thought was supposed to be the main character, but so much of this section was from Phyllis’ POV. Through her POV the reader was reliving moments we’d already seen happen, but now we were getting it from this perspective that was so far removed from anything that it was hard to be pulled into the story.

There was a rushed romance in here that helped polish off the story, but due to the rushed nature, this was another part of the story that I didn’t end up connecting with.

While the novel is called The Light Pirate, that part of the story didn’t feel utilized well. It was used here and there, but infrequently enough I often found myself forgetting it was even a thing until it was brought up much later. The whole magic of it in general is something that I didn’t manage to understand.

There were moments that I found the writing beautiful, but I also struggled with the change in POVs. For me, they were too fluid in how they moved from one person to another They blended with one another and it would take me moments before I could fully process who’s eyes I was looking through now.

While I do believe The Light Pirate has a number of important topics that it brings up, this was simply not the book for me. The POV changes and issues with pacing in the second half of the story really had me struggling. But, there are a lot of positive reviews for this story, so if it sounds interesting, give it a chance.

This beautifully written book has a lot of details on hurricanes and the destruction they cause. I wish there had been more character development. I received a complimentary copy of this book and chose to write a voluntary, unbiased review.

This book was beautifully written. It would be hard to imagine Florida slipping away because of weather patterns. Families moving out because government had no money coming in. Electrical workers like Kirby Lowe who continues to stay even though the town is going under water. During a hurricane his pregnant wife Frida is left with his sons Flip and Lucas. Frida goes into premature labor and gives birth to Wanda. You follow Wanda through her life and every little demise of Florida.

Thank you #NetGalley for the advance copy!

One of my favorite books that I’ve read this year. A magical novel of what awaits as our climate shifts and the world adjusts. Wanda is born into the flood waters of Hurricane Wanda as the tide rises through the family home and life ebbs from her mother; a brand new life flows through Wanda, unseen, unknown. Lily Brooks- Dalton is a gifted author who has created a fascinating post -apocryphal Florida. For readers who enjoy Emily St. John Mandel. A tender, moving story of loss, love, humanity and hope.
Highly recommended.

I was really intrigued by the dystopian world this story was set. I love the idea of forging your own way, especially in hard times. Everyone loves to root for the underdog!

The world is changing every day…Florida has seen an influx of storms, hurricanes and rising sea levels. During one particular storm, two boys go missing. While their father goes out to look for them, his pregnant wife goes into premature labor and gives birth to their daughter, Wanda. She is named after the hurricane that took so much from her.
We follow Wanda as she grows older, loses people and has to learn how to survive in a society that is collapsing more each day.

I really liked the detail that this author provides when talking about animals as well as the environment that Wanda lives in.
This has the same feeling as Where the Crawdads sing but only so far as there is a young woman trying to survive out in nature.

I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion

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

The Light Pirate by Lily Books-Dalton is the story of Wanda’s life in Florida, from beginning to end. Born in the middle of hurricane Wanda, hence her name, Wanda’s life transverses the climate demise of the state of Florida with a peripheral glimpse of these catastrophic occurances throughout the country. Fortuitously, she is helped raised by Phyllis, a retired school teacher and prepper, who helps prepare Wanda for a life after the modern world collapses and is guided by a strange connection to glowing microscopic beings that guide her.


Billed as a “meditation” on the catestrophic and dystopian future facing humanity as the result of climate change, The Light Pirate has received many accolades and acknowledgements. It provides ample opportunities for thought and discussion on the issue of climate change as well as adaptations and survival on a personal level. I’m still confused on the inclusion of the bioluminescent organisms and their affinity for Wanda as it has to do with the climate discourse and how people will exists after a energy and technology focused world crumbles.


From an purely intellectual perspective I understand the intent of The Light Pirate. However, from a reader centered point of view I’m still not sure where it was going and what it was hoping to accomplish. Reading this story felt like when you are in an accident caused traffic back-up on the interstate; you spend all that time inching toward the scene but when you arrive at the cause of the congestion nothing exists but a few broken remains and skid marks on the pavement. Looking at it from an entertainment angle there were a number of aspects of the story that felt vague and disjointed. Probably my biggest issue was the first person point of views from a number of characters, other than Wanda, and then they died. Again, still not really sure of the intent in writing like that other than to cause an overall negative feeling in the reader. While the ending attempts to provide a glimmer of hope, it is overshadowed by the overall tragic tone of the book.

The time for marking ecological change and acting on it has passed, and if she is honest, there is a relief in releasing those fervent, unfulfilled desires for solution. Now all that’s left is to behold these environments as they transition. The great rewilding, as she likes to call it. Humans have spoiled so much, but nature is resourceful. It dies and is reborn as something new. Hew work not is to watch this occur.

While I did not particularly enjoy The Light Pirate, it is a well-written, curious tale of Brooks-Dalton’s perceived future dystopian world as a result of climate change that can provide a segue into the present debate of how this issue and its subsequent consequences should be addressed.

I did not immediately love this book when I finished it, however I find myself often thinking about it even after time has passed. Perhaps that is more meaningful than a quickly enjoyed and easily forgotten book, especially considering the direct subject matter.
Sometimes books with an environmental theme can come across as preachy or condescending, but in this case, the author supply allowed the reader to follow along on the journey and experience the loss and heartbreak along with the characters. I feel that this choice was more effective in reaching readers and causing them to consider how we can help change the trajectory of this planet. I also appreciated that the author ended on a hopeful note with humanity finding ways to adapt and evolve in order to live in harmony with nature.

This was outside of my usual subject matter and genres of reading, but I would recommend it. The writing is excellent and the book is thought provoking.

This book was very slow. It gave off strong Where the Crawdads Sing vibes but without the connection to the characters for me.

The Light Pirate is a beautifully written novel with exquisite details. It is also terrifyingly realistic and shows the horrors of global warming on our planet. But the highlight of the story is the characters. All the characters are extremely complex (in a good way), and their connections to each other through bloodline and found family are truly heartwarming. Rudder, Florida is also a central part of the story, and it is fascinating to see how the city/state evolves from start to finish.

While I really enjoyed this novel, I did have two small issues. First, the middle of the story is a bit slow and took me awhile to get through. I also thought Wanda’s supernatural ability was unnecessary and didn’t really add anything to the novel until the very end. Overall, if you enjoy dystopian literature, The Light Pirate should be at the top of your list!

''Florida is slipping away. As devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels gradually wreak havoc on the state’s infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast. Kirby Lowe, an electrical line worker; his pregnant wife, Frida; and their two sons, Flip and Lucas, prepare for the worst. When the boys go missing just before the hurricane hits, Kirby heads out into the high winds to search for them. Left alone, Frida goes into premature labor and gives birth to an unusual child, Wanda, whom she names after the catastrophic storm that ushers her into a society closer to collapse than ever before. As Florida continues to unravel, Wanda grows. Moving from childhood to adulthood, adapting not only to the changing landscape, but also to the people who stayed behind in a place abandoned by civilization, Wanda loses family, gains community, and ultimately, seeks adventure, love, and purpose in a place remade by nature. Told in four parts—power, water, light, and time—The Light Pirate mirrors the rhythms of the elements and the sometimes quick, sometimes slow dissolution of the world as we know it. It is a meditation on the changes we would rather not see, the future we would rather not greet, and a call back to the beauty and violence of an untamable wilderness.''


This story is divided into four parts titled for the elements of Power, Water, Light, and Time. The setting is Southeast Florida in a time when hurricanes become stronger, more frequent, power less reliable, and Florida's coastline begins to slowly dissolve into the ocean. Nature begins to reclaim what's Hers!

For the four elements, while Power is whiplash fast, Water, Light, and Time are slower, hold more detail and reflection. There are contrasts in the apocalyptic landscape and a feeling of otherness in the air that's both beautiful and frighteningly unrecognizable. The authors' writing creates pictures that are vivid and tangible, yet eminently solitary. There is an essence of loneliness. Wanda's loneliness.

I love "The Light Pirate", how it's written, how all the characters surrounding Wanda and connect her world, give continuity to her specialness! This author has me awestruck by the creativity and emotional impact of her storytelling, once again. I highly recommend!

Haunting and lyrical. There was something so urgent about Brooks-Dalton’s writing that made me feel like I was in the eye of this life-changing hurricane with all the characters and never left it the entire story. A deeply introspective commentary, too, on how our changing environment could be the end of us all.

Lily Brooks-Dalton has written a deeply thought provoking novel in The Light Pirate. Love and loss, connection that is crucial to living in an ever changing, disaster plagued world. This is not a beach read! The reader will want time to weigh the words on every page.

I had very high hopes for this book. Having been compared to Where the Crawdads Sing pulled me in, but it is nothing like that. It was slow paced, so much so that I found it hard to concentrate on. This book just dragged on and on. Most of the characters die, but for those that are still living, many questions about their ending exists. There are too many plot lines that are too loosely related and it is hard to follow. Magical aspect? WHY?

I want to thank Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for an ARC of this book.

A combination of post/Apocalyptic fiction (which I love) and magic-realism (which I don't), the latter is just enough to not come across as silly, and fits neatly into storyline without feeling forced.