This book broke my heart but was written so well and in a way I couldn’t put it down. It follows a family in a small rural town in Florida who are hit hard by hurricanes. It toggles through time, and looks at what could happen if we don’t start addressing climate change.

It was a bit harrowing but also hopeful. I got so invested in Wanda, watching her grow from a baby born during a hurricane to a woman trying to survive as her town is abandoned not only by its inhabitants but by all forms of government.

This is the first book that I’ve read by @lilybrooksdalton but it certainly won’t be the last. She effortlessly wrote from multiple perspectives and timelines. It was beautiful. And while I certainly hope it’s never close to reality, but it gave me so much to think about.

I’m so glad I took a chance on this book! I love adventures and this climate fiction/dystopian novel was unlike any I have read.

Wanda, the main character was born during a major hurricane and her family suffered a great tragedy at the time. Raised by her older brother and father, Wanda was somewhat of a misfit among other kids her age.

Her world opened up when her father leaves her to stay with Phyllis, a nearby neighbor and former university professor who knows Wanda’s background. Phyllis introduces Wanda to the world around her by teaching her about doomsday prepping, biology, the eco-system. She teaches Wanda to be self-sufficient for the future when Florida disappears and the world around them becomes treacherous. At some point in the story Wanda learns she has a special gift and Phyllis helps her to learn to use the gift in a safe manner.

Readers who enjoyed Where the Crawdads Sing will likely enjoy this novel. There is a bit of magical realism weaved into the story, which I loved. The tone throughout is dismal, but also interesting. It’s hard to imagine what our society would do if our world fell apart in a similar way. However, the story is also hopeful and illustrates how resilient human beings can be when faced with adversity.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for allowing me to read and advance copy. I am happy to recommend this book to readers and offer my honest review.

Lily Brooks-Dalton follows up her luminous debut, Good Morning, Midnight, with another bleak, beautiful novel about grief and healing, surviving and adapting.

At the center of The Light Pirate is Wanda, a girl born during -- and named after -- a hurricane that altered both her family and her town of Rudder, Florida, in irrevocable ways. We follow Wanda's story in four parts -- Power, Water, Light, and Time -- as she grows up amidst a constantly-changing landscape, as Florida's weather patterns become increasingly extreme and the entire state is gradually (then not so gradually) reclaimed by the natural world.

I can't even tell you how many dystopian novels I've read that take place in a far future where the coasts of the United States have been drowned by rising tides. It's always mentioned in passing; it's never the focus of those stories. What Brooks-Dalton does in The Light Pirate is to put the reader front and center during the time when that is actually occurring, allowing us to experience it through the eyes of Wanda and her family. We see how Wanda is shaped by the magnificent desolation of her environment, and how she adapts to that environment -- and to other survivors, as well.

The Light Pirate is a quiet, meditative book, with rich atmosphere, gorgeous writing, and brilliantly-composed characters. There are elements of magical realism, and climate change is very much at the center of the story -- but I wouldn't call this a cautionary tale. Rather, there is a sense of inevitability to Florida's fate, as though Brooks-Dalton is telling us, "This is unavoidable, and this is what will happen." It's grim, and it's violent -- but the way this story is told is somehow comforting and gentle, too. It made me feel nostalgic for the present. It's difficult to describe, but there's something truly special about the way Brooks-Dalton tells Wanda's story.

More than anything, The Light Pirate is an ode to the natural world, in all its brutality and beauty. It's a meditation on love, family, and community, and an exploration of how life goes on, how humanity endures and adapts, in a rapidly-changing environment. It's gripping, haunting, and one of my favorite books of this year.

The more I love an author’s debut novel, the more nervous I am starting their second. But this wasn’t the case with LIGHT PIRATE. I just knew it would be awesome.

Brooks-Dalton’s first book, GOOD MORNING, MIDNIGHT, blew my doors off. I literally yelled, “Oh my GOD!” at one point. It was a massive story in a small footprint, full of regret, hope, and tension. LIGHT PIRATE is different (set in tropical Florida vs. the frozen arctic) but similar in emotions, investment, and gorgeous description.

@jordysbookclub describes it best. “A hopeful, sweeping story of survival and resilience spanning one extraordinary woman’s lifetime as she navigates the uncertainty, brutality, and arresting beauty of a rapidly changing world.”

In the not-so-distant future, Florida (or what’s left of it) is barraged by hurricanes. Its water table rises, levees fail, and municipalities quit. Swamps previously paved over reclaim their birthright. We see all this unfold through the story (shockingly, only 336 pages). More importantly, we know the impact it has on a small group: A linesman, Kirby, his new wife, his sons from a previous marriage, their neighbor Phyllis, and their daughter Wanda.

LIGHT PIRATE is one of my favorites of 2022. Thanks, NetGalley, and Grand Central Publishing, for the pre-publication book!

"The Light Pirate" by Lily Brooks-Dalton is hands down one of the best novels I've read this year! Both heartwarming and tragic, this book is a frightening view of the future if we cannot solve the climate crisis. It's a powerful novel with an even more powerful warning about a future we do not want to face; a future where hurricanes, heat waves, and fires are the norm and people must struggle to adapt to a rapidly changing world without the infrastructure that brings stability to our current lives. This book packs a serious punch and will really make the reader think! While not overtly political, this book is certainly provocative and does not shy away from the horrors of climate change.

Reminding me a bit of Kya from "Where the Crawdads Sing," Wanda is an incredibly endearing character who stays strong through the loss of family, her home, and eventually the world we as we know it. Her beautifully crafted story is told through lyrical and detailed prose; the writing creates a high definition movie in the reader's mind. I was swept up and along by Wanda's story, appropriate for a story so influenced by water and nature. Indeed, nature seems almost to be a character itself in this book.

My heartfelt gratitude to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the tremendous privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this phenomenal book, in exchange for my honest review. Five stars!

This is a story about human resistance and adaptation to change.  The novel opens with Florida in the near future, where hurricanes and rising sea levels are putting increasing pressure on the state's crumbling infrastructure.  Kirby Lowe, a longtime Florida resident and electrical worker, is not overly concerned about the latest approaching storm -- he's lived through several such hurricanes and is confident in his ability to protect his home and family.  His new wife, who is pregnant, is by contrast feeling quite anxious about the approaching storm.  Her worries seem prescient when Kirby's two children from his first children go missing just before the hurricane hits.  As Kirby searches for them amidst worsening conditions, Frida goes into premature labor and names her new daughter Wanda after the storm raging when she enters the world.

The story follows Wanda as she grows up, navigating a world that is changing more rapidly than many expected. It charts her her place among her family, both born to and found, and her relationship to the larger community in which she lives -- as the nature of community and home is undergoing existential change simultaneously quickly and slowly, just like the natural and built environments in which she lives.

This book is excellent.  The author does a superb job of bringing to life the changes in the natural world and its impact on how people live and how society functions.  In the author's capable hands, the developments she portrays seem both entirely believable and utterly horrifying. 
Within this context, the book shows the range of reactions that people have to these changes -- driven in part by age, preconceptions, and attachments to existing ways of life -- and how difficult it can be to accept obvious changes at this scale until it is too late.  The author also excels at capturing the personal relationships that are ultimately the heart of this story, particularly Wanda's relationships with the four people who are her most important, but quite different, connections during a time when society frays and ultimately falls apart.  This was a highly emotional and impactful read that I will continue to think about for months to come.

Very highly recommended!

As a Floridian, I found it easy to imagine the storms and events that unfold in The Light Pirate happening to my community. Though scary to picture my family living through times like these, I think it's an important to be aware of the realities of climate change. I appreciate the way The Light Pirate spotlights this important topic. While The Light Pirate is full of struggle, devastation and loss, it is ultimately a bright, hopeful, adventurous story of survival, adaptation and new beginnings.

This smart novel is a terrifying look into what our future on this planet could be. It scared me. I'm not sure I've ever been so thoroughly scared by a novel. Lily Brooks-Dalton does an incredible job of creating this reality that I can so easily picture us running into. I found myself wondering while reading how she was able to so thoroughly explore the details of losing an entire state to the climate crisis. The abandonment, the deaths, the loneliness--Brooks-Dalton embedded these into the writing so seamlessly.

So no, this one won't cure your climate anxiety, but she still leaves the reader with a little bit of hope. The theme of adaptability in humans was so beautifully interwoven into this tale of despair. Seeing Wanda's story grow and change with the climate and the rising sea was both dark and hopeful.

It was also one of the things that was most intriguing to me--how Brooks-Dalton shows the passing of time. The story spans generations, and Brooks-Dalton uses her writing to show the evolution of the human mind as it ages and in the context of the surroundings. I've never read a novel that captures the beauty and devastation of human life in such a gorgeous way.

I was speechless after finishing this one, and I can't say much more other than to laud the emotion and depth Brooks-Dalton put into this story.

The Light Pirate is a devastatingly real portrait of life before, during, and after a hurricane. Set in a fictional small town on Florida's east coast, the story takes you through the aftermath of each hurricane through the family of Kirby Lowe. Each member of the family is dramatically affected by the storms, and the devastation that diminishes their small town. The story centers on Wanda, born during one of the worst hurricanes. How she navigates all of the tragedies is the true plot line of this novel.
As a resident of Miami, I can vouch for the veracity of the fear and the terrible damage. At times, the realistic portrayal is all too real, and thus, hard to continue reading. But that is the reality of the personal stories behind hurricanes.

THE LIGHT PIRATE by Lily Brooks-Dalton is one of my favorite books of the year. The story begins by centering on a family in Florida and is told in four parts: power, water, light, and time. Kirby, the Dad, is an electrical lineman with two sons, Flip (8) and Lucas (12), and a pregnant second wife named Frida. They are busy preparing for a hurricane and become separated; Frida goes into premature labor and Wanda, named for the hurricane storm, is born. As she grows up, Wanda becomes closer to a survivalist neighbor and college teacher named Phyllis who "had spent her entire career seeking knowledge in one form or another, but the pursuit itself taught her infinitely more about the absence of knowledge than its presence. What is magic but science that is not yet understood? What is science but magic with an explanation?" And THE LIGHT PIRATE is indeed magical – readers will be enthralled by the plausibility of environmental changes and also totally engrossed in the personal relationships and adjustments of the endearing characters. THE LIGHT PIRATE is a LibraryReads selection for December and received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus ("... complex and engaging characters make climate disaster a vividly individual experience rather than an abstract subject of debate").

I was a little nervous to pick up the The Light Pirate as fantasy tends to not be a genre a gravitate towards and oh my gosh, am I so glad I read this book!

When Wanda is born during a catastrophic hurricane, it sets the tone for her life. As Florida continues to to collapse and become abandoned, Wanda works to find ways to live and in some ways even thrive.

This book is heavy and hard and yet beautifully written - it will stay with me for a long time.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

This book was marketed for fans of Station Eleven and Where the Crawdads Sing. Having enjoyed both, I was excited for The Light Pirate.

The story takes place in an unspecified, not-too-distant time when climate change has caused the gradual decline of society. Florida takes the first hit after detrimental hurricanes continually leave the state floundering for basic resources. Even when the area is officially closed off, many choose to stay and take their chances in the land they call home.

There's magical realism, dystopian elements, but the highlight for me was the lush, poetic writing. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I was hooked by the first chapter after a detailed description of a character making roast chicken and potatoes for dinner. The descriptions of nature were beautifully done as well.

I wished some plot points were fleshed out a little bit more. We jumped from different time periods, and I never felt totally grounded before leaping into the next section. Even so, I enjoyed this unique novel.

This book paints such a vivid picture of Florida after it has been ravaged and left abandoned in the not-so-distant dystopican future. The story is told in four parts - Power, Water, Light, and Time - and Part 1 was simply incredible. Covering our main character's birth during a hurricane, the author did a great job at making me feel like I was in the storm too. The setting is tense and tangible, the stakes were high, you ached for the characters, and you gritted your teeth as you made your way through the storm with them.

After Part 1, I felt a little less engaged as the story slowed down. There is a lot of necessary set up here, but this part was tougher to get through. Following such a captivating beginning during a hurricane made the middle of the story feel much slower in my opinion. We follow Wanda as she grows up, and seeing how her everyday life is impacted from climate change is fascinating (in a very grim way). This is not a light read, but it is very enlightening.

I found the magical realism part of the story a little lacking. Maybe I expected too much, but I wanted more. I thought it would be a larger part of the plot, but I'd say it takes a backseat to the coming of age aspect with the dystopian backdrop.

All in all, this was a very memorable read and I'm glad I read it. Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was a rather harrowing book for me to read but that didn’t stop it from being totally gripping. Picture a not-terribly-distant future where hurricanes batter Florida and the east coast with more frequency and with more strength than “normal”. Picture the sea level rising and beaches disappearing. Picture the streets of your town permanently disappearing under water. And that’s just a taste of what The Light Pirate will be about.

Wanda, named for the hurricane in which she was born, is the central figure of this story, along with her father Kirby, older brother Lucas and neighbor and teacher-extraordinaire Phyllis. We follow her from her frightening birth to her old age and we witness the huge changes in her environment as she grows. The writing is gorgeous and I now want to check our Brooks-Dalton’s first novel.

As much as I loved this book, I felt I had to take short breaks from it. It was a bit difficult to read this while sitting in my southwest Florida home, barely two months after Hurricanes Ian and Nicole devastated so much of the area So if you’re looking for a light read, this isn’t the right book for you. But if you’re interested in a thought-provoking story about the consequences of climate change and human adaptability, I highly recommend that you dive right in (pun intended).

Note: I don’t think calling this book The Light Pirate was a great decision. It doesn’t really convey anything about the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

An absorbing tale of climate devastation, loss, survival, change, love and loneliness. A character driven story with a captivating premise, absorbing and lyrical writing and characters who you will be fully vested in.

This story opens in a small, fictional Florida town in a dystopian future. Kirby and his new wife, Frida, are preparing for yet another hurricane. With Kirby's two sons to take care of and a baby on the way, Frida is understandably distraught with Kirby's lackadaisical attitude about the oncoming hurricane. Kirby is a lineman, and so very familiar with storms and feels quite proud of his ability to sense and prepare for dangerous storms. Frida, who has lived through one of the worst storms in history while losing her mother to the storm, will never be able to forget the devastation that Mother Nature can bring. When the hurricane called Wanda hits their small Florida town, one of them will be right, and one of them will have been very wrong.

The story follows this family through the rapidly changing coastline and the effects of climate change, forcing most of the inhabitants of their town to leave and move north. They decide to stay, and they eventually watch everything they knew to be no more. A survivalist neighbor, Phyllis, becomes an integral part of the story. The author focuses the story on this part of the country. There are mentions of how the rest of the country is changing, but the story stays in Florida.

Spanning decades, the story revolves around Wanda (Kirby and Frida's baby) and her journey to survive when the landscape is constantly changing. Wanda is reminiscent of
Kya in Where the Crawdad's sing. She must learn to adapt and learn to live with loss and isolation. While loneliness felt like a dominating theme in this book, other more uplifting themes were nature, resilience, strength and community.

If this review seems vague - it is meant to be. I think the less you expect, the more you will enjoy this story. I found it to be a page turner. Be forewarned that there are many descriptive and somewhat flowery passages, but they added so much to the visual picture that the author paints. There was a faint touch of magical realism in this story that I yearned to be so much more. I wished that it took on more meaning rather than it being in the shadows. But that would be my only bone to pick with this story. The character development was excellent and the storyline felt fearfully close to what out future could easily look like.

I definitely recommend if you enjoy a more character-driven story with inherent sadness. This is not a feel-good story, although you will feel hopeful at the end. Much thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the arc to read and review. 4.5 stars.

A beautiful literary fiction diving into the lives manipulated by human nature, but how strength and hope help them face the hand dealt. A scary reality of how the future may look in an apocalyptic state of global warming. In Southeastern Florida, hurricanes wreck the shoreline taking a little more with each storm surge. A family living on the edge of destruction, stay loyal to the region even though most have moved away.
Kirby and his expecting wife are struggling to stay afloat with his two sons that are difficult stepsons to Frida. As a lineman, Kirby is called out for a storm leaving his wife and boys behind. Frida lays down with labor pains and the boys take out to venture into the approaching storm. One will never make it home. When Kirby locates his other son, he arrives to find he has a daughter named after Hurricane Wanda, but his wife does not make it.
The story begins as an emotional story about love, loss and finding hope. It also ends in sadness, but only after a look at Wanda's life. It is told in four parts: Power, Water, Light and Time, which are all entities in Wanda's life. Captured so subtly is the magic realism that plays a part in rescuing Wanda from her plight. At times, Wanda's life appears in solitaire when she experiences bullying and separation. She finds support in one of her neighbors, Phyllis, who takes her in and teaches her more about life and nature than anyone. The heat becomes unbearable in the daytime leaving travel only at night and even then by boat while nature takes back what is hers. It is a harsh reality none of us want to face in the near future.
Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publication for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wanda, born during Wanda,a hurricane, lives a life as the world surcomes to climate change. She loses her family through tragic events. She ends up living with the old woman who lives in the blue house she has prepared for these events. As Florida slowing sinks and the storms get worse the reader experiences what we are being warmed about. The writing is well done and you leave the book knowing you also should prepare. Recommend for mature teens as well as adult readers.

This book is movie material! There is something magical about this book in that I just could not put it down. The story takes place in Rudder, FL which is a town that is slowly dying because of the longer hurricane seasons and the effects of climate change. Kirby Lowe is a lineman for the utility company and his wife Frida is pregnant when hurricane Wanda hits. Frida gives birth at home by herself and then dies shortly after her husband returns home.. Frida informed Kirby that she waned to name the baby Wanda. The story follows Wanda through her lifetime as she is raised by her father and her neighbor, Phyllis, a retired science teacher and a survivalist. This is a fantastic book and I loved the author's style. This is one of those books that you just cannot stop thinking about after finishing it.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC of this wonderful book that kept me riveted from the first page to the very last page.

Well, I live in Florida, land of hurricanes, and hadn’t known much about this book’s plot before picking it up. When the dystopian plot began in earnest, I was surprised, but delighted. This story covered more changes over a longer period of time than I expected. Thumbs up!

Wanda is born in the midst of the Florida hurricane of her name. In fact she is named after it. Florida is constantly hit by hurricanes and is sinking- literally. Wanda learns to survive in this changing world well tutored by their neighbour Phyllis. An interesting novel based in a post apocalyptic world ravaged by the consequences of climate change. Interesting characters and lucid narrative style make for an easy read.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC