In the Sound & Love Commune, four people live on the edges of the modern world spending their days searching for their path to enlightenment. But now, they're taking it further than just shunning technology and modernity, they shun eating too - deciding they can exist solely on light and love.

Until Elisabeth dies and the light goes out. She was the oldest member of the commune, loved and cherished - but now she's the victim of a suspicious death investigation, with her sister Melodie and housemates Muriel and Petrus being arrested as suspects.

Everyone tells the story differently depending on where they're looking from - but what's the real story? And what happens next?

"But we're a collective, a commune. Our stories are all the same. We've been living together for so long, our own version of events is our story."

A striking story not just about love, but the many things that pretend to be love - manipulation, control, jealously, desperation.

The story is poetic and lyrical, invoking rich detail and absorbing settings. It's full of metaphor and imagery, and once you find the tone it's very easy to get lost in it. Our narration shifts and moves, coming from external, unseen forces and people looking on in an almost curiously voyeuristic way. It moves slowly in a dreamlike way, snapshots and moments, thoughts and tangents all woven together.

It isn't exactly a linear story - in fact, not much happens at all, but it holds the reader in these timeless moments and explores the people involved and their lives in those moments - it was gripping but at times a little too drawn out, sentences lasting far too long without going anywhere.

The atmosphere was strange, charged with a nervous energy - we watch as the surviving commune members are separated, as the investigative team try to figure out what's going on. And we as outsiders see the potential for abuse and control within the commune that they just don't which makes for an extremely uncomfortable experience. There's definitely a sense of connection with the characters on a deeply human level, especially for Elisabeth even after she passes away.

At times there was a noticeable tone shift, moving from it's epic prose to almost reciting information and breaking the well-crafted flow of the story. And there were some comments throughout that didn't feel necessary to the plot or the world building; comments that were rather homophobic or ignorant and whilst these were used to show the traits of other characters they weren't necessary for it.

We Are Light raises powerful questions about responsibility and accountability - who is responsible for Elisabeths' death? Is it her fault? Was it Melodies for taking advantage of her? Was it everyone who didn't intervene? This is an entirely unique, conceptual story that explores humanity through a curious lens.

"We are the story. Slowly and predictably we head toward our conclusion - climax or anti-climax, it remains to be seen. We suspect it's going to be an anti-climax, if the writer carries on this way."

4+

I haven't read a book like this before, but I'd happily read more.
Both the unusual subject matter, and the unique view points makes it stand out.
It's a startling idea that we cannot live without food or water, and this little group are definitely testing it to the limits.
Melodie is a force to be reckoned with, and a character I would love yo read more about.
The whole thing is just hard to believe, yet actually totally believable.
Great stuff.

'We Are Light' was definitely like nothing else I've ever read. I love anything to do with the psychology behind cults and this was what first enticed me in. However, I did think that this would be more focused on the legal nature behind Elisabeth's death, perhaps even leading into a nailbiting court case surrounding the morose and definitely bizarre circumstances. What I found most disappointing was the perspectives of personified objects and illnesses/mental states to the point where it was almost a bit cringeworthy. I understand why it was done, but I think I would have preferred a more omniscient third person narrator or even each of the individual characters narrating. I will praise Blees on the originality of this idea, however, and whilst slightly far-fetched, the execution of it was well thought out. I would recommend this for anyone who was a fan of The Girls by Emma Cline. It raises some essential (but sometimes triggering) points on mental disorders and the complexity of their nature.

We are light paints the age olf picture of humans and their relationship with food. Whether we have an abundance of it or not and whether it is our conscious choice to abstain from it or whether are we the victim of a parasite within our mind.

As prose, it was amazingly written with each chapter focusing on a ‘character’ but not on a traditional sense of the word with characters such as a piece of bread, house, light and even the story itself narrating the events and describing their view of the issues. The main cast of characters has their own issues that led them to a point in time where they witnessed their roommate die of malnutrition and the stand-out character was Melodie, the sister of the victim. While the story painted a clear picture of the characters and detectives and everyone's personal ambitions within the structure of the story, the woman who died remained a mystery, the centre heart of the story and not a significant person at all.

We Are Light embraced its troubled characters and their relations to food and abstaining from eating as a form of control as well as painted a picture of just how easy it could be to become a form of a cult without even making a conscious choice to join one. The ending paints an amazing picture of choice and the price of it, leaving us with a certain image of opportunity rather than a set ending.

4.5/5

So this book is about a group of 4 that live together in what can be called a cult for glorified anorexia. What really captivated me was the writing style, which was great. For most of the book, the events are told from the perspective of objects or more abstract things, and to me, that made the book pretty unique.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me the english edition.

Gerda Blees immediately grabs our attention in her daring, clever debut novel “We Are Light”. There’s clearly something wrong about the state of affairs at the Sound & Love Commune. Not only has one of the 4 members just died, but the reaction and seeming (lack of empathy evidenced by the surviving three members raises all sorts of alarm bells.

Blees’ approach to narration is highly unique. Each chapter is spoken in a different voice. That’s not a particularly unusual fictional device, but Blees takes it to a whole new level. Voices can be people, but are most often not, such as: crime scene, World Wide Web, doubts, dementia, socks, cigarette butts, and juicer. My favorite is Chapter 17, told by The Story. It’s a risky device, but Blees pulls it off skillfully..

“We Are Light” is tightly focused on loneliness, inadequacy, abandonment, abuse, and trauma in the modern age. The members of the Sound & Love Commune are examples of failed dreamers, outcasts, and misfits who choose to isolate themselves from the normies of the world. Through the blessing and curse that is the Internet, and especially Social Media, they find “evidence” that you can reach the ultimate “light” through Sound & Love. Nutrition and nourishment are not only optional, but seen as an impediment to reaching that final goal. What could possibly go wrong?

Kudos to award-winning translator Michele Hutchison for yet another wonderful effort.

Thanks to World Editions and NetGalley for the eARC.

This is one of the strangest books I've ever read, with over twenty different, mainly inanimate narrators for each chapter, including the scent of orange, a piece of bread and dementia. These narrators tell the story of four lonely, vulnerable people living together in a self-styled commune led by Melodie. When Melodie's sister dies, seemingly of malnutrition and/or neglect, the police become involved and we learn more about the individuals and how they have been perhaps misled by Melodie to live a simpler life that includes avoiding food. The differing perspectives in each chapter create some uncertainty and confusion about the motives of the commune members, but also highlights the need for connectedness and togetherness that is often missing in society.
There is some unevenness in the chapters, some seem more successful than others and I had to relax into the style and use of the different narrators. But overall, an intriguing and psychologically challenging story that I will think about for a long time.

Many thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you to @netgalley and World Editions for this ARC in return for my review.

Don’t be fooled by the title, there’s not much light in this book at all. It’s dark, very dark.

I understand this is translated from the Dutch original and I am happy that it’s kept its European style and not been Americanised.

The change of POV every chapter to different things, often inanimate objects like ‘the bread’ or ‘the socks’ is absolutely brilliant. I wasn’t sure at first as it’s so unique, but found myself looking forward to each new chapter beginning ‘we are the…..’

The themes are upsetting and I have to be honest it made me feel quite depressed and gloomy throughout the whole thing, which isn’t really what I look for in a book even though I know this is exactly what it was meant to do.

It’s so well written but brings up some disturbing subjects so please check trigger warnings. I have had issues with eating disorders within my family and it did throw up some feelings I didn’t want to have. It’s not just about that though, it’s about control and manipulation and coercion and free will and responsibility.

I actually wanted to weep at the ending, so I guess it hit the mark of where the writer wanted to take us.

For fans of this kind of thing, you will love it, for me it was too much. I am glad to have had the opportunity to read it though.

3.5 stars rounded up.

This story chronicles the aftermath of a woman's death and its impact on her the roommates. The structure of the story was so clever and well done! The use of various characters and inanimate objects as the narrator really showcased the author's storytelling skill. I was especially taken with the chapter where the story itself took a turn as the narrator. I've never read a book quite like this and I thought it was such a wonderful way to delve deeper into the story and these characters. The characters live an unconventional life that has devastating consequences but the author does marvelous job building their world so that you understand their motivations and why they might be drawn to this way of life.

Content notice: This book includes a girl with an eating disorder, adults with disordered eating, and coercive cult-like language.

I loved this book. The premise is that there is a very small "commune" where the members try to live on light for sustenance. When one of the members dies of malnutrition, the others are arrested to determine if they are culpable in her death. Each chapter of this short novel is told from the perspective of a different object or construct (e.g. one chapter is told from the perspective of the night, one from the perspective of a pen). This changing vantage point allows the author to reveal different parts of the story in interesting and engaging ways. The story is an exploration of the power of persuasive/manipulative language, the struggle for the personal desire for improvement, social pressure and personal control. The exploration is elegant, thoughtful, and caring. I wish I could read this book again for the first time.

I loved the point of view switches in each chapter--it recalled for me the Book Thief, where the narrator was Death, but the narrators were often something mundane, like the bread all of the main characters were refusing to eat.

This book was ultimately frustrating, but I think that was the point.