Stunningly simple. I loved it. I looked forward to reading it and dragged out finishing it just so I could savour it.

I say simple because this is just the story of a young woman and her mother communicating via Skype - the daughter having gone to study in Vermont and the mother remaining at home in Natal, Brazil.

The story takes place over five years with the daughter narrating the lion's share of the story as she finds her feet in an English speaking country, learning to cope with the cold and living in a shared home while her mother deals with an underlying illness and her only child being thousands of miles away. The mother takes over the narrative in the second half of the novel.

It is so simple but so beautiful. I read this while trying to imagine being that far from my own mother. Suffice to say I sobbed quite a bit towards the end of this book when the pair are reunited.

A beguiling tale. Highly recommended. I'd love to read more by this author.

Thankyou very much to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the advance review copy. Much appreciated.

Beautifully captures the poignant relationship between a mother and daughter separated by distance yet connected through technology. Set against the backdrop of a Vermont college, the novel explores themes of sacrifice, identity, and the bittersweet nature of growth as the daughter navigates her new life while her mother grapples with the challenges of staying connected. The intimacy of their Skype conversations reveals both the warmth and strain of their bond, as they share rituals that bridge the gap between their vastly different worlds. Readers will appreciate Lobato's lyrical prose and deep emotional insights, making this a moving read for anyone who has experienced the complexities of love and separation in the face of change.

Blue Light Hours (2024) by Bruna Dantas Lobato is a gentle literary fiction tale of an international student attending a liberal arts college in Vermont, USA. The title graphically captures the narrative of the lives of an unnamed international student and her Brazillian mother’s constant zoom chats, that inevitably begin with the question – what’s news? Their unspoken love, vastly different worlds and daily experiences, play out against the never-mentioned unlikely home return. A touching understated ode to international students and the world they leave behind, that delicately displays the loneliness and yet life bond connection to mother. A small book with an understated emotional power that makes for a four and a half stars read rating. With thanks to Grove Atlantic and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without any inducement.

Blue Light Hours, the debut novel of award winning translator Bruna Dantas Lobato (to be published by Grove Atlantic on October 15, 2024), is a compact study of a close mother-daughter relationship strained by separation when the daughter leaves her home in Brazil to attend college in the northeastern United States. While the mother is suddenly dealing with a very empty nest, the daughter is adjusting to her newly-independent life at college – another culture, country, continent, hemisphere away. Connected by the blue lights of their computer screens, mother and daughter make their way through this uncharted territory of a changed relationship.

Bruna Dantas Lobato writes beautifully, and her spare, atmospheric style is perfectly suited to this push-and-pull, letting go/holding on story of separation. Quiet, tender, relatable, and surprisingly compelling, I loved this slow burn of a book.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on October 15, 2024.

4.5 stars, rounding to 5.

OMG, why did I relate so much to a book despite not being in any kind of situation even remotely similar to the characters in this book? The story deals with loneliness and isolation and it just hit so close to home, I absolutely loved it. I couldn't even tell you what I thought was good about this so this is a review purely based on vibes.

Blue Light Hours was a bit of a slow burn, but it ultimately captivated me. Lobato's writing is beautifully introspective, delving into the complexities of memory and the passage of time. The story unfolds at a leisurely pace, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the protagonist's world. While some might find the lack of action a drawback, I appreciated the quiet power of Lobato's prose. The ending, in particular, left a lasting impression, reminding me of the bittersweet beauty of life's fleeting moments.

Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have such warm feelings for this book. It feels so intimate, like one of those late-night conversations where everything feels more tender, more honest. There's a quiet depth to it, and Lobato’s writing is such a breath of fresh air—breezy, yet profound. She captures the contemplative, softer moments of life so effortlessly. This book truly feels like a gentle reflection, something you’ll want to sit with long after finishing.

What a quiet, lovely, heartfelt little novel. I read it in one sitting, but it didn't feel rushed at all. In fact, I felt it luxuriated in some of the quiet moments to great effect, evoking loneliness, homesickness, gratitude, and even connection in turn. This novel captures the conflicting feelings that come with going away to school — and I only moved 100 miles away, nowhere near 4,000. Both the mother and daughter characters felt real to me, and as someone who has spent thousands of hours on family Zoom calls, their interactions felt very true to life. This novel absolutely belongs on your fall/winter TBR!

This is a beautifully observed novel about a close daughter and mother relationship. The daughter leaves Brazil to attend college in the United States and she and her mother connect by late night skype conversations. There is a poignancy to the loneliness that each faces as they live without the one person in the world that knows and loves them best. The first part of the book is from the daughter's perspective, the second from the mother's, and finally, there is a lovely section about their eventual reunion. I loved it.

This was a sweet, wholesome read about change, mother-daughter bonds, and home. I can’t imagine moving to a whole new country for school (which both my parents did) - I went a few states away & it was enough of a culture shock. I loved the perspective from both the daughter & mom’s point of view & how they both were sacrificing in different ways for each other. Now, I need to go call my mom.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic & NetGalley for the ARC.

A nice little slice-of-life that I think anyone who has lived far from home will see something of themselves in. Ultimately a little too sparse for my taste, though, but it's such a quick read that it's still worth one's time. (It did unfortunately include my top literary pet peeve: no quotation marks.)

As a second generation Brasilian America, this book holds a very special place in my heart. Bruna was beautifully able to capture the turmoil that accompanies following your own path and leaving a part of your heart thousands of miles away. Although, I was never fully separated from my immediate family aside from going to college in a different state, I related to the loss of a strong relationship with secondary family members such as my grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts that many people have the privilege of easily maintaining.

This book allowed me to see a bit more into what my mother had to go through and still goes through when she decided to move to America with her son, leaving her own mother, father and all she'd ever known. Often we fail to understand how truly lonely, excruciating, and heart-splitting it can be to follow through with the decision to move from home as much as it is freeing, exciting and rewarding.
I especially loved the focus of relationship in this novel -- at the end of the day home really is just where your heart is; and sometimes it is found under blue light.

I loved this book so much, and I hope that other's read it and understand a little more about the nuances of the immigrant experience.

Blue Light Hours
Genre: Fiction, literary fiction (book).
Rating: ★★★★ (4/5)

I thank NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with an advanced reader copy (ARC) of this book in return for an honest review.
***
"Blue Light Hours" was a beautiful novella. I loved the relationship between the protagonist and her mother, and the cultural aspects of the story were amazingly used, even when it didn't feel heavy. I'd recommend to students like me, who had to travel from their country to another. I found myself about to cry in some parts.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for an ARC of this book!

This novel is an emotional telling of the mother-daughter relationship. This story follows the communication and changes of a mother living in Brazil and daughter who has just moved to Vermont for college. While the prose feels at time minimal, it speaks to the subtle changes that come to our routine with time.

This book was so beautifully composed, it made me want to call my mom after reading. The writing style is compulsively readable, making this a very quick 1 day read. The meditative tone of this book makes the reader reflect on their familial past, and the sacrifices that are made in the present for the future.

One element that I really enjoyed about this was the matter-of-factness allotted to the school setting. There is not a lot of page space given to the curriculum at the school, but the author is able to depict the experience of attending school as a distant memory. This feels like a highly realistic portrayal of life at that age of life, which I found very convincing as a reader.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a contemplative read!

This book was incredibly touching! As a Brazilian preparing to move away from the country, this book hit really close to home!

The writing was so beautiful and so captivating, the pacing of the story was perfect, the settings and the characters… I couldn’t tell you a single bad thing about this book!

Blue Light Hours is a story about a mother and daughter living separately for the first time with the mother in Brazil, and the daughter in the U.S. to study. They keep in touch through Skype calls as they try to adjust to this new chapter in their lives—a change which can propel their lives forward or a change to resist to keep tending to attachments outgrown.

The story is a glimpse into familial codependency and guilt, and it struck my heart as the eldest daughter and—once I graduated—breadwinner of the household. These are the kind of stories I wish to find solace in these days, even if it seems impossible in a situation where one can either be the heartless prick or the pitiful masochist.

The premise of the story caught my interest, but the execution fell short of my expectations. The ‘Sally Rooney’-esque style of writing just did not do it for me. It felt incompatible with the prose, and the plot is almost nonexistent, though this I could forgive for such a short read.

The codependency felt almost unnerving at times, but it can be excused for a daughter in her freshman year, living in a whole new country with no connections. Overall, I don’t remember much about the story, but it got me thinking about the many forms of love, and how the prevailing one in Asian and Hispanic households, is the love that holds tight. I thought about how this is both a remedy and poison, and how we may spend our whole lives submerged in this love, circling between its two forms, holding us back, and in the end, for what?

Reading Blue Light Hours was like holding a mirror to parts of my own life, especially in the way it portrayed the complex relationship between mother and daughter. Although I’ve never been in the exact same situation as the daughter, the way the book captured the experience of growing apart from your mom while trying to reconnect through video calls really resonated with me. The mother’s constant check-ins, the barrage of questions, and the ever-present worry felt so familiar—It was almost like I was reliving my own memories.

The book is structured into spliced sections that swiftly show the progression of the daughter's relationship with her mother. The steady buildup of yearning, emptiness, and guilt was so skillfully written that it felt like my heart was being squeezed tighter with every page. So much so that I literally ended up crying twice while reading. It was just so painfully beautiful.

Overall, Blue Light Hours is a poignant and wonderfully crafted novella that touches on the nuances of long-distance mother-daughter relationships. Despite a few moments where the writing felt a bit too mechanical, the book’s emotional honesty and relatable experiences make it a beautifully honest read. It's the kind of story that stays with you, long after you've closed the final chapter.

Firts of all, thank you so much Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for this beatiful ARC. Out October 15th, 2024.

I just finished reading the book and immediately decided to write a review. The ending almost made me cry, not because anything terrible happened, but because it was full of so much love, hopes, and dreams.

This is a fairly short novel, but still powerfully written, even though at times it can feel like nothing much is happening. It focuses on the mother-daughter relationship and how they are trying to stay in touch for a very long time, being so far away from each other.

Sometimes we can blame technology, social media, etc. for taking away our “real life.” But after reading this novel, I became incredibly grateful to the creators of laptops and online calling because it helped our characters stay connected and be there for each other.

This book is heartwarming, full of immigration experience, and it will make you want to call your family, trust me.

A melodious peek into a mother-daughter relationship frayed by distance, and of the process of reweaving that tapestry with those we love most. Dantas Lobato is able to pack all this in in a lovely short read that flows wonderfully and plays around with who narrates. And all while also encapsulating through her writing how those moments of self-doubt when fully entering adulthood in the college years feel — with the added pressure of being from another country.

This work really resonated with me, having grown up with a single mom and also having been a Latin American international student at a U.S. university, but I'm certain this mellifluous work will enrapture others all the same.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.
“Blue Light Hours” is about a mother and daughter who are only able to talk to each other via Skype for several years after the daughter’s move from Brazil to the US for college.
Exploring themes of cultural differences, womanhood and loneliness, this book was sad at times but ultimately felt like a warm hug.