All the Little Lights

I do alot of driving, so listened to the audio version, and let me tell ya, there were several times I didn't want to turn it off because I was hooked! Such a heart warming love story with a great twist at the end!

Holy unexpected twist! I didn't expect that! This book was good fun beginning to end. I had a hard time putting it down.

Whoa!! I couldn't put down this story once I started reading it. But what really shocked me was the ending. I definitely recommend reading this book!Catherine Calhoun was born in a town where people hated her mother's family. Her grandparents were very wealthy owning half of the town, then after losing everything they were hated. She meets Elliot Youngblood, her neighbor's nephew the summer of the year she was 15 years old. In truth he's been coming to visit for years, but he never had the nerve to introduce himself to her. Elliott's father is an abusive alcoholic and he spends summers at his aunts to avoid the fighting at home.That summer they are inseparable. He keeps her away from her house and her parents fighting until dark every night. The day before he's supposed to leave his mother shows up early when Catherine's father is found on the floor dead of a heart attack. Elliott has no choice but to leave without saying goodbye to her.Two years later, Elliot moves to Oak Creek to be with Catherine and to finish his senior year of high school. He knows it will take time for her to forgive him for leaving, but he's not giving up.Catherine has a secret she's keeping from everyone in town, no one can come inside her home anymore. He mother is mentally unstable and ill. Catherine went from a child to the caretaker fast, but no one can really know how bad it is.But when Elliott is accused of a terrible crime, Catherine will do anything to save him. Including turning her back on her mother.An amazing story! A must read!!

When two young outcasts forge a fast friendship in a small deteriorated town there relationship is tested numerous times with bullying, fighting, and secrets.Catherine was a stubborn isolated character who ostracized herself. She pushed people away including Elliot. She was harboring a secret.This was a young adult second chance friendship to loveship.I was first introduced to Jamie McGuire with the release of Beautiful Disaster. I was extremely excited to see a book unrelated to that series. I really wanted to love this book, but I only liked it. Given the outcome of this story I’m disappointed that I couldn’t love it because that ending explained so many things, yet the delivery kept me from loving it the way I should’ve.I got tired of reading about the mean girls bullying Catherine. Then the weird vibes from the Bed & Breakfast house that her mother insisted on establishing left me hanging one too many times. I felt the excuses kept piling up with Elliot’s popularity, with his nationality, with Catherine’s mother, with the classmates, and the houseguests. It all became too much.Narrators: Karissa Vacker was the female narrator who performed Catherine’s point of view. Darrell Dennis was the male narrator who performed Elliot’s point of view. This was a dual point of view audiobook meaning all scenes were read by one narrator whether the scenes were male or female characters. I enjoyed Karissa’s performance, her tone of voice suited Catherine’s character. Darrell on the other hand did a good performance, but I wasn’t envisioning Elliot’s character with his tone of voice. I preferred listening to Karissa.Overall: I felt the story was unnecessarily lengthy. I understand developing the characters and building a comfortable friendship of trust, but this went beyond the call of duty. The delivery of information was vague in some parts and I realize why after finishing. Im not understanding why Jamie made it a point to state Elliot being a Cherokee Indian. Nothing became of this other than some ignorant comments. I kept waiting for something pivotal to happen regarding his nationality as if it held some relevant importance.The delivery of this story had its ups and downs. I enjoyed the first 10% and the last 25% of this book. The rest was slow. I hate these type of books where I wish the delivery was done differently. I don’t like how the last 5% of the book does a grand finale of fireworks. Had the rest of the book matched the excitement I felt at the end I would have felt differently. It’s bitter sweet to think how this story went from worrying about being friends with a Cherokee Indian guy to him being accused of hurting a known bully.Story: Catherine was stuck in a life created by her unstable fragile mother. It’s her senior year of high school and she can’t wait to leave this town. She has responsibilities keeping her from leaving. Elliot was the bright light that gave her hope. He wanted to protect her from the life her mother demanded of her.

OMG! This was such an interesting find. I thought I was only reading a sample and kept waiting for the sample to be done to decide if I wanted to buy the book lolJamie McGuire created an amazing story. It deals with small town bigotry, mental health issues, love, support, perseverance, and mystery. The whole time, there’s a huge mystery that keeps the story moving and can be a bit taxing on the nerves but since there’s so much going on that it doesn’t come across as a bad thing. The big reveal is such a huge shocker, I really had no idea that the story was heading that way.Elliot is such a great character. Wise beyond his years. Forced to be wise beyond his years because of the color of his skin. He’s so sure of his beliefs that no one can make him change his mind. Catherine is also forced to act beyond her age because of her family situation. The heaviness of their lives draws them together. When life gets in the way and keeps them apart, Catherine is devastated and thinks that it’s her time of most need but little did she know that her real time in need was yet to come.Their journey and the support they provide one another is such a beautiful thing to see, especially for two teenagers. They really do get through the worse of things together. Once the HUGE mystery is revealed, all that Elliot cares about is that Catherine can start to heal and finally out herself first.Absolutely loved this story. Finishing the book left me reeling. The big reveal is just that good and unexpected. And trust me, I tried to figure it out all along the way!

I wasn’t exactly sure where this book was heading with the goings on at the Juniper but I wasn’t expecting that.I wish there was more after; what happened with everyone at school? Mr and Mrs Mason?

This absolutely wonderful author never ever fails to deliver an outstanding storyline. We have several taboo subjects interwoven around young adult drama, love and bitchness. One of many being psychotic behaviour, emotional abuse, racism, and alienation. Elliott is a very persevering individual who befriend Catherine. She has an incredibly hard and taxing life. She has loss, town dislike and an ability to not make or trust people, due to family history and commitment. Elliott is used to being different in some circles, but unfortunately does have anger issues both learnt , observed and personally felt. There is such intrigue in this novel. I never saw half of what events occurred, with devistating circumstances. A fabulous novel, very descriptive with larger than life, believable characters.

This was such a gripping story that had the right amount of romance and edge, to keep the reader interested and full of questions. Only reason I’ve given this 4 stars and not 5, is because I did find it dragged on a bit and maybe was a bit slow to start with. I also took a while to read it, which made the excitement waver slightly. However, the twists and turns were unexpected and it’s almost like I was reading two different books. The first half was centred around forgiveness and the growing relationship between Elliot and Catherine and then the second half takes a dark turn with an air of mystery and intrigue. The ending was the showstopper for me because I had come up with a million theories and was completely wrong on all levels. The way this was written is why the concept worked. For the writer to think of this idea and make it flow so effortlessly, is a hard thing to achieve. I found that my brain had to catch up with everything that was going on and I couldn’t believe the huge twist. It left me feeling uneasy and amazed at the same time. I would recommend reading this. It’s not like anything else I’ve ever read and I bet you won’t be able to guess that ending. WOW!

This book was really well written and loved the story line and where it was going. The characters were easily connectable and although young adult isn't always my favourite genre I did enjoy this book BUT ----I did think it was really too slow getting started and revealing the answers to the plot was left way too late for me, revealing it earlier would have given the book so much more excitement and anticipation which it lacked at times. Let me just say that although I felt this it didn't stop me wanting to carry on and keep reading until the very end.Elliot I absolutely loved, such an amazing young man, full of true loyalty and devotion for Katherine that never ever wavered. Katherine was so frustrating at times that I wanted to give her a good shake to wake her up; I wavered between wanting to slap her and hug her, my emotions were all over the place. This story is an eye opener that's for sure and has lots of twists and will have your mind spinning with all the unanswered questions that will be buzzing around your head.One thing I didn't see coming was that ending !!! Totally floored me to be honest, I had my suspicions but I was way off.Good book that I recommend you to read for the feelings alone !!!

Holy hell what a read!I honestly didn't know what to expect when I started this book as I hadnt read the blurb or anything about it so at first it had me guessing and slightly confused to be honest but once I realised there was something strange going on it had my head guessing constantly and I still didn't guess what the twist was!! I thought of every but what happened hahaI love that it was a YA read as I prefer loads of story as it's always jammed packed with details and it keeps you hooked.So this story is about Catherine and Elliott who meet and bond over the fact that both sets of parents love to argue and they feel lost and rejected so the bond between them grows quickly.Elliott is staying with relatives and after being forced to go home when Catherine is going through a traumatic experience it breaks the bond between them and this starts the journey of them trying to them their relationship back on track but knowing that Catherine is keeping a secret threatens to stop them at every turn.Well written story that keeps you hooked I would see recommend to everyone!

I’m a huge JM fan, with so much love for her way with words, so when I saw this book I decided to buy it & go in blind ~ I didn’t even read the blurb lol.So a huge part of me is pleased that’s how I fell into it, if I had read it & other reviews, I may have started reading it with options already formed & an idea on how it was going to play out.Elliot & Katherine we’re fascinating. What started as a very gorgeous young love lost, it turned into an almost thrilleresque, dark, twisted, kindle gripper, with great plot twists, character developments & one helluva ending, that made it all worth while.It is different & for me was a book of two halves, maybe that’s why it worked.. because just when you think you know what your getting... BAM, all that’s gone before changes behind the closed doors of one very disturbed B&B!