A Certain Slant of Light (Light #1)

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

Helen has been a ghost for over a century. Unseen and unable to communicate with anyone, she attaches herself to various human hosts in order to fight back her own personal hell. But then one day a human boy sees her. It's Billy, but it's not really him; instead, a ghost named James has occupied Billy's body instead. Persuaded by James, Helen occupies the spiritless body of Jenny and finds herself able to touch and sense the world around her. She and James, now in human bodies, develop their romance.

But each teenager's family has problems, and it's up to Helen and James to figure out what happened and right it, so that the spirits of Billy and Jenny can come back. But what will happen to Helen and James when they succeed?

While the plot is incredible, I felt like there was something important missing, and that was characterization. I wasn't able to feel connected with any of the characters. It was like looking at several people's interconnected problems through a glass pane. Thus, sadly, this book did not strike me in any serious way.

Reader reviewed by Carmen

The only thing I could think of once I'd finished this book was "My God, that was beautiful".
Helen, Light, a spirit trapped in this world. She must cling to hostes in order to avoid the watery hell that awaits her. Why? What did she do to deserve that?
No one can see or feel her. Not even her hostes, though she longs for them to. This makes it a total shocker when she finds an average boy, about seventeen or so, looking straight at her.
She shrugs him off, convincing herself that it was just a fluke. But little does she know that one day soon she'll be falling in love with him.
I really don't know how to describe the story without giving too much away...But trust me when I say it truly is a remarkable book. In a word, it's a strugle. Emotionally and maybe even a little psychologically.

Hope you close the book thinking to yourself "My God, that was beautiful".

Always, Carmen

Reader reviewed by Kelsey

In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: for the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen--terrified, but intrigued--is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.


The beginning of this novel was really interesting and unique. The plot is so unusual and creative that it just draws your attention full on to this book. With the beautiful cover and plot I sure was drawn to it. And the beginning of the book met my expectations, highly. But then I got about a hundred pages into the book and it just turned. It was just to...weird. The things that go on when she is in the body she possessed is odd. The stuff that goes into her mind is strange. The ending was good but confusing.


The whole part that really kept me highly interested was Helen with James. I just wanted to skip all the parts in between. I also thought that the way Whitcomb had James go was a just not enough for the story. But I was still intrigued. Even though this book half disappointed me I still want to read Whitcomb's other books if she writes more novels.

Reader reviewed by ReaderGirl

The story begins with the narrator, Helen. A 20 year old girl who's made from light like a ghost. She wanders around on earth thinking that she's done some great sin in the past. Following her hosts, and never being able to feel. She's watched host after host die, and yet she still goes on. When she meets James, or Billy (the name of the body he's taken over), she falls in love and the whole no contact thing becomes a problem. So James helps her inhabit a body, only being human doesn't end up being as easy and she thought, and as she learns more and more about her old body and the new one she's inhabited she realizes her trouble has just begun. The girls she;s inhabited is named Jenny. Her parents are super religious, and wont let her have a boyfriend. So she decides to see him at school. Only her parents notice her sneaking around and get suspicious. And just when you think things can't get anyways...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Opinion on this book is not encouraging. Personally I found the sound of the narrators voice was good, and I liked the way it was written.... BUT I found the story really depressing and by the end I felt like I hated it! The characters were good but I felt the main characters didn't think through their decisions AT ALL, and they didn't really look for a body to take over that would work well for them. Also Billy had some issues that I didn't like. Anyways I was really disappointed... mainly because I like happy endings and this was not a book I felt had one.

I have to give it 2 stars.

*Reprinted with author's permission*

http://readergirlreviews.blogspot.com/

Reader reviewed by Kaycee Joy

 Helen has been Light for 130 years. For
those 130 years she has attached on to several hosts, never being able
to speak or be spoken to. She has went unseen for those 130 years,
until finally someone sees her. His name is Billy, but its really
another ghost named James in Billy's body. James gets Helen to find a
body she can take, which ends up being a girl named Jenny. Helen and
James fall in love but they body's they took are people with complicated lives, which they make more complicated.
They have to find a way to be together but return the bodies. They also
struggle with why they are still on earth and were not aloud to go to
heaven.
 It sounds weird like demonic possession or something but its not like that at all, its pretty gracefully
done. I enjoyed the ending with the real Billy and Jenny. There is a
good deal of religion in this book (Jenny's life), ( Im not a religious
person and dont like reading about it) but this was okay to deal with. 
I would recommend it for someone who likes very mild ghost stories and
passionate romance with a mix of teenage life. Very good book, absolutely not what I expected though.