The Lightkeepers: A Novel

This book, though not perfect, is nevertheless fascinating and really unusual. The setting has a personality of its own, as strong and intense as the human and animal characters. And this is the most unique thing - the author has somehow given the biologists, the fauna, and the islands themselves equal weight in the story. I liked it!

Strangely compelling, a story comprised of distant, detached characters and an unforgiving desolate environment. I'm not sure what the author is attempting to say about humans, but it isn't uplifting. This is well written and unsettling. My favorite character was Oliver the baby octopus (I think that sums up the appeal of the human characters ).

This author is a genius (play on words intended). A plot that shouldn't have interested me, guarded characters, microscopic study of a desolate location, and a mostly bleak mood, yet I was totally drawn in. The writing itself is poetic and the insights are profoundly universal (or perhaps universally profound ). I am still in its spell after finishing it. I loved every word of it.

I LOVED this book! Very original storytelling and elegantly woven together. If you like well written atmospheric thrillers this book is a winner. Also the book reads well and the pacing is just right. Atmospheric setting on the Farallon Islands makes this a truly unique setting.

The imagery I could visualize in my head was unbelievable - I felt like I was actually on the Islands. Ms. Geni's descriptive, detailed writing is a breath of fresh air to me and kept me engaged through the entire book. I wanted to keep reading and reading. A wonderful plot set against the beautifully brutal conditions of the Farallon Islands. The ending did have quite the surprise tho I had guessed part of it about halfway through the book.

Lyrical writing, but slow in parts. I got tired of her going on and on in letters to her mother. There is one death too many - unnecessary and really depressing. I think that part ruined the whole book for me. I probably would have rated it a 4 otherwise.

Great read. I enjoyed learning the history of the Farallon Islands, the wildlife descriptions were fabulous and I was emotionally touched reading about Miranda and her relationship with her mother. I highly recommend this book and would definitely read more by this author.

While written very well, the plot is lacking emotion and any semblance of real excitement until the last few pages. The book is advertised as a ghost story, which I would call false by all accounts. The "plot twist" is easily determined half way through the book and buttoned up carelessly in the epilogue. The only reason I finished the book is because of the author's clever wording.