The Lightkeeper's Daughters by Jean Pendziwol Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

“War and death can silence the strongest of men.”- The Lightkeeper's Daughters, Jean Pendziwol

Though her mind is still sharp, Elizabeth's eyes have failed. No longer able to linger over her beloved books or gaze at the paintings that move her spirit, she fills the void with music and memories of her family—a past that suddenly becomes all too present when her late father's journals are found amid the ruins of an old shipwreck.

With the help of Morgan, a delinquent teenager performing community service, Elizabeth goes through the diaries, a journey through time that brings the two women closer together. Entry by entry, these unlikely friends are drawn deep into a world far removed from their own—to Porphyry Island on Lake Superior, where Elizabeth’s father manned the lighthouse seventy years before.

As the words on these musty pages come alive, Elizabeth and Morgan begin to realize that their fates are connected to the isolated island in ways they never dreamed. While the discovery of Morgan's connection sheds light onto her own family mysteries, the faded pages of the journals hold more questions than answers for Elizabeth, and threaten the very core of who she is.

This was kind of an impulse purchase, fueled by a Barnes and Noble gift card and an absolutely glowing Goodreads review. Well, I'm happy I didn't actually pay any money for it.

First things first, this book is not well written. It feels like a self-published novel, mostly due to how amateur the language was. Both Morgan and Elizabeth felt like cliches- the rebellious teenager and the wise old woman who sees the good in her, along with their strange connection. I was also annoyed by the extremely amateurish way Pendziwol added suspense to the novel, with every chapter ending with something like "but there was more to come" or something else along the same mystery-baiting lines. The writing isn't straight-up bad or comedy-bad, it's just amateurish and feels more like a first draft than the finished novel.

The characters are stunted by the writing. Morgan and Elizabeth could have been interesting characters, key word could have been, if it wasn't for the flat writing. Although, I'm not entirely sure that the characters biggest problem was the writing. I've seen many variates on both characters, mostly on writing websites like Wattpad. They're very one note, and not realistic at all.

One of the comparisons I saw that worked in this novel's favor was its comparison to a Jodi Picoult novel. I am not a big Picoult fan, but her books are easy to read and also you know what you're getting when you read one of her books. She's not a great technical writer, but she knows how to entertain you. These two do not compare well at all. If Picoult wrote this book, it wouldn't be the best book in the world, but it would be a solid 7 out of 10 or 3 stars. 

The best part of the book is the story, and also the fact that it's about lighthouses. I love lighthouses. But again, the story got bogged down by the writing. The manufactured suspense did not work in the story's favor. That and the fact that all the twists were absolutely inane. 

So basically, skip this one. The writing isn't even worth the price of your library card. I didn't hate it, but I didn't enjoy it at all.

4.5 out of 10