Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  A Surplus of Light

AUTHOR: Chase Connor

NARRATOR: Brian Lore Evans

PUBLISHER: The Lion Fish Press

LENGTH: 3 hours, 16 minutes

RELEASE DATE: December 12, 2019

BLURB: 

“He’s a psycho.” That’s what Mike is told when he asks who the kid is with the dark swoop of hair and eyes that look like icebergs floating in milk. From that moment, it becomes Mike’s mission to find out everything about this kid. The kid who can fight better than anyone, but doesn’t want to. The kid who is the greatest artist Mike’s ever met. The kid who only wants to be his friend during the lightest days of summer. The kid who tells him that being his friend at school will only ruin Mike’s reputation. Regardless of what the kid tells Mike, he doesn’t realize that summer is the best time–it has the most light–and it makes it easier for Mike to see who he truly is. And there’s no way Mike will back off once he sees this kid for who he truly is.

REVIEW:

A Surplus of Light is a breathtaking, viscerally sensuous account of two fourteen-year-old boys who meet at the town swimming hole. Mike first espies Ian on the bank of the creek, away from the other kids, drawing in his ever-present sketchbook. Ian is judged harshly – called a psycho – by the townspeople and has no shortage of false rumors surrounding him, but that doesn’t stop Mike from wanting to know everything about the fascinating, mysterious boy. Mike sees the real Ian like no one else and judges him on his kindness, intelligence and soul-baring art.

The story follows the boys over five summers as they come-of-age and learn more about each other while camping, hiking, hanging out talking, and swimming in the moonlight.

“Just one kiss.” Mike pleaded with me, falling to his knees in the water before me …

A mischievous grin bloomed, the blue light from the moon casting wicked, tempting shadows across his face. I looked down at him, less than four feet away from me, kneeling in the water. The moon smiled down at me, calling me a fool. Stars blink in disbelief as I lowered myself to my knees, sinking into the water, but didn’t move closer to Mike. I allowed myself to shiver slightly, now that Mike could no longer see my body.

“Come and get it then.” 

But despite the feelings developing, Ian continues to hold Mike at a distance, trying to protect him from his own bad reputation.

As the boys near graduation, they face their last summer together and Ian prepares to move from Texas to New York City to attend Columbia University. Mike agonizes as their time together comes to an end. As did I. My heart crumbled several times in sadness for Mike – and for Ian’s gut-wrenching home situation – but never more than near the ending which was despairing and tear-inducing. I lost all hope for Ian and Mike, now men of nineteen. Ultimately, A Surplus of Light has one of the most gratifying endings I’ve ever read. The more bitter the low, the sweeter the high.

The audio version is disappointing, though. Brian Lore Evans has a pleasant voice, good cadence, and a tone appropriate to the mood and emotions of the boys. The problem, and it’s a big one, is that he doesn’t differentiate between the voices of Ian and Mike. I had to struggle to discern which boy was speaking. His pauses between sentences were too brief, also. The listener needs a slightly longer break to absorb the story. It was distracting, annoying, and made me mad. This is the ideal story to just melt into and be transported to the lazy days of summer in a small Texas town, but I had to work to follow the narration when I should have been able to relax and enjoy the delicious storytelling.

I wish Evans had modulated his voice more to distinguish Ian and Mike. As it stands, I don’t recommend this audiobook; I feel listening to it degrades the book. I do, however, highly recommend A Surplus of Light in e-book form, which ranks high among my favorite MM books. It is a perfect, beautifully written, captivating tale of young love.

RATING:

Story

Audio

BUY LINKS: 

The Lion Fish Press

Amazon

Audible