Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: I See the Light
SERIES: Elves After Dark
AUTHOR: Arden O’Keefe
PUBLISHER: KSL Publishing
LENGTH: 111 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 20, 2020
BLURB:
Heath had always been a misfit – a weirdo who went all over town in a tank top and shorts even on a coldest day; who claimed his dog could talk to him; who saw this blinding light every Christmas Eve coming from the woods behind his house that no one else saw.
Even his mother made all sorts of excuses to stay far away from him. If it had not been for his grandma – who did love him despite all his oddness, he would never have had anyone to call his own.
The night before Christmas, with the silliest plan in mind and his coward dog tagging along, he sets out to find the true source of the mysterious light he sees from his window. When he finds the cheerful bunch of elves gathered around the magical bonfire celebrating like kids high on sugar, Heath could not be more excited. Then, finding out that he is half elf and half human gives a meaning to his life; finally understanding the reason behind his weirdness.
Buddying up with a cute elf named Shea for the night to see what it means to possess the magic of an elf, Heath goes on a journey to spread the gift of happiness amongst those who have been good this year. But when the night comes to an end, he is asked to make a decision.
Whether to embrace the magic of an elf within him completely or become a plain, old human and go back to living an ordinary life; back in the world where he was never accepted and to the universe which didn’t have Shea in it…
REVIEW:
Heath has had a tough life. His father wasn’t in the picture and his mother subsequently abandoned him when he was a small child. Thankfully his grandmother was a lovely gentle soul who raised him and kept him safe. He struggled because of numerous ways in which he was perceived as different and because he claimed to see a light and a monster in the woods. While he was bullied, his grandmother always supported him.
Unfortunately his grandma has passed away a month before Christmas. He’s still struggling, but he love his job at the vet clinic and he’s able to support himself and his little dog Leo. Then after one more incident of cruelty he decides to follow the light on Christmas Eve to see what it actually is. One the way he finds his guardian elf Shea. Shea has bee watching over Heath since he was a child and he agrees to take Heath to the light – which turns out to be an elf village. There Heath meets the elf elders and discovers that his father was one of the elves, but since and elf and a human are forbidden to be together, he had passed away before Heath was born 🙁
During his visit to the elf village, Shea takes him on a trip to see his new charge now that Heath is all grown up. This is where the story takes a bit of a dark turn. The boy who Shea has been assigned has had a terrible life – abandoned as an infant, homeless, about to lose his only guardian. There is a plot afoot to put this boy into a much better situation but Heath is impatient and wants to interfere in ways that are against the elf rules. But will Shea stop him or help him? And when all is said and done, what will the consequences be for Shea and for Heath.
Hmmmmm. I’m actually a bit on the fence on this one. There is a very nice setup for Heath and why he’s obviously so different from his peers. The characters in this story, however, don’t seem very 3-dimensional. I didn’t find much nuance or complexity – it seemed like there were villains and heroes. Part of that of course is due to the length of the story, but I would have liked to have seen more in that regard with some sort of redemptive arc given some of the other parts of the story. I did like Shea and Heath separately quite a bit but I didn’t feel much chemistry between them, to be honest. The story takes place in one night and it’s obvious neither has any experience or really a clue about what’s going on between them. Finally, I had a little bit of a niggle around some of the Narnia-esque overtones to “rules” and the pronouncements in the ending, but that’s probably just me. As usual, YMMV. If you’re looking for a pretty quick read about a different take on elves and Christmas, pick this one up.
RATING: 
BUY LINK: