Reviewed by Marcella
TITLE: The Firefly
AUTHOR: Laury A. Egan
PUBLISHER: Spectrum Books
LENGTH: 279 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 12, 2023
BLURB:
1964: A dark summer night on a still black lake. A lantern is lit at the end of a dock. A blond girl in white appears and begins to dance, her body illuminated like the fireflies surrounding her. A second girl emerges from a house and is beckoned forward. The two meet, swim, and then kiss. Thus begins an ethereal romance and a young woman’s journey into adulthood.
REVIEW:
This book was certainly a ride. We followed Robin Bennet throughout her life, starting at 14 years old, all the way to being a proper grown-up. As a reader, you get to see the impact one fateful night can have on a young person and how it shapes someone’s life. It was definitely intriguing to see how Robin went through life and shaped her actions around everything that happened in 1964, which you, fortunately, get to read in the first few chapters.
I quite enjoyed that the story was told from the third perspective, yet with all the insights into Robin’s thoughts and feelings. This gave the use of her parents’ first names instead of ‘dad’ or ‘mom’ a different layer, it shows Robin’s emotional state towards them, yet does not feel misplaced due to the third-person perspective. This was really thought through, similar to all the details that went into Robin’s profession. The details about the locations and the office, together with the terminology were impressive to read.
At the same time, it was fun to read the snippets as Robin grew older, how she made certain choices due to the pressure society can put on people, and how that shaped her connection to people, both straight and queer.
However, I missed the actual romance. Yes, it is romantic that Robin never stopped thinking about her lover all those years ago, yet most of the story was more drama and depression than hopeful romance. It was certainly not what I expected to be reading. Not a lot happened, and what happened was mostly gloomy until the final few chapters. This really took away from my reading experience, making it difficult to read through the entire book. Yes, the end was worth it, but the road towards it was a hard one.
RATING: 
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