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| A Certain Slant of Light | 
 enlarge | Author: Laura Whitcomb
Publisher: Graphia
Category: Book
List Price: $8.99
Buy Used: $2.90
You Save: $6.09 (68%)
New (38) Used (45) from $2.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  99 reviews
Sales Rank: 6954
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 061858532X
EAN: 9780618585328
ASIN: 061858532X
Publication Date: September 21, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Bent cover, and pages
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| Customer Reviews:
 Interesting take on the afterlife for older teens June 16, 2006
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
First of all, let me say that the person who rated it low for his own mistake of not realizing it was a YA book is wrong. You can't down a book for meeting the criteria of its genre. That's your fault. And the person who rated it low as a parent who didn't like the sexuality, understand this: the characters were not teenagers. They were using teenagers as vessels, but they were adults when they died and they'd been "around" for a lot longer than that. That being said, I still think this is for older teens (17+).
There are some interesting books that have come out recently that get people to question what happens to us when we die and how the decisions we make in this life affect that. A Certain Slant of Light does this in a very interesting and somewhat creepy way. If you want something for younger teens, check out Elsewhere.
Imagine punishing yourself for generations because of a mistake you thought you made. Imagine having to attach yourself to human beings to avoid the pain that you think you will endure in hell. Imagine getting close to these humans, only to see them leave you again and again as they LIVE and you do not. Now imagine feeling love but not knowing how to realize that love. If you had another chance at life, would you take it? At any cost? These questions and more are explored in the provocative tale A Certain Slant of Light.
Adored it..... February 28, 2006
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
I previewed this book to see if it was suitable for my 12 year old daughter (it was not). However, I loved it for myself. I will not recount the plot, but was amazed by this author's ability to keep me reading page after page anxious to know how the young lovers were faring, wanting to understand how they both died, why they hadn't achieved heaven, why the spirits who originally owned the bodies left them, and of course, how this fabulous novel would end.
I particularly enjoyed seeing a glimpse into the lives of evangelicals and the hypocrisy therein.
The writing was smart, the plot development was gripping, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
 A Certain Slant of Light July 20, 2006
6 out of 13 found this review helpful
A good book for a young adult or an interesting light read for an adult. Unfortunately, I picked this up at a popular bookstore because it was advertised for teenagers. I bought it for my sixteen year old daughter thinking that it would be appropriate. The B&N bookstore should not have labeled it "Teenagers" since the first time our heroine gets in a body she skips her class and has sex with her boyfriend in the auditorium..Great!!Just what I wanted my daughter exposed to....oh well. I liked it but not for her...Thanks.
Wonderful and much better than I expected!!! April 6, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I bought this book for my two older daughters to read due to the reviews and the subject matter being similar to other books they have enjoyed. However, I read the book before they did just to see what it was about, and I am so very glad I did! At the end I was just crying, but in such a good way.
I don't consider myself religious, more of an agnostic. Even though the book spoke about heaven, etc., it wasn't in such a way that made it overbearing. It actually questioned certain beliefs more than anything, so I did not think there were any sort of religious overtones in the book that tried to explain life, death, and what comes after in an arrogant, this-is-the-way-it-is-so-do-NOT-ask-questions-or-doubt-it-in-any-way tone.
What it was is an extremely touching, moving book with such a great conclusion. I most definitely did not think there should have been more, it was, as another reviewer called it, beautiful. It is an atypical love story which shows the power of forgiveness, all in a story that teens and adults can relate to.
Really, this is a wonderful book, you just have to read it. I know my children will love it, although since they are not adults, as the characters in the book are, they may not be able to relate to some aspects of the story, like how strong a mother's love is and why you would punish yourself for things you thought you had done wrong.
I hate to think there are people that think this book is only for older teenagers. If your kids are allowed out in the real world at all without earplugs and blinders, the sex, language, and drug references in this book are *not* going to surprise them. Sorry for having to say that, but it isn't cynicism, just unfortunately, reality.
 Not what I was expecting... October 31, 2007
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
I read this book because Amazon kept recommending it to me and because the premise sounded interesting.
The premise of the book is that Helen has been a ghost for 130 years; she remembers little more of her past than her name, how long ago she died, and the age at which she died. She also quickly discovered that she needs to cleave onto a host in order to avoid horrible searing pain. Yet she has not figured out how to continue on her journey to heaven beyond. Things all change when she is "seen" by another student in her host's classroom.
I didn't really like this book much. It was too much of a romance for me. I like my books with a little romance but also some action and plot. Initially it seemed like a really interesting idea for a story. It just degraded into too much romance. The two families involved were interesting but it seemed a bit too forced. I mean how would you get two characters involved with such polar opposite families? It was a bit too deliberate.
I was also both disappointed and interested in the ending. The book ended exactly how I expected a book about a ghost to end; there were no surprises. On the other hand it was nice to find out what had happened to Helen. This book was just too boring and predictable for my tastes; the quality of the writing was okay but I don't feel it offset the negatives of the book.
I read this book on the airplane; I don't think I would have finished it if I had been at home. I definitely will not read it again and it is in the "books to sell" pile on my desk at home.
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