This was a re-read for me. I wanted to make sure it was still as amazing I'd remembered and worthy of sending off for a gift-exchange. I'm pretty sure nothing like this book has ever or will ever be written again. It is so unique and special. And I still get teary reading it. I kind of hate the synopsis and back cover blurb because it gives the impression that the book is more camp than it actually is.

Light is about Kieran, an out and proud gay man, who has a loving relationship with his family, friends, community, God, and himself. He's also a psychokinetic telepath. Like every other year, he takes off work for Ottawa's Pride Week, but he finds himself disappointed when Pride Week is crashed by a toxic fundamentalist religious group. Not only, are they shouting insults from the sidelines of every Pride event, they're also wielding some sort of power that allows them to slice open Pride attendees. Kieran, the good-hearted soul he is, can't stop himself from using his weak psychokinetic abilities to step in and help. How can one person save something as big as Pride though?

Light is a coming out story in that Kieran is closeted when it comes to his abilities. It's the softest sci-fi, thriller you will ever read in that Kieran remains very human as he runs toward the danger and let's us in on the science of his abilities. It's a reluctant superhero origin story in that when Kieran first uses his abilities to help people, the people of Pride turn him into one. It's a commentary on religion in that Burgoine chose to make Kieran a believer in God trying to defeat other believers in God. It's even a commentary on capitalism. But most importantly, it's really just a love letter to queer folks. I think the fact that Kieran is so clearly loved by so many people, that his love for his community both endangers him and rewards him is what makes this book truly special.

I'm so excited to pass this on to another reader! ( )

Ugh. Just three stars. It was adequate.

I wanted to love this one. I love superhero novels. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the setting and the ... Well. Most of the characters. Most parts of the point-of-view character, Kieran. But his author failed him.

As I read, I reminded myself that the bad bits of this novel are at least six years out of date for the current state of this author. There's some baseline misogynistic nonsense I hope the author's since unlearned. There's dissing sex workers, as if massage therapists don't also use their bodies to make money, ditto. There's victim-blaming at the end that makes me outright angry. And there is this repeated reference to dark-equals-bad that tells me the author was still on the path out of internalized systemic racism. (Truly, we all are if we are paying any attention at all.) Older novels are products of their time.

However, my biggest problem with the novel is how stupid Kieran is. It's a fundamental kind of stupid, and that is the author's fault. The plot makes the character be stupid, and there's no excuse for not keeping events coming so fast that I could believe Kieran just could not figure it out in like, two seconds. ( )

This time around a rating of 3½ stars will be rounded down.

First off, I liked this book. I liked that the romance was sweet and not graphic, I liked that the characters involved were generally nice people who just klicked and there wasn't too much drama between them. It was nice. I made me aww at parts.

Secondly, the villain was well written. I hated him. I hated the bigoted hateful shit he was spewing and in several places I had a tough time reading through the things being said and thought and done. Because while there were telepathic and telekinetic abilities at play, the drivel being spouted was straight from present day society. Made me sick.

Now, if it was all so nice, why "just" three stars? Mainly because aside from the psychic abilities of the characters, there was nothing really original about this story. Even the plot twist was of the sort where I thought that was the logical thing to believe from the get go, and just felt like the main character was being a little slow on the uptake.

This was a good, quick read which was, admittedly, a lot heavier in subject matter than I expected, but nonetheless quite a light read. To use Goodreads' rating, I liked it, but I didn't really like ti. ( )

I absolutely loved Kieran! His little quirks, like the point system, was great. I wasn't sure who he was going to end up romancing, but the guy he picked was the perfect fit for him. I really enjoyed the story except for the dream parts. Could've done without those and had him meet Rachel a different way, but it was his learning time so I guess he needed them.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC. ( )