This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Amanda LaPera’s Allow in Light follows Nicole Wheeler, a girl who is forced out of her West Los Angeles childhood after her father’s business collapse sends the family to Lake Los Angeles, a desert town with no lake and no easy place for Nicole to belong. Her father’s drinking gets worse, and her mother’s quiet survival leaves Nicole watching adulthood with anger she cannot name. At school, she turns her sharp tongue into protection and treats beauty as proof she still has power, yet friendship keeps slipping through the cracks. By high school, Kiara’s arrival changes the friend group; Jake offers a kind of patience Nicole does not know how to trust, and a science class opens a path that might lead somewhere beyond the desert.
Amanda LaPera’s Allow in Light is strong coming-of-age fiction, and LaPera’s real skill is making Nicole’s defensiveness understandable while still letting the reader see why it hurts the people around her. That skill gives Jake’s birthday dinner an interesting angle, because the warmth of his family shows Nicole how unfamiliar ordinary kindness has become. It also represents what a healthy family relationship should look like, and as a mother, this particular scene broke my heart. LaPera also makes the desert part of Nicole’s inner life; the storm scenes and the nights at the Buttes make her isolation feel physical. I loved the friendship writing too, especially the way Carolyn and Kiara each have enough private life to make Nicole answer for herself in a new way. The result is a heroine who can be hard to like and easy to understand. Well written and honest, this is for readers who like coming-of-age fiction with heart. Very highly recommended.
