Light from Distant Stars: Book Review with Revell Reads

About the Book:

Title: Light from Distant Stars

Author: Shawn Smucker

Genre: Magical Realism/Contemporary Christian Fiction

Release Date: July 16, 2019

When Cohen Marah steps over his father’s body in the basement embalming room of the family’s funeral home, he has no idea that he is stepping into a labyrinth of memory. As the last one to see his father, Cohen is the primary suspect.

Over the next week, Cohen’s childhood memories come back in living color. The dramatic events that led to his father being asked to leave his pastoral position. The game of baseball that somehow kept them together. And the two children in the forest who became his friends–and enlisted him in a dark and dangerous undertaking. As the lines blur between what was real and what was imaginary, Cohen is faced with the question he’s been avoiding: Did he kill his father?

In Light from Distant Stars, master story weaver Shawn Smucker relays a tale both eerie and enchanting, one that will have you questioning reality and reaching out for what is true, good, and genuine.

Book Review:

My first thought was that the plot was unexpected. The second was that I didn’t care.

Light from Distant Stars is a book you’ll want to savor. You can’t rush through it. If you do, you’ll miss something important. Think of it as taking a long stroll through the park. You want to see, hear, and smell everything. You can’t do that if you run willy-nilly down the path. Slow down and enjoy the beauty.

Pay attention to the clues. While the chapters alternate between Cohen as an adult and as a child, they are both important. What we go through as children shapes who we become as adults. Cohen has a deep guilt from a young age. A guilt he can’t shake that drives him to confess over and over again.

How often does that happen to us as adults? You’re not really responsible, but you can’t shake the feeling of guilt. What could you have done different? What if? Those questions can drive a person mad given the chance, and I feel that’s what Light from Distant Stars is alluding to.

At first, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this book. As I said, it’s a slower read, but it is a journey well worth taking.

I received a copy of this book from Revell Reads. I was not required to leave a positive review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.