Lumière

The Illumination Paradox, Book 1

By: Jacqueline E. Garlick

Narrated by: Sarah Coomes

Even in a land of eternal twilight, secrets can't stay hidden forever.

Seventeen-year-old Eyelet Elsworth has only one hope left: to find her late father's most prized invention, the Illuminator. It's been missing since the day a mysterious flash wiped the sun from the sky.

Living in darkness is nothing new to Eyelet. She's hidden her secret affliction all of her life—a life that would be in danger if superstitious townspeople ever guessed the truth. Orphaned when her mother is executed for a crime she did not commit, Eyelet sets out to track down the machine—her one and only chance at a cure.

Alone and on the run, she finally discovers the Illuminator—only to witness a young man stealing it. Determined to follow the thief and recover the machine, Eyelet must venture into the deepest, darkest, most dangerous part of her twisted world.

©2015 Jacqueline Garlick (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved

wow

amazing story loved it. it was different from most stuff I read which I like cause it helped me escape into this world

Constant screaming

The story itself was interesting, if lacking in substantial information about the world the characters inhabit. The character, Urlick, lives in a fantastical hideaway, with secret gardens, laboratories, and crazy gadgets the main character, Eyelet, can't resist touching and either breaking or harming another person with them. I found her to be a charmless character, acting irrationally and rudely in almost every interaction.

As for the performance, it is... loud? I know the reader has to perform what is written, but my goodness, how many times are various characters going to scream another one's name? Also, if two characters are only speaking to each other, do they need to say each others' names so often? "Urlick, look at this!" "What, Eyelet?" You guys are the only ones in the room--who else would you be talking to?!

In short, I wish there was more world and character building, and less screaming.

Decent YA, Irritating Pacing

I initially read this book, not listened to it, and bought the audiobook version because I thought it was so entertaining. This is one case where the audiobook was not better for me than reading.

It's all to do with the pacing of the narration. There's long pauses, and the reading speed is excruciatingly slow or words are drawn out liiiikkkkeee thiiiiiiisssss (an effect used often). This is distressing because the narrator actually has some pretty great voices. She can speed up at some points, and it is good when this happens.

Anyway, I think if they just re-edited the audiobook so that it was a consistent reading speed, it would be fine.

If this sort of thing doesn't bother you, I recommend you check this book out. It's got a grungy-carny vibe going on that is absolutely unique. Or, if you read, you might give the print version a shot.