Songlight Book Review
“We have to do more than survive. Fate has put us where we are and we must dare to act.”
Synopsis
Star-crossed lovers, against-all-odds friendship, and a brutal post-apocalyptic world make this first in a trilogy utterly unforgettable.
We’re two songs joined. And there’s a word for that. A harmony.
Elsa is used to hiding the most important parts of herself—her feelings for Rye, her distaste for a world ruled by men, and, most crucially, her gift of songlight. She buries that secret deep inside. In Brightland, those with songlight are called Unhumans and are abhorred. Rye is the only other person Elsa has known with songlight, and their shared bond has brought them together.
Elsa’s world begins to fall apart one desperate, heart-wrenching day and she doesn’t know where to turn until a girl appears before her. But the girl isn’t really there—her songlight has been drawn to Elsa’s frantic grief.
Elsa lives in a remote seaside village; Nightingale, her new friend, lives in a city hundreds of miles away with her father, a government official responsible for rooting out Unhumans. The two never expected to connect via songlight. But when they do, and when they realize the extent of their power, they’ll be thrust in the middle of a war that threatens their very existence.
From an award-winning screenwriter making her novel debut comes this powerful, page-turning trilogy perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir and Adrienne Young.
REVIEW
I don’t know what to say.
This was my 161st read of the year… and I think it just became my favorite. It’s not a “fun” read—in fact, much of it reminds me of the current state of the world, the dangerous direction we’re heading in, and the devastatingly sad effects of hate, but the concept of songlight, humanity’s resilience, and the potential for peace is so beautiful.
I will forever recommend this book.
Thanks to BookSparks for the gifted copy for review!
Original publication date was 3 September 2024.
Author Profile
My name is Moira Buffini and I am a dramatist, screenwriter, showrunner and most recently, novelist. My debut novel is called Songlight and is published by Faber.
I was born in England to Irish parents and wrote my first play aged fourteen. Since then I have written many plays, four of them for the UK’s National Theatre. I have also written plays for the Almeida and Kiln, and two of my plays, Dinner and Handbagged, have transferred to London’s West End. As a screenwriter, I have written four feature films (Jane Eyre, Tamara Drewe, Byzantium and The Dig). I also co-created and was showrunner on three seasons of Hulu’s Harlots.
