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    A Trick of the Light
    A Trick of the Light
    A Trick of the Light
    Audiobook4 hours

    A Trick of the Light

    Written by Lois Metzger

    Narrated by Walter Gray

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Mike Welles had everything under control.

    He was a good student, an outfielder on the baseball team, a good son, a loyal friend. But that was before. Now things are rough at home, and they're getting confusing at school. He's losing his sense of direction, and he feels like a mess.

    Then there's a voice in his head. A friend, trying to help him regain control. More than that: The voice can guide him to become better and stronger than he was before, to rid his life of everything holding him back. To figure out who he is again. If only Mike will listen.

    Writing with devastating power and precision, acclaimed author Lois Metzger gives us the story of one young man's battle with his own shadows—a spare, stark, and vital tale of the way in which the things we build to protect ourselves can threaten to destroy us.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 18, 2013
    ISBN9780062259387
    Author

    Lois Metzger

    Lois Metzger was born in Queens and has always written for young adults. Her novels include the acclaimed A Trick of the Light and Change Places with Me. She has also written two nonfiction books about the Holocaust and has edited five anthologies. Her short stories have appeared in collections all over the world; her writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, and The Huffington Post. She lives in New York City with her husband and son.

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    Reviews for A Trick of the Light

    4/5

    24 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      overall good book. It kept me entertained and had me wondering how it would end
    • 5/5
      A well written and poignant story. The narrator (the voice) is a very good idea and a different take in a novel. A Trick of the Light is quite an emotional read, but it's worth it. Everything about it is well done, mostly the terrible changes Mike go through... both psychologically and physically. It's realistic.

      I highly recommend it!
    • 4/5
      A Trick of the Light I'll admit that what first drew me to A Trick of the Light was that it dealt with something I haven't seen before. Books that deal with anorexia are almost always about females, but this one follows a male character. Even stranger, Lois Metzger chose to have anorexia as the narrator. The reader sees how it this disease becomes an all consuming entity, taking over from the inside out. Mike's story moves lightning fast, and I can't deny that I was hooked.

      I know it might seem off at first, but I truly believe that Metzger's choice in narrator was spot on. We all know many teens deal with self image problems. Mike feels like his life is falling apart and, when he meets the wrong girl, his image problems turn into something much more. His story turns ugly quickly as his own voice is drowned out by the one in his head. It was hard to look away as he lost himself to this aggressive disease, and his life spiraled out of his control.

      It was pretty amazing to me how well this story was told in such a short amount of pages. It doesn't go quite as deep into the consequences of anorexia as some other books. However it definitely skims the surface well enough to show how quickly the onset can be. It's a quick visit into the life of a person who was able to make it out of the abyss. As much as I would have liked to dive deeper, it was emotionally exhausting enough just to read Mike's story as it was.

      A Trick of the Light was a different read, and one that I'm glad is out there in the public eye. It's not often that you see a male portrayed in a book about anorexia, even though they suffer from it too. While short, it's well written and intriguing. I'd recommend you give it a read.
    • 5/5
      I don't get a feeling I got with this book very often. I was completely, excuse my French, mindfucked by this from the very beginning and sometimes I needed to take a break and process everything that I've read. It's unusual, strange, weird - however you want to call it - book and it takes some time getting used to it, or it did for me. But once I did, I couldn't keep my eyes off this book. It's a fast read, but so terrifying at the same time that it'll made you question everything that you've just read. Anorexia is an eating disorder that mostly gets younger girls, teenagers, and sometimes people forgot it can happen to males, too. This book shows perfectly how it can happen to anyone.

      Everything is straight-forward, bold and astonishingly honest. There is no sugar coating, everything is described in detail - Mike's mind, the voice in his head that's probably the most terrifying thing in the story, and his process to having anorexia nervousa, without him realizing it for the most of the book, which is not surprising. I liked that more than anything. It only made me want to finish it as fast as I did and I'm definitely not sorry for picking this book up and reading it in hours time. I'll most likely go back and read this over and over again. There is no way I could give it any less than 5 stars. It's just that good.
    • 3/5
      When it comes to eating disorders, we quickly think of girls. We hardly ever think of men having trouble with their appearance.Plot: Watching a young man spiral down the road of bulimia is hard. I have hard time reading about girls doing it. Mike thinks he can be in control of what he does to his body. The way he down spirals is something hard to watch. He pushes away everyone. From parents (the parents are crap anyway) to his friends.Family: The one thing that ticked me off the most about this book is the family. UGH! They are frustrating beyond belief. Not to mention they think of nothing but themselves. It’s no wonder this kid spiraled down with no one to ever catch him. Eating disorders: I think this book is very educational when it comes to a male point of view. Just like girls, guys too have problems with self-esteem. They just know how to hide it more. I’m glad that I got to journey though this. It will help me understand more.Overall, this is a good book. It’s move slowly in the beginning but the build up to final act of Mike admitting his problem is amazing. A Trick Of The Light is an good book.
    • 3/5
      Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.A Trick of the Light is one of those scary reads where you walk away with this huge sense of I don't know, understanding or something. But first things first-- I didn't relate to Mike (the main character), at all. I'm not a boy with anorexia, though, so I suppose that's all right. Mostly, his characters decisions just confused me. And most of all, I just think that the entire subject of this book went a tad over my head, which completely sums up my thoughts on this: over my head.I found that Mike's friendship with Amber only complicated things-- she was a bad influence, but I find that she gave the story a much bigger purpose. I don't really know how to explain it?The best part was definitely the point of view that it was told from; Mike's eating disorder is our main narrator, which gives the story a certain dab of uniqueness. All in all, A Trick of the Light is a book that left me feeling a bit shell-shocked.
    • 5/5
      I received an advance reading copy of A Trick of the Light, and was genuinely stunned by its accomplishment. It is fast-paced and gripping enough to appeal to teens. Deals with an eating disorder, so I think it will speak to a wide range of readers. The central character is a young man who is funny and heart-breaking at the same time. And it has a very cool, "tricky" narrator, which I won't spoil by revealing anything. Reminds of some of the new classics of YA such as I am the Cheese, Okay for Now, and Speak. I think this one is destined to win some big awards. And it is beautifully, seamlessly written.