Books are food for my soul! Pull up a beach chair and stick your toes in the sand as the Jersey surf rolls in and out, now open your book and let your imagination take you away.

Friday, January 11, 2019

Lights On The Sea by Miquel Reina (Book Review)



Lights On The Sea by Miquel Reina
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Publication Date: September 25, 2018
Format: Paperback - 272 pages
               Kindle - 7742 KB
ISBN: 978-1503903203
ASIN: B07CWS1F7S
Genre: Fantasy / Adventure



Buy The Book:
Amazon  (Free on Kindle Unlimited)



Book Description:


In this riveting debut, prize-winning artist and filmmaker Miquel Reina maps out ambitious and fantastical new territory in a novel about a couple holding on for dear life as their world takes an extraordinary fall…

On the highest point of an island, in a house clinging to the edge of a cliff, live Mary Rose and Harold Grapes, a retired couple still mourning the death of their son thirty-five years before. Weighed down by decades of grief and memories, the Grapes' have never moved past the tragedy. Then, on the eve of eviction from the most beautiful and dangerously unstable perch in the area, they’re uprooted by a violent storm. The disbelieving Grapes' and their home take a free-fall slide into the white capped sea and float away.

As the past that once moored them recedes and disappears, Mary Rose and Harold are delivered from decades of sorrow by the ebb and flow of the waves. Ahead of them, a light shimmers on the horizon, guiding them toward a revelatory and cathartic new engagement with life, and all its wonder.

Wildly imaginative, deeply poignant, and entirely unexpected, Lights on the Sea sweeps readers away on a journey of fate, acceptance, redemption, and survival against the most rewarding of odds.



Praise For Lights On The Sea:

"Miquel Reina's Lights on the Sea is an absolutely lovely, beautiful novel with a dreamy, fable-like quality that will appeal to readers. Fans of Life of Pi will love this novel." – Kristin Hannah, NYT bestseller author of "The Nightingale"

"An enjoyable, finely written fantasy tale." – Kirkus Reviews

“This beautiful, unusual tale explores the healing power of love and the magic that exists in our everyday lives, even when we don’t know how to find it.”
– Jill Santopolo, NYT bestseller author of "The Light We Lost"



Book Excerpt:

Click on the link to preview the book excerpt: 




Book Trailer:







Book Review:

In his debut novel, Lights On The Sea, author Miquel Reina weaves a wonderful fantasy / adventure tale that takes the reader on an emotional journey.

For thirty-five years, Mary Rose and Harold Grapes have been living an isolated life in a house built high on Death Cliff overlooking the ocean above the seaside town of San Remo de Mar on Brent Island. This self-imposed isolation came about from the grief and loss of their eight year old son Dylan, who had drowned in the ocean during a terrible rainstorm. But now the retired couple are being forced to leave their house due to the erosion of the volcanic rock foundation that leaves the house precariously sitting on the edge of the cliff. The night before the Grapes were to leave the house, a terrible rainstorm occurs just like it did thirty-five years ago, and a thunderous lightning bolt strikes the house, causing the house foundation to break free and free-fall into the ocean. This bolt of lightning would set off an unexpected chain of events that would cast the elderly couple on a personal journey as their house floats to unknown destinations on the sea. What will become of the terrified retired couple lost at sea? 

I generally do not read fantasy / adventure books as they are not one of my favorite genres to read. But I was pleasantly surprised to find myself drawn into the Grapes' story, and their harrowing journey as their house floated on the open sea. The reader will experience an emotional gamut of feelings as they follow the horrific challenges and trials and tribulations that the Grapes dealt with as their house floated through a variety of weather conditions, you can't help but wonder how they were able to survive. The author does an amazing job of describing their journey in a way that makes you sit on the edge of the seat and keeps you turning the pages to see what will happen next. While I found myself really engrossed in their incredible journey, I couldn't help but come to realize that the author wrote a tale that is so much more than your normal fantasy / adventure story. It is a complex story with many layers that has a powerful message that will make the reader pause for a moment and ponder the lessons that the Grapes learned from their personal journey, and how it may relate to their own lives. The author interweaves the Grapes' past memories with the present, and as the details of their life story are revealed, the reader will come to understand the most important life lesson the Grapes had to learn: that life is a journey that should be lived to the fullest, and no matter how easy or hard times may get, never give up, always strive to make your dreams come true, because in the end the only reason we are given life is to live it! 

This is a beautifully well-written and poignant story from beginning to a very unexpected and surprising ending. I would definitely recommend everyone read Lights On The Sea, you won't regret it!


RATING: 4 STARS 






About The Author




Barcelona-born Miquel Reina defines himself as a dreamer and a fighter; from a young age, he was drawn to the creative life, studying design and cinema before building his reputation as a filmmaker and graphic artist. His work in advertising won him several awards, including the prestigious Bronze Sun at Spain’s Festival de San Sebastián in 2011, and in 2014, his music video “Dead in the Water” was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. Reina has lived in Vancouver, Canada, since 2016, working for a video production studio and dedicating his free time to his most gratifying passion: writing. Lights On The Sea is his first novel.


Author Website
Amazon Author Page
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Instagram
YouTube
Goodreads





1 comment: