This novel started out incredibly strongly, both in the way it was written and in it's opening scene of the passion of young artists.

Although the rest of the novel is written just as lyrically the story looses traction pretty quickly as plot is lost in decorative descriptions of feelings and thoughts of the main character Lux.

Though I was intrigued to find out what had happened to the protagonist - the journey to that discovery mostly fell flat through one dimensional events meant to set her back and cause a reaction. When events finally do come to fruition it was one of the biggest disappoints. The discovery only helped to distance me further from the story and the characters instead of drawing me nearer.

Although they weren't given too much substance there was something I really liked about all the subsidiary characters, from Lux's two best friends, to her parents and her therapist. Also Loved the idea of the kids who grew up too quickly as they were taught to give into the arts, and the adults who encouraged them to do so.

Overall by the end I wasn't quite sure what the conclusion was supposed to mean, how things were resolved -
if they were resolved, and what the point of it all was. The heart of the story felt misplaced.

I started reading this book, but it wasn't my cup of tea

The writing style of this book was so amazing but I’m not sure how I feel about this book overall. This story follows Lux whose world revolves around art. She attends Richdeane art school. But something goes awry. She ends up in a hospital with no knowledge of what happened to her and what happened in her summer. Because of this traumatic event, she becomes very selfish and so I couldn’t connect to Lux as well as I wanted to. However, when dealing with mental illness, the person with said mental illness does become very selfish so I’m glad that part of it was portrayed but it just didn’t make for a good protagonist sadly.

3 out of 5 stars

When Netgalley sent me an email saying I could have a copy of this, they sold it to me by including a quote from Louise O'Neill (who I adore) and by saying this book was what YA would be if Sylvia Plath wrote it and well I am a girl with a Sylvia Plath tattoo so naturally, I had to have it.

These are the things Lux knows:
She is an artist. 
She is lucky. 
She is broken.
These are the things she doesn't know:
What happened over the summer.
Why she ended up in hospital.
Why her memories are etched in red. 
Desperate to uncover the truth, Lux's time is running out. If she cannot piece together the events of the summer and regain control of her fractured mind, she will be taken away from everything and everyone she holds dear.
If her dreams don't swallow her first.

So, is this Sylvia Plath-esque?
In a way, yes. The way that Lux's trauma and confusion is portrayed is very Bell Jar, her despair and her desperation to understand and go back to the party girl she once was rather than this new, unfamiliar version of her that has heightened senses and anxiety. The basic premise of this book is that party girl Lux, who attends an exclusive school for aspiring artists, goes to a party and then wakes up in hospital with no recollection of how she got there, only that she now seems to have synesthesia, suffers from intense paranoia and anxiety and gets intense migraines. Desperate to figure out what happened to her and get better, Lux convinces her parents to let her go back to school and normality but she knows she's on borrowed time to figure out what is going on.

Guys, I bloody loved this. Well... Most of this.
Like, Lux's fears and thoughts and her feelings of being trapped in her own mind dripped from the pages, the puzzle unravels slowly and has a satisfying conclusion. It's also a story I've not come across before and left me, as the kids say, shook.

And now for the bits I didn't like in the object of fairness - though I had become invested in Lux and her friends and I wanted to know how they fared after graduation, part two does seem a little unnecessary in places. It felt a bit like bits of it was there to fill out the word count rather than furthering the story, which was disappointing after such an enjoyable read.

Let me leave you with one final thing, I really loved this book and I am so excited for further books from Lydia Ruffles just because I loved her writing style so much, there was something so ethereal about the way Lux's story was told and it really dug its way under my skin and left me a little book hungover.

I think this gets a Seal of Approval - the first of the year!

Thank you to NetGalley.co.uk for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

In all honesty, I picked up this book because in the email I had received about this book, it appeared to be marketed at fans of Sylvia Plath's [book: The Bell Jar|6514] which I had enjoyed. I was expecting to be left disappointed by this novel because I have found if you compare a book to The Bell Jar the novel ends up falling short of expectations. Early on in the book, I had forgotten about the comparison, I could see why this novel was compared to Plath's work, but this changes as the book goes deeper into the mystery aspect of the storyline.

I loved the main character and the fact she is such an unreliable narrator, this adds to the wonderful mystery of the overall plotline, the character wasn't portrayed as perfect, but to me, I think that is excellent writing and just made want to carry on with the novel.

This is a good book, but I have to admit, it didn't grab me like I thought it would. I found it hard to like Lydia, but then she didn't really like herself so maybe that was it. It did keep me guessing and it is beautifully written. I just struggled with it, and found it hard to read. Sorry.

I received a free ebook copy of this from Netgalley. Thankyou to both Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book! My opinions are still honest and my own.

This book is for readers who like beautiful writing. This style is full of very imaginative metaphors and builds and creates ideas in a stunning way. As a book about artists, it fits the plot and subject so well and brings this story to life.
The Taste of Blue Light follows Lux, who attends Richdeane, an elite art school with a very liberal attitude. Lux lives in a world where art is very important in society. She has just suffered a traumatic incident in which she awakes after a party in hospital with severe physical and mental issues, and no idea what happened to her. We follow her as she navigates how her life has been affected by this, how her relationships with those around her change, and she progresses towards solving the mystery of how she ended up this way.
Lux is a very human character, and I mean this in that she can be selfish, makes some bad decisions and can hurt those around her. She is realistic and imperfect, and I love flawed characters who aren't made out to be perfect people. Lux deals with substance issues and I think the result of this plot point was heartening to read. It isn't glossed over or forgiven. I cannot speak as to how accurate the portrayal of her mental health issues are but I think it was a convincing look at how chronic pain can affect day to day life and how repressed memories influence how she treated those around her. Speaking of those other characters, some of those were fantastic. There are some amazing female friendships in this, a great relationship with a mental health professional and an initally rocky relationship with her parents that doesn't turn into an 'all adults are awful' trope, like what frequently seems to happen in novels of this genre. There are romances, but they're side plots and I did like one of the love interests, who was respectful and sweet. This book also shows an unsuccessful relationship, and how we realise that a person isn't right for us.
The mystery of what happened to her was well done and the resolution entirely unexpected. I loved the setting of Richdeane and the description of art. I haven't read a book with such a strong focus on art and wide variety of what art means! It includes things like cooking and writing. The conclusion of this story was perfect, with Lux's journey clearly not over, but with her being in a place where we as readers feel hope that her story will have a happy ending. Lydia Ruffles will be an author that I will be keeping a keen eye on, and while I cannot say this book entirely blew me away, it is one I will think about for a very long time and I will be waiting eagerly for new releases from this author.

Thank you for the opportunity to read 'The Last of Blue Light'. I found this an interesting read and although improbable in many ways, I think the plot would appeal to Young Adult readers.

The characters were well-developed and the concept topical in these times. I will be recommending it to my older students.

An intense, original story but it is so dark and specific. One person's vision of mental illness, if you don't share this viewpoint then connecting with the main character and the plot is hard work and probably not worth the effort. The pacing is too slow.
I am not the intended age group, but I have read a lot of YA literature and usually enjoy it, so I guess it's just this story that's not for me.
I received a copy of this book from Hodder Children's Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I was drawn to this book by the cover which is beautiful. The Taste of Blue Light is different to anything I have read for a long time; I didn't connect with the central character of Lux personally but could appreciate the book for what it is. A story about a young girl who has no recollection of certain events and her family and friend's attempts to bring back her memories.

The reveal when it came was not what I expected and was a surprise. Beautiful writing, just not for me at this time.

I have never read a YA book of this calibre. The writing in this book is nothing short of stunning. The way the author deals with trauma and the psychological toll it takes on a person was sensitive and realistic. Richdeane is an extremely unrealistic place - there’s no way a school like that could exist in anything other than a YA novel - but it suited the story and allowed Lux’s story to flow well. The characters were interesting and I could have read more about Lux’s life. This book sets the bar really high for YA lit, I’d recommend to fans to The Bell Jar.

An unbelievable, haunting tale which will leave you reaching out to help Lux at very turn. From broken, to found.

Apologies in advance, this review is likely to be slightly confusing to read as I obviously don't want to spoil anything that happens! 

In The Taste of Blue Light, we follow the main character Lux on her journey to remember what had placed her in hospital over summer. From the first chapter, we're introduced to Lux as a party goer who loves to take recreational drugs. She has two best friends - Olivia and Mei - and to me she came across as a pretty unlikeable character for a lot of the book due to her actions. Lux attends a boarding school with her friends that specialises in encouraging students to become artists, which I found interesting and personally I'd have loved to have gone to a school like that (but without all the scandals). 

We get a little case of insta-love too with a new student from America called Cal, it didn't make sense at the beginning but grows to be quite a cute coupling. My absolute favourite characters were Mei and Olivia though, it's clear that they love Lux and want to do as much as they can to help her on her journey. Lux's parents play an important role also, trying their absolute hardest to help their daughter and you can't help but feel bad about how Lux reacts to them throughout.  

When it's finally revealed why she can't remember what happened, it was not at all what I had expected and around that point I found myself in tears because the story sucks you in and I love the way that it's written and how Lux reacts. After the revelation though, we skip a couple of years to find out how Lux is dealing with things. Although I understand why this is important for the reader to see, personally I would have preferred if the book had ended just before. I found that one of her actions following made me dislike her a little again but then if that had been left out I think it would have been a much more perfect ending - it just didn't make sense to me reading it. 

I really did enjoy some parts of this book but others made me lose interest far too quickly and some parts I just really disliked the elements of. I'd give it a 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars purely because of the brilliantly emotional way that her realisation is revealed.

A story that covers a really important topic around consent but unfortunately not in a brilliant way.

Whilst it was initially addictive, the writing became bland and didn't keep me gripped throughout

Um....what was this book about? Seriously, I finished it last night and I just had to flick through the last few pages to remember what happened. Something about an art school...trauma...questionable consent issues...that was pretty much it.

So, in the spirit of turning every negative into a positive, this the perfect opportunity to do my first pared down bullet point review! Here goes!

The Storyline - A teenage student (Lux) wakes up in hospital with no idea of how she got there; she just knows that she was on a night out then it's all a blank - She convinces her parents to let her return to her liberal arts boarding school despite her amnesia, migraines, obsessive behaviour, synaesthesia (where your senses get confused and you hear colours or see smells etc.) and other indicators of trauma - She does literally no art despite the book spanning her final year of ART school and first job after graduation - She has therapy where she just repeats "I can't remember" - She meets a boy and begins a relationship despite being clearly traumatized (more on this later) - She's eventually triggered by a painting (not hers) and remembers what happened - She gets a job and has a relationship that breaks up - She goes to see an exhibition made by an old flame - The End.

Can you see why I forgot the storyline?

The Good Points - It was quite an easy read - It was very different to anything I'd ever read before (it's questionable whether this is truly a good point) - The was some representation of LGBTQ+ characters (although they didn't have much agency) - There was great representation of female friendships - this is probably the strongest point of the whole book - There was realistic representation of drug addicts who looked like everyday people

The Bad Points - None of the characters had any agency. They were all acting under other people's orders - As the main character, Lux was difficult to relate to. She did absolutely nothing to try to work out what had happened to her - which was understandable but didn't make for an engaging storyline - There was literally no point to many of the "interesting" things about the book. The main character had synaesthesia but it didn't affect the plot in any way. The book was set in an art school but none of the main characters did any art AT ALL. - Insta-love - The big reveal about What Happened That Night came two thirds of the way through the novel. That left one third with no suspense or intrigue

Stuff That Made No Sense - The storyline. Surely if you can't remember the night before you ask the people you were with? - The outcome of What Happened and how it had been handled was fairly preposterous. Lux was deeply traumatised but was left with her friends to look after her and the occasional session with a counsellor? - There was a photo that taken of the back of Lux outside the big famous building where she was an intern that went viral and yet no-one recognised her. - This question suggested for a book group discussion of the novel;

"Did you find the book funny? Why is humour important to the story?"

Ermmm... are we talking about the same book? Was this meant to be a humorous take on trauma?

Stuff That Is Too Important To Bullet Point I found the relationship between Lux and her sort of boyfriend Cal really troubling. Lux is obviously in a state of shock and is trying to process a harrowing ordeal. You can tell this from her behaviour, the way she talks, her physical symptoms, her appearance, the way that everyone is talking about her...she's clearly very unwell and in desperate need of love and support. So, I think it's pretty inappropriate for Cal to try to have sex with her, however much she encouraged him.

THIS IS NOT OK.

There's even a scene where they start kissing (there's a clear implication that they're going to have sex) and she disassociates and floats out of her own body to look down on the scene. Thankfully, she stops the situation and Cal gets off her, but it's the idea that he doesn't even notice that she's not actively engaged and enjoying herself that I found disturbing. I also especially disliked the fact that the author noted that Lux had had sex before - which enables her to live up to her reputation - like that has anything to do with it and clearly implies slut shaming.

ALSO NOT OK.

Conclusion - The plot was lacking in so many different areas that I wasn't gripped at all - The book petered out after the big reveal - There were lots of things that didn't make sense - There was an issue with consent and slut shaming

Important story but ultimately felt very bland and not something I enjoyed reading.

Something has happened to Lux Langley, once a privileged party girl, she wakes up in hospital one morning with no idea of how she got there or what came before. The taste of Blue light is so raw and the writing is incredibly magnectic, that you are drawn into the extreme emotions that Lux feels while she trys to uncover the mystery of what happened to her. I felt exhausted after reading this but I’m glad I did.

I’m afraid I hated this book. It was a collection of ramblings of a dysfunctional young woman, with shouting, screaming, drugs, colours, weird dreams, lots of chats with psychologists etc. Very dark, joyless book. Not my cup of tea at all.

I really struggled to get into Little Blue Light, unfortunately this book wasn't for me.

Lux has a secret. Lux's secret is so consuming that her world changes colours. The worst part is, Lux doesn't even understand that she's hiding this secret from herself.

The Taste of Blue Light is an intriguing novel. To begin with I was intrigued by the lifestyle of Richdeane's students, Artists who are given a nurturing environment to flourish and grow. But they aren't only Artists, they're Rebels. Too much drunken stories, too many drugs, and it's no wonder that they're lives are covers for secrets. This book cleverly overlays serious issues with beautiful art. It's very well done.

I was surprised by the twist, by the truth, by what was hidden underneath. I can't really say more without giving anything away, but as soon as Lux starts to find herself I found myself inhaling this book.

This book could have been five stars for me, but I found Part 2 didn't have the same depth and beauty that was created, perhaps because of the absence of colours. But I still really enjoyed this book and it's poignant message underneath it all. A book I would definitely recommend.