Try and try as I might I couldn't get into this novel. I read the blurb and thought this was going to be a great read, perhaps a little dark at times but something I could relate to. I tried to read the novel but I couldn't get on with the protagonist or her voice. I understand that some could get past that but I loathed her, and not in a good way.

3.5 stars, rounded down.
This was a little different to what I was expecting! We meet Lux, a student at a special school for gifted Artists and follow what happens to her in the aftermath of an incident that occurred to her over the summer holidays. Something she has no recollection of apart from what she has been left with in the way of residual feelings, nightmare and headaches.
Lux wakes up in hospital one day and has no idea what happened. She remembers some things up to a point but then it's all blurred out. She is a student at Richdeane, a special school dedicated to the artistic type of student; including those who have failed / struggled in mainstream school. It's a bit of a strange place with many assemblies where they make and reinforce the pledge daily. It's a bit Hogwarts for artistic types rather than wizards! There are also some really bizarre rules which kind of contradict the lack of certain other rules and indeed discipline.
It's hard to say much more about the story as certain things let slip could spoil but, after a few weeks of stress and strain of living with her parents, Lux begs them to let her return to school to try and get some normalcy back into her life, in hopes that maybe she'll either remember what happened or the symptoms would ease so that it wouldn't matter so much and it is this return to school, this part of her journey that this book focuses on. We meet her friends, her frenemies and several of her tutors. Can they help Lux to get to the bottom of things once and for all and, if so, will this revelation enable her to move on?
I am not sure I really ever liked Lux. I know that her character was somewhat skewed due to what happened but even so, there were certain core things that I just could't really get to grips with completely enough to say that I actually got her. The descriptions of her behaviour before what happened didn't really help her cause much too.
Even though I didn't really like her, I couldn't help worrying about her; caring for her even. Even with the way she treated people both before and after the incident. She was, at times, a bit manipulative and for part of the time, I was convinced that she knew more, much more, than she was admitting to.
Pacing was quite varied throughout the book. For me, it often dragged, but then suddenly the pace was upped and it raced along for a bit. I did originally think that this was a little disjointed but actually, the pace matched the narrative pretty well and reflected the mood as it changed through the book.
I did find the ending a bit confusing, contradictory and a tad implausible. I've seen this sort of thing in books before and done well, but here, to me anyway, it didn't quite work out. I'd love to go into detail, to compare and contrast with books with similar themes but spoilers prevent me from doing so. I just have too many niggles to really accept things as they were presented and, sad to say, did not get the feeling of satisfaction I like to have when I finish a book. Maybe it was the way it was presented rather than the actual storyline; I am not quite able to put my finger on it.
All in all, an OK read that despite quite a few misgivings, I did actually manage to complete. My experience with this book does not write the author off in my eyes, but I will be more selective in the future. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I dont normally read teen and YA boy i was intrigued by the synopsis and decided to give it a go. It's one of those books that sneak up on you and keeps you thinking long after you've finished it. I was thinking of giving up half way but pleased that I didn't.

Lux has had a night out, blacks out and ends up in hospital but can't remember how or why. She's a complex character and difficult to connect with at first but with some understanding as the story unfolds I was rooting for her. I loved the exploration of memories that become trapped due to trauma and the power of the mind that can block them off from us if it thinks we cant cope with them yet. The books follows her journey of remembering and understanding what actually took place

A wholly original and fantastic story

Lux sees in colour. Colours have extra significance, feelings. Sometimes words and sounds have colours. Lux has synaesthesia, but unusually she wasn't born with it. She got it after a party, after she blacked out. The night had been so alive, fearless kids having fun. Magical, like something out of a film. That night she lost herself. Now, with migraines, and her life at Richedane (a boarding school for aspiring artists), she can just about keep it together. There's something she doesn't know, she must reach her old self. But that's difficult when all along you believe you're losing your mind.

From the beginning, I mentally labelled this book 'intriguing' and I was impatient to to know where it was going. This is one of those 'give this book a chance-you'll be surprised' reads because the moment you understand the significance of the title, you'll connect to the heart breaking story. Everything will mean something. All dots connected. This book was written so cleverly, it was fantastic.

This is not a thriller, and you'll ruin the experience for yourself if you go in thinking it to be such. For me, the book was slightly off mark because I thought synaesthesia would be explored more. It wasn't but the end made this book worth reading, regardless of the fact.

I received this book through NetGalley.

This was a DNF for me. I may try it again at a later point but I felt that Lex was hard to connected too. I didn't really feel a lot of anything towards her and needed more. I can say the story had a lot of promise but it wasn't enough to keep me going.

Lux attends an implausible private arts school in England. As a teacher in the UK I had to suspend a lot of disbelief with this one. But even that taken into account this book just didn't connect with me at all. The writing style will appeal to lots of people and I would never say it was poorly written, but it struck me as style over substance. There were lots of pretty sentences but they felt a little overwrought for me, and they alienated me from the story.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this captivating read.
Initially, Lux was not a character to feel empathy with. Her unwillingness to engage with things and people made her hard to care about. The environment in which she cloisters herself is alien to many of us.
Yet as the story progressed I found myself falling under a spell. Desperate to know what happened, we do get answers, and they are far more topical than we might expect.
This is one best to know little about before reading. It is not immediately seeking to attract your attention, but it sneaks up on you.

This is a beautifully written book, the story of a girl who has had a traumatic experience but does not remember what happened. As she goes back to her final year in the exclusive art school in London, she has to deal with aftershocks of what happened, including panic attacks, pain and partial amnesia. There she meets a boy, who plays a crucial part in her recovery of the lost memories. Lux, the main character, is completely defined by what has happened, without the knowledge of what in fact did occur, and feels an incredible sense of being lost. Her entire life is never going to be the same again. And as her memories come back in violent and central event, this does not change.

Overall this is a beautifully written novel that uses language to a great effect. Initially I couldn't understand why the girl does not ask or isn't told what happened, and the readers is left in an unease about this. Girl on the train comes to mind, which I think was intended. However, this is also the weakest point of the novel, as it seems so unbelievable, especially given the circumstances and implication of what in fact did happen. My other grumble is that once the memory comes back, a whole third of the book is devoted to her dealing with this, which I felt was a bit forced.

If you enjoy psychological mysteries, you very likely will enjoy this book, that is so well written and depicts the sadness that we feel when we feel disassociated from others.

I loved this book. It dealt with the effects of grief and memory loss beautifully and I found the main character to be complex and interesting

I liked this, it's quite similar to We Were Liars by E Lockhart but is good in and of itself. I liked Lux and most supporting characters, but felt there was so depth lacking overall. Still, I'd read something else by the same author.

I loved this. It was beautiful and sad but uplifting and absolutely does not go down the route you expect it to go based on the blurb – which just made it all the better.

Lux is recovering after a blackout and waking up in hospital with no memory of recent events. We join her around the time she rejoins her school and her friends – she is different, disturbed, an artist with a huge black hole threatening to swallow her, a girl who remembers the person she was but can’t seem to recapture it. Her parents worry it is too soon, her friends rally round, but Lux is both there and not there as she struggles with her inner demons.

The writing is edgy, emotive and really quite wonderful. The descriptive sense of how Lux is feeling, how she is taking this journey back to herself, is completely in the moment and real. I thought the setting was inspired – the school she attends is unconventional and allows for so much exploration of the wider themes here, it was all stunningly vibrant and really gripping.

A truly excellent look at life after trauma, some of the best parts of this come after the memory returns and we see Lux moving forward – it is, at that point, a story about how we can survive, adapt, yes even become different people altogether, when life throw us into the most horrific circumstances. How Lux reacts, how those around her do, it is all done with a delicate touch and some beautiful prose that really pulled you into that world and didn’t let go.

I adored this story from the moment I met Lux until the moment I regrettably left her behind. Contemporary Young Adult Fiction at it’s very best.

Highly Recommended.

This was a difficult read,dealing with serious events. We had to wade through a lot with Lux to get at the truth.

Lux wakes up in hospital and she can’t remember what happened. As she wrestles with what happened and struggles to remember the events her mental health deteriorates. Is it something to do with her parents? Is the art school she attends sinister? Are drugs involved? Is she the person to blame or do her friends have anything to do with it?

The book is beautifully written. There’s depth to it but whether this book is a positive experience or not hinges on one key question – what has actually happened to the main character? Thankfully I found the reveal to be satisfying and unexpected making this an excellent and compelling read. Indeed, the few intense chapters where Lux discovers what happened makes the rest of the book more insightful.

This is the debut book from Lydia Ruffles and I am impressed with her ability. In particular I enjoyed the way she uses colour to paint vivid pictures and bring an imaginative and thoughtful look at mental health.

The plot after the main reveal meanders occasionally but in an almost necessary way – it feels real. It's real life. Just when you’re wondering what else can happen, you are drawn back in with a tender moment.

Read this book – allow yourself to get caught up in Ruffles’ rich writing, allow yourself to feel the chaos and panic that Lux faces. In my opinion it is an important and relevant book that I wholeheartedly recommend.

This was a dark, dark boarding school story with a mystery that wasn't easy to guess. It's not hard to see why everyone is talking about this book.

I expected more from this. I struggled the whole time to really care about Lux or the majority of it. The reveal to why Lux couldnt remember was a shock but it felt like a let down.

This is a book that will stay with me, I think - my initial impressions were that this was just another book about spoilt rich kids at a boarding school and okay, maybe that’s a little bit true, but it’s so much more than that too. The world of Richdeane School was bizarre and compelling and just on the right side of unbelievable. Lux and her friends are Artists with a capital A, at a school like no other. Something has happened to Lux and she is unraveling. The book follows her through her journey to be put back together.

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review)

The Taste of Blue Light is set around Lux a student and her memory loss and the mystery surrounding what has her brain blocked out so she can't remember.

This book was very slow paced to start with and took until about 70% through until it all started to pull together.

Lux is a very complex character but I didnt feel emersed in the book at any point and I have been left feeling that it never quite fulfilled its potential

A difficult book to categorize, but a very interesting read. Lux is a complex, interesting character and her struggles felt real as I read through. The 'big reveal' wasn't, really, but it almost didn't matter; the secret wasn't the point, it was Lux's reactions to it that were important. A fantastic read, all in all.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in order to provide an honest review.

Following a theme of reading outside my usual comfort zone lately, this is another book I would ordinarily have passed over. In fact, the only reason I requested a copy to review was because of the title - I know a person who has been diagnosed with synesthesia, and the phenomenon fascinates me.

I’m very glad that I did request this book, because it’s excellent. Lux is a deeply imperfect, privileged, damaged character, and her journey to recover her memory and to cope with the repercussions of doing so makes for compelling reading.

The plot isn’t the main driving force of the book, but is still keeps a decent pace, and allows Lux’s character development to take the lead. The other characters who people the novel are less complex, but they are necessary supports or outlets for Lux, and still have their own splashes of imperfection which make them more than simple types.

Ultimately, it was a good read, and Lux will stay with me for a while I think.

The taste of the Blue light by Lydia Ruffles a four-star read that will bring a light in your life. This is a YA novel, but don’t allow that to pigeonhole this story, I’m almost 40 and I could identify with Lux Langley, she is just a young woman who has something happen that changes her whole being. Maybe I identified as I had two major life changes at a similar age, I moved to a different county alone at 17 and lost a parent soon after, so I understood the journey of discovery and how life changes can affect you. The mental health aspects of the book also intrigued me and were well written but did lack a tiny bit in places. Overall this was a great story and I couldn’t believe that this was a debut novel, the writer has a great talent that you don’t usually see in a debut.