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    The Light of the Fireflies
    The Light of the Fireflies
    The Light of the Fireflies
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Light of the Fireflies

    Written by Paul Pen

    Narrated by Scott Merriman

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    From bestselling Spanish author Paul Pen comes a haunting and hopeful tale of discovering light in even the darkest of places.

    For his whole life, the boy has lived underground, in a basement with his parents, grandmother, sister, and brother. Before he was born, his family was disfigured by a fire. His sister wears a white mask to cover her burns.

    He spends his hours with his cactus, reading his book on insects, or touching the one ray of sunlight that filters in through a crack in the ceiling. Ever since his sister had a baby, everyone’s been acting very strangely. The boy begins to wonder why they never say who the father is, about what happened before his own birth, about why they’re shut away.

    A few days ago, some fireflies arrived in the basement. His grandma said, There’s no creature more amazing than one that can make its own light. That light makes the boy want to escape, to know the outside world. Problem is, all the doors are locked. And he doesn’t know how to get out…

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    TranslatorSimon Bruni
    Release dateApr 1, 2016
    ISBN9781511368278
    The Light of the Fireflies
    Author

    Paul Pen

    Paul Pen is a bestselling Spanish author whose four novels have been translated to many languages. The Light of the Fireflies was his first book to be translated to English, selling more than one hundred thousand copies worldwide. This book was followed by Desert Flowers and Under the Water, with which he reaffirmed his unmistakable brand of literary suspense and ability to create a deeply immersive reading experience for the mind, heart and nerves. Now, his debut novel of almost ten years ago, The Warning, is being published in English for the first time, finally offering readers around the globe the chance to read a story already adapted to the big screen in 2018. Motion pictures of The Light of the Fireflies and Desert Flowers are also in development, the latter scripted by Pen himself. In his capacity as scriptwriter, Pen is working on a forthcoming Netflix series while he writes his next novel.

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    Reviews for The Light of the Fireflies

    3.5/5

    112 ratings11 reviews

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    • 1/5
      The last line of the book deserves the star. Disturbing story.
    • 4/5
      This was a really good read. I would recommend this book
    • 5/5
      Pretty unique concept, it’s not like every other book. I enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      This is quite a shocking story. I went through a whole lot of emotions, but mainly I was disgusted with a specific character.

      I thought the ending a bit unsatisfying, or weird, or -- well, best you listen to the book yourself, I'm sure you'll understand then.

      The narrator did a very good job, and the book kept me captivated.
    • 2/5
      This book made me feel physically ill. I guess that's a testament to its ability to evoke an emotional response, but I am truly disturbed. I would like to forget about it as soon as possible.
    • 5/5
      Emotionally Driven

      This truly amazing story follows the script of a typical psychological thriller with a twist.

      One mistake made by one child led to a lifetime of limited choices. Parents will always love and protect their children. Fear of repercussions from the outside world drives the familial bond to unknown depths.

      As I read the book, my emotional support often flip-flopped. Why is the teenage girl so rebellious? Why have the parents distanced themselves from her?

      After I finished reading, I began to wonder if the girl was right. What if she was allowed to make the call? Would the boy have received help? Secrets and coverups quickly tore this family apart. Lies open way for scheming and betraying.

      I do believe many more lessons have been carefully woven into this story. I will continue to reflect on the light of the fireflies.
    • 4/5
      A family is imprisoned in a basement. The young son is told that he is living the best life available and that the outside will burn him as his parents, mentally damaged brother and grandmother and masked sister are. Not only is this family dysfunctional but there is no exit. The resolution is a bit too kind on the reader.
    • 4/5
      An incredibly well written and engrossing read with very difficult subject matter and any number of unpleasant characters making terrible decisions means this is likely to split readers. I’m glad I read it but felt like I needed a bath afterwards. Given the subject matter comparisons with Room are inevitable but not helpful – this is a very different novel. A door loses its meaning if you don’t ever go through it. It becomes a wall Plot in a Nutshell Our narrator is a young boy who has lived his entire life underground in a basement with his (significantly) older siblings, his gran and his parents most of whom were badly injured in a fire prior to his birth. The plot pivots on the birth of his sister’s new baby which drives the boy to question their way of life. A second part shifts to third person and describes the events that led to the family taking to their underground bunker. Thoughts My first thoughts on this one is that it is an exceptionally good translation. The writing is strong and the language really pulled me into the story especially in the first part where there was a dreamy, magical quality to some of the writing that reflected the initial innocence of the narrator really well. His characterisation is good and whilst it is made clear to us that he does not fully understand all of his observations of daily life in the basement and the interactions between the other inhabitants they are helpful in building up a sense of who they are – unreliability and all. As for the rest of the characters I really enjoyed seeing the boys perspective on each develop as the story progressed. However even before knowing the full details of the flashback it was difficult to find any of them relatable or pleasant so I found myself only ever really rooting for the boy. I also did not appreciate the decision to not give any of the characters names. This can be really effective if the intent is to either dehumanise or highlight the scale of an issue where a characters experiences are representative of a wider group but I am not sure either of these are accurate for this one and it jarred throughout. Even whilst being touched by the writing and the boys story this was a plot line that has me pretty angry – the behaviours of the adults in his life in keeping him locked away and the lies they tell him were awful and as the reason for why they are locked away becomes clear I wanted to scream at all of them. So to the Room compassions, yes both are set in scenarios where the main characters have been locked away – however in Room the victims and criminals were clear and there was an underlying thread of hope. This is significantly darker where the good guys and bad guys are more ambiguous and hope is harder to hold onto.
    • 3/5
      Next to “Geek Love,” this is the weirdest book I’ve read. Realize there will be some who love this, but not my kind of read. Author writes really well, but for me it’s just the story I don’t care for.
    • 1/5
      I was trying out the Kindle Lending Library on my brand new Kindle Fire, and this was one of the options. I downloaded it to test out the device, but figured while I had it I might as well read it. It's the story of a young boy and his family who all live underground in a basement. His family are all horribly burned, but the boy doesn't know how it happened or why they're in the basement. No one has any names - just Grandma, Dad, Brother, etc. The boy sees fireflies and chicks and other things that may or may not actually be real, while his father and sister are constantly at odds with each other. I'd been hoping this would turn out to be some weird post-apocalyptic science fiction situation, but it's both far more mundane and far weirder than that. I finished the book feeling disappointed and slightly disgusted. Not recommended.
    • 5/5
      It's been a few weeks since I finished this book, but still when anyone asks if I've read anything interesting lately, this Spanish novel is the one I come up with. It's a bizarre tale of a family who lives in a basement bunker. Gender stereotyping is extreme with the father becoming more of a monster as the book progresses and his women supporting him in all ways, except for the ever hopeful, ever rebellious, despised daughter. This is an author I'll keep my eye on.