The Light That Blinds Us

Gr 9 Up–Alexis, who was adopted from Australia and now lives in London, has been haunted by nightmares and the Shadow Man his entire life. The hallucinations of the Shadow Man stopped the day he met his best friend, Demi, who is Greek. On a school trip, Alexis and Demi take a detour to look at Stonehenge and instead meet two other teens, Blaise and Caeli, both with necklaces like theirs. The stones transport all four of them underground, where they learn more about themselves and what powers they possess, and become fast friends. The teens must go on a quest to defeat the darkness, as told by a prophecy. Each chapter in Theo’s debut starts with a word that foreshadows the chapter; along with the word, readers are presented with its origin, part of speech, and definition. While most of the story is told in Alexis’s third-person point of view, a surprising perspective shift near the end still flows nicely with the rest of the work. This book is fast-paced, and the characters are well-rounded people who change and grow. There are some implied steamy moments near the end. Readers will be waiting to see what unfolds in the next part. Alexis is described as having “golden-toned skin,” Caeli is tall with long platinum blonde hair, and Blaise has dark skin and maroon eyes.