I can't go through a year without reading at least a few new World War II books. This year, I really enjoyed the recently-published historical novel Lighten Our Darkness by Sarah Brazytis. Lighten Our Darkness is a wonderful and quality book and a fabulous first novel, written by a talented young lady who has published several shorter works of fiction and nonfiction. Lighten Our Darkness is World War II fiction at its best, full of endearing characters, riveting battle, fascinating relationships, deep themes, vivid settings, and well-crafted writing. I really enjoyed it.

The beautiful writing style of this book drew me in from the very first. It was the first thing I noticed and enjoyed about this book. The author's sentences, descriptions, and words were well-crafted and skilled. The writing style was sophisticated, quality, clean, and timeless, and it impressed me throughout.

I liked and cared about the characters from the start as well, more and more as the story continued. The character development was well-done from the beginning, and each character was vivid and unique. I was interested in the characters and grew to care about each of them. I enjoyed delicately strong Helen; caring, protective Jedrick; funny, loyal Stan; fatherly and motherly Mr. and Mrs. Clay; the gruff commanding officer; the helpful policeman friends; the sweet neighbor family; and each of the rest. Every single one of the main characters and their friends was incredibly sweet, each in a unique way. I especially loved Helen and Jedrick, of course. They won me over, and I became attached to them and wanted to know how their story played out.

In addition to enjoying the fascinating and sweet relationship of the main couple--despite the fact that I'm picky about romance--there were many other wonderful relationships portrayed in this book. Stan was such a good friend to Jedrick, and I loved their brotherly relationship. I enjoyed seeing the Clays' healthy, loving marriage, and how they took the main characters under their wing, gave Helen a loving and safe home, and set an example of family life. Helen and the Clays had a sweet relationship as well. And each of the less major friendships was sweet.

This book contained so much sweet or clever humor! Jedrick was witty, Stan was entertaining, and all the characters joked and laughed to keep the darkness at bay. I loved the entertaining banter between the pilots, especially, and the antics of the Poles--especially Stan. At one point early in the book, I couldn't stop laughing heartily at the hilarity of the pilots' merry verbal sparring during a particularly intense and massive battle. I have no idea what actually goes on in battles in real life, but I think jokes do fly in danger for survival's sake, and I enjoyed it regardless of realism. In that and every instance, the author skillfully and realistically lightened the mood while still keeping the danger and serious matters fresh. And based on the author's note and the author's skill in research and historical accuracy, I assume each of the antics of the Poles is based on true events!

Lighten Our Darkness was incredibly well-researched and historically accurate, full of rich and natural historical detail, which I appreciated so much! That was one of my very favorite aspects of the book. The author truly made life in England in World War II come alive, both on the home front and in the Polish squadron of the RAF. I loved the historical aspect of the book so much. I've seen other books that focus on romance to the detriment of historical accuracy and historical realism, but the opposite was true with this book. It is evident on every page that the author put in a huge amount of work and research into the historical detail, and it paid off.

I actually was not sure at first if I would enjoy this book, but it gradually won me over. When I first heard about the book, I was so excited to find out that it was set in the thick of the Battle of Britain, one of my favorite parts of World War II--and an era that I've always been fascinated by and hungry to learn more about. I've found few books of that era and was excited to hear about this one. However, when I read the blurb, I realized that the book might fall technically under the subgenre of historical romance, rather than being the type of historical fiction I read and enjoy. I do not ever read historical romance--or romance in general--and I dislike the genre for many reasons, although I love a good romantic subplot as long as it doesn't take over the story and is not the main plot.

I'm so glad that I decided to read this book anyway, because I enjoyed it! At first, I read this book--even though it's outside my typical genre--only because I was so interested in the historical events it contained. However, the writing style and, in time, the story and characters won me over, until I enjoyed it and didn't want to stop reading. I don't usually invest in a Kindle book I have to actually pay for--virtually never--but I bought this book anyway, and it was well worth it. I'm so glad I did.

I was glad to find that the romance in this book was fairly mild and subtle, as well as being very pure, godly, and sweet--even if I don't prefer to read books that center around romance. This book was not only about the romance--there was plenty of other story and plot as well, even if the romance was still the main focus. The romance was much less prominent than a typical romance novel, and it walks the middle ground between the preferences of romance readers and non-romance readers alike, in a way that will satisfy both. Of course, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I would have if I widely read and enjoyed historical romance, but I recommend it highly to readers who do, and even non-romance-readers like me can enjoy it greatly as well, so I definitely include them in my recommendation. It is a testament to the good quality of this book that I, in particular, enjoyed it--even though I dislike historical romance and avoid it entirely, as everyone who knows me can attest.

At first, I was very disappointed when I realized, after just two chapters, that the premise and main plot of the book had to do with a romance that centered around a marriage of convenience, something I would not usually choose to read about even aside from my preference against romance as a main plot and as a genre. It's a plot I usually dislike strongly and object to in fiction, especially in the romance genre, so I had to accept it in this book in order to enjoy the story--but the author handled it well, even if it's not my preferred type of book to read. I'll keep myself from going into detail about my objections, but I wanted to mention that they exist. That aspect of this book did include many of the things I dislike about that trope, so that took away somewhat from my enjoyment of the book, but it definitely didn't counteract my overall enjoyment.

That said, I'm really grateful for and admiring of the fact that even though this book is technically a romance, it's not a typical romance--it's very wholesome. I don't read historical romance for a good reason, but this book was far better than typical historical romance in every regard, and even the romance was very pure, clean, and mild. I still didn't prefer it, since it was the main plot of the book, but it was wholesome and never inappropriate, unlike many historical romance novels. I really, really appreciate how the author wrote a Christian romance while keeping it subtle, sweet, and pure. Many Christian romance authors write romance that is very inappropriate and sensual despite being marketed as Christian. But this book was exactly the opposite. The way the main characters viewed each other was always wholesome and pure, and even if the handful of extra descriptions of physical appearance were more than I have patience for, they were always appropriate and godly. One big negative aspect of the romance for me was that I found it to be slightly far-fetched, unrealistic, and melodramatic at times, one of the main reasons I don't read romance, but it was pretty mild and didn't bother me most of the time--and wouldn't bother anyone who is used to reading romance. However, overall, I applaud the author for writing a book that is a romance, but a romance that is pure and generally wholesome. And any author who can make me enjoy a book with romance as the main plot--and I did enjoy it--deserves praise!

Content Summary:

Romance:
Mild, clean romance between a married couple. A few brief, undescribed kisses, plus kisses on the cheek.

Violence:
This book contains quite a bit of war, air battles, and bombings as a necessary part of the story, so there is a decent amount of violence--though not too much--that would bother sensitive or young readers. However, it was not graphic, unnecessary, or gratuitous, and it was realistic and not over the top. Here are a few major examples of these instances, though not all: The main characters have lost family members in terrible ways. Some of the atrocities of the Nazi invasion of Poland are mentioned, including their treatment of soldiers and women. Planes are shot down during air battles, killing their pilots if they haven't bailed out in time. The main character fears the enemy will shoot helpless pilots as they parachute to the ground, the way a pilot he knew personally was killed in Poland. Civilian houses are bombed into rubble and flame. A pilot who was an acquaintance of the main character is shot down and killed in an air battle. The main character is shot in the leg while in battle and bails out of his plane. A pilot is attacked by an angry mob, and they throw a stone at his head, knocking him down. He (further spoiler) is rescued before anything worse happens, but it's a dangerous situation, and similar events ended tragically in real life for such pilots.

Other:
The main character fears that his little sister may have fallen into the hands of the Nazis and been mistreated by them in the way that they did to many women during the war. The book conveys this in a subtle way that is clear to readers who know about such events but won't mean anything to uninformed readers.
The male protagonist has very dark, angry, and despairing feelings, and his goal is to fight and die for his country. He doesn't expect or desire to live--only to fight as well as he can before he dies. He also deeply fears the fate of his surviving family members and is dark and anguished in his fear.

Conclusion:

I highly recommend Lighten Our Darkness to all fans of historical fiction, whether or not they typically read romance. However, for those who enjoy historical romance, this book is a must-read! Some elements of this book--mild violence, mild romance, and a few mature topics that were subtly and sensitively implied--mean that it may not be best for many younger teens to read. But for adults and mature teens of all ages, it's a wonderful choice.

I rate Lighten Our Darkness a solid 3 stars overall--meaning that I truly liked it and enjoyed it. As I mentioned above, I do think I would have enjoyed it more if I was a typical reader of historical romance, rather than someone who avoids the genre--but considering that, I really liked it, and I'm glad I was able to enjoy the book and give it a solid, honest rating. There were many things about the book that I loved and liked, as well as a few things I disliked that took away from my overall rating--not solely the romance. Rather than cover those things in the body of my review, I outlined them in a list below, where I went into more detail. The additional section of my review in the comments is optional--and only for those who are interested in a detailed and specific breakdown of the positives and negatives that affected my personal opinion. This primary review outlines my general impressions and opinions of the novel as a whole.

Overall, Lighten Our Darkness by Sarah Brazytis is an engaging and enjoyable work of historical fiction and a skilled and quality debut novel. It is well-written, meaningful, and exciting, with compelling characters, sweet romance, and a fabulously executed historical setting. I enjoyed it very much, and I recommend it highly - and I will definitely be recommending it to my friends. I look forward to reading more by this promising young author! ( )