The Christmas Lights by Karen Swan Review

 Hey ForeverBookers, 

How are you all? I hope you’re well. 

I’ve just finished reading “The Christmas Lights” by Karen Swan and I enjoyed it. It’s a psychological mystery/romance novel. I’d say the mystery is the biggest element of the story, and the romance is very much on the back burner, however.

3 Stars!

We start off following our lead characters, Bo and Zac who are wanderlusters. They literally travel around the world for likes on their Instagram feed. They’ve been doing this for a few years at the point where the novel starts. They have a photographer, Lenny, who follows them everywhere on their travels. At the beginning of the book they are in Samoa finishing up their time there. They normally spend a few months in each place they visit. The next chapter takes them to Norway, somewhere completely different to experience the snow. In Samoa before they leave, however, Zac proposes to Bo. She accepts, but is all as it seems? What secrets are lurking beneath the surface? I’ll let you read for yourself. 

There’s another storyline that’s historical in the book too. This follows Signy, a young girl, in 1930’s Norway. I didn’t read these chapters because I wasn’t overly interested in her story. I was interested only in Bo and Zac’s story. In the present timeline, Signy is in fact present as an old woman. She’s our other main character Anders’ grandmother. When Bo, Zac and Lenny meet Anders he’s very closed off and not open to friendship. He’s just their travel companion over the Norwegian fjords. However, as the novel progresses we see him open up to new experiences and reveal a shocking truth about himself. 

I read “The Christmas Lights” for a few readathons. They were”

Reading Rivalry - Read A Book Based On Its Cover - I think the cover of “The Christmas Lights” is really pretty. I like the silver dots on it.

Popsugar Reading Challenge - A Book I Meant To Read Last Year - I bought “The Christmas Lights” a few years ago to read one Christmas. It just happened to be this one!

There’s a stalking element to the plot but it’s not overdone in my opinion. It happens when Bo gets messages from an anonymous person online scrutinising her choices and what she’s doing. I worked out who the stalker was at probably the 75% mark. There’s no violence in the stalking aspect. 

Spoilers Below…

“With a deep breath, she leapt, arms outstretched, able to hear the click of the camera right up until the moment she hit the water and her own splash filled her ears, bubbles fizzing past her as she sank, her muscles gripped in sudden tension. And then she was rising again, the breath in her lungs a buoyancy aid that brought her bobbing to the surface, and as her face hit air again, she felt it — that moment of pure elation. Utter freedom. Total joy. Being alive.” 

Here, Bo is experiencing the wonders of being free. She feels as if she can be whoever she wants to be without any constraints. A page or so later is when our MMC, Zac proposes to her. She’s of course, shocked by this. We’ve only just met both characters so we’re not sure about whether Bo is okay about this engagement. I got the feeling that she was unsure, but she said yes to make things easier for her. I really didn’t like Zac throughout the book. He was very sure of himself and egotistical - a prat in other words, and not in the fun sense. Here, also Bo experiences “utter freedom. Total joy. Being alive.” Does she feel like this after the proposal? I didn’t think so. I thought she felt beholden to Zac, as if he was a puppet master controlling her. I didn’t like this. All people deserve to be free! This is shown later in the book too, on several occasions when Zac tries to manipulate Bo into doing what he wants. 

When Zac suggests they spend the next month in Norway, Bo jumps at the chance. She’s very much controlled by him. Can she learn to be herself and not a victim? I’ll let you read for yourself.

“Oh, Bo — cut the guy some slack,” Zac said wearily. “He’s doing his job. That picture correlates perfectly with the brand.”

The brand. The bloody brand. Since when had she stopped becoming a private individual who couldn’t even take a bath in private because the vibe worked for the brand? She glowered at him, remembering the hushed voices behind the closed door last night when she’d flown off the handle then too. Zac was as tired of this conversation as Lenny. But so was she. No one was listening or taking her seriously. There had to be a boundary, a cut-off point, didn’t there? She wasn’t public property.

She swung her legs off the bed and got up.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“To give Lenny a piece of my mind,” she muttered.

“Oh, Bo, no, wait,” he groaned. “It’s not worth it. It’ll just cause tensio—”

But too late, she was already out the door. “Lenny!” she snapped, standing at the bottom of the stairs and calling up into his loft. “I want a word with you.” 

When Bo is photographed in the bath by Lenny while she’s washing herself, she’s very angry, understandably. Of course, Zac isn’t at all bothered. He considered Lenny family, ever since they met him on one of their wanderlust quests. I found Lenny very creepy throughout. I didn’t like him. Zac just automatically blames Bo for getting annoyed. I really didn’t like this! The stalking aspect comes in here. I won’t spoil how, though. 

Anders is the character that I did like. He’s a character they meet in Norway. He’s the mountain guide. He lives in the town but his grandmother, Signy lives at the top of an icy mountain that’s hard to get to. Because Bo and Zac want to experience Norway to its fullest they book to stay at the top of this mountain. What happens here? I’ll let you read for yourself but there were a few surprises and things that I didn’t see coming. 

Lastly, the romance. Anders and Bo fall for each other. I was very glad to read this. Zac was just a horrible guy to be around, I thought. It was nice that Bo had Anders to rely on and help her through her issues. Bo also helps Anders, when it’s revealed that he’s a ex criminal. He’s not a bad guy. It’s a wrong place, wrong time kind of issue. 

I don’t really know why the novel is called “The Christmas Lights,” to be honest. I think it might be because Lenny and Zac are desperate to see the Northern Lights at the beginning before they actually get to Norway. At the end of the novel, Bo sees them at Christmas time but who with? Zac and Lenny or Anders? I’ll let you read for yourself. While the novel is called “The Christmas Lights,” I think you could truly read it at any time. It’s not very Christmassy in tone. There are some winter scenes, such as felling a Christmas tree but apart from that, it’s a got a plot that’s not Christmassy. 

Overall, I enjoyed “The Christmas Lights.” It could have had a little more romance but I liked the juxtaposition of what romance there was with the stalker plot line. That’s why I’m giving the story 3 stars. I’m going to read a quick Christmassy middle grade next, hopefully before my birthday in about a week’s time so stand by for my review of that.