by Alexa Donne
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
BRIGHTLY BURNING is about the crew (plus one civilian) of the Rochester, a spaceship orbiting the moon. Captain Hugo Fairfax, Grace Poole, Commander Xiao, to name a few of the crew. Our civilian is ten-year-old Jessa, younger sister of our Captain. The crew is dedicated to taking care of her. She has had governesses in the past, but they never stay long, and the newest one, Stella (our protagonist), is trying to figure out why. She sorts through rumors of murder and ghosts, all the while drifting closer and closer to the mysterious, wild Hugo. He drags her to parties and has her teach Jessa for most of her day each day, but usually, a few hours at the end of the day are reserved to them, in which they both come out of their shells and read together. But Stella hears laughter outside her room at night, and after Hugo nearly dies in a fire and is immediately aware of the cause, she begins to suspect he has a part in the conspiracy.
I loved BRIGHTLY BURNING. It is said that BRIGHTLY BURNING is an update of JANE EYRE in all the best ways; I wouldn’t know, as I’ve never read JANE EYRE. Alexa Donne has a magical, kind way of writing-–I cared for every single character, even Mari Hanada. Especially Hugo, right from the beginning. He is overdramatic and showy and rowdy and broken. And he does not like himself very much. He is quick to blame himself, no matter what happens. He lets his guilt nearly destroy him, more than once. I feel strong sympathy for him, because he reminds me of me, but worse. I too would feel it necessary to take over a spaceship at a young age, rather than letting someone out of the family captain it. Stella is a relatable protagonist, excellent narrator, and good friend, but she wasn’t my favorite character, despite her kind heart. No, my favorite character is Rori, the Rochester’s artificial intelligence. I’ve read the book, I know the world inside; for you, I will reveal no spoilers but tell you that throughout the book, Rori brings light and humor to the darkest situations, and often is our hero’s hero. She’s mighty good at troubleshooting and telling people what to do without sounding overbearing. And she seems quite aware. If I were ever to have an AI anywhere, I would want her to be like Rori. (Rori x Lori forever!!!)
The quality in Donne’s writing actually improves with the chapters. At the beginning, it wasn’t that interesting and it felt cliché. If you run into the same problem, don’t let that stop you. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. By which I mean, at around page 36 (don’t skip), the momentum increases, the tension speeds up, and I read the rest of it in one sitting. The book is much darker than you first think. And I deeply appreciated every element of it. You will not be able to put it down. The ending for me lacked in what I like to call “reader looseness.” It was adorable and romantic and special and healing, but it told you what happened after the climax and sorting-out-of-plot, rather than letting you imagine. It shoved us too far into the future, but other than that, the book was far better than I expected. I beg you to read it. It is diverse for the sake of realism--humanity really does have that much variety--and compassionate in nature.
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