Thanks to Netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review; all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Content warning: The book portrays various traumatic events that might be insensitive to some readers.

As I have mentioned in my previous reviews, I started accepting Advanced Reader Copies in exchange for reviews, in the hopes that I might discover someone new who can take a place amongst the select group of few authors I love. Of the many authors I have introduced myself to in the past year, Melissa Payne is the most outstanding of them all and a new member of this select group.

“A Light in the Forest” is the first book of hers I’ve read. She has three more books outside this, all of which have been well received and, having read this book, I am totally not surprised. All her previous books seem to have explored the various vagaries of human nature, their capacity for cruelty and kindness.

“A Light in the Forest” is a story of trauma, cruelty, overcoming said trauma and rising back stronger than before. It follows two significant people in two different timelines, Vega and her mother Renee, and the people who touch their lives for both good and bad.

The story centers mainly on marginalized people that are often misunderstood and Payne lets us walk in their footsteps and understand their trauma. She wrings out the unconditional empathy these people deserve from their fellow beings.

It is usually difficult to build tension in a fictional story that operates mostly on an emotional level like this, with very little action. But the author uses alternating timelines between the 1990s and 2021 to spin an entertaining tale that held my attention, engaged my heart and didn’t let me keep the book down. I am glad I got to read it and couldn’t recommend it more to lovers of contemporary fiction focused on character growth.

This book gets 5 out of 5 stars.