I am out with lanterns by Emily Gale

Written from the POV of 6 teenage protagonists, Wren, Milo, Adie, Juliet, Ben and Hari; I Am Out With Lanterns is a story about family, relationships; both romantic and platonic; and also about some of the dramatic events that unfold at these characters’ schools. With there being 6 different characters, there are six different storylines and back stories that come  
together to create one seamless story. Wren is an artist who is struggling to accept the death of her brother, Floyd, and drew portraits of him every day until she drew a portrait of a girl, and this girl showed up at her school one day, causing her to believe that she’d drawn the future. Milo is Wren’s next door neighbour and best friend. Milo is autistic and is  
extremely bullied at school and struggles to be understood by others. Adie has a toxic relationship with her father, who is an artist, and her familial issues continue to plague her social life. Juliet is very much welcomed and loved at home, but when she is at school she feels marginalised from the rest of her classmates. Ben attends a local private school and is a bully towards many people, including Milo. Hari’s character isn’t as developed as the others however she comes from quite a religious and strict family, she is very strong willed and is confident and accepting of her true self.

I loved the diversity of the protagonists and being able to understand more about their characters and seeing the same sequence of events through the eyes of different people. I liked how these narrations gave these characters more dimension and allowed me to connect with them more and feel as though I was a part of their story. I also loved how closely connected these characters lives are and how they interacted with each other,  
strengthening that ‘small world’ ideology. I really liked how Ben, the villain in the story, was given his own narration and that the audience was able to get a glimpse into the life of the bad guy. I liked being able to see the issues that were going on behind the scenes in Ben’s life that led him towards bullying and taking the actions that he had pursued. Unlike many other malevolent characters, Ben was not redeemed at the end of the story which made this novel a lot more realistic and not too cliche.

My only issue with this novel; though I found it to be quite a good method to tell the story; was the POVs. Because of the 6 POVs it became quite difficult at times to keep up with the story and remember all of the characters backstories and personalities throughout the chapters.

I Am Out With Lanterns is a thought provoking story displaying some of the struggles that teens face and also some of the issues in society today. It was beautifully written, the characters were all very different and interesting, it was a fast paced read with plenty of conflict, and had a hopeful and satisfactory resolution.

Jordanna Year 9