This book was not for me. I couldn’t form an attachment to the characters. I found the writing to be very simplistic

Such an utterly wonderful read, can’t recommend highly enough, one of the best books I have read this year!

Unfortunately my reading of this title was hindered by the formatting of the proofs - the proofs I received weren't formatted as a standard book page but were set very wide, with a ragged right-hand margin. This made it impossible to read or engage with the proofs, which was a great shame.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this ebook.
Not an easy read but a worthwhile one. I struggled to get into the story for the first few chapters but enjoyed it a lot overall.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me an eARC for an honest review.

This book starts like all Pariat's books do: with such elegance that draws you right in, with a wonderful lyrical prose that makes the reading experience so delightful.
The writing is as always brilliant and the research that must have gone into this book is commendable. I loved both of these aspects of the book.
I also loved the little quips at the British people during the chapters set in British Raj timelines.
Unfortunately, the stories failed to hold my interest and I could only enjoy them to a very low extent and then was bored after that.
I'll still recommend it to people who like to read nature based books, who don't mind slow pacing and to the lyrical writing lovers.

I fell in love with the gorgeous cover and then I fell in love with the style of writing, the characters, and the descriptions.
There's a lot to love in this book and it made me travel to wonderful places and gave a lot of pleasure to my mind.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

My thanks to NetGalley for a free ARC of "Everything the Light Touches" by Janice Pariat.
The central theme of this book is finding one's roots and the characters learn this lesson from their love for plants.
We follow four different people who are separated by space and time, but are connected through their love for travel and ecology.
The language of botany is lyrical and has sone philosophical semnifications.
In this situation, where the caracters don't meet or know about each other, maybe having four individual short stories would have been a better choice.
This aside, I enjoyed the idea of a network of roots that even if are hidden from the surface are a source of nourishment. Thanks to this realisation the reader can get a sense of purpose.
A lovely relaxing experience that I recommend to those intrested in plants and their symbolism.

"Beneath our feet exists another world, I learn, a network of infinite biological pathways, through which trees share resources, information, nutrients. Some regard it as a competitive system, regulated through self-interest, sanction, and reward. Others believe trees care for one another, and act as guardians, sharing resources, with the healthy supporting the weak. A free market versus a socialist’s dream.“

Everything the Light Touches follows four people who, separated by time and place, share a love for travel and ecology. Their connection transcends time and yet their common purpose adds weight to the knowledge that people, like plants, have to find their roots.

The book has a lyrical prose with a philosophical bent that is explained using the language of botany. The characters' individual journeys evoke a sense of purpose and belonging that is connected like a network of roots under the ground – invisible on the surface but a source of strength and nourishment.

As much as I loved the writing, I confess I didn’t quite understand the purpose of the characters’ stories. For me, it made more sense as short stories where the reader revisits each character. Or maybe that’s how it was meant to be. And yet, there were moments when I was utterly captivated by the poetic nuances. It was like a picture being drawn before my eyes – word by word.

One of those rare books that you enjoy not for the story but simply for the experience of reading.

I usually know within the first couple of chapters how much I’m going to enjoy a book but I knew within the first 2 pages that this was one I was going to struggle to put down. There are not enough words for how much I enjoyed this book. It was entertaining, clever and the narrative was stunningly intelligent. I couldn’t put it down I was captivated.

A complex novel which takes the stories of a handful of people separated by time and place and watches as they move through the world .The stories are linked thematically by the people’s love of two things ,travel and botany
I don’t usually like short stories but this book is more than a collection of individual stories ,the author somehow manages to draw out the similarities and differences in a particularly successful apparently effortless way .Thos is not easy to do ,I found myself pondering coincidences and links to other stories whilst I read .
The author has a beautiful prose style which manages to be accessible and easy to read whilst at the same time being poetic .
The common settings of Italy and India are woven through the story and the sense of place is very strong
At the end of the book I was left feeling I had been on a journey both literal and emotional with the characters ,all of whom I found myself easily identifying with .Not a lot happens there is somehow not an end to any of the stories but I’m stead of feeling cheated I felt this was the whole point of the book
I read an early copy of the book on NetGalley Uk the book is published 13th October 2022 by Harper Collins Uk

This is a different kind of book, relating the stories of seemingly unconnected individuals to make a very coherent whole.
At first I resented leaving one character to join the story of another but
all respect to Ms Pariat in that each new focus was as engaging, as the previous. She writes people very well but still retains a magical quality to her tales with shifts in time, place and attitudes that are really quite immense but she made them believable.
At the point that I decided I really needed one of her character "journeys" to finish she provided a complete outcome. I rate it 4 stars.

This was such a good book. I love historical fiction, especially when it is about eras/ situations that I previously knew nothing about and this was definitely one of those books. It was so well researched and so compelling in its narrative that not only did I love reading it but I felt that I learned too. A really enjoyable read and perfect for any fans of historical fiction. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

I was really looking forward to reading this book but it kept jumping up and down on my mobile so it

was impossible to read,

What a pity!!!!

Good luck with the book.

This was a beautiful read that has left me thinking about it long after I finished. It eill stay with me for a long time.