Good story. Full of twists and turns that keeps you guessing until the end.
Definitely worth a read.

Few authors have made such an impact on me as Louise Swanson (AKA Louise Beech). Since reading the brilliant End Of Story I’ve been reading through her back catalogue and I’ve loved most of them.

Lights Out stars Grace, she works as a carer in an end of life hospice, and is afraid of the dark. The Government has imposed a night-time electricity switch off.

The switch off introduces a slightly speculative feel, the public react badly, there’s quite a few things going on with Grace and her anxieties at the centre.

This is an unusual book, as much Grace’s character story as it is a thriller. There’s a few sentences in the book that captured it ‘…a book that needed to find the right reader; a genre that didn’t fit easily into a box. That only when a lover of that unusual category found him would he find his voice’.

It kept it reading, and interested. I know the right reader will love this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton

I enjoyed this book. A government scheme to save electricity by having lights out each night. What happens when darkness comes! A slow burn thriller with a fantastic ending! Thanks for the opportunity.

With many thanks to Netgalley for this free arc and I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily
Well this was an addictive read! The author does a very good job of capturing the essence of the darkness. Centred around Grace a very needy and unstable character with a backstory of secrets and is convincingly portrayed. Wonderfully written this book is so much more than just a thriller, more a journey of discovery and how people’s lives entwine. A few red herrings and a nice twist add depth. A different type of read for me but one I found very enjoyable

Not too long ago this premise would have been deemed dystopian, however it's much more of a threat these days. What happens in the dark? Houses rot, people descend into madness and evil creeps over. It was a stunning read and a scenario I can well imagine in Brirtain in 2024 sadly.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this eCopy to review

Lights Out is a solid thriller. In an effort to achieve their Green goals the Government has decreed that electricity be switched off from 8pm to 7 am what follows is chaos as houses become damp and mouldy, fridges break, people become unwell from the freezing cold and damp. As if all this is not bad enough Grace has to contend with her childhood fear of the dark which she has never been able to overcome. Already terrified Grace almost reaches breaking point when someone starts breaking into her house and leaving little gifts. I liked the characters, the plot moved along well and I was rooting for Grace to overcome her fears.

A very clever book, with some ingenious twists

A scary and believable thriller set in the near future when the Government decides to turn off the electricity at night for civilians. Great storytelling and characters plus a strong sense of emotion. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

What can I say except this is one of the scariest books I've read. Based in our world where the government decide to save the planet the electricity must go off from 8pm until 7am. To Grace who has always been afraid of the dark this is her worst nightmare. A completely different kind of scary but nevertheless a brilliant one , more so because it could happen. Louse is a brilliant writer and I can't recommend her highly enough

In their infinite wisdom, the Government of the UK decide that due to the escalating climate change crisis, they would be implementing a new policy, Lights Out, to combat the excessive usage of electricity. Each night at 8 p.m. there would be a power cut, with the electricity reinstated at 7 a.m. the following morning. This is to be for a couple of months in the first instance. Major services would not be affected, neither would London, which obviously goes without saying! The government statement of its “the first priority is always the safety of our country”, is oft quoted. In a particularly cold snap during January this is an unbelievable statement and the decision seems cruel and immoral, with the general public suffering greatly.

Grace, the main protagonist is terrified of the dark, to such an extent that her life becomes almost unbearable, waiting for the 8 p.m. switch off is all she thinks about. How will she cope when facing her worst fear? Without giving spoilers, Grace does not have an easy time!

I love Louise Swanson’s writing so much, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this. The characterisation is absolutely superb, the issues raised so very true in today’s society, all written with compassion and empathy, and the plot wonderful, like peeling an onion, the layers keep unfurling.

I thoroughly recommend this perfection of a book, the best I have read in ages.

5 GOLD ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton.

Most of all, thank you Louise Swanson.

Reviewing books pre-publication is like being let in on the most marvellous secret, which I then help to share widely and loudly. It is my absolute pleasure to be involved in sharing how fabulous I think this book is. I came into this book with no pre-conceptions, no idea of the storyline. I saw a Louise Swanson book, and knew I must read it.

Lights Out is a new Government policy, to help address the growing climate change crisis. Electricity will be cut to all non essential addresses, between the hours of 8pm and 7am, during a harsh and bleak January. The dark brings out all of our fears, and heightens so much. The dark suppresses our vision making all of our other senses, and imagination, go into overdrive. Fear, anxiety, loneliness and pain are all intensified by the absence of light, the absence of hope.

The govt line of “we’re all in this together”, feels very reminiscent of us all being in the same storm in our own recent past. While the reality was us all being in the same storm, with some in rowing boats, while others plainly sailed in luxury yachts. The author conveys the feelings of these inequalities extremely well.

On the surface, the book is about a Government trying to appease voters, to try to win votes in the run up to an election. (Sound familiar to anyone?)
When you read further through the pages, deeper, you realise the book is about secrets, honesty, courage, and ultimately knowing your worth, and not letting others devalue you.

The characterisation is superb. The characters are a cross section of those found in life. Likeable, unlikeable, shallow, empathetic, kind and thoroughly obnoxious; but nobody is perfect, everyone has their flaws. Which is why they feel so fully formed, so convincing.
Grace represents so many of us. Many of us have boxes, and we hold those lids down tightly; scared of what will happen if it were to come loose.

I loved Lights Out, I started reading expecting a thriller, but found so much more. It’s a 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read, shining brightly through the dark.

I love this author, whether she's writing as Louise Beech or Louise Swanson, and as Louise Swanson, this is the second high concept speculative novel to which we've been treated. The concept of Lights Out, where all electricity is turned off between the hours of 8pm and 8am to conserve energy and combat climate change, felt particularly unsettling to me, as I rely on a electric hoist and wheelchair, which means that without electricity, I would literally be unable to move. Louise Swanson's writing is so powerful that I was dragged, kicking and screaming, into this world that she has created so precisely and with so much atmosphere and I couldn't let go.

The protagonist of Lights Out is Grace, and although she has a very different reason to depend on electricity, I felt totally able to empathise with her. Louise Swanson is absolutely brilliant at creating characters with so much emotional depth and I was intrigued to find out more about Grace. She's a character with many layers and I wanted to discover more about her history and why she reacted to the situations in the novel in the way she did.

As a story, Lights Out has several layers and I loved being able to peel each one back. The plot itself is written in an incredible way and the atmosphere and sense of foreboding alone made me want to continue reading. However, Louise Swanson has given us much more than that. She has explored in detail several aspects of modern life (which I won't outline in case of spoilers) and human emotion and many of these resonated with me - and I'm sure other readers will find something in the novel that they can relate to. There are also political undertones to this novel which struck a chord with me, and root the story further in reality and make the plot scarily easy to imagine.

And yes, Louise Swanson did make me cry.

When I saw a post on social media about this book. It sounds really intriguing and curiosity got the better of me and I checked on Netgalley to see it was there and it was.
I liked the basis of this story of the UK is in a state of emergency and every night at 8pm the electricity gets cut and everyone is left in darkness. Grace who is afraid of the dark because of something that happened to her as a childhood. When someone breaks in and leaves objects around the house. This story sounded just up my street.
But for me personally I found the first 35% of the story very disjointed as it kept jumping to one thing to another and I am wondering the relevance to all this. It even confused me what kind of genre this book is supposed to be. I had difficulty connecting to this, especially the real reason the person why the person was leaving objects in Grace’s house. I thought really?? After all that I just skimmed to the end of the book. 2.5 stars from me.

This whole book is filled with layers upon layers of mystery,just who is doing what and why.
Very cleverly told, and the realisation of what has happened is brilliant and original.
Just how would you cope when faced with your worst fear?
I'll look forward to reading more from this author as this was an excellent read.
RECOMMENDED.
Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC.

Such a great read.
I was totally absorbed in this book.
Louise is one of my favourite authors.
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.