Leave the Little Light On, Book One: Windsor, by Sonia Palleck, is a fictionalized memoir, inspired by the author’s life. This makes it a highly personal, emotional novel. The book follows actual events in her life, but reads like fiction.

Young Athena, our protag, deals with so many setbacks and confusion in this story, and it’s her intense personality that gets her through.  This feels realistic, and Athena’s goals and emotions come through strongly.  She remains the kind of person who hopes for joy and happy endings, even though her own life isn’t much of a fairy tale, and she faces that head-on. I enjoyed the coming-of-age elements, with some universal emotions, and with Athena’s unique personality and worldview.

Athena is a gifted child, although like many other children with advanced abilities, this isn’t always understood by people around her. And she doesn’t always understand what’s happening around her, and some of the moments were deeply relatable. (Like Athena, I was once pulled out of class for a poorly-explained test, and still remember my confusion.) Young Athena often struggles to connect with people around her. Some ways are universal, and some are unique to Athena’s situation.  She sees the world differently from her peers and her family members, so I understood why she would feel lost and left out.  Even as she gets older, she doesn’t always connect with people around her.

Without revealing too much, some people in young Athena’s family routinely let her down. There’s a lot to discover in how a young child and then a young woman expects her family to be, compared to how it really is.

Athena also discovers teenage love in this novel. This is an emotional depiction of first love, obsession, hookups, and her first boyfriend. Even though I spent most of their relationship wishing she’d just dump him (He’s not the love of your life! He is literally just a guy! as they say on TikTok), this is another way we see Athena believing in the best.

Through all the setbacks and surprises, readers can see Athena’s hopeful outlook throughout the book. She continues to hope for the best and work for the future, even when the world around her is confusing or difficult, which makes a relatable, engaging protagonist.

Leave the Little Light On, Book One: Windsor is the first of four novels about Athena’s life.

I received a copy of this novel through BookInfluencers. Opinions on my blog are always my own.