Each Night Was Illuminated: A Young Adult Coming-of-Age Novel of Faith, Ghosts, and Hope

by Jodi Lynn Anderson

With writing that sparks off the page, New York Times bestselling author Jodi Lynn Anderson tells a story of saints and floods, secrets and truths, rage and love—and the bravery it takes to bet your whole life on a new kind of hope.

The day the train fell in the lake, Cassie stopped believing in much of anything, despite growing up in a devout Catholic family. Then she set her mind to forgetting the strange boy named Elias who was with her when it happened.

When Elias comes back to town after many years away, Cassie finds herself talked into sneaking out at night to follow him ghost-hunting—though she knows better than to believe they will find any spirits.

Still, the more time she spends with Elias—with his questions, his rebelliousness, his imagination that is so much bigger than the box she has made for herself—the more Cassie thinks that even in a world that seems broken beyond repair, there just may be something worth believing in.

An unmissable novel for fans of Nina LaCour and Jandy Nelson!

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction, Audiobook, Young Adult Contemporary, Book Club

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 20, 2022

About the author

I write strange and mythical stories about young people.

Reviews

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I appreciate some of the themes and ideas explored in this book, but ultimately it did not resonate with me the way the author's other books have. Even though I didn't love this particular story, my adoration for Jodi Lynn Anderson remains.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not entirely sure what this book was about...part YA romance, part paranormal/ghost story, part meditation on climate change. Overall I found it short and sweet and I was sad to see it end! A new to me author that I picked up on a whim because the cover was so pretty. Definitely worth a listen especially for fans of books like Invisible ghosts by Robyn Schneider.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeously drawn portrait of adolescence. Anderson writes faith, friendship, and existential fears (and current ones--hello, climate change) in a remarkable way. Definitely should be a modern children's classic.

Also the ending made me cry :')

[Patty (IheartYA311) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick read but not memorable.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anderson, whose Midnight at the Electric may be one of my favorite books I've ever read, has returned with a slim YA novel about Cassie and Elias, who, on the night they meet as children, witness a tragedy that will bind them together forever. They have separately grown up to be teens and are reunited when Elias moves back to Cassie's North Jersey town. Elias has been trying to talk to Cassie through letters about THAT night for years, but she's been avoiding him, having lost her faith in God and religion ever since. As the two cautiously, and secretly, circle each other, Cassie comes into her own, breaking down the walls that have been holding her back and finding a different kind of faith in the process. Anderson's prose is simple, but thoughtful. There's something about her writing that speaks to me in a unique way. I adored this new book and I'm sure it's one I will revisit. Review from e-galley.

[Crowinator · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me cry so hard I had to go lie down. (I've also been sick for a week, so I'm extra emotional.)

This would be an inspired read-alike with Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

“We will try even if we don’t know how it ends” 🥹😭😍

3.5 stars love a cute YA audiobook, a bit dark at times, young sweet love and worth the listen.

[Jules Pelarski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating. Poignant. Enchanting.

The back of this ARC reads 8-12, which frustrates me because I think it could sit comfortably next to any John Green book and prove itself just as strong and relevant - especially with characters in the upper teens. Although, while reading it, I was reminded powerfully of the experience of reading Because of Winn Dixie, the first book to make me laugh out loud, that has stayed with me for many years. I think there's a frightful mess going on in the publishing industry around the YA shelf that has everything to do with the aging audience of Harry Potter, but I digress.

Wherever this book is on the shelf, it's gorgeous, and I'm going to happily recommend it to everyone that comes into the store. The prose is delightful, the voice friendly, funny, and wise, and the story both whimsical and real. The feather light touch of speculative elements pushed this into the realm of some of my favorite books I've ever read. Unlike Windswept, another children's ARC dealing with the reality of climate change, Each Night Was Illuminated gives me a world that is real, immediate, tangible, and almost unchanged... as a writer whose dabbled in this realm myself, this is the take I didn't know I needed. Thank you, JLA. This book is superb.

Recommended to anyone of any age, especially if you, like me, are preoccupied with the future. If you, like me, are an adult with small town roots, it'll take you back with a powerful nostalgia that's not at all tinted rose. God, I loved this book. And if you're growing up (or shopping for someone who is), let Cassie hold your hand for a little while. You won't regret it.

Received a physical ARC at the bookstore where I work. Eagerly awaiting release. <3

edit: Further thoughts on this and other ARCs in my Fall review roundup. Each Night was Illuminated earned the top spot! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktTdE...

[Hannah Monson · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I heard Jodi Lynn speak on a webinar, I thought that maybe she was me in the future. We don’t particularly look alike, but everything she said resonated with me and my personality. Then, she introduced her book, and I became convinced. As someone who is (very slowly) working on a book about a woman without faith who joins a convent, I was immediately intrigued by the premise of a devout catholic who witnesses an accident and loses her faith but nevertheless works in a convent.

I knew from the premise that I would like this book, but I loved it. I don’t think it will hit everyone in the same way— if you haven’t suffered tragedy or questioned your faith, Cassie may be hard to understand or relate to. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), I related to her more deeply than just about any character I’ve read.

Although I’m no longer a teen, I loved this YA novel, showing that books about teens aren’t exclusively for teens. It explores faith in a really compelling way without being saccharine or sanctimonious.

[Anja · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. This book was good and had a lot of potential but something fell flat for me and I haven’t figured out what yet. But seriously good. Cassie was a little too aware of her faults and unrealistically self reflective for a 17 year old sometimes.

“I guess not knowing is the point. All I know is that if nature isn't God telling us a story about what God is, then God is nothing I can picture.”

[Gabrielle Schwabauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was going to be more about wrestling with religious trauma, but it was actually about a character who lost her personal faith early on and felt awkward allowing anybody else to find out. Still interesting, but I feel like the book is being presented as a story about a young person grappling with belief, and I didn't honestly feel she did much grappling.

The relationship between the two primary characters felt pretty stereotypical to me. Not in a bad way--I thankfully did not hate Elias or find him sexist and annoying, so he's probably still in the top 50% of YA boys I've encountered this year. Their friendship certainly seemed like it'd be fun and mysterious and exciting and resonant, if you were there. But the author never quite convinced me I was part of their world. Also, I'm kinda over teen boys having really bizarre hobbies seemingly as, like, this thing they push the female lead to do with them, but I don't ever feel totally convinced that they're sincere in the hobby even though I think the story intends me to believe that, and then they dramatically aBaNdOn tHe HoBbY at a tense moment and I guess it means they're now very sad? I dunno it's just always a bit awkward. He was going through some truly crushing stuff and I was sympathetic, but he always kept himself at arm's length.

Lest this review sound too negative, I enjoy Anderson's sparse, direct prose when I'm in the right mood. Having a supportive and insightful nun as a secondary character was super cool. And honestly, the entire flood scene, which is a good third of the novel, was absolutely riveting. It is so, so hard to write that kind of intense action in a way that both feels believable and is easy to understand and imagine when translated through text, so huge props to the author for that! The night our protagonist spends in a hotel during a hurricane was incredibly well depicted. A bit weird to say that the hard-hitting action sequence was my favorite part of this meandering tale about feeling lonely in a small town and having a crush on a boy and thinking about life after death, but it's the truth.

[Mia Stastny · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the age of 11, Cassie Blake was raised as a Christian Believer in the town of Green Valley. That's until everything changed. First, Cassie's mother left her family, then on a warm day in the middle of spring, Cassie hiked up a nearby mountain with Elias Jones, an Australian boy visiting America. Thats when they both saw it. From that moment they knew their lives were changed forever. Cassie then lost her belief in God, and started experiencing insomnia. Meanwhile, Elias moved back to Australia. Years later, Cassie and Elias came together again, and they grew closer and decided ghost hunting was their new hobby. Jodi Anderson does an amazing job creating anticipation, along with keeping the romance going throughout the story. Anderson has created many connections with Fosters book, "How To Read Literature Like A Professor". First she uses a great connection like in Chapters 9, and 20 "It's More Than Just Rain Or Snow". Foster explains how, "Weather is never just weather. It's never just rain…That dark and stormy evening (and I suspect that before general illumination by streetlight and neon all stormy evenings were pretty darned dark) has worlds of atmosphere and mood” page 70,
in the story, Cassie is talking about how she feels alone at nighttime and is always unsettled, and is afraid of something. This ties back to the weather and how rain makes her feel sad. Anderson also uses examples from chapter 1, "Every Trip is a Quest.", Elias returns to the U.S. for college, and he invites Cassie on a quest, and they go ghost-hunting. As they are exploring, she starts to rethink her existence, and they both fall in love and learn that they both love each other and both have a secret that only they know. She also uses Chapter 6, "...Or The Bible.", explaining that the more time she ends up spending with Elias, with his questions and imagination, the more she believes there may be something worth believing in.
If you love a great mystery and romance novel, this book is definitely for you.

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous blend of contemporary issues, religious mysticism, and young love. Cassie and Elias are two of the best written characters I’ve come across. Thoughts I have after reading this: that having faith in a religion isn’t always the answer when those governing that religion are themselves fallible, families can be imperfect, and children are their own special kind of miracle.

[Ruth]

Still baffled as to what this book was trying to be. There's some paranormal stuff, some religious musing, romance, some environmental activism, and yet none of it really seems to jive together in a cohesive way for me.

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
A beautiful, reflective story about outgrowing your hometown, reckoning with faith and uncertainty, and being brave enough to pursue what resonates with you.

The relationship with Elias and Cassie is so cute, but also the story is deeper than just the two of them.

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is this my new favorite author?
Yes
Am I about to devour everything they’ve written?
Probably.

Review to come.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been waiting for over fifteen years for something like Jodi’s Peaches series but I was a little disappointed. Overall very skimmable and too much religion for my taste but she does write some beautiful sentences.

Thanks to the publisher for a finished copy!

[Amanda (MetalPhantasmReads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly forgettable. Not as good as "Midnight at the Electric" but I'll still try more of her works

[Michelle Kidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each Night Was Illuminated
by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Pub Date 20 Sep 2022
HarperCollins Children's Books, Quill Tree Books
Children's Fiction | Religion & Spirituality | Teens & YA


I am reviewing a copy of Each Night Was Illuminated through HarperCollins Children’s Books, Quill Tree Books and Netgalley:




Cassie stopped believing in much of anything, despite growing up in a devout Catholic family. The day the train fell in the lake. Then she set her mind to forgetting the strange boy named Elias who was with her when it happened.




After Elias comes back to town after many years away, Cassie finds herself being talked into sneaking out at night to follow him ghost hunting though she knows better than to believe they will find any spirits.



The more time Cassie spends with Elias with his questions, his rebelliousness, his imagination that is so much bigger than the box she has made for herself—the more Cassie thinks that even in a world that seems broken beyond repair, there just may be something worth believing in.



I give Each Night Was Illuminated Five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

[Simplekind · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly thought Cassie was the one pulling all the hijinks via some sort of Fight Club level insomnia.

[Of Pens and Swords · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each Night Was Illuminated follows Cassie, a girl who simultaneously has lost faith in religion and wants to be a nun, as she spends a summer reconnecting with Elias, a boy she had met a decade earlier. Set in a religious small town in New Jersey, the book grapples with questions of religion, climate change, and coping with trauma.

This book is truly like nothing I had ever read before. While definitely YA, it grapples with ideas in such a way as can only be evocative of the adult literary fiction genre.

Cassie is such a compelling protagonist. Her mom had left a few years earlier, which, in combination with trauma from having witnessed a deadly train accident with Elias as a child, has left her clinging to whatever elements of safety and predictability she can. She finds comfort in working with nuns despite having lost faith in Christianity. She has insomnia, not having been able to sleep more than a couple hours a night in ages, and is fiercely protective of her little brother, Gabe. She's so complex and has so much to say, and I just really enjoyed being able to see the world through her eyes over the course of the story.

Elias is a little more of a mystery. This is definitely not a traditional YA romance, but there are still some elements of romance in it. The romance is a relatively insignificant part of the story; it's lovely, but other aspects of Cassie and Elias' friendship and character development that are much more important. Elias is a chaotic force to Cassie's careful and controlled approach to life; he draws her out of the shell that she's been living in for years, and through their friendship over the course of the summer, she begins to heal. He has his own traumas, bringing Cassie with him to search relentlessly for the ghosts of the people they had seen die years earlier, and truly just provided such a good foil to Cassie throughout the narrative.

The small town setting is depicted with such skill that it truly does draw the reader into the community that surrounds Cassie. The town is very much influenced by Father James, a Catholic priest who spreads intolerance and lies about climate change. Very few of them take him seriously, but they still allow him to guide their opinions in harmful ways. It was definitely an interesting commentary on our current political culture.

I wish Cassie's family had been fleshed out a little more. While her older sister, the town sweetheart and a devout Catholic, is very present, Cassie's younger brother and father are less so, and I would have liked to see more of their characters.

It really is rare to read a YA book with this sort of depth. It's a ghost story and a commentary on climate change and a meditation on religion and a metaphor for our current political climate and a story about childhood acquaintances reconnecting and being the only people to truly see the other for who they are. It's lovely and complex and extremely skillfully written, and I would recommend it to anybody who is looking for a character-driven YA story. I'm giving Each Night Was Illuminated an enthusiastic 5/5 stars.

Thanks so much to HarperCollins Children's Books for the ARC of this book!

[Macy Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was maybe the most inexplicably good thing that I've read in awhile. Cassie, at 12, considers herself a loch ness monster of a girl and is a devout Catholic, but when she and Elias, a visitor to her town for the summer, witness a tragic event, she loses faith and Elias leaves town. Years later, Elias returns and the events of this book are set into motion.

The faith journeys of young people are so incredibly complex and I love watching Anderson (whom I have long admired as an author) tackle that in Cassie from her job at a convent despite her lack of belief in the religion she was raised in and borderline obsession with a saint to experiences with the problematic priest in her parish. Religion is still something that I feel like YA often stays away from and seeing that tackled in so relatable and nuanced a way was incredible.

Elias and Cassie's relationship is fickle and fast and feels so real, reminding me of some of my own friendships at that age. While Cassie and Elias are largely the only two fully fleshed out characters in a way that feels fitting with the first-person POV, Cassie's siblings and a nun also experience some characterization that helps along the story and adds dimension to the side characters.

I think the thing I loved the most about this book is that while it's largely about religion and faith and the relationship that grows between Cassie and Elias, this book is also about ghosts and the climate crisis. It both felt so heavy and difficult to contend with, but like something I wanted to devour (and indeed I read it in a day). How does a book balance such things, I can't quite say, but I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to fans of contemporary YA fiction, people who want to see their own complex journeys with faith and religion reflected in a text, and people just looking for a plain incredible reading experience. I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long time to come.

[nessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is another beautiful story by Jodi Lynn Anderson.
i just love how well she writes about death in a subtle but beautiful way.
this story starts with a traumatic event that causes a girl named Cassie and a boy she just met for the first time and last time named Eliah. they witnessed something unexplainable that caused them to change their views on death. Cassie who’s very religious, is on her way to being a nun and is surrounded by churches and beliefs. Eliah who sees something know one else sees forced him into the obsession of ghosts. Cassie however is quite literally the opposite, what she saw and remembers is nothing. there was life and then there was death. nothing magical this caused her to question everything she’s ever known and believed in. she no longer believed in god. Eliah moves back home after that. the two reunite after they’ve graduated and after they’ve bumped into each other which then started their journey of ghost hunting. even tho Cassie doesn’t believe she still accompanies because what else is she gonna do.
after awhile eliah moves back home again despite his plans for the future and a storm comes surging towards Cassie and home. unfortunately Cassie was in the middle of searching for something eliah left behind when the storm came and she was stranded. it escalates and she nearly dies. fortunately she realizes how much she loves to breathe, to live. after she survives she realizes she’s stuck in this town and she doesn’t fit in any longer. she realizes whatever she believes in or doesn’t believe in doesn’t matter. “we will try even though we don’t know how it ends”

[Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cassie and Elias meet as young kids and are forever bound together by witnessing a horrific accident. When Elias moves away, Cassie struggles through her insomnia as she tries to lay thoughts about what she's seen to rest. However, he comes back to Valley Green and convinces Cassie to do something wild - ghosthunting. Can their friendship withstand the supernatural, an off-the-rails climate-change-denier priest, and a town that's under his sway?

This was a sneaky book - it didn't begin as particularly striking, but became more compelling as time went on. Cassie struggles with her faith and with the love of a town that can't accept it. Her battle to find her voice and pursue her own interests is one that many people would identify with. She's kind and thoughtful and yet is not without flaw.

The ending is shocking and would be a massive wake-up call to more young people and recommenders of this book to change our ways in how we treat the planet. Father James is something of a caricature, but unfortunately the book's portrayal of him as being influential is not unfounded. What an insightful read.

Overall, I would highly recommend this one! Pick it up where you can find it.

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[Chris G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this ghost story without a ghost, Cassie meets Elias when they are kids - he’s visiting their small New Jersey town from Australia where climate change has already impacted his family's ability to farm, as well as the lives of his Bangladeshi relatives. He recognizes some fierce bravery and fury at the wrongs of the world in Cass, together they see a horrific accident with a number of fatalities, and then Elias goes home. When he returns after graduation, Cass describes herself as a “cautious fish;” but Elias convinces her to help him hunt for the ghosts of those who died in the accident. As the hunt progresses, they explore what they believe about life after death, wonder if individuals can change corrupt systems, and wrestle with how to relate to those they love who are following a fear-mongering leader. There were so many sentences I wanted to underline, and so many big ideas to ponder. Strong characters, especially a very spunky nun. Beautifully written. EARC from Edelweiss.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young Catholic girl who wants to become a nun and a boy who doesn't know what he believes experience an event together one night that makes them each question their beliefs.

I enjoyed and identified with the perspective of someone being brought up in a faith, but also seeing the hypocracy of the people tied up within it. It was also bittersweet and gave me melancholy feelings to hear someone have tremendous doubts concerning their faith.

The story reminded me kind of like Bridge to Terebithia or the writing of John Green.

Content includes:
Young love, crisis of faith, prejudice from a faith community, some cussing and a half dressed make-out scene. No full on nudity or sex.

Thank you to Harper Collins Children's Books for sending me the eARC for free via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Kiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jodi Lynn Anderson's books really are unlike any others I've read. Each Night Was Illuminated pretty much defies categorization, and I imagine it will struggle to find an audience. I myself had trouble connecting and engaging with the first half of it; but the second half was absolutely gripping, the haunting and heartbreaking stuff of the best fables and speculative fiction. Part of me thinks it might have been better off just being a short story consisting of the second part, but I also understand how the first half made the subsequent material more rewarding. At any rate, it's definitely worth a look, as long as you're prepared to grapple with some upsetting and tragic topics—and there's hope, resilience, and quiet beauty to balance them out.

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

[We] look at each other openly, nakedly, as if we are forever tied together by what we suddenly know. We know something that is impossible to say: the fear, and the shattering beauty of life when it almost leaves you.

It’s a clear night, and the moon is so bright and still there for me to see; I feel like it’s the first time I’m seeing it at all. To have my hands on the side of the boat, to smell the river air, to breathe, to wiggle my feet: all of it is stunning. To think of eating a French fry or doing algebra or sitting in the park seems too lovely to be possible. I’m so keenly aware that I’m still me, still this person in this body in this life. And amid the trauma of what’s all around me, I glow with it.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice short read with a unique-ish storyline. The character and her thoughts on her town, her religion, her family is refreshing. She's cautious, but she's rebellious. She has a crush on a boy, but that boy himself is different and their interactions with each other doesn't make you roll your eyes like many couplings do in YA books with romance in them. There is a faint point to the whole story that doesn't make itself obviously clear, but I feel like there is enough of one there to add reason to the story. I recommend it to people who like ghostie things, but don't want to keep yourself up at night. I also recommend this to you if you like romance, but don't want romantic interactions that will make you barf.