Today’s book review is for A Light in the Forest by Melissa Payne, an adult mystery thriller about a mother on the run from an abusive relationship.
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Book Synopsis
From Melissa Payne, bestselling author of The Night of Many Endings, comes an emotional and suspenseful novel about the weight of secrets and the healing power of friends and family.
Vega Jones escapes an abusive relationship with nothing but her two-month-old baby and the van she grew up in. Her destination is a small Ohio town her late vagabond mother left years ago. It’s one full of nobodies, her mother warned. That makes it the ideal refuge for Vega to lie low, feel safe, and maybe learn more about a past her mother never spoke of.
Vega warms to the town and to new acquaintances like Heff, the young deputy and artist who prefers his yard art to actual policing, and empathetic Eve, a local farmer whose near-death experience gave her more than just her life back. But even in this welcoming community, there’s an undercurrent of something unsettled, talk of a tragedy that unfolded in the woods years ago, and a mystery connected to Vega in ways she couldn’t have anticipated.
As a mother on the run and following a path of mounting risks and illuminating secrets, Vega discovers that even during the darkest of times, there’s light in unexpected places. From Goodreads.
“Like vegetables are good for you, too much sugar is bad, and most men are dangerous.”
The Basics
- Category: Adult Fiction
- Tags: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, suspense, Found Family, LGBT
- Author: Melissa Payne
- Publisher: Lake Union Publishing, December 2022
- Where to Find: Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble
- Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
**Spoilers Ahead**
Vega and her mother (Renee) lived on the road all Vega’s life. They traveled in a van doing odd jobs and helping women get out of abusive relationships. When Vega’s mother suddenly passes away, Vega has no one. She quickly ends up in a relationship and becomes pregnant. She ignored red flags that her boyfriend showed because she was pregnant, grieving the loss of her mother, and didn’t know what to do. When her boyfriend began abusing her, she took her 2-month-old son and left without telling him. She had no plan other than creating as much distance as possible between her and her boyfriend. She ends up driving to a small town in Ohio where her mother once lived.
“A nothing town full of nobodies sounded like the perfect place to hide.”
So Let’s Get Into it…
The story rotates narrators across different time periods. Vega is predominately the primary narrator and is in the present (2021). Eve is a secondary narrator and in the present. Our last narrator is Donna, and her timeline takes place in 1995.
Vega is scared and alone when she arrives in Crystal, Ohio, but desperately needs a place to stay. She is now a single mother and has no idea how to raise a child. Additionally, she is fearful that her boyfriend is going to find her. He continues to try to contact her and uses social media to spread lies about Vega’s mental health. The first personVega meets is Eve, who offers the vacant apartment above her store as a place Vega can stay. She only plans to stay for a day or two, but the longer she stays the more she feels welcome by the town and people in it. She begins to realize that the support the community gives isn’t charity, but genuine love and friendship. Vega’s character grows tremendously throughout the story. She stands up for others even when it puts her in danger. After having an unconventional childhood, Vega finds a family in Crystal – and in doing so learns more about her mother’s past.
“Memories of her mother were paintings in her mind that grief deepened in color and time faded the longer she was gone.”
Eve is a trans-woman in her 40s that recently moved back to Crystal. As a teen, she almost died. This near-death experience gave her visions, and she can now somewhat predict the future. When she moved back to Crystal, there were many people in the small town that didn’t accept her because she is a trans-woman. She doesn’t let people’s opinions bother her, because her near-death experience gave her a new outlook on life and death. Eve treats everyone with kindness and lives her life the way she wants without hiding who she is. I would not be able to endure the constant hate and prejudice that Eve faced from some people in Crystal. I admire Eve for her strength and resiliency in the face of adversity and unjust treatment.
Eve had a vision that Vega was coming to Crystal, and had the room she offered waiting for her even though Eve is a stranger to her. Throughout the book, Eve gets visions and glimpses of things that she can’t make sense of. All she knows is that they are all somehow tied to Vega, and she fears something bad is going to happen.
“Yes, well, death turned me into trans Yoda. I have much knowledge to share.”
Donna is a part of the town’s local superstition. According to legend, Donna and her father haunt the woods of Crystal after they both disappeared one fateful night in 1995. However, the real story is that Donna ran away from her physically and sexually abusive father. Donna found an abandoned bus in the woods and it was there she met Ethan. She lived in the bus while hiding from her father and figuring out a plan to escape and start a new life out west. She received help from Ethan, a girl her age named Tera, and an adult couple,Betty and Carl.Donna’s plan was to learn how to do odd jobs with Carl mentoring her, then escape Chrystal forever with Ethan and Tera. Unfortunately, things do not go according to plan because Donna’s father finds her. They both are never seen again after that encounter.
Now, you are probably thinking: “How are Vega, Eve, and Donna all connected??” This book is part mystery, but it leaves many clues throughout the book that tie everything together in the end!
“Crystal ain’t the city, but we help our neighbors. That’s a country thing.”
So… Bookmark or Bin it?
Conclusion: Bookmark it
I loved this book. Payne did an amazing job tackling abuse, prejudice, past trauma, homophobia, and transphobia. It is a story about grief, friendship, family, growth, and starting over. There is a bit of romance thrown in as well! A Light in the Forest is a feel-good thriller with found family, memorable characters, and most importantly a happy ending!
Fun Extra Tidbit
Payne did not grow up in a small town (even though most of her books are based on small town communities). She currently lives in a small-ish town where she says she can’t go to the grocery store without running into someone she knows. Her next book, “The Wild Road Home,” will be released March 2024.
Thanks so much for reading my book review for A Light in the Forest by Melissa Payne! Now it’s your turn! Have you read this novel or any others by Melissa and if so, what are your thoughts? Please feel free to share in the comments below!
Happy reading 😊
