About

Meet Lucy

My name is Lucy, and I've always loved reading. I didn't really read young adult books when I was in middle and high school, but in college I rediscovered the wonder that is YA Literature, and I haven't looked back since. My real epiphany came in my first year of grad school, just a year ago, when I took a class on publishing young adult books. Not only did I realize how awesome YA is, I also realized that I tend to write it. So my love of books combined with my love of writing, and eventually became this blog.

This blog has a few purposes. Firstly, I love writing reviews and I like have a stable place to keep them, so I can go back and remember what I thought about a book even when I don't remember anything about it. I also really like the blogger community and want to be a bigger part of it. But the last reason is purely selfish.

I work as an editor for a small press in Portland, OR (RainTown Press) which exclusively publishes Young Adult and Middle Grade books. I'm also going to be managing the their blog soon. I love books, and I love editing, and above all I love my job, but I need some way to keep Editor Lucy and Reader Lucy separate. I need to be able to just enjoy books, without thinking too much like an editor.

That said, I am an editor, so my reviews will have a good smattering of editorial comments. But for the most part I'm trying to keep these reviews personal and objective, to really explore what I like about books. Which is naturally not what everyone likes in books.

I will say this: I love authors, and I hate giving negative reviews. When I do end up disappointed in a book, I try to criticize it from an editing stand-point. I look for wasted potential, things that could have been done to make the book so much better than it is, and I’ll often be the harshest on books I felt could have been really good.

Review Policy

I’m constantly reading, and I’ll happily accept reader-copies or galleys for review. Unless you need it done by a specific date, I make no guarantees about when it will go up (I have a huge reading list). I will try to accommodated your needs, but if you need it by a specific time, it’s best to get it to me at least a month ahead of time. I primarily review young adult books, and occasionally middle grade books.

Genres I prefer:
-contemporary fiction
-queer fiction
-dystopian science fiction

I also like:
-fantasy
-paranormal romance

I’m not much interested in:
-hard sci fi
-non-fiction

To give you some gauge, here are two books I really liked (1, 2), and two books I wasn't so happy with (1, 2).

At the moment, I am not accepting electronic galleys.


To submit a book for review, simply email me (lmsoftlight @ gmail.com, minus spaces), and we’ll talk details.