The Color of Light

The Color of Light by Helen Maryles Shankman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am torn in my opinion of this book. The characters are immensely compelling and the story is a whopper of a tale with multiple climactic events. But there are problems with the writing: certain aspects of the story are downright implausible and transitions between scenes are often confusing. For example, Rafe (the vampire/love interest of the main character) tells multiple people that a single ray of sunlight will turn him into a pile of ashes. But he frequently attends board meetings during daylight hours without any explanation as to how he avoided destruction. The bond formed between the group of students who become Tessa's (the main character) friends is portrayed as extremely tight, but as they part after graduation there is no discussion of keeping in touch and their farewells seem permanent. And of course, the final nail in the coffin is that the female protagonist gives up her dream and the prize she worked so hard for because her guy won't budge and go to Paris with her but does want to take her traveling around the world. These are only a few of the points with which I took exception, there are many more. But overall I loved the characters, enjoyed the setting and the story, and especially appreciated what I learned about art during the reading of this book.

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