Review Detail

Lucas Santiago is injured war veteran and as a result of his injuries, has ended up in a wheelchair. In ‘Beneath Wondering Stars’ Lucas’ sister, Gabi, and best friend, Seth, hike the Santiago de Compostela. They do this since Lucas can no longer fulfill his dream of hiking it on his own.

‘Below Northern Lights’ is a sequel to, ‘Beneath Wondering Stars’. I hadn’t previously read ‘Beneath Wondering Stars’ but I was able to understand everything that was happening in ‘Below Northern Lights’. ‘Below Northern Lights’ picks up where ‘Beneath Wondering Stars’ essentially leaves off. Seth is missing in Scotland. Gabi and Lucas travel to there along with Lucas’ service dog to find Seth. While there Lucas meets a British war veteran name Skye and falls hard for her.

I really did like the premise of this story. A disabled veteran goes tracking across Scotland in search of his war buddy. For me the story ended up being ok. I really enjoyed learning pieces of Scottish history and landmarks along the way. I found the characters to be a little on the flat side. Especially Gabi. Her character just seemed a little dry and uninteresting to me. I did like Skye. She was, by far, my favorite character. I did also enjoy Lucas’ and Skye’s slow burn romance. It was sweet if not predictable. I found some things in the storyline a little too convenient such as Lucas having friends who can set him up with a super-duper all terrain wheelchair and RV, free of charge in Scotland. This made the story feel a little contrived.

The story did wrap up nicely and I did enjoy ‘Below Northern Lights.’ To me it read like a fun quick short story and less like a mystery/adventure. I would recommend ‘Below Northern Lights’ as a great summer read and would also recommend for those that would like a contemporary Scottish adventure story.