• Published: February 15, 2024
• Pages: 313 (Kindle Edition)
• Genre(s): Romance, LGBTQIA+, Contemporary

At ten years old, Ellis meets the new boy next door. Over the years, Ellis and Lucky develop a bond that compares to no other. When Lucky leaves their home town to pursue his career, a distance forms between them; and, determined to allow Lucky to fly, Ellis tries to move on from the person he’s loved for as long as he can remember. However, when Lucky sweeps back into town asking questions Ellis stays resolute to leave unanswered, Ellis might just have to face his feelings once and for all.

I found this book by chance, in the form of a random Tiktok recommendation video on my FYP, and I’m very glad I decided to give it a chance. This book made me feel so many emotions in a small package; I fell in love with the characters and their story from the first page. This book is filled with so much depth of feeling and, if given the chance, I would read it all over again in a heartbeat.

Yearning, Confessions, and “Soulmatism”…

• This book gave me angst and yearning in a way I have been craving, without even being aware of it. The way that Ellis and Lucky yearn to be with each other and shy away from confessing time and time again, broke my heart – especially since the reasoning behind it was valid in both cases; I get people’s dislike for the miscommunication trope, however I do love it when it’s done correctly, as it is in this instance.
• The near misses accumulating towards the penultimate confession was beautiful and made me sob (what can I say, I’m a sucker for queer joy). There’s something so heartbreakingly sad about one of the characters loving the other their entire life and yet choosing to be on the side-lines simply because they believe the other would be better off that way, yet their love interest believes the total opposite and would choose them over anything else that life has to offer.
• I could write two separate essays about Lucky and Ellis as individual characters. Ellis is a character that feels so human to me, he’s so passionate and kind; and, while I cannot speak for the autism rep, he’s written in a way that feels very authentic and genuine. Lucky is a character full of so much wonder and love, someone who jumps out from the page and feels like they have always been there existing in the flesh. I truly believe that a good romance book makes you fall in love with the individual characters, alongside the romantic relationship and that speaks to the strength of this book.
• I truly believe the idea of ‘soulmates’ attaches itself to Ellis and Lucky perfectly – if anyone could be said to personify that word, it would be them. The way that they understand each other words, thoughts, feelings, and needs, instantly and in a way that nobody else does is so beautiful to read. This is especially evident though Ellis’s selective mutism and the way that Lucky both never expects or needs Ellis to force himself to speak any more than he wants to – Lucky simply understands Ellis, and vice versa (something about ‘to be loved is to be known’…).

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I absolutely adored To Catch a Firefly by Emmy Sanders and rated it a 5 out of 5 stars. There is a heart breaking sadness imbued into this book that makes your chest physically ache while reading it; it is at it’s core, a book about love, life, and human connection, and both the joys and sorrows that those entail. I loved reading about Ellis and Lucky’s lives both individually and finally, as a couple. This book is beautifully heart-warming and achingly sad all at once, but it truly does reward you in the joy that is Ellis and Lucky’s love for one another.

Song: Glue by Gigi Perez