3.5 stars 
 The plot is what really carries the story forward and is probably the strongest aspect of The Light Between Oceans along with the development of Tom's character through the first two thirds of the book. The ending is surprisingly genuine and the mystery of what will happen, not only between Tom, Isabel, and Lucy but also their friends and family is maintained well throughout the entire story. The ending itself is surprisingly fresh, well thought out, and touching, managing to stay true to the complexity and depth that the subject matter deserves. 
 For the most part, Stedman's writing is balanced and easy to read. Backstories are shared throughout the story when relevant. We learn about the processes of Tom's job as a lighthouse keeper but aren't overloaded with details. They are instead provided throughout the story at appropriate moments which add realism and further situate the characters and story. Although the histories of some of the minor characters do go into a bit too much detail and feel a little unnecessary overall. The deeper themes of the story don't detract from the plot itself but instead add depth to the characters (mostly the main protagonist, Tom) and the world that Stedman has built. God is mentioned throughout the story, not in a way that is preaching but more in a way that makes it feel like the belief system of the characters themselves. Most of the people in the novel seem to have religious convictions but those convictions are written naturally and usually seem appropriate for the setting and the people sharing them. Dialogue, action, and description are also well balanced throughout although there are random, seemingly pointless, shifts between past and present tense. This was a little irritating and added nothing to how the story was told. 
 In the early stages of Tom and Isabel's relationship the romance scenes are generally cheesy and cringe-worthy e.g. on page 77 when they have a tickle fight and Tom actually refers to Isabel as a "little minx". The excessive use of exclamation marks in the dialogue doesn't help much either. That being said, their relationship does later develop into something a little more genuine and easier to read. 
 While Tom's character is well developed with an engaging backstory (a man with family issues and suffering from PTSD after WWI), his partner Isabel doesn't have nearly as much depth or intrigue. She serves more as a plot contrivance than a real person, spending most of her time emoting and being defined purely by her relationship with Tom and the daughter Lucy. Which brings us to the story's main plot and my biggest issue with The Light Between Oceans. 
 I'll give a spoiler warning here, although it's pretty obvious from the plot synopsis on the back of the book the decision Tom and Isabel make in regards to the baby that washes up with the boat on their island. I'm also going to explain some of the reasons behind their choices (but not in great detail) so if you're really sensitive to spoilers then I suggest you skip this paragraph. 
 While the premise itself is an interesting one, the way Stedman handles the decision Tom and Isabel make, makes it seem forced and contrived. Tom and Isabel decide to keep the child that washes up, or rather Isabel decides to keep it and Tom simply acquiesces to her wishes. The reason it felt contrived to me is because the groundwork for Isabel's reasoning to keep the child just didn't seem sufficient to support the decision that she made. While the difficulties with conceiving a child could no doubt cause some real damage to someone's mind, what Isabel went through just didn't seem enough to make her actions sympathetic. There is a touching scene (told in flashback) where we see Isabel enduring a third miscarriage. This scene is nicely written but it's a pity there weren't more like it to really expose and delve into Isabel's state of mind and the psychological trauma she had to endure. But as it stands, we are led to believe that a completely sane and rational woman endures three miscarriages and then leaps straight to stealing children. This might have been more believable if she was portrayed from the outset as being slightly neurotic and desperate to have a child but it isn't. It might still have worked if we were given better insight into the damage of Isabel's struggles to conceive but we weren't. She does use God in an attempt to justify her actions but that only serves to compound the strange and sudden bout of insanity that has taken her over and really makes it hard to sympathise with her. 
 Not only was Isabel's choice to keep the child not adequately justified but Tom's actions during the whole episode seem strange as well. He is a man stoically concerned with doing the right thing yet wilts so easily under the pressure from his suddenly insane wife. Given the nature of Tom's character that had been established up to this point in the story I really expected him to stand his ground but he didn't put up much of a fight at all. The way he caved in so easily to Isabel's wishes, just like the way Isabel suddenly became mad with the idea of having a child, seemed like a violation of his character just to make the story work rather than being a natural outcome of the situation they were in. Had Tom been shown as more of a coward or a push over his actions might have seemed more believable. Since this is the central pivot of the entire story's plot, I constantly had that feeling of being unconvinced throughout the story and couldn't really bridge that distance, thus I felt a little disconnected from the characters and story itself. 
 The plot is interesting, there is some great characterisation, and Stedman's writing is balanced, engaging, and easy to read, however, the violating of Tom's and Isabel's characters for the sake of the plot really damaged the strength and message of the story.