Reviews
Here are a few comments and reviews I’ve received about the music and the book. Thank you to all my friends, family, and acquaintances for taking an interest in what I do and for their kind words!
Music Reviews
“I love this so much!! Thank you for creating this masterpiece.” – E.T. (friend)
“Love the album, Leo. You really capture the peace of the outdoors, and the open, inviting voice your music always has works so well with that theme.” – C.R. (friend)
“So beautiful, really love the vocals and the sound of this. Usually, I don’t share music with beats, but this is too good not to share and I have a perfect playlist for this.” – Handmade & Acoustic (Spotify playlister)
“Hey there, thanks for sharing your music. I liked the beautiful harmonies and the nice vocals. Happy to give it a shout out on IG!” – Greywood Records (Instagram, Spotify)
“Amazing! Thank you!” – T.M. (friend)
Book Reviews
“Northern Lights” is a 2021 B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree!
“I loved this book! I loved the setting and found the characters to be believable. That it is the author’s debut novel is impressive. There is no question that it is worthy of the B.R.A.G. Medallion.” – B.R.A.G. Medallion book review
“What a wonderful story! I loved the beautiful descriptions of the Boundary Waters and the personal insights of the author. Such great experiences – a must read!” – K.B. (reader)
“I’m absolutely loving the world Solstrom has created in his debut effort! This isn’t some schmaltzy fly-by-night romance novel you can breeze through in one sitting. There’s a great deal of substance here, ranging from personal struggles with self-worth to honest conversations about the depths of true love, real life, the mysteries of faith, and intimate friendship. Solstrom truly has a gift for helping people see and think on a deeper, more thought-provoking level. Exactly as promised, Northern Lights delivers on all counts. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while to come, that is, until I reread it again, but at a slower, more reflective pace next time. – C.J. (mentor)
“I appreciated the frank and sincere dialogue between the three main characters – so full of honesty, humor, and depth. These are the questions young people are asking in today’s world. It’s about time someone dug down past the superficial layers of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll to the deeper thoughts, questions, and dreams of the next generation.” – S.V. (friend)
“About a hundred pages in, I could see what Solstrom was up to. He was in no rush to get to the main point of the story, and he even said so himself, several times in fact. I’ve been to the Boundary Waters, and you don’t get anywhere in a hurry. That’s exactly what this book is like. It takes some work to get into it, but the payoff is absolute perfection. When the story finally took off as expected, I had no clue what would happen next. I enjoyed how the surprising twists kept coming until the very end. One thing’s for sure, there’s going to be a sequel. Solstrom hinted at that directly in the opening pages. I can’t wait!” – O.V. (book reviewer)
“Okay, it’s pretty clear Solstrom had a lot of fun writing his first novel – maybe too much fun! But I’ve got to give him credit; the story rings true on every level. It makes you laugh out loud one minute, then cry the next, but all the while making you hope and wish and dream for ways to make life more meaningful, more beautiful, and more fully alive. I’m handing this one off to my daughter next. She needs to see that there are still decent human beings like this left in the world, and the people in Northern Lights will give her a ray of hope for the future.” – S.D. (reader)
“The peaceful and relaxed pace of the story is a direct reflection of the author’s experiences as a canoe guide in Northern Minnesota. It was as good as being there in person! So beautifully satisfying!” – J.S. (adventure enthusiast)
“This book wasn’t anything like what I was expecting. I figured there’d be plenty of pretty descriptions of the outdoors, a few bear stories, and some hair-raising adventures in the woods of Minnesota, but I was pleasantly surprised at the human aspect of the story. Specifically, the three main characters were truly genuine, heartfelt, relatable, and endearing. They made me want to work harder at being like them – more thoughtful, caring, understanding, tolerant, and empathetic of others.” – C.T. (friend)