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lisashelves's review against another edition
4.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 4 stars
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book via BookOfMatchesMedia in exchange for an honest review!
A Light in the Sky is a story about Aluma, a girl who has always dreamed of becoming an aerial warrior astride an Empyrean Steed. When her father is tragically injured, she gets the chance to compete to become everything she has ever dreamed of.
As someone who has loved horses for as long as she can remember, I’m always looking for a good story which involves horses! Put wings on those horses and it’s even better, so I couldn’t wait to start reading this book.
This story has a bit of an old-school YA vibe. It actually reminded me a lot of Percy Jackson as far as the vibe goes. Both books are kind of straight forward with worldbuilding, characters and the way the story is going. While it was predictable, I still enjoyed it quite a lot.
I also liked how the plot was just straight forward and fast-paced. You don’t spend forever on the tournament or anything which could make a story boring or dragged out.
Aluma seemed really young to me and thus a bit rash and naïve in her actions sometimes. I actually wanted to scream a lot of times to get her head in the game hehe. Other characters I really enjoyed, although I had a hard time with their complex names. I would’ve liked for the secondary characters to be a little more developed/detailed.
I loved the relationship Aluma has with her father! While not much of him is seen in the book, he has a powerful presence since the beginning. As far as the romantic relationships went, I wasn’t really a fan. In general, I’m not a fan of love triangles because most of the time they aren’t really done well or just super cringy. The love triangle in this book falls in the last category unfortunately even though it is a classic one. I hope in the second book that will resolve itself.
The ending seemed a bit abrupt after everything that happened before. Overall, the missions the cast went on were a bit immature and hasty in general but the ending one was the cherry on top. Especially with the way the magic was brought forward and used. It seemed a bit convenient and I still don't grasp the whole concept of "light" and "dark".
Overall, I really enjoyed this story with its pegasi and magic and look forward to future books in the series.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book via BookOfMatchesMedia in exchange for an honest review!
A Light in the Sky is a story about Aluma, a girl who has always dreamed of becoming an aerial warrior astride an Empyrean Steed. When her father is tragically injured, she gets the chance to compete to become everything she has ever dreamed of.
As someone who has loved horses for as long as she can remember, I’m always looking for a good story which involves horses! Put wings on those horses and it’s even better, so I couldn’t wait to start reading this book.
This story has a bit of an old-school YA vibe. It actually reminded me a lot of Percy Jackson as far as the vibe goes. Both books are kind of straight forward with worldbuilding, characters and the way the story is going. While it was predictable, I still enjoyed it quite a lot.
I also liked how the plot was just straight forward and fast-paced. You don’t spend forever on the tournament or anything which could make a story boring or dragged out.
Aluma seemed really young to me and thus a bit rash and naïve in her actions sometimes. I actually wanted to scream a lot of times to get her head in the game hehe. Other characters I really enjoyed, although I had a hard time with their complex names. I would’ve liked for the secondary characters to be a little more developed/detailed.
I loved the relationship Aluma has with her father! While not much of him is seen in the book, he has a powerful presence since the beginning. As far as the romantic relationships went, I wasn’t really a fan. In general, I’m not a fan of love triangles because most of the time they aren’t really done well or just super cringy. The love triangle in this book falls in the last category unfortunately even though it is a classic one. I hope in the second book that will resolve itself.
The ending seemed a bit abrupt after everything that happened before. Overall, the missions the cast went on were a bit immature and hasty in general but the ending one was the cherry on top. Especially with the way the magic was brought forward and used. It seemed a bit convenient and I still don't grasp the whole concept of "light" and "dark".
Overall, I really enjoyed this story with its pegasi and magic and look forward to future books in the series.
library_of_velaris's review against another edition
5.0
This was such an unexpected read.
In a way it had a dystopian fantasy vibe- as in the characters are living in their world after some big change has occurred.
I loved loved loved the flying horses, and the whole magic system involved with them.
Aluma is such a compelling character, and I was invested in her story from the start! I feel like the pacing was very good, especially all of the action toward the last part of the book.
I enjoyed this very much, would recommend!
In a way it had a dystopian fantasy vibe- as in the characters are living in their world after some big change has occurred.
I loved loved loved the flying horses, and the whole magic system involved with them.
Aluma is such a compelling character, and I was invested in her story from the start! I feel like the pacing was very good, especially all of the action toward the last part of the book.
I enjoyed this very much, would recommend!
bellebookcorner's review against another edition
3.0
What compelled me to read this book is the idea of Pegasus in the story!
If you like hidden identity, love triangle and secrets waiting to be revealed then you can give this one a try.
The plot is simple and action-packed. The writing style makes it easy to understand the flow of the plot.
There’s no info dumping at the start of the story as well which is really good. Even though sometimes I find the world building slightly confusing.
There’s a lot of mystery in this story, it keeps me flipping the pages to know the truth of what really happen, the true identity of our main character and also about the villain and what their goal is.
It took a while for me to warm up to Aluma (FMC), her character is a bit impulsive and I didn’t like some of the decision she made towards the ending. Hopefully she’ll grow more as the series progress.
I also like the secondary characters, especially Wolkenna. I hope we got to know more about her and others as well.
As for the romance, I was fine at the beginning with Aluma might be having feelings toward her best friends and I was excited to see how that relationship would developed as the story goes.
However, the new character in the middle of the story changes everything. Suddenly there’s a love triangle that I'm not a huge fan of. The interaction between Aluma and the love interests felt too rushed and there's no room for them to develop these feelings.
The ending really intrigued me and I’m curious to know where will their next adventure go - towards the unknown.
Overall, for a debut novel it’s pretty good. It has a potential to be a great series and I’m hoping some things got more developed as the story got deeper.
I'm looking forward to the sequel of this book!
Actual rating: 3.5⭐
I received this review copy for free through Netgalley, I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the Wink Road Press and the author.
If you like hidden identity, love triangle and secrets waiting to be revealed then you can give this one a try.
The plot is simple and action-packed. The writing style makes it easy to understand the flow of the plot.
There’s no info dumping at the start of the story as well which is really good. Even though sometimes I find the world building slightly confusing.
There’s a lot of mystery in this story, it keeps me flipping the pages to know the truth of what really happen, the true identity of our main character and also about the villain and what their goal is.
It took a while for me to warm up to Aluma (FMC), her character is a bit impulsive and I didn’t like some of the decision she made towards the ending. Hopefully she’ll grow more as the series progress.
I also like the secondary characters, especially Wolkenna. I hope we got to know more about her and others as well.
As for the romance, I was fine at the beginning with Aluma might be having feelings toward her best friends and I was excited to see how that relationship would developed as the story goes.
However, the new character in the middle of the story changes everything. Suddenly there’s a love triangle that I'm not a huge fan of. The interaction between Aluma and the love interests felt too rushed and there's no room for them to develop these feelings.
The ending really intrigued me and I’m curious to know where will their next adventure go - towards the unknown.
Overall, for a debut novel it’s pretty good. It has a potential to be a great series and I’m hoping some things got more developed as the story got deeper.
I'm looking forward to the sequel of this book!
Actual rating: 3.5⭐
I received this review copy for free through Netgalley, I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the Wink Road Press and the author.
aamna_theinkslinger's review against another edition
3.0
Even I though I quite liked this book, I don't agree with the marketing that it is something like Scorpio Races because of them are extremely different stories in tone AND in plot, and since that was the reason I picked it up it didn't deliver, even though I did enjoy it, I just wanted to mention this.
It's just a really cool magical world with flying horses. We follow a girl who is really passionate about flying a winged horse and being part of this group of flyers for her country/kingdom and in the beginning it's sort of a competition kind of set-up.
It's definitely entertaining. I just wish the stakes would have been higher and the characters a little .kre complex than the generic good guys. It's s lot more younger in tone and the writing is very simplistic, so it didn't have anything that really just hooked me so I couldn't give it s too high rating. But it's definitely anice, fun read with likeable characters.
It's just a really cool magical world with flying horses. We follow a girl who is really passionate about flying a winged horse and being part of this group of flyers for her country/kingdom and in the beginning it's sort of a competition kind of set-up.
It's definitely entertaining. I just wish the stakes would have been higher and the characters a little .kre complex than the generic good guys. It's s lot more younger in tone and the writing is very simplistic, so it didn't have anything that really just hooked me so I couldn't give it s too high rating. But it's definitely anice, fun read with likeable characters.
janettedv's review against another edition
4.0
This is a YA fantasy novel about a young girl who dreams of being one of the elite group of riders who fly on winged horses. She secretly steals out of the house at night and breaks all the rules by flying her father’s horse. Of course, events change the course of her life and she ends up getting her chance and becoming one of the Empyrean riders. However, this means that she has to pledge her allegiance to the king who has conquered her country and forced her people into poverty.
For a debut novel, I was seriously impressed. A lot of it covers familiar ground: young people meeting in a school and forming relationships, rebelling against the ruling classes, a love triangle, however, the story moves along at a good pace and the world building is excellent. The world is revealed to us gradually as Aluma finds out how little of her world she understands. I also liked the elements of a dystopian future. Aluma is a strong main character who drives the plot forward. In a way, she is too central as I felt that all the other characters were a bit lacking in depth. I did feel that some of it was predictable, however, I still found myself thinking about the book and wanting to finish it to find out how it all ended up.
For a debut novel, I was seriously impressed. A lot of it covers familiar ground: young people meeting in a school and forming relationships, rebelling against the ruling classes, a love triangle, however, the story moves along at a good pace and the world building is excellent. The world is revealed to us gradually as Aluma finds out how little of her world she understands. I also liked the elements of a dystopian future. Aluma is a strong main character who drives the plot forward. In a way, she is too central as I felt that all the other characters were a bit lacking in depth. I did feel that some of it was predictable, however, I still found myself thinking about the book and wanting to finish it to find out how it all ended up.
rachelleoliver's review against another edition
4.0
This was an ARC I got from Netgalley and while I enjoyed the book, it was looooooong. However the pacing was good and a LOT happens in the story. It was an interesting world, story premise, and gotta love flying horses that understand everything the riders say. Lol
It does read like a debut novel though in that there are a lot of holes, a really weak love triangle, and it ends on a cliffhanger of sorts.
It does read like a debut novel though in that there are a lot of holes, a really weak love triangle, and it ends on a cliffhanger of sorts.
rnhess's review against another edition
3.0
Well this book was frustrating. It had such good promise, but I was pretty let down. First of all, as another review mentioned, this book feels very old school YA. That's not a bad thing, by any means! It actually brought me back to my high school days, and I really liked the feel of it. But.... I've also grown up, and maybe that's the problem in itself. I can't ignore all of the flaws of the book. To start, there was sooooo much world building and description that it was and still is hard to keep track of. The author uses all these new, made-up words for all the cities and people and yada yada. Then she just describes the history/lore to you, rather than show you through the story. Like, here's all these different lands, this is why they are fighting, these are the good guys and the bad guys, and now let's start the story. I want to feel immersed, not lectured. Second of all, the main character, Aluma, is so dumb and naive. I get it, she's only 16 ( or 17, I forget), but she's so stupid. Literally, around the 80% mark, I found myself shaking my head and having to pause my reading because she did something so dumb. She ruins plans, gets people killed, and then is like, "no way, I didn't think that would happen! It can't be true!" Lady, shut up, you are getting on my nerves. The last big flaw that every author should know to stay away from at this point is a LOVE TRIANGLE! Seriously. Everyone hates them. This book started out with a decent love interest, and you get a little invested into them, but then they have to add a second love interest. At that point in the story, I felt nothing for either one. I felt no connection to the romance and rolled my eyes every time she kissed a new boy or fantasized about them while in the middle of a life threatening mission. Honestly, after writing down my feelings for this book, I'm realizing how much it annoyed me, but I'll still keep it as a 3 star review. Read at your own risk, that's all I'm saying.
oliviaangelixx's review against another edition
DNF at 25%
Under completely normal circumstances I most likely would've finished this book, but I find myself extremely busy these days and I simply don't have the time to finish a book that I am not loving. That's not to say that this book isn't enjoyable, as I have found myself interested in the plot from the beginning. It is just the way that the book is written that is causing me to not want to continue.
This book is written almost exactly like Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, so I can see why they included the title of that book in this one's blurb. I first read Victoria Aveyard's novel in middle school and I really loved it, however when I reread the book at some point last year I felt that I had outgrown it and that I should've kept it in the past. That is almost exactly how I feel about the writing of A Light in the Sky. It just feels too young for me, like something I would've enjoyed back in the day.
That is not to say that this is not a good book, I just do not think it was meant for me at this point in my life.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.