Reviews with content warning for Blood - Lightlark

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Lightlark by Alex Aster

74 reviews

bronzel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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booksandladders's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

I waited what I felt like was enough time to read this without the hype or the controversy to be prevalent in my mind, but honestly this was just a bad book. None of the premise made any sense and it was trying to be too many things instead of focusing on what could have been the good part of this: breaking the curses and learning about magic. But with how many times I rolled my eyes, hated Isla, or thought that there were stupid decisions all around being made, I just can't give this more than one star.

There weren't "trials," there was barely any fear of being assassinated, and the fact that they get paired together was just convenient rather than being part of what made sense in the story. The ebook is 384 pages and I thought it was close to being done at the like 40% mark because of how fast the book was pacing through the Centennial.

I have so many thoughts about how stupid the characters were in general, but they really don't matter because the worldbuilding, or lack thereof, was so poorly done that I couldn't even focus on how much I hated the characters. The magic system could have been the redeeming part of this story, but instead it was poorly explained, important pieces of information were sprinkled throughout, and for how much they trained Isla to be a warrior, they didn't give her ANY information on the other magical elements or rulers. Beyond that, Isla had apparently been visiting the other magical areas (which is like page 1 of the story so not spoilers) but had so little knowledge of any of the history of the island or how the magic works together.

It just felt like so much of this was multiple ideas sewed together to make a semblance of a story rather than a thoughtful exploration of what it means to learn about yourself, your abilities, and the way you can work together to overcome obstacles. I wanted the negative reviews to just be because of the "controversy" of the novel but instead they were just right about how poorly this book was written and how well it was marketed.

I am going to read book 2, which I have heard basically nothing about. In fact, I didn't even know it was released. This is called a "saga" but I only see two books on Goodreads, so I'm interested to see if it ends up being a duology because of everything that happened.

I can't recommend this one at all. If you are looking for something similar, I would recommend The Night Circus or The Crown's Game. I can't believe I let this be the last book I read in 2023.

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elislittlelibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Unfortunately, I wasn't really a fan of Lightlark. My library has a copy, so I decided to read it to see what everyone was talking about. Now, the book is an easy and fast read, so that was good! However, both plot and characters failed to connect to the reader (or at least to me). There were quite a few potholes, etc. as well. The premise was interesting - a game on an island that appears every 100 years. However, I feel like this marketing is misleading.

Yes, there is an island, but it doesn't just appear, many live on it. Essentially, the rulers of the realms are just brought to the island every 100 years. Also, I'd say that the games aren't what I expected. There are games (kind of?), but they are not the main focus of the plot, they are just there.

It should also be noted that romance is a really big part of the plot. If you're looking for an easy read with mainly romance and a little plot as well, this might be for you, but if you're expecting a dangerous game and plotting around that, this will probably not fulfill that.
That being said, will I read the second book? Probably, if I find myself wanting an easy and quick read.

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thereadingmarshmallow's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The book has a good base. The story is there, the plot is there, and the characters work. My main issue with this book is that nothing is fully explained. The FMC has decent development but the world building isn’t there like I would like for it to be. I don’t feel as though I can engage with the book like I want to because I don’t understand what’s fully going on, what their struggle is like.

That being said, I enjoy the plot and it was consumable. It took me a bit longer to get through it because I didn’t feel as engaged as I would like.

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jessicaludden's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“Love on Lightlark is a dangerous thing.”

I really enjoyed this. I was definitely confused in the beginning when it came to world building but I got to a certain point in the book and everything started clicking. I was really into the world building, I understood character motivations, and I liked the developing relationships. The plot of this book was really intriguing and I enjoyed the search for this ancient relic. There were many plot twists and betrayals at the end that had me on the edge of my seat. Overall I enjoyed it and I’m excited for the sequel!

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brennapatt's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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schess's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

Fun world building and you got to actually explore the world with that characters rather than being stuck in a castle. A lot of twists I didn't see coming, which kept it interesting. My biggest issue was the main character doesn't think she's powerful enough. Even though she constantly proves herself as a dangerous competitor. I think this is more because of the YA tag though. Up until

one quick finger banging

scene towards the end, I thought it was in the middle of the YA spectrum.

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