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A review by planreadrepeat
Lightlark by Alex Aster
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Six leaders have 100 days every 100 years to break a curse from their homeland, Lightlark. Isla has been trained since birth to win the Centennial. But liars and lies are everywhere and she needs to form alliances to save her realm and the others.
I heard about this book in one of my book clubs but never saw it on TikTok. I knew it was review bombed and people were big mad it didn’t have scenes the author had promised among other reveals. Then the complaints it borrows from other YA series. Of course it does, they are all super similar. Young woman who is nothing special has a couple guys tripping over her in lust who eventually gains power. That’s almost always the general theme of YA fantasy and shouldn’t be a surprise.
That said, I found it a solid story. Compared to the debut novels of other YA authors, it’s right on par. Not fantastic and original but good. Still a better love story than Twilight ;)
Reading other reviews, people complained about plot holes. There were some things not fleshed out. I’d hope those are further explained in the rest of the trilogy. I didn’t expect LOTR world building and found it fine. Characters were heavily influenced from ACOTAR but the author even claims that.
So maybe the book is overhyped. But it’s definitely not a 1-star book in my opinion. It’s just a YA fantasy romance. Worth reading but not an earth-shaking piece of literature that will be read in 100 years. Still a fun read.
I heard about this book in one of my book clubs but never saw it on TikTok. I knew it was review bombed and people were big mad it didn’t have scenes the author had promised among other reveals. Then the complaints it borrows from other YA series. Of course it does, they are all super similar. Young woman who is nothing special has a couple guys tripping over her in lust who eventually gains power. That’s almost always the general theme of YA fantasy and shouldn’t be a surprise.
That said, I found it a solid story. Compared to the debut novels of other YA authors, it’s right on par. Not fantastic and original but good. Still a better love story than Twilight ;)
Reading other reviews, people complained about plot holes. There were some things not fleshed out. I’d hope those are further explained in the rest of the trilogy. I didn’t expect LOTR world building and found it fine. Characters were heavily influenced from ACOTAR but the author even claims that.
So maybe the book is overhyped. But it’s definitely not a 1-star book in my opinion. It’s just a YA fantasy romance. Worth reading but not an earth-shaking piece of literature that will be read in 100 years. Still a fun read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Blood