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A review by betweentheshelves
Lightlark by Alex Aster
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book has quite the polarized reviews on Goodreads, and really, sparked a lot of controversy on TikTok. So, I figured I'd give it a chance and see what all the talk was about. Let me just say, if you read a lot of YA fantasy, and know a lot of the popular YA fantasy from the early 2000s and 2010s, you will notice quite a few similarities in this one. Like, so many scenes taken almost directly from other books. So many.
Let's start with the world building. Someone, there's a lot of info dumping, and yet nothing really makes sense? There was a Hunger Games-esque promise with this, but that's not really an accurate comparison for this book. The best comparison is honestly A Court of Thorns and Roses, maybe a little Throne of Glass, and a tiny bit of The Selection. But mostly, Sarah J. Maas. We've got a lot of Sarah J. Maas influence in this book.
But I digress! I finished the entire book, and I still can't explain what exactly the competition was that happened in this book. There were some trials, and at some point they were allowed to kill each other, but to what end? It wasn't exactly clear what they were fighting for, or why they were really having the trials at all. Additionally, there are a lot of random rules for each of these different kingdoms, but again, it is not clear how or why all of these parameters exist. The realm where they only live until they're 25? How is that even sustainable? But you also have realms where they live until they're 500? Having both of these exist in the same world just didn't make sense to me.
I will tell you right now, Grim is basically Rhysand from ACOTAR, and you can't convince me of that otherwise. I actually would go as far as to say that this book is pretty much ACOTAR fanfiction, as there are an astounding amount of similarities. Other books I recognized scenes from are: Divergent, Harry Potter, and The Selection.
I did listen to the audiobook, so I can't speak to some of the writing and spelling errors that were mentioned in some of the other reviews. But if anything, this book could have used a developmental editor for sure. There were sections that needed to be fleshed out, and other sections that took way too much time.
I'm sure there's more I could say about this book, but it really just baffles me overall. I can see why some people are drawn to it, it just needed some overall better editing. In all aspects.
Let's start with the world building. Someone, there's a lot of info dumping, and yet nothing really makes sense? There was a Hunger Games-esque promise with this, but that's not really an accurate comparison for this book. The best comparison is honestly A Court of Thorns and Roses, maybe a little Throne of Glass, and a tiny bit of The Selection. But mostly, Sarah J. Maas. We've got a lot of Sarah J. Maas influence in this book.
But I digress! I finished the entire book, and I still can't explain what exactly the competition was that happened in this book. There were some trials, and at some point they were allowed to kill each other, but to what end? It wasn't exactly clear what they were fighting for, or why they were really having the trials at all. Additionally, there are a lot of random rules for each of these different kingdoms, but again, it is not clear how or why all of these parameters exist. The realm where they only live until they're 25? How is that even sustainable? But you also have realms where they live until they're 500? Having both of these exist in the same world just didn't make sense to me.
I will tell you right now, Grim is basically Rhysand from ACOTAR, and you can't convince me of that otherwise. I actually would go as far as to say that this book is pretty much ACOTAR fanfiction, as there are an astounding amount of similarities. Other books I recognized scenes from are: Divergent, Harry Potter, and The Selection.
I did listen to the audiobook, so I can't speak to some of the writing and spelling errors that were mentioned in some of the other reviews. But if anything, this book could have used a developmental editor for sure. There were sections that needed to be fleshed out, and other sections that took way too much time.
I'm sure there's more I could say about this book, but it really just baffles me overall. I can see why some people are drawn to it, it just needed some overall better editing. In all aspects.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, and Genocide