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fpgreviews 's review for:
Wings of Starlight
by Allison Saft
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-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
Clarion is the queen-in-training of Pixie Hollow, always taught to be stoic and detached from her emotions. But when living nightmares start stalking her future queendom shortly before her coronation, she meets with a winter fairy and learns that much of what she's been taught about Pixie Hollow and her emotions is a lie.
This book was nostalgic and beautifully written — the descriptions of the setting and the little fairy dwellings were detailed without being excessive, and the weather and movements of the sun were also written beautifully. I believe this book would be suitable for readers on the younger side of young adult, as there are no actual deaths and there's only one detailed nightmare scene. The kissing depicted in the book is also fairly mild. My only problem with this book is that a lot of it felt like vibes over plot, which for a story that's supposed to be a prequel and explain someone's backstory, doesn't make much sense. It also seemed that Clarion grew as a character towards the end of the book, but then made decisions that weren't consistent with the character growth that we were supposed to believe she had experienced. It was also a little infuriating that she was acting like she was so powerless when she was literally one week away from becoming queen, and the death of her predecessor was imminent. Flawed characters can be interesting, but it kind of seemed like we were supposed to think Clarion was near flawless despite these obvious flaws.
The side characters were fun to read about. I would've liked to see Artemis become a knight since Clarion felt so strongly that she deserved to be knighted, and did become queen in the end and would have been perfectly capable of granting Artemis knightood. There was an unexpected sweet B-plot romance between Artemis and a female tinker fairy, which added some nice lesbian representation. It seems as if we were supposed to like and forgive Elvina (who in my mind acted like an emotionally neglectful parent at best) more than I did, but I guess that's not very surprising in a Disney book. Milori was also a well-written character, and the scene where he transports Clarion back into the warm seasons despite the risk to himself was heartwarming but also sad.
Of course, if you're looking for a fairy romance with a happily ever after ending, this is not the book for you, but if you're interested in a bittersweet star-crossed lovers romance with beautiful descriptions, you'll enjoy this book.
This book was nostalgic and beautifully written — the descriptions of the setting and the little fairy dwellings were detailed without being excessive, and the weather and movements of the sun were also written beautifully. I believe this book would be suitable for readers on the younger side of young adult, as there are no actual deaths and there's only one detailed nightmare scene. The kissing depicted in the book is also fairly mild. My only problem with this book is that a lot of it felt like vibes over plot, which for a story that's supposed to be a prequel and explain someone's backstory, doesn't make much sense. It also seemed that Clarion grew as a character towards the end of the book, but then made decisions that weren't consistent with the character growth that we were supposed to believe she had experienced. It was also a little infuriating that she was acting like she was so powerless when she was literally one week away from becoming queen, and the death of her predecessor was imminent. Flawed characters can be interesting, but it kind of seemed like we were supposed to think Clarion was near flawless despite these obvious flaws.
The side characters were fun to read about. I would've liked to see Artemis become a knight since Clarion felt so strongly that she deserved to be knighted, and did become queen in the end and would have been perfectly capable of granting Artemis knightood. There was an unexpected sweet B-plot romance between Artemis and a female tinker fairy, which added some nice lesbian representation. It seems as if we were supposed to like and forgive Elvina (who in my mind acted like an emotionally neglectful parent at best) more than I did, but I guess that's not very surprising in a Disney book. Milori was also a well-written character, and the scene where he transports Clarion back into the warm seasons despite the risk to himself was heartwarming but also sad.
Of course, if you're looking for a fairy romance with a happily ever after ending, this is not the book for you, but if you're interested in a bittersweet star-crossed lovers romance with beautiful descriptions, you'll enjoy this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Grief
Minor: Death of parent