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andlivloves 's review for:
Lightlark
by Alex Aster
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a break from my normal genres, but I did not hate it. Unfortunately, I didn't love it either.
I think this book had an interesting plot concept with all of these people during it out to get rid of their curses. It was even supported by some mystery and intrigue as you try to guess who is the bad actor among the group. I guessed it pretty early, but I don't actually think it's bad for people to be able to guess the villain. There are little nuggets of foreshadowing all throughout the story so it's great to be able to play detective and have your guess actually supported by clues and evidence from the text.
What I wasn't a huge fan of was the writing style. There was a lot of telling happening in the story, where there could have been showing. I do understand that in fantasy stories, the world building can be so vast that you save time and pages by just telling the readers the rules, but this came at the loss of me remembering details that were crunched into a page or two. This happens all throughout the story and I think it would have been memorable if they were explained through the scenes that show when Isla, the main character, would have learned this information. This also means that throughout the book, random rules or information just seem to appear as they are convenient to the plot, when they could have been shown or even hinted at earlier in scenes. I'd have liked these items to be more embedded into the plot or for the author to have put a map and a character guide at the front of the book of they were committed to riding through the details.
The items I feel neutral on are the constant descriptions of how much Isla is just so good looking and how her outfits make accentuate how amazing her body is. I do get that her whole realms thing is looking amazing, but many times I just found myself going, "Girl, calm down." Also, this book is categorized as YA and I think it actually should be New Adult considering the ages of the characters and some of the more explicit scenes. While YA is appropriate for someone who is 13, this book is not.
I think this book had an interesting plot concept with all of these people during it out to get rid of their curses. It was even supported by some mystery and intrigue as you try to guess who is the bad actor among the group. I guessed it pretty early, but I don't actually think it's bad for people to be able to guess the villain. There are little nuggets of foreshadowing all throughout the story so it's great to be able to play detective and have your guess actually supported by clues and evidence from the text.
What I wasn't a huge fan of was the writing style. There was a lot of telling happening in the story, where there could have been showing. I do understand that in fantasy stories, the world building can be so vast that you save time and pages by just telling the readers the rules, but this came at the loss of me remembering details that were crunched into a page or two. This happens all throughout the story and I think it would have been memorable if they were explained through the scenes that show when Isla, the main character, would have learned this information. This also means that throughout the book, random rules or information just seem to appear as they are convenient to the plot, when they could have been shown or even hinted at earlier in scenes. I'd have liked these items to be more embedded into the plot or for the author to have put a map and a character guide at the front of the book of they were committed to riding through the details.
The items I feel neutral on are the constant descriptions of how much Isla is just so good looking and how her outfits make accentuate how amazing her body is. I do get that her whole realms thing is looking amazing, but many times I just found myself going, "Girl, calm down." Also, this book is categorized as YA and I think it actually should be New Adult considering the ages of the characters and some of the more explicit scenes. While YA is appropriate for someone who is 13, this book is not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Sexual content