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A review by rays_reads
Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft
4.0
Pre-read: I don't have high expectations for Ms. Saft considering I previously rated her 1 star but I loved Tinkerbell as a child so imma give this book a shot
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Overall Rating: 4/5
This book was a lot better than <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5687134398">A Fragile Enchantment</a> BY A LOT. This upped my expectations of Ms. Saft and I hope her other books are like this one.
However, I will say this book did leave me with wanting more. This book easily could've been a duology if Disney and the author really wanted it too and it mainly has to do with content and pacing.
I was worried about Clarion when I first started this book as one thing I hated about the first book I read from Saft was that it felt like her character had no development and when she did then something happened and the development went into the trash. The same thing kinda happens with Clarion here but I felt like the author did it in better taste. What I mean by that is when we're introduced to Clarion, she's a Queen-in-training and you can tell she's insecure. She doesn't have control of her magic, she's quite soft-spoken, and she is naive about what happens in Pixie Hollow because her predecessor is still alive and sheltering her. Those insecurities push throughout the story as she meets Milori and affects certain plot points but it makes sense for both the character and the story. If I was a Princess whose coronation was right around the corner and I still felt unprepared I would have so much anxiety I wouldn't function. However, after meeting Milori she began to change in subtle ways which essentially built up and by the end of the story I felt like she was becoming a competent leader. Seeing her go from a selfish princess to a selfless Queen made me feel like a mentor watching their mentee grow... ughhhh I'm gonna cry.
Onto Milori... UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH... the man he is...
Milori feels like a breath of fucking fresh air to me... he's mysterious but no in a jerkish way and is a wonderful and kind leader. He's brave and diplomatic and it's like MILORI WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE. I have yet to read a MMC this fucking dreamy.... THE AMOUNT OF BOLD YEARNING FROM THIS MAN OMFG.... he was just so truthful I was baffled... Like the minute he had feelings for Clarion he confessed and didn't bother to hide his feelings and I mainly think it's because a big character point for him was that he was lonely so when he finally found someone to connect with he didn't want her to go BUT HE WASNT POSSESSIVE AND I LOWKEY FELL EVEN HARDER FOR HIM BECAUSE OF THAT I wish we got his pov or that we got more character depth from him as I did feel like it was lacking.... again this mainly kinda connects with my point of earlier with me wanting more from the story. But... considering this is a one-volume prequel.... I'll take what I can get.
Now onto the romance between the two. It was super cute and is a strangers-to-allies-to-lovers kind of love that end in a star-crossed situation. The romance took a bit too long to come into fruition IMO only because this is a one-volume story.... if it kept the same pace and became a duology then you would see no qualms from me but I felt like their romance first took too long to come into the story for a romantasy and then wasn't very prevalent when it arrived.... Like we got a couple of moments here and there but it didn't feel like I was reading a proper romantasy or romance.... it felt like I was reading a coming-of-age story as we see the Princess come into her role as a Queen with a fling on the side... Not to mention the separation was bittersweet and not agonizing and Tiktok lied to me and told me it was agonizing.... it was not... it was just bittersweet... UGHHHHH I WISH THERE WAS MOREEEEEE!!!!!! Idk how many times you'll hear me say this but I'll keep repeating it.
Now as for the villain..... eh it's a YA book that was edging on middle-grade content soo...... it was eh... I didn't care for the "nightmare" plot point and the reveal was kinda cool but also fell super flat and was boring which is why I docked a star. Again, this can contribute to the pacing issue as I felt like they kinda came out of nowhere and then all of a sudden were defeated... had we had more volumes I would've hoped that Saft would've written more content relating to the villains.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this story and I'm glad to have given it a chance. While it had some issues it didn't really affect my overall enjoyment of the story and I'LL KEEP SAYING THIS BUT UGHHH I WISH I GOT MORE. I can see myself rereading this book and I have the urge to rewatch those Tinkerbell movies... sighhh..... Hopefully, Disney milks this as a cash cow and we get a sequel 👀👀👀 I'll keep my eyes out for that.
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Overall Rating: 4/5
This book was a lot better than <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5687134398">A Fragile Enchantment</a> BY A LOT. This upped my expectations of Ms. Saft and I hope her other books are like this one.
However, I will say this book did leave me with wanting more. This book easily could've been a duology if Disney and the author really wanted it too and it mainly has to do with content and pacing.
I was worried about Clarion when I first started this book as one thing I hated about the first book I read from Saft was that it felt like her character had no development and when she did then something happened and the development went into the trash. The same thing kinda happens with Clarion here but I felt like the author did it in better taste. What I mean by that is when we're introduced to Clarion, she's a Queen-in-training and you can tell she's insecure. She doesn't have control of her magic, she's quite soft-spoken, and she is naive about what happens in Pixie Hollow because her predecessor is still alive and sheltering her. Those insecurities push throughout the story as she meets Milori and affects certain plot points but it makes sense for both the character and the story. If I was a Princess whose coronation was right around the corner and I still felt unprepared I would have so much anxiety I wouldn't function. However, after meeting Milori she began to change in subtle ways which essentially built up and by the end of the story I felt like she was becoming a competent leader. Seeing her go from a selfish princess to a selfless Queen made me feel like a mentor watching their mentee grow... ughhhh I'm gonna cry.
Onto Milori... UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH... the man he is...
Milori feels like a breath of fucking fresh air to me... he's mysterious but no in a jerkish way and is a wonderful and kind leader. He's brave and diplomatic and it's like MILORI WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE. I have yet to read a MMC this fucking dreamy.... THE AMOUNT OF BOLD YEARNING FROM THIS MAN OMFG.... he was just so truthful I was baffled...
Now onto the romance between the two. It was super cute and is a strangers-to-allies-to-lovers kind of love that end in a star-crossed situation. The romance took a bit too long to come into fruition IMO only because this is a one-volume story.... if it kept the same pace and became a duology then you would see no qualms from me but I felt like their romance first took too long to come into the story for a romantasy and then wasn't very prevalent when it arrived.... Like we got a couple of moments here and there but it didn't feel like I was reading a proper romantasy or romance.... it felt like I was reading a coming-of-age story as we see the Princess come into her role as a Queen with a fling on the side... Not to mention the separation was bittersweet and not agonizing and Tiktok lied to me and told me it was agonizing.... it was not... it was just bittersweet... UGHHHHH I WISH THERE WAS MOREEEEEE!!!!!! Idk how many times you'll hear me say this but I'll keep repeating it.
Now as for the villain..... eh it's a YA book that was edging on middle-grade content soo...... it was eh... I didn't care for the "nightmare" plot point and the reveal was kinda cool but also fell super flat and was boring which is why I docked a star. Again, this can contribute to the pacing issue as I felt like they kinda came out of nowhere and then all of a sudden were defeated... had we had more volumes I would've hoped that Saft would've written more content relating to the villains.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this story and I'm glad to have given it a chance. While it had some issues it didn't really affect my overall enjoyment of the story and I'LL KEEP SAYING THIS BUT UGHHH I WISH I GOT MORE. I can see myself rereading this book and I have the urge to rewatch those Tinkerbell movies... sighhh..... Hopefully, Disney milks this as a cash cow and we get a sequel 👀👀👀 I'll keep my eyes out for that.