Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by ashley_dang096
Lightlark by Alex Aster
3.0
A deadly contest, 6 rulers each with their own curses and powers and kingdoms all at stake, and the opportunity to break their curse... if they are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. The story follows Isla, one of the six rulers, who is a Wildling and a ruler, however, her darkest secret is that she has no powers. Every 100 years the island of Lightlark appears to host the Centennial, a deadly game that invites the 6 rulers to play, and the game offers the rulers a chance to break their curse.... except this might be the final chance for any of them to break it. Isla has no powers, and she is entering into a deadly game with more seasoned players with even deadlier powers, who can she trust and what is truly going on? Alliances will be broken, hearts will be broken, and there will be one ruler dead by the end of it. The story hooked me, I am always down for a deadly contest with magic, and I did enjoy how Isla had to navigate the game and her alliances when she is the player with the least advantages. What I didn’t enjoy and was baffled by was the love triangle, the one between her, Oro, and Grim. See the Grim and Isla thing is definitely prominent and understandable, however the Oro and Isla relationship came completely out of left field in the last 20% of the book that had me scratching my head and asking myself what I missed???? I am always down for angsty betrayals, revenge, and complicated villain gets the girl trope, but this love triangle with her switching over to suddenly wanting Oro, who she never really wanted or mentioned wanting earlier in the story while it was so heavily focused on Grim left me a bit baffled by the ending of the book. Oro didn’t feel like. a love interest, he barely felt like more than a side character, so when he is suddenly moved into love interest territory I was left scratching my head. I definitely was having fun with the book until the entire twist and the love triangle, and as you can tell, the love triangle aspect was what really lowered the star ranking for me. I enjoyed the game and the alliances and even the romance between Grim and Isla., however I just was so thrown off by the ending that it definitely changed how I rated the book. I will definitely be reading the second book because I just have to see how this all plays out, I am especially invested in seeing how the entire Grim storyline plays out. Despite everything I am still rooting for him, even if it’s just for him to survive because honestly, he was the most fascinating and fun character in this book.
*Thanks Netgalley and PiqBooks for sending me an arc in exchange an arc in exchange for an honest review*
*Thanks Netgalley and PiqBooks for sending me an arc in exchange an arc in exchange for an honest review*