A review by thenovelmaura
Lightlark by Alex Aster

adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I've heard that people are review-bombing this title with negative ratings, so I want to make it clear that I won an ARC of Lightlark from a #YALLWest giveaway back in June. I am notoriously late when reviewing books and I also didn't want to leave a negative review that would get me targeted by all of the rabid Alex Aster fans on BookTok (a bit paranoid of me but I've had a bad experience with this in the past). I will say that I went on Alex Aster's Instagram page to see what all of the fuss was about, and watched a few of her reels about her book right before reading it. She did make reels about scenes that did not take place in the book (something about a thunderstorm that causes the MC and a love interest to get trapped in a cave?) and I did think that was strange at the time.

Anyway, there's not much to say about this book because the writing is not great, I felt no connection to the characters, and the world-building is terrible. Beyond the laughable naming conventions (Starlings, Skylings, Wildlings, Moonlights, and Nightshades [the bad ones]), it's lacking in descriptions of the island, the realms, and even the curses, which the entire plot hinges on. There was also very little action and the classic "ancient man falls for teen girl" trope.

I'm giving it 1.5 stars because it was a quick, mindless read and there's nothing inherently wrong with leaning into predictable YA fantasy tropes or using them to market your book. This book just wasn't offering anything beyond that.
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