Every hundred years, six rulers converge in an effort to break a curse that effects all of their kingdoms differently. The catch? A prophecy states that a rulers line must come to an end in order for the curses to break. Isla is the wildling royalty headed off to her first chance to break the curse, but she isn't as she seems. Powerless in a contest where power is everything can Isla make alliances to help her stay alive? What other dangers wait for Isla when it comes to matters of the heart?

I've seen some great reviews for this and some terrible reviews. Personally, I felt it was a fresh take on curses, royalty, and the lengths rulers are willing to go for survival. The royals are allowed to challenge one another to a specific task of their choosing, which can be used to weaken each other, show each other's strengths, or even reveal secrets. I don't agree with it being compared to the hunger games as it's more a competition of politics than physical prowess. The wording and titles of items in the book were a bit childish, calling a staff that can teleport you to anywhere a "starstick" makes it sound like the starling race is a bunch of frat boys who tried to think of a phallic name for this powerful item, but were so drunk that "starstick" stuck.

Curses, crowns and betrayal awaits in this lush new fantasy. Recommended for fans of Caraval and the City of Dusk.

I loved these books. Both of them were so good, so full of women power. I ope more and more people will reach for them. I will defo read more by the author.

I found that the narrator made me like the book less. I did listen to the entire thing, but the way she portrayed the voices made it hard for me to visualise the characters; I think I’ll stick to reading the physical copy of the sequel when published because I did end up liking the plot! I found it a bit hard to understand what was happening in the final few chapters, but I’m undecided on whether that’s down to the narration or the pacing of the actual book.

I enjoyed the story. It was different from what I expected and normally read. The characters interesting and I liked how they travelled the world. I loved the narrator and their performance.

Unfortunately I changed my phone so no longer have the download and this book is archived. I will try and access the audiobook from elsewhere and update this review when possible!

Loved the narrator to this audiobook, made the story very interesting and got hooked very quickly. Loved this fantasy read.

Thank you for giving me an advanced readers copy of the audiobook, I had heard lots of opinions about this book prior to reading it and tried to go into this book without any high expectations. I think I would have enjoyed this book more in a different format, I didn't particularly enjoy the audiobook narrator's voice and found it quite droning.

The plot and writing of the book was easy and simple to follow along with potentially a little too much filler and over explanation. I do think this was a easy read and had I read it in physical format I would likely have flew through it very quickly. I am interested in continuing with Alex Asters future books.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

*** AUDIO BOOK VERSION ***.
Lightlark is a YA fantasy story about Isla who is the ruler of the Wildlings. Every 100 years, the island of Lightlark appears and hosted there is the Centennial. Isla has been trained relentlessly for this event but she has a secret and if her secret is unearthed it would mean the end of her and the Wildlings she rules. Isla is forced to do anything to keep it a secret - lie, betray and cheat but she must also try not to fall in love in the process.
I went into this book blind. I didn't read the reviews until I had read the book as I didn't want my own opinion to be tarnished and I'm so glad I did. This is a great YA fantasy novel that fans of the hunger games (like me) will enjoy! I was kept entertained and gripped throughout the story and kept me guessing until the end. I think people need to remember it's YA and not expect more from it as it is written and targeted at younger people. The narrator did a good job with this book but I felt they mispronounced Islas name but maybe I'm wrong. The romance was kept light which was good for the age range its targeted at. I liked Islas character and hope to see a second book in this series.

This is one of those novels that was everywhere. I saw lots of love, but also lots of complaints. Listening to it, it felt very nostalgic for 2005-2010 Young adult. It had some great moments, but also felt very juvenile in the way it was written. I don't understand how it got /so/ hyped up, but aside from repeated things, like the whole Yolky description, I don't understand why it was so hated either.

The narrator did a great job bringing it to life. I think if I were to have read it without the audio, I'd probably have done a soft DNF and then come back to it in very small pieces.

I gave this book 3.5/5

There were some really good parts to this book. However at times it felt that some ideas were lost as the main focus became around the romance and who she should trust.
A long time was spent on world building at the start with a number of characters being introduced at the same time. Towards the end of was quite invested so was disappointed by the ending.

Oof. I picked this book up because I've seen nothing but fantastic promotion for the story - from the author sharing that the movie rights were already sold to fun tiktoks and highlights from the book popping up on goodreads. Unfortunately, this was a bit like movie trailers where everything that makes the movie great is condensed into 2 minutes and then the actual movie just...isn't that good.
While the narrator did a great job, the writing just wasn't memorable and felt rather clunky at times. While the world building aspect was great and I did enjoy the pacing of the overall story, there wasn't enough depth to the characters and their fates that pulled me in. What I will say is that there's definitely a lot going on in the story and for that, it's worth picking the book up because you definitely won't be bored while reading. I'm not opposed to picking more things up from Aster in the future but I hope that their characters will become more fleshed out in future stories.

An unfortunate case of promotion being better than the book itself - this had promise to be a staple in the YA classics but fell flat. The storm of spiteful negative reviews on Goodreads etc is uncalled for, I do think it deserves to be reviewed fairly and to have a chance to find readers who enjoy it,. It I will not be able to recommend it in good faith.


Also a note on the audiobook specifically, I don't know if it's a UK/US difference but the narrator pronouncing the 'S' in 'Isla' drove me crazy.

I had heard a lot about this book via booktok and was interested to see what the hype was about but then I also saw that it had started to gather a negative following too.
To be clear, this is very much a YA read in my opinion and yes, some of the quotes that were advertised are not included but that doesn't take away from the experience of reading it. Just don't go into it expecting something more really.
The narrator was pleasant to listen to but I kept getting stuck whenever she read "sneaked" because in my mind it should have been "snuck" because it just would have fit better but that's minor issues.

Overall a decent listen/read, interesting storyline and characters and paced well enough that I didn't feel bored whilst listening.

This book has a lot of hype on social media and I was very intrigued to read it however even though I am a childrens bookseller this felt a little too young for me. I cringed a lot throughout this book and I normally love a YA. I can see why the tiktok community has jumped on this novel

Thank you W.F Howes Ltd and NetGalley for the audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. I’ll be honest, I hadn’t really seen any of the reviews or commentary about this book before I requested it, but was informed of these prior to listening. I decided to go ahead as I have my own opinion and like to make my own judgement calls.
The story itself is definitely not the most sophisticated, but it does deliver world building, pace and pulls you into the world of Lightlark. I actually enjoyed the magical system, the separation of powers by kingdom was interesting. The main protagonist Isla Crown is the ruler of Wilding, one of the kingdoms of Lightlark, which are all caught within a curse…Isla is required to attend the Centennial games to represent her kingdom and compete to break the Lightlark curse, but should she fail the price is fatal.
There is a lot going on in this story, multiple realms and their rulers, all with their own intentions and plans, battles, plots and of course multiple plot twists, including of course a few tropes that you will immediately recognise. The author definitely delivers in term of pace which accelerates to an intense level as you near the final chapters!
Overall, the narrator did a good job of embodying the characters, but the pronunciation of a few words including ‘Isla’ did grate on me…maybe it’s a cultural distinction in how a name is pronounced…but ‘plaited’ is never pronounced as ‘plated’. I know it’s petty, but these things grated and I found myself waiting for mis-pronunciations.
In summary, if you are looking for an escape, then this is great. It’s a fast paced story, that delivers to a mid YA level, and I will actually keep an eye out for the next book as I quite liked Isla…she owned up to her mistakes and was actually good fun.
3.5 star read for me.

If you’re looking for your next fantasy fix look no further!

📚 Every 100 years the island of Lightlark appears to host the Centennial - where all the rulers of the six realms come together to take part in a deadly game, all in the hopes of breaking the curses placed upon them centuries ago.
The story follows Isla, ruler of the Wildlings. She has been trained all her life for the Centennial, but she has a secret that, if found out by the other rulers, could be the end of her and the Wildlings. She must lie, cheat, betray… and try not to fall in love.

📚 Oooh this book had me on the edge of my seat! Going into it I did have high expectations and I’m happy to say it lived up to all of them and more. This book will keep you guessing. And Isla is one of my new favourite badass female characters!

🎧 I listened to Lightlark as an audio book and thoroughly enjoyed it! The narrator did a great job of embodying the characters and telling the story in a way that keeps you hooked.

✨I highly recommend if your looking for your next fantasy read, with light romance, lots of action and adventure.

Thank you to NetGalley for this audio ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Before I even get into my review the author does not deserve the amount of hate she is getting and I do not agree with people rating/reviewing this book without having read it.

I was so excited to get this, I saw the authors videos about the tropes and quotes and thought this was definitely a bit of me! A mysterious island appearing every 100 years, where the the rulers of the 6 realms come to play a deadly game to break the curses on their people? Sounds great, unfortunately the idea of this was one of the only great things about this.

This book was falsely advertised on a massive scale. Enemies to Lovers? Where? Diversity? (one of the reasons I added this to my list) was practically non existent. Giving the characters Spanish names is not diversity. There was one POC character that was also gay and he had minimal coverage. That felt more like tokenism then diversity. Comparable to The Hunger Games? The only thing that's remotely similar is that there's a 'deadly' competition.

I understand the author has written middle grade books and it shows. That's not to say middle grade books aren't good because I've read several that are really great. However, if your transitioning from MG to YA/NA then your writing should be transitioning too. Instead we've got sentences like "Lightlark was a shiny, cliffy thing", "Grinned meanly" (how does one grin meanly?), "The sun had fallen, it was just a yolky thing." Speaking of yolky, there was a ridiculous amount of egg references.

Moving on to the MC Isla (the narrator kept pronouncing the S and it really got on my nerves), was such an annoying, whiny character. Her main characteristics are being a temptress (which is said a ridiculous amount of times), talking about how pretty/gorgeous/beautiful she is, and the fact that she has no power. I also didn't like the slut shaming that the MC was doing. This character took "I'm not like other girls" and ran with it. She's not the badass MC she was supposed to be. She's a naive, vain doormat.

Lets talk about the worldbuilding, or lack thereof. Tiktok gave the impression that the world was something else entirely, that the island was abandoned and only appeared once every 100 years to host the Centennial (even the blurb gives this impression). Which again is not the case. Now the realm names: Skyling. Wildling. Moonling. Sunling. Sealing. Nightling. That's just lazy writing.

The tropes and quotes that were used to promote this book are not in it AT ALL. I'm not meaning that its not the exact same as what was promoted, I mean they don't exist. Again they were predominantly the reasons why I initially preordered this (I have since cancelled that).

I was bored from chapter 5 but forced myself through it because this book was hyped so much and I wanted to find out why. Did I find the answer? No.

The plot twists were good. I'll give it that. I didn't guess the reveals which is unusual for me. I tend to guess them very quickly.

Ultimately I'm majorly disappointed and feel like I've been duped, that I was sold a dream and received a nightmare. This had the potential to be a really great book, like I said the idea of it sounded great but unfortunately Lightlark ended up being lack lustre.

I saw some reviews of this book and decided to have a closer look and Lightlark immediately caught my attention. The synopsis is intriguing and the cover has your mind running in different directions.
I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed every moment; the narrator did a wonderful job. Every 100 years the island of Lightlark appears to host the Centennial. That part alone is already convincing enough to read this book. Six rulers of the six realms are invited to play a game, but this game has deadly consequences. One ruler must die to break the curse for all the other realms. Competition is fierce!

With rules to follow and realms at stake, the tension is high and the fast pace adds to the heightened sense of competition. There are different realms, but our MC, Isla Crown, is the ruler of Wildling. Each realm has its own abilities and its rulers have hidden motives. With divided realms, there's always some kind of battle going on, but in this case, it's in the form of the Centennial.
Familiar fantasy elements are used but it's used in such a way that the reader is captivated by the mystery of Lightlark.

I enjoyed the story, the last few chapters were so intense and I'm looking forward to the next book. I'm definitely going to get this in paperback and do a reread. I feel this story has a lot of potential. The moment the cover made sense I paused the audiobook just to study the cover in finer detail for a minute and then I continued listening. We have a love triangle, chosen one trope and deadly trials - get ready to be swept up in this magical world of Lightlark.

Thanks to Netgalley and W.F Howes Ltd for this gifted audiobook eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, so I went into this not knowing all that much about it other than it was allegedly similar to the Hunger Games and supposed to be like SJM. The synopsis was intriguing and the cover pretty so I dived right on in and oh boy. It's nothing like either, for starters.

I was about 4% into this audiobook and already having serious reservations from the incorrect pronunciation of Isla by the narrator that continued to throw me throughout the entire audiobook. Next, Isla is a Wildling so I had GoT imagery in my head and her people are supposed to be badass and eat hearts etc but then she cracks out her 'Star Stick' and the Sailor Moon theme started to play in my head. I found it very hard to take the book seriously because of it, but also because a lot of the naming seemed incredibly juvenile. "Moonling" etc and the character names for instance, but the writing in general seemed juvenile, the sun was frequently described as a 'yolky' thing and it seemed more middle grade language than anything else.

This kind of seemed like an SJM parody at points, Grim was clearly Tamlin and the King was Rhysand, but unlike SJM's books this one couldn't hold my attention. From the pronunciation of Isla to the writing and Star Stick, I lost any sense of seriousness and just couldn't focus on this. It was nothing like the Hunger Games and I understand the author made many incorrect claims on TikTok about the content of her book. I also had no clue what was going on for half of this and I made it through every single season of PLL's convoluted and ridiculous plots but it had nothing on this. Not to mention the plot hole of her not even using her magical Star Stick to break in.

I ended up listening to this on 2x the speed and was just completely underwhelmed for the entire time.

I had not heard of Lightlark until I first saw the physical copy in my store. I know there has been a lot of drama surrounding this title, but I remain a little confused over it all. Authors are allowed to change things in their storylines and characters, without being accused of false advertising or catfishing.

That said, this title just was not for me. I do enjoy YA as a genre, but sometimes, I feel too old to really enjoy it, and this was one of those times. If I was a 13-14 year old, I'm sure I would get a lot more out of this than I did. I found the writing a little so-so and the plot confusing. I feel like the publisher should have slowed the release of this one until it was right, as it has definite potential but in its current format, it felt more like fanfiction. Ultimately, that is down to the editing and publishing team, that just the author. The whole saga here reminds me of Rebecca Black's early music career. Someone told her she could be a star so she released a song that sold brilliantly to begin with and then became famous for all the wrong reasons. Similarly, Lightlark sold out quickly in my shop, and is I believe sold out at the publisher. For a debut novel, it has been a commercial hit, but will it continue to be when it's out in paperback or when the next book is released? How long is its lifecycle once the drama has died down?

Overall, I am rating this two stars. It's not the worst book I've ever read and definitely does not deserve the hate it's been receiving, but will I be reading book 2? No probably not.