Despite all of the negative press this one has been getting, I went in with an open mind and I am so glad I did!

I really enjoyed how fast paced the plot was, there was never a dull moment.

I would have enjoyed more back story for each kingdom etc but overall I was impressed and enjoyed alot

Thank you to Net galley for providing me with this Arc copy!

Lightlark follows the wildling ruler as she is entered into a series of challenges to break her curse and save her people. This is a YA novel but it read a little on the young side of YA so this book might not necessarily be written for me so please bear that in mind!

I loved the initial premise of Lightlark and the dystopian fantasy plot. You track the stories of the 6 different rulers and their struggles and individual curses and why they need to be broken.

The first half of the book I followed easily and enjoyed however it was the last 20% where a lot of new plot points got introduced and I got a little bit lost.

Some of the language was a little bit repetitive and made it read a lot younger.

But overall not a bad book maybe not for me but I feel like younger readers would enjoy Lightlark!

I loved this one! I had seen someone post a review about this book and it intrigued me. So when I saw it as an audiobook eARC on netgalley, I couldn’t resist listening to it. And it was well worth the listen and I completely devoured this book!

I really love a book when it doesn’t have to take long for things to happen. From very early on, we got straight into the story and it kept me hooked from the start. It also meant that instead of getting an info dump in the beginning, we got more info into this world as the plot developed which made it easier to understand.

I really loved our main character, Isla. She’s realised her weaknesses and has made herself strong in spite of them: she knows how to defend herself and she’s quick on her feet. She’s also loyal to those she loves and you see her realise that she wants more out of life. She wants to experience that which she was always denied. She’s a character that you’ll root for right from the start!

I went into this book knowing that there was going to be a love triangle and I’m usually not a fan of them. But I must say that it definitely worked in this book! On one hand, you see an instant connection between Isla and Grim and on the other, you see how the connection between Isla and Oro develops at a much slower pace. Oro feels like the easier choice but I am currently team Grim. I really would love to see more of Grim in the next book as I have questions that I need answered!

This book had betrayals and twists with an ending that was gut wrenching. I’m very curious to see how it’ll shape Isla in the next book. I do also hope that we get to see more interactions between Isla and Azule as he wasn’t so active in the story in this book.

As I heard this through an audiobook, I wanted to make a comment about it. I don’t usually listen to audiobooks but I flew through this one. It was pretty easy to get through and I enjoyed listening to the voice actress. This audiobook is really making me consider listening to more audiobooks in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and W.F. Howes Ltd for this audiobook eARC.

This one was definitely not for me . I ended up dnfing quite early on. Read a bit like fan fiction. Sorry !

❗ I'VE LISTENED TO THE WHOLE AUDIOBOOK OF LIGHTLARK, THIS IS MY HONEST OPINION AFTER FINISHING ‼️THE WHOLE‼️ BOOK❗

1. My main problem is main character. She's THE WORST. She's so dumb and insufferable, she just makes stupid mistakes and never learns and just thinks her opinion is right and can't be moved. I. CAN'T. STAND. HER.

2. The story
Half of the time I didn't know what's going on, there's this tournament, but it doesn't really matter, but what really matters is breaking the curse, but to break the curse they have to find these magical object, so they look for it, but the object actually doesn't exist, so they lose hope, but suddenly the dumbest idiot main girl figures out a big secret, and saves the day, but what is that? BOOM BETRAYAL. Shocker I know. It's like third act break up in romances. You just KNOW it always happens. And pls this twist was so predictable I knew who will betrayal who in chapter 2.

3. Who's the target audience?
Cuz before reading I thought it's ya. During reading I thought it's ya. The language is really really simple. Sometimes annoyingly so, but ok, it's targeted toward younger audience. But then BOOM chapter 49 when she literally gets fingered on page. That doesn't scream ya, doesn't it???

4. THE LOVE CORNER
Oh.my.god. what the faq is that, cuz the whole time I've read this book I thought there's only one love interest. The grumpy, closed, brooding, mysterious king and I like him, but suddenly it turns out there's someone else. Someone who loved main character forever. Someone who's betrayed mc. *Insert eye roll* So u have as old as time love corner when one love interest is powerful, new, mysterious BETTER love interest and the second love interest is mc's old friend/childhood friend, who everyone knows is worse, but mc still takes him back, cuz "sentiment", "they have history" and "drama". This book did the same what "these hollow vows" did and I HATE that duology with passion, I hated second book even more and by the last chapter of Lightlark I know it will be the same as "these twisted bonds".

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

This was a good solid story that I found very enjoyable and really enjoyed the narrator as I felt she really brought the story to life.

Good ya genre fantasy book!

I read the book and also listened on audio.

Overall, it’s a solid 2, split like this:

Audio 5/5 - great job Suzy Jackson!

Plot 2/5

Storytelling 1.5/5

Character development 0.5/5

Overall feeling after finishing the book 1/5

Since I’m aware of the #BookTok scandal surrounding this book, I need to say from the start that this review is not influenced at all by the ongoing controversies surrounding its author or any of the content they posted on their Social Media page.

That being said, let’s start with the only positive side of the review, which is the audiobook! Suzy Jackson did a great job with the pronunciation of the names, the pacing was good, and she did a great job of conveying the narrow pallet of the characters’ feelings. I hope to listen to more of your recordings!

The **plot** - if it can be called a plot is exactly that which is described in the marketing material of the book:

“Every 100 years, the island of Lightlark appears to host the Centennial, a deadly game that only the rulers of six realms are invited to play. The invitation is a summons—a call to embrace victory and ruin, baubles and blood. The Centennial offers the six rulers one final chance to break the curses that have plagued their realms for centuries. Each ruler has something to hide. Each realm’s curse is uniquely wicked. To destroy the curses, one ruler must die.

Isla Crown is the young ruler of Wildling—a realm of temptresses cursed to kill anyone they fall in love with. They are feared and despised, and are counting on Isla to end their suffering by succeeding at the Centennial.

To survive, Isla must lie, cheat, and betray…even as love complicates everything.”

All the information is given in the first minutes / pages of the story, it is just dropped in words from the beginning. From my point of view, the only extra information we get, as readers, is in chapters 53 and 54, which serve as a sort of recap of the entire story. Looking back, you can just read chapters 1 - 53 - 54 - 55 - 56 and you have the whole story.

Storytelling. This was the strangest part. Chapter 1 is an absolute delight to read / listen. The next few chapters then drop to 8th grade vocabulary. And the next ones to 7th grade. And the cycle continues the same way until chapter 53 & 54 which tend to be somewhere at a 4th grade level, but still not YA.

The “character development” has the same evolution of the storytelling. It starts from good, then goes to bad, then to worse, and finally to a point where you just wish to get to the end of it all.

And finally, the experience of the overall reading was just disappointing. The story just stops all of a sudden. If it wasn’t for the end credits, I would have thought that the audiobook didn’t download completely.

Special thanks to NetGalley, W.F. Howes Ltd, and the editorial team for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.

If you are interested in other of my book reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads!

#Lightlark #NetGalley #LifeLongLearning

I was intrigued by this book so when I had the opportunity to review it I was excited to see what I would make of it.

The story was interesting and quite complex. The first few chapters were a bit confusing and the final chapters felt a bit rushed but the main part of the book I really enjoyed and found easy to follow. I liked the main character Isla and learning more about her history. Some of the items in the book I thought could have been named better (‘star stick’ was one I particularly had trouble with), which at times took me out of the story.

Overall I did enjoy this this book and will consider picking up other books by the author.

The narrator did a good job and I enjoyed listening to her.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an audioARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

So I'm sure we've all heard about this from booktok so I'm not going to go on about that. But what has happened is wrong.

I give this book 3.5 stars.
I would have given it more if the book actually was diverse like the publisher and author said it was. Having Spanish names doesn't make for a diverse book. Also the only gay character was just in passing and didn't really play a part in the story. I'm pretty sure the book was also advertised as enimes to lovers and I guess it could be that on a technicality but it really wasn't. To me it was more like acquaintances to lovers.

I really enjoyed the story, obviously I could tell it was inspired by the hunger games but Alex did make it her own I feel. There was times throughout the book where it was really repetitive and basically just a filler to prolong the plot I think. But it wasn't unbearable.

As I said before I had the audio book and I just have to say. How did the narrator get approved for pronouncing isla so wrong? Surly Alex should know how to pronounce her own main characters name.
I'm not going to lie having isla pronounced ad Icela was horrendous. Everytime her name was mentioned (which was a lot) I was always correcting it.

As for the plot I did have my suspicions about a character and it was confirmed I just couldn't figure out exactly what and I was shocked when it all came out.

I would definitely recommend people reading this book before passing any judgement.

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this book!*

y'all, you've been lied to.

this book is YA fantasy in its more concentrated form. it's twisty, fun and pace-y with enough love interests that you'll never be bored.

the characters were super fun, the protagonist was admittedly annoying (until the last 1/3 of the book) but my favourites were for sure Celeste and Grim. i had such a good time with these egotistical teenagers, which i think is the point.

the settings of glamorous parties, dangerous forestry, crumbling mansions, made this a super enveloping and atmospheric book, and i had such a fun time with it.

i honestly, truly think is for the YA fantasy fans; it's got absolutely everything you'll like.

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this book!*

This book was very disappointing. I expected it to be everything that it was advertised on TikTok and more—but perhaps that’s where everything went wrong. This was not the book that was sold to me by the author on social media. I am so disappointed and annoyed.

Thanks, Netgalley for giving me this audiobook.
After following all the drama in internet, I decided to read it myself. And thank, God, my audiobook request was approved , so I didn't have to read this in physical copy. And now, I understood why they Rated this book so bad, because this was so bad !! It was so childish even the name and phrases in book just didn't make any sense. I was confused why her editor didn't tell her.

But, the blurbs are good enough to trap you to pick up the book. Especially because somehow, this book compared to Hunger Games. That was a total lie. There wasn't any real fight. And I didn't get any death or live or survival Vibes from this book. All I got was descriptions about how gorgeous Isla was. This was such a Shame, because this book supposed to be about survival and death game!!! Plus the rules in the competition didn't make any sense too. What was 50 days supposed to Mean??

After all, this book was bad, great blurb, very poor execution. I hope Alex learn how to make the sequel better than this one. And please to my reader friends, you need to read first before rate this book 😌.

Ah, the narrator for this audiobook was good btw !!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc!

I went into this knowing absolutely nothing and honestly I really enjoyed it. This definitely could be perfect for many YA readers! I will 100% read the sequel!

The story kicks off immediately. You get sucked into this world were once every century an island appears where some have to go into deadly battle. This was an exciting and great story. It's right on target for the YA audience.

What I didn't love? The mispronunciations of the name Isla. It become hard to listen to the audio.
It was also hard to listen to Pappi being used for a woman.

An island appears every 100 years and the rulers of the 6 realms of this world come together and compete in a game in order to break one of their deadly curses that have plagued their realms for centuries. To destroy the curses, one ruler must die.

I quite enjoyed this audiobook, it has been a while since I’ve read fantasy, but this reminded me why I love it. Isla is the youngest ruler of Wildling, a realm of temptress cursed to kill anyone they fall in love with. I know this book was hyped up a lot on TikTok, but I still always keep my expectations at a minimum to avoid disappointment, so it doesn’t affect my review. Near the end of this book I was getting whiplash from the amount of plot twists, I was loving the drama, especially listening to it. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book and also for the movie.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was offered an audiobook through NetGalley in return for a fair review.

I refused to judge this book until I had actually had the chance to read it as there was a lot of drama regarding what was promised and what was delivered in this book. In my opinion it does deliver on it's promises and does sit very nicely as a YA fantasy book. It has a very interesting premise, the rulers of six nations are cursed and must fight to the death in a centennial every hundred years on an island called Lightlark. We find one must die to break the curse. The curses are indeed interesting and unusual, shared by their nations. While the book has been described as similar to the Hunger Games I disagree. The Hunger Games is dark and gritty heavily emotional and tragic, Lightlark is more luxury and lies. It’s a game of death in a royal court. With a little bit of gore and heart eating thrown in for good measure.

I really enjoyed this, found it to be an easy read with good pacing. I wish there had been more world building and some of the characters do feel a little underdeveloped… But it’s still pretty good. I certainly would recommend it to teens, it's a nice book that I hope will turn into a series.

3.75 stars
I found myself really enjoying this book. The world building, the characters and plot line are solid and written well.
It was easy to follow and get hooked in, and I found myself rooting for the main characters.
My biggest issue with this book is some of the wording "Starstick" "Wildling" "Starling" etc. It did get a little repetitive, and it is very YA but that's what it's marketed at so I'm not complaining.

I know the author has had a lot of negative press recently, so I think people should separate the book to the artist. Just like with J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter and only judge the book once it's been read 🤍

Thankyou for this ARC, NetGalley and W.F. Howes Ltd in exchange for an honest review