Review: Lightlark

Book written by Alex Aster, published August 2022

Isla Crown is the ruler of Wildling, one of six magical realms that were given unique curses 500 years ago. No one knows who cursed them, how, or why it even happened. Every 100 years, the island of Lightlark appears and rulers from each realm (Wildling, Skyling, Starling, Sunling, Moonling, and Nightshade) gather for 100 days to try to break the uniquely wicked curses cast over them all. It should be a common goal to end these curses, but it has become a competition because of one line from the prophecy: one ruler must die in order to free their realms. The one to end the curses gains all the power of the realms.

This is one of those books that I fell more in adoration with as time went on, after being wary in the beginning. Honestly, there is a lot of information about the worlds (some things are never clarified, like are they on the same world, or separate ones?) to absorb at the beginning of the Centennial, but then there's no history or context until basically the end. I think that Aster could have been a lot more clear on world-building, but once I was content floating by on what I knew, then the story unfolded well. I have heard that there was controversy surrounding this book, and I admit that I am not on BookTok so I was not disenchanted having to reconcile my vision of the story with the final product. I will say that it is nothing like The Hunger Games, so ignore that comparison if you've seen it. I will probably put this on my list of re-reads, and I'm very interested to see where the rest of the series takes things.

This book contains minor instances of gore, and one instance of a non-explicit (though implied) sexual encounter.

If you have not been invited to the Centennial, do not read on.

"Each Centennial was a giant game, a chance to gain unparalleled ability. It was said that whoever broke the curses by fulfilling the prophecy would be gifted all the power it had taken to spin them--the ultimate prize."

I have to applaud the skill of Isla's fighting being throughout the book, because I feel like in many stories the lead character has a defining and separating characteristic that seems to disappear along the way. It leaves me as a reader wondering why it was a point of emphasis at all if it doesn't seem needed or at least have the story come full circle back to the strength. Though Ms. Aster did do that to a whole character here, with Azul being basically nonexistent in the end. I thought it was going to be her way of killing a ruler without it traumatizing anyone, but I felt bad that he was gone out of anyone's concern and then mad that if he was trying to kill Celeste, that he didn't bother to tell anyone that he figured something out. I do like that final series of trust twists, and how everyone was basically played by the same person, years and years in the making. Which seems drastic, but not when most of our characters are centuries old.

I would have liked to see more of the Wildling realm and specifically Poppy and Terra more before being portaled straight to Lightlark (though that would have complicated sneaking a visit to Grim in there, so there would have had to have been a time gap, but that's not the end of the world). As a reader, I would have loved to be more connected with the people and home that she was fighting for, because I felt myself not caring as much about Terra slowly dying as probably was intended. In the beginning, I was curious know their plan before Isla leaves, but even looking back at it from the end, I think knowing that they wanted her to seduce Oro would have made her early interactions with him more noteworthy other than simply "they don't get along". With that, I like that this story and its little mini love triangle at the end highlights fault in one of those could-be-toxic tropes in literature that lust and attraction equals love. With Grim, Isla had all that, and was fundamentally betrayed, whereas with Oro, she realized that trust is the foundation for love. We haven't even seen them kiss and we know that Oro cares for her. Though, I am hoping we will see Isla's love for Oro develop more later in the series, because right now we are just told that Isla cares for him back. Which I can get on board with ethically, but it totally leaves me upset that Grim was just tossed aside after trying to do what he thought was best for Isla, whom he clearly loves. I am just expecting more sizzle in the next installment. Anyone eager to finally see what the heck is in that vault on Wild Isle too? It was annoying me how Isla seemingly forgot about it, and then of course it was chosen to be the cliffhanger. Let us know your thoughts on Lightlark and your hopes for the next one!