Lightlark by Alex Aster

Book: Lightlark

Author: Alex Aster

Series: Lightlark

Oh my gosh, where to start with this book. First of all, I was blown away. I really liked this book.

The main character, Isla, was a very well written character in my opinion. I loved learning her background and about her kingdom as well as its curse. Her first love interest, Grim, was phenomenal and I hope to see more of him in future books. I definitely felt like there was more to his story that I wish we had seen, but there is time for that still. He is such a bad boy and I am 100% here for it.

Now, Oro... I don't know if I am a fan of him. He's not the worst, I will give him that, and he is well written, I just don't think I prefer him to Grim. I was very blindsided at the end when Isla suddenly has feelings for him, I just was not getting those vibes from her like at all the whole book. It felt like it was a last minute addition, the author wanted a love triangle but forgot to do the setup for it. Oro does have promise though, so we'll see where it goes with him. #teamgrim tho

There were a few things I had mixed feelings about. The games?? I felt like I was following it up until everybody got paired off. I understood the whole displaying powers and everything- to a point for that as well. If pretty much every ruler has been there for every time they've done this, what is the need for showcasing their powers or whatever they want when they do this each time? Up until this point, Grim hasn't been going, and that really only leaves Isla and "Celeste" as the newcomers. So I don't totally get that.

I also don't fully understand what was going on after being paired up. Nobody is really sharing information with each other while they're doing this, and it doesn't feel very cohesive or productive. if everyone is trying to break these curses, then I also don't understand why they wouldn't want everyone else involved allowed onto every kingdoms area. It just didn't feel productive to me.

I'm also not sure I appreciated the twist with Celeste. I think that it was good for the story, but Grim's supposed involvement with it? Very odd, and I sure do hope we learn why he would be willing to do something like that if he is supposedly so in love with Isla. So I guess my issue is more with Grim's involvement rather than the twist in general.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book and I am very excited to see where things go with this series! I think as the author continues writing, things will get a bit better with being able to understand character motivations as well as plots getting better.