Horny. Isla is so horny. Oro and Grim are also horny but they have more of a cap on it. This should not be a YA book for how often these characters are horny. There are multiple romance scenes written for the express purpose of titillation in which all the characters are adults. This is not written for children, or even teenagers. Because this is marketed at YA, most of these scenes end with some bullshit excuse for why they can't bone. Man, what's even the point? It's pushing the boundaries of how horny you can make something, for the pleasure of an adult audience, and still shelving the book as YA. The probably isn't the fact that it's horny, but its horniness skates along in this weird limbo gray area because of its genre, offputting and unsatisfying. I was gonna talk more about the type/count of romance scene, but I'll just leave it at the fact that the special edition of Lightlark from B&N had an extra scene from Grim's POV that you also see in this book through Isla's POV. The author REALLY loves that "I love that dress but it's in my way" line. For Celeste, breaking her curse was the difference between life or death. Not only for her, but for all her people. Alexandra Pierson [1] (born August 4, 1995), known professionally by her pen name Alex Aster, is a Colombian-American young adult author. [2] She is best known for the young adult fantasy series, Lightlark, and the middle-grade fantasy series, Emblem Island. [3] Early life [ edit ]

Isla Crown has secured the love of two powerful rulers and broken the curses that plagued the six realms for centuries, but few know the true origins of her powers. Now, in the wake of a crushing betrayal, Isla finds herself hungry for distraction, preferring to frequent Lightlark’s seductive haunts instead of embracing her duties as the newly crowned leader of two separate realms. Worse, her fellow rulers haven’t ceded victory quietly, and there are others in Isla’s midst who don’t believe her ascent to power was earned. As certain death races toward Lightlark and secrets from the past begin to unravel, Isla must weigh her responsibility to her people against the whims of the most dangerous traitor of all: her heart. Lightlark was a shining, cliffy thing. Its bluffs were white as bone, and sunlight rained down in sheets of misted gold. One of the original sources of power, its ground still thrummed with it, singing to Isla in a humming siren song. She could feel its force with each step, each breath. She drank the island in greedily, like the wine she was never allowed to touch. Equally addictive and dangerous. Last time I wrote this, I was up to the start of the Centennial. Now my thing about the Centennial is that it's the dumbest concept despite instigating the sequences of events in this book. It's 100 days but in the first 50 days, all the rulers have to do demonstrations for the people of Lightlark to observe. It's supposed to be like the training days in the Hunger Games where the tributes show off their skills to secure donors during the games but the idea falls flat in Lightlark because the people who live on Lightlark don't...do anything. They watch? They attend parties? But their role is so unnecessary. Another component of these demonstrations is for rulers to scope out each other's powers but the "winning" isn't always straightforward. For Grim's demonstration, everyone had to battle it out, but the King of Lightlark, Oro, had a demonstration where everyone had the chance to show their greatest secret. Like?? Oro ends up being the winner of these demonstrations and is allowed to choose who to pair up for the next 75 days.Alex Aster’s intricate world expands after the riveting culmination of the Centennial games, delving more deeply into Isla’s memories of her past, as her future hurtles toward two possible fates. 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.” The love interests. I have nothing else to say other than Grim is Rhysand from ACOTAR and Oro is Prince Maxon from the Selection if he was OP and had hella magic. That perfectly encapsulates both how their written and the extent of their dynamics. It's so reminiscent of ~other stuff~ it's difficult to see them as their own established characters, especially Grim. They're both like 500 years old and have a rivalry. SPEAKING OF DATE, y'all...the ACOTAR really jumped out. Remember when I mentioned the 6 realms, let me repeat them for you: Wildling, Skyling, Moonling, Starling, Nightshade, and Lightlark. If there's a villain (as the author has heavily hinted at "villain gets the girl") guess where he's from. Let me make it worse, his name is Grimshaw LMAOOO. In the hands of a more competent author, this could've been an intriguing high fantasy. Maybe it could've been written in multiple POVs and really intereacted with its characters as rulers of dying kingdoms, and the character motivations that go along with it. I want to see what Cleo's secret was! I wanted to see how Azul faced his fears! I wanted to see how the world's consequences and the rulers' motivations interacted and intersected and led to unlikely alliances and power plays. Or, at the very least I wanted to see some cool action scenes. Even within the context of what it is, as a female-led YA book, I would've wanted... something new. Something different. Something other than another sheltered girl who's really good at fighting and falling in love. Lean into the fantasy, lean into what makes this book different. Because it just feels the same. At least define the atmosphere to be unique or noteworthy, because for all that convoluted worldbuilding, nothing feels new.

Oh right let me break down this timeline: 100 days on Lightlark; can't kill anyone until after the 50th day. By day 25 or 50 (I think) the rulers pair up to solve the prophecy to break their curses. It's so dumb this entire book is about searching for relics. First Isla and the Starling ruler, Celeste, are searching for this thing called the Bond Breaker, then Isla and Oro are searching for the heart of Lightlark. I think day 50 also has some kind of banquet while day 75 has a carnival event? Genuinely, none of the things that happen are important; it feels like Aster is trying to contrive situations where Isla can be hot (in a revealing dress), fierce (holding a knife to someone's throat), or whatever. Take a Look at Our Summary of November Highlights, Whether You're Looking for the Latest Releases or Gift Inspiration Lightlark logic. Like the first book, it felt like rules were bent and added on and multiplied on top of each other to make certain things possible, and ignored to make certain things possible. You can't think too deeply about anything in this thing. I was punished for remembering worldbuilding from the first book.while threatening a ghost] Isla pulled her new dagger from her waist and brandished it. “Don’t take another…float.” The Skyling frowned for just a moment before he offered Celeste his own fingers, now glimmering with Isla’s diamond. “More new blood. I have a good feeling about this Centennial.” Personally, I'm hoping the following comes true (not because I'm invested, but because I've digested enough of Alex Aster's TikTok content to infer the high likelihood I might be right):

For Isla . . . things were even more complicated. No one realized how small their realm had gotten. Many more Wildlings had died than been born. Their powers had gotten weaker with every generation. Forests had shrunk. Wildlife had gone extinct. At the rate her lands and people were deteriorating, there wouldn’t be any Wildlings left by the next Centennial. Yes I have rated this book five stars. And no I am not lying. I read this book within 2 days and it genuinely surprised me. Imma be honest with y'all I did not think I would love this book. I went in not expecting much at all. But this book despite what many claim is very well written. The author went to one of the most prestigious writing and English programs in the world and has been working as a professional editor for years. The writing Is beautiful but still managed to be simple and easy to understand which I really really enjoyed. You're thrown right into the story and plot which I appreciate especially in fantasy books because often times at the start they can be hella boring. I don't want to write a conclusion, so I won't. Thanks for the arc. My curiosity has been quenched. Tiktok will love this book. I can't imagine that it's translation to film will be good. I say that as a film reviewer who doubles as an avid reader. Things aren't looking good. The crowd watched Grim with a healthy mix of fear and disdain—Isla studied their reactions carefully. He looked like night come to life, his clothing shadow spun into silk. If Wildlings were looked down upon on Lightlark, Nightshades seemed to be outright hated. And, according to Terra and Poppy’s lessons, never fully accepted on the island. They had their own land, a stronghold they had maintained for thousands of years.A young Starling girl walked toward her slowly, slightly sideways, the way a child might approach a coiled snake. “My lady,” she said, voice so soft Isla had to lean in to hear her, which only made the girl flinch. Isla resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Did the girl actually think she would feast on her heart in the middle of the foyer? Her kind was wild, but they weren’t animals. “Follow me.” A lot of the story (from what I read) relies on telling rather than showing and it leads to a lot of info dump so far. We are told that there were six realms, with six respective rulers, and six specific curses. We are told that Isla had a restricted childhood, who the perceived villains are, how the curses impact the different realms... The Average Citizen. Isla actually talks to average citizens in this book, but they're all single minded and one note it feels weird. These people don't have interiority or conflicting feelings. They are simply on Isla's side or they are not. Sometimes they switch between the two, but yeah, there isn't much more beyond that. This is especially true when she meets her own Wildling people. Knowing very well how many people wanted access to his endless stream of power, the Lightlark ruler was untrusting. Paranoid. Cold. Isla dreaded meeting him. Especially given the first step of Poppy and Terra’s plan for her. Isla Crown has secured the love of two powerful rulers and broken the curses that plagued the six realms for centuries, but few know the true origins of her powers. Now, in the wake of a crushing betrayal, Isla finds herself hungry for distraction, preferring to frequent Lightlark's seductive haunts instead of embracing her duties as the newly crowned leader of two separate realms. Worse, her fellow rulers haven't ceded victory quietly, and there are others in Isla's midst who don't believe her ascent to power was earned. As certain death races toward Lightlark and secrets from the past begin to unravel, Isla must weigh her responsibility to her people against the whims of the most dangerous traitor of all: her heart.