I was given a free e-arc through Netgalley, this in no way influenced this review.

I should start off by saying that Netgalley provided an audiobook, which I don’t typically like as a format, so that’s why it took me a while to get into and also a while to finish it.

I really liked the world building. Aster wrote a rich fantasy book and all the elements were definitely well thought out. Again, maybe with the format it was a bit hard to follow everything, but that’s on me.

The characters were really amazing. Isla was such a complicated main character and her journey in the book was so enjoyable to follow.

I did kind of figure out what would happen in the end, but there were still a lot of things that pleasantly surprised me!

Very excited to see this being turned into a movie!

I really liked the idea behind this story, I found the different classes of magic interesting and the reason behind the 'competition " very intriguing. I also enjoyed the banter between the characters, loving that subtle sass they throw around. Unfortunately I really struggled with connecting with the characters and their relationships they formed, sadly not really falling in love with any of the characters and the ending didn't really come as a surprise for me either. If I could have would have given a 3.5 but can't so it's a 3 from me.

*Audiobook arc provided by Netgalley and Recorded Books in exchange for an honest review.*

First and foremost I think Suzy Jackson did a great job narrating. She was clear throughout and didn't have any awkward long pauses. I'm someone who normally listens at an accelerated narration speed and could only do 1.5 due to Netgalley's system distorting if I went faster.

Now, Lightlark is one of the most anticipated YA releases of 2022, so much so that it has already been optioned for a movie. This played a huge part in me wanting to read it because if it was already being optioned before it even hit shelves there had to be something amazing in it. The cover is dark and ominous and so accurately hints at plot points that the creative team should be really proud of such a gorgeous cover that actually makes sense. The writing was, well it was YA; it checked a lot of the dystopian, fantasy ya tropes. You have the semi reluctant heroine tasked with saving the world, the dark and mysterious bad boy, the over eager best friend, the mean girl, the distant man you can't get a gauge on, and the mentioned in passing LGTBQ+ character. Frankly, you've read this book before but that doesn't make it a bad book.

It's a bit of a different take on things having the main characters and main supporting characters all be rulers that are cursed differently but all striving towards the same goal of breaking the curses and saving their lands. There is constant movement and progression in the story and every 5 chapters or so I was changing my mind on who cast the curses or who was going to try and kill Isla. I'd say based on that alone the intention of the writing was successful. I did not know how things would end even though I always thought I did. I would read book 2 when it comes out.

*I am aware there is a lot of controversy about this book right now. I am not part of the BookTok community so I'm not entirely aware of how the book was pitched, picked up, or anything about the author other than hearing for months that Lightlark was the book of the year. With any book I would just recommend you go with your gut. If something about the author bothers you then don't waste your time. Life is short and there are millions of books to be read.*

4.5⭐️

I really enjoyed this audiobook! I’m sad and disappointed that so many people are jumping on the weird 1-star review spam bandwagon without even having read the book. Don’t let other people’s negative attitudes discourage you from reading this book. It’s great if you’re in the mood for a fun fantasy!

The Centennial occurs on Lightlark once every hundred years and rulers must find a way to break the curses that plague their lands and people. Isla, the ruler of Wildling, is hiding a big secret this Centennial: she was born without power.

There’s a lot of display of power and magical abilities more than anything, which really emphasizes that Isla does not have any magical abilities like the rest of the rulers. Isla constantly has to hide her secret, and instead relies on her training and physical skills instead of the traditional Wildling abilities.

*minor spoilers ahead*
It definitely has a major Hunger Games vibe to it but with a fun fantasy twist that I really liked. I love Isla, and her dedication to her people and her friend and ruler of Starling, Celeste. I’m a sucker for a dark, shadowy love interest 100% of the time, so from the very beginning, Grim was (obviously) my favorite. Especially when he stops calling Isla “Heart Eater” and shortens it to “Heart” I absolutely died. I swear that if they don’t end up together I will absolutely lose my mind. I don’t think there’s much chemistry between Isla and Oro, and whatever there is between them feels forced.

What a freaking roller coaster this book is!! I was not expecting the last like 10% of the book and it completely blew my mind and broke my heart. The narrator of the audiobook did a stellar job and really added to the experience. At no point was it boring and I found myself not wanting to stop listening.

This got 2⭐ purely because I commend the audiobook reader. She did a fantastic job. Otherwise this would have been a big fat 1⭐.

This was a convoluted mess, with a lot of slut-shaming. Everything is told, not showed, which makes for a lot of annoying inner monologue. Especially when the MC goes on random tangents all the time.

I'm confused about this "competition" and "deadly game", when the competition is just picking partners (which you can switch willy nilly later) , and the deadly game won't even let you try to kill someone until day 50? But you also can't kill your partner.... So who's dying exactly!? Where's the high stakes?

This book was a major letdown.

thank god it’s over.
***
um okay, i suck at writing reviews. so im not even going to-
yeah i'll just start right away.

this was disappointing on SO many levels, i don't even know where to start. i almost screamed when i got the audio-arc thingy cause this was on my "anticipated releases" tbr and all, but now i regret even requesting this book on netgalley (it was probably an auto approve arc anyway lol). i've been following alex aster for a while now and she seemed like a really nice author, replying to my messages, and i have nothing against her but alex, really? i mean, come on. this book wasn't even good. hell, this book didn't even contain the TROPES and QUOTES that we were promised, you know, the ones she posted on tiktok for the purpose of PROMOTING her book. ironic, right?

this was the explanation alex made on tiktok when someone asked her why the quotes weren't in her book: "All those moments are in there. Either not word for word, but there, or only in the final copy not the arc." im sorry but that makes zero sense. why would you use the quotes that aren't in your book for the sole purpose of promoting your book??? and how would you not know which quotes are in your book when the book is right in front of you? one of the tropes that are mentioned in alex's videos that are allegedly in the book is the "forced proximity" trope. which means they are forced to be right next to each other at all times. this isn't even the case in the book, every character has their own rooms and they are only gathered together during games and stuff. another trope is the "villain gets the girl" one. so... which one of these characters is the villain? asking for a friend.

i listened to the whole thing with 3.5 x speed, and the narrator, bless their heart, kept going "andtheniliftedmydaggernjsbashfefbehachjadtowardshisthroatbchjsdvb" so i kind of feel like i need to appologize to them. i really do suck at writing reviews don't i? how'd we even get here?

grimshaw is supposed to be the "morally grey" guy with a tragic backstory but we were once again fooled! the book was so focused on the three characters (oro, isla and grim, the "love triangle" squad if that can even be called a love triangle) that we didn't even get to read about the other characters. like why are they even here? give me more of cleo, azul and celeste. but they're just props, who cares about them?

this book was REPETITIVE. i thought i was listening to the same chapter SEVERAL times ffs. if i see the words "centennial" and "100 years" again istg- LIKE OKAY WE GET IT. it felt like i was studying for the book the way you study for a test, repeating everything until it's buried into your brain. im tired okay? i don't know what im saying either. at least im not saying stupid shit like "she glared at him meanly". HOW ELSE WOULD SHE GLARE AT HIM? CHEERFULLY??? KINDLY???? glaring itself is an act of meanness dear and if it's an oxymoron of some sort, you're overusing it <3

and oh my god the booktok authors' reviews of this book?? those convinced me to request this book, meaning that their marketing strategy worked. marie lu, sabaa tahir, adam silvera, chloe gong and all those big names saying that this was the best book ever, who wouldn't be convinced to pick this book up right? i know i was. also i've read somewhere that new profiles were created on goodreads, rating this book 5 stars and saying that they "loved it" and stuff like that which is ridiculous & very unfair to all those hard working authors. my theory is that, once people started to ACTUALLY read the book, the average rating of the book fell drastically. the average rating was 4.0 something this morning, now it's 2.8 something, i think it's self-explanatory.

too long, didn't read: alex aster is an industry plant, she has a millionaire sis and connections in the industry. don't be fooled by her "success stories" that she posts on social media. also i feel so bad for all those people who preordered this book. at this point, did they even give you the page overlays that they promised they would? lmao.

3.5 round up

This book was nothing like I expected because I never really felt like I got the correct synopsis or marketing.

Listening to the narration I sometimes thought the character was much younger than her actual age. This would shock me every time something sexual happened and I had to remind myself how old the character was. In that sense I thought the narration took away from the story at some points.

This has nothing to do with the narrator or the quality of the audiobook just a general comment about the book. I think this is the kind of book you should physically read not just listen to. I listen to about 80% of my books and found this one to be hard to follow. I wish I would have originally physically read it because then I might have a better grasp on what was going on. I was aware of a curse but because the MC wasn't aware of the curses origins neither did the reader. It felt hard to understand the urgency to the curse. The MC doesn't have powers (not a spoiler just fact) and for most of the story it didn't really seem to matter that there wasn't any power because barely anybody used it.

Lets talk about the story itself. Nothing really wrong with it, I wish it had not been so frequently compared to some of the big franchises like The Hunger Games. It really just took away from this book. I didn't understand the island that only came around every 100 years, if people live on it?

The love was insta love- which isn't my thing and there was sort of a triangle but again not my thing so not really worth me trying to discuss what went right or wrong there.

This book does not live up to the hype. I could not get through it for all the reasons others have previously listed. From the beginning it just reads like it’s trying so hard to be every other YA Fantasy, but brings nothing new to the table.

I really loved this book.

I received this book as an Audiobook ARC from Netgalley.
I didn't know that this was a 'TikTok book' or there was any sort of 'hype' around this book. I went into this book completely blind. I had zero expectations going into this book.

I loved so much about this book. I loved the magical elements. I loved the “game of thorne”-ish aspects, where there are type of regions of magical realms. Also, It was a supernatural/magical 'who done it' with a mystery love triangle thrown in for good measure.

The imagery of this book is so wonderful. You can see them in your mind's eye. I finished this book on the 8th. It's now the 17th that I'm writing this review and I can still visually remember this book.

Also, I really like the fact that Isla chose the 'right' man in the end. We don't stand for liars. So That was freaking awesome!!!

If you are into magical books, mysteries, realms, and love; I highly recommend this book. I really loved this book, and I'm excited for book #2

Thank you to Netgalley & RB Media for the ARC audiobook
Thank you to Alex Aster for writing this book
Thank you to Suzy Jackson for narrating this book! absolutely loved your voice in this! you did an outstanding job!

I was really excited for this book. It was pitched as a magical competition, like The Hunger Games meets ACOTAR and … that is just not what this book is.

I love books with games and competitions, but they were really lacking in this book. It didn’t feel like a high stakes competition at all. I wanted a blood? Games? Action? But … I didn’t get any of those things from this book. The “competition” was a hundred days of … what felt like nothing? I couldn’t figure out how the rules worked or really what the point of it all was. There were just some demonstrations of peoples’ powers? Throughout the middle of this book it felt like nothing was happening, which was a huge disappointment from what the pitch promised. And the pacing really had me struggling to finish this book.

I wanted to like this book, but I also found myself constantly confused by the world building. Nothing made much sense. It felt like the world building could have really used more work to strengthen this book. I couldn’t pin down how the curses worked, how the competition worked or why people were doing what they were doing. The Centennial has been happening for centuries … how has nothing been discovered? What happened in the previous games? Did no one die? I don’t understand the logistics. The stakes weren’t there either. Isla didn’t seem to have a real goal, so I couldn’t get a firm grasp on what the stakes actually were—besides not wanting to die, but the how around that also wasn’t clear. I don’t understand how some people are over 500 years old, but Isla constantly talks about people only living until 25. She could also portal different places, but only sometimes? I couldn’t figure out when she could versus when she couldn’t and why that wasn’t more helpful to her. The magic, the world, the stakes … just didn’t really feel well thought out or plotted.

I love an unlikeable narrator, but Isla was really hard to root for. She felt so oblivious to everything and I couldn’t pin down her motivations for most of her actions. Though, I will say I did enjoy Alex Aster’s prose and the voice of Isla within this book. But Grim? His dialogue was hard to read. It felt so forced and over the top.

The twist … I love a good plot twist and they can usually make or break a book for me. I was really hoping for something so cool, but the twist of Isla and Grim knowing each other but he secret took her memories felt … a bit cheap. Also, I didn’t even end up clear how the memory wiping worked? Is she actually as young as we’re led to believe? Is a 500 year old man really interested in dating/hooking up with an 18 year old?

Really, had this book been marketed differently, maybe I would have liked it. Unfortunately it didn’t deliver on anything it promised, including the reasons why I picked up the book.

First off I’d like to thank RB Media and Netgalley for providing me with this ALC.

I want to make it clear that the narrator was excellent.

I’m rating it 2.25. I came back to this after writing the review because it feels mean and I hope the author doesn’t read it because I hate feeling mean. I can tell a LOT of work went into the creation of the book, I just wish it were executed better.

I’m sad. My hopes were far too high. Labeling something a “tiktok sensation” before it was even released should’ve been my first clue. I hate being mean in reviews, and don’t want to be, but I don’t have a whole lot if nice things to say. I’m almost fully convinced the people out there saying it’s better than acotar are either paid or lying.

This book had flaws like all books do. My main issue was that everything was told, not shown. The first like 10 chapters were one giant info dump. The rest had SO much happen with so little descriptive detail in each chapter, it was just an info overload. The book really should’ve been split into two so that more detail could go into each scene and character. There was so much world building but a lot of it didn’t make logical sense.

The plot was interesting. I liked the overlying plot. I just think it was poorly executed due to lack of strong editing. If this book had a few more edits it could have been a five star read. But sadly, it felt like one giant rant.

I wish I could speak more on the individual characters but we barely get to know them. Aside from the male love interest being ripped straight out of acotar.

Anyway, I originally rated it 3.25 because the ending wrapped everything up in a more interesting way, but it shouldn’t have taken until 90% of the way into a book for it to hook you in.

Thank you netgalley for providing me with an audio book!!
I don’t really know what’s going on with the author but I do think it has been falsely advertised.

It was enjoyable on some parts and I was curious to see where it goes but the centennial was very underwhelming and some parts didn’t really make sense

I don’t usually go for audio books I’m really picky about the voices I like but The narrator did an amazing job! Her voice is perfect for story telling.
she imitated the characters and the inner thoughts really well

TW: Blood, murder, gore (a character eats a heart)

This was a bit of a disappointment after all I saw all the hype surrounding it. It already has a film deal without even being released yet!

I didn't find it TERRIBLE but I guess with all the hype surrounding it I expected more. It read somewhat juvenile and obviously a debut. Lots of repetitive word usage and not very creative with character names and such.

I liked the magic system but we weren't really told too much about it before we were thrown into a Hunger Games type of situation (literally in second chapter) and then a huge info dump. The romance was a bit instant for the first part of the triangle (yes there is a triangle but doesn't really appear till towards the end) It was a very back and forth type of romance, "I can't do this, you're bad, I have to save my people! BUT I can't stop dreaming about you, I want you I want this!" type of stuff and I was annoyed. The second part of the triangle came way out of left field for me. Felt even less chemistry than the first, if that's possible. A good 92% of the book the guy acted like he was disgusted by Isla.

One good thing was I didn't expect the twist to be what it was so that was exciting. But mostly this was a mediocre YA fantasy that I will most likely forget about after submitting this review. Nothing really stood out to me and all the hype just made it even more disappointing.

I was generously gifted an audiobook arc by the publisher and I really enjoyed the narrator's (Suzy Jackson) voice immensely. She had great inflections and her pacing was good. I did have a slight criticism in that she made Oro and Grim's voices almost the same but other than that I really thought she did a great job. I would definitely listen to her again, her narration was one of the only reasons I didn't give up on this book.

Thank you so much to RB Media for providing me with an audiobook arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lightlark has been going around at lightning speed on Booktok, which is how it landed on my radar. The reviews for this novel range greatly from those disliking it to those that love it with not a lot in between, which made me wary going into this. As this novel has been edited a lot to try and keep up with the hype, it made me wonder what the original manuscript entailed, and I would love to read it as this novel read like it has been altered. Readers will need to read it for themselves to draw their own conclusions, but there were small moments where it seemed the sentences were meant for one direction but went in a new one to fit the newer narrative. While some may interpret this as a twist/turn in the plot, it did not always read this way to me.

Six Realms have each been cursed for the past 500 years. Every 100 years, the island of Lightlark appears and the ruler from each realm competes in the Centennial to break their realm’s curse. Isla Crown, the ruler of the Wildlings (temptresses), is competing for the first time. Her and another ruler named Celeste, who is also Isla’s friend, are the youngest to attend. There are two love interests in this story, Grim, another ruler, and Oro, the king of Lightlark.

Isla is naïve and short-sighted due to her desire to win the Centennial and her sheltered past. While her realm, including herself, are supposed to be skilled warriors, I wished there was backstory to build to this rather than her be perfect at it from the start. For me, I need a lot more backstory and showing to connect rather than telling. This was the case for multiple elements in the novel where there was a lot of telling rather than showing. The romances were okay, but, again, I needed a lot more shared moments to invest in either love interest.

The pacing of the story begins by dropping the reader straight into the Centennial. It builds up the competition, the rules, and the rulers involved before adding in the additional subplots and character journeys. For me, it slowed greatly in the middle before picking up a lot towards the end and I would have preferred a little more build-up rather than an almost sudden jolt at the end. I believe the author’s other series is middle grade, which makes this her transition into young adult. For me, I think this novel read more towards middle grade with the wording choices and general sentence structure. There are multiple words that were overused in the writing, including, “mean” and “thing.” While I love reading middle grade, too, I just was expecting a little more “young adult” style writing and, for me, this one needs a little more to make that full transition.

While Booktok may have aided in the hype of this novel and has the potential to raise awareness of a new release, I believe it did more harm than good for this novel. There were many posts about this novel with moments that were supposed to be in the writing but did not make the ARC version (they may still end up in the final or second publication). With the audiobook, I am also confused as to the main character is “Is-la” or “I-la,” as I believe it should be the latter, but the narrator read it as the former, so I hope this is clarified in final versions.

As Universal has preemptively gained the rights to turn this novel into a film, I will be very curious to watch it come to life on the big screen. Usually, I am not a fan of recent adaptions, but I think translating the novel to a script can help remedy some of the issues I had while reading to streamline the experience. The general concept was intriguing as it was the execution that was not quite there for me. I can see the potential in this series, but now I am on the fence about reading the sequel. As reader thoughts are all over the place, my thoughts may not match some readers, so it is best if readers try this novel out for themselves.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

I want you to stop what you're doing, look me in the eye, and listen to what I am about to tell you. All these people assuring you that this is the greatest book ever--they are lying to you.

Do you want to know how open-minded I was about this book? In a story set on an island where realm rulers gather to play a game, the main character is named Isla Crown, and I ROLLED WITH IT. When I tell you that what you're about to read is an honest review, I mean it with every beat of my heart. So buckle up, my friends. There has been a lot of talk and raised eyebrows over this book, its author, and the sheer amounts of money being thrown at it, and I have thoughts. Lots of them.

So, what bothers me right off the bat is the premise. This could have been so good. Truly. But the execution was flawed almost immediately. You cannot compare this to The Hunger Games in any shape or form. Not when the first 50 of the 100 days long competition has only balls and weird detective moments because no one is allowed to kill each other. Literally, it's a rule. Also, no one DIES. Not a single person. There are no fights, no clawing for survival, no societal commentary. Every realm ruler holds a trial that challenges and forces every ruler to showcase their magical abilities, and each one was an opportunity wasted. Each challenge is over in a few pages within the first half of the book without any real consequences and it doesn't add anything new to the story or world.

But don't worry, the Twilight comp holds fast and true with the terrible dialogue, questionable romance and love triangle, and naïve as hell main character who is basically Bella Swan repackaged.

I was fortunate enough to receive an early audio copy, and I think that may have saved this from being a one star read. It forced me to take it slower and not be as invested. I'm told from a few others that it definitely protected me from the questionable prose. At first, I thought it was prettily written with some cute Caraval vibes, but that was when I wasn't thinking too deep about it. Once I really started listening, I realized that no, this writing is better suited to middle grade, which is what the author has previously published. It is somewhat repetitive with its descriptions and thoughts, and a bit juvenile with its choice of words.

Reading this slowly also kept me from thinking too hard about the plot. I didn't really notice until I finished and reflected on it, but this really was all over the place, and I'm left asking myself what was the purpose of most of it. So much could have been condensed to leave room for the more important aspects that the premise kept pushing, like the competition to the death? There is no streamlined Point A to Point B to Point C trajectory. There are so many tangents and secondary plotlines that try to play off each other but can't quite fit. It goes back and forth a lot, and whatever mystery is trying to be solved does not give any level of satisfaction. It really was "let's see how many scenes I can write in different fantasy lands so I can show off how how talented my brain is."

Where the audiobook did nothing for me was with the worldbuilding. I really was just vibing and taking their word for it on most things because I was playing catch-up the entire time. You need a map, a glossary, a character and magic cheat sheet just to get through the first five chapters. It was a disaster that had zero finesse. Again, the name, Isla Crown. I didn't realize it until about the 75% mark. If I had taken the time to be critical about it in the beginning and connected the dots sooner, it would have told me all I needed to know about this book. I'm almost insulted about how little effort was put into this second world fantasy.

The gold king is named Oro, the sky ruler Azul. A magical teleportation device is called a starstick. Realms are named Moonling, Wildling, Starling, Skyling--and you wonder why I couldn't keep anything straight. And then there are so many characters, names, places, types of magic, types of curses, types of flares, competition rules, history points. To make matters worse, most of it is dumped on you in the first few chapters with very little grace or any chance to absorb. Not to mention, we hardly see it in action because it's all told at us. And we're just expected to remember. Joke's on you, because I did not.

Isla is a Mary Sue if I ever saw one. She's so beautiful, haven't we told you that ten times? With her hot face and hot dresses and all the men looking at her. But she's different. She's barely seen a man before. Never talked to one. Nope. She is of the seductress people but she is not one of them, no sir'ee, because she will never seduce a man after her parent trauma. She has no magic ability but can wield any weapon. Apparently. I don't know. Barely get to see that in action. But wait, she must make herself look weak so she's not a threat, but she must win so she can get magic, but actually no, she's too good for that and has her own silly little plan to execute. Don't forget how she's a master of disguise because she can wear different coloured clothes and dye her hair a different shade for a night. Oh, and she has the most bestest singing voice ever, and we'll randomly bring that up whenever it just feels right. That's a self-insert if I ever saw one.

The romance was ... not great. I mean, the main love interest is named Grimdark, Grim for short, and he truly is a Rhsyand wannabe. He's of the dark realm, and he's so edgy and mysterious but obviously in love with Isla from the first moment. He calls her Hearteater, since that's what her people eat (don't ask.) But this later gets shortened to Heart, and it made me cackle so hard.

There is the most random and gratuitous "spicy" scene after the most cringe twilight-esque confession of feelings. It did not fit into this book, not one bit. I mean, complete and utter whiplash where this girl is all sad and in hiding, then suddenly she's getting a handjob or something, I dunno. Whatever it was, it. did. not. fit. With the writing, with the book, with the YA vibe. NA exists. Go write that instead of shoehorning this kind of stuff into a category where it doesn't suit.

And of course, there was a love triangle involving the two moody broody hot boys, and I did not care for it because she doesn't deserve or need the attention. Not to mention it's kind of uncomfortable when she's pretty much 18, but everyone else is over 500 years old?? And they're all pining after this fool of a girl. Make it make sense.

The ending went completely off the rails. And I mean completely. The author tried to pull together so many threads to make twist after twist after twist work, but it flopped for me. For one, I couldn't remember half the details that were brought back to life because they didn't seem significant or weren't brought up enough as coincidence for me to care.

Two, Isla's naivety crashed and burned some of it because she chose to focus on the wrong points of what was happening. Had me tearing my hair out that she can't believe something that was so obvious to the reader. The entire world could be crashing down around her and the secrets of the universe relayed, and all she would fixate on is that some random boy accidentally confessed he had feelings for her. I also don't see how this will carryover into a sequel. There's maybe one thing left to look into, and I genuinely don't care about it.

Now, the suspicions. Not only did this get a 6-figure book deal, but it's also sitting pretty on a 7-figure movie deal before the book is even out. The author has tried to explain that this is normal and fine, really trying to put a "If you go through rejections as long as I have and keep trying you can get this too," but I really don't buy it. Alex Aster is an absolute nobody to me. Didn't even know she existed until a few weeks ago, to be honest. I never saw her on BookTok, her MG books I've never seen on shelves. She apparently lies about scenes and tropes and lines in the book. But what she is is very wealthy. Her twin sister is a CEO worth $220 million, and her parents aren't hard off. Yet this book is coming out from Amulet, which absolutely no offense, is not a competitive publisher in the grand scheme of things. So to have this pushed as the next big YA franchise sensation and the biggest thing since the 2010s YA boom smells incredibly fishy.

I am very glad I did not have to contribute a single penny towards this book as even that would have been a waste of my money. I know full well that this will land on the NYT Bestseller list because of how messed up the entire system is. And I hate that even more because I can think of at least thirty other books I read this year alone that not only deserved that six slash seven figure deal, but also the amount of hype and marketing this mediocre book has received when it is simply not good. Publishing really isn't fair some times, and this is a blatant example of why.

After finishing this book I was a bit disappointed with the overall story. It started off pretty OK but with all of the claims and the hype surrounding this I just did not think it was living up to expectations.

I want to first thank the publishers, and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity review this audiobook.

While this was a solid 4.5 stars all throughout the book the end really did it for me, and confirmed that it is indeed a 5 start book. I would say, I don't think that this is a young adult book as there is some mature/suggestive content. If anything it's a mature young adult or new adult.

This book gives Caraval and Hunger Game vibes. Ever 100 years the rulers of different realms come together to compete in a 100 day quest to break a curse that is slowing killing all the islands. Although I wish the magic itself was explained a little more, enough was told to understand the importance of each ruler.

This book slowly reveals very important secrets but it is so well paced that I never got bored. There was a very attractive and dark love interest, as well as a secret little love triangle.

I did feel Isla was very naïve which at times I did find annoying but when you think about how she was raised I understand. There is a cliff hanger at the end of the book that I am very excited to see how it will play out in the next book.

I would recommend this book to anyone that likes magic, prophies, and fighting. I believe this is being adapted as well which if done right will be a fun show/movie to watch!

This will likely be a divisive book for readers: if you are an undemanding or very young reader, this will likely be exciting and fun. Otherwise, it clearly is lacking in nuance, character development, world building, originality, chemistry, and cleverness. There are a lot of twists and turns (most cliched and easy to spot) and a few surprises otherwise. It wasn't a terrible book but admittedly I had to snicker several times while listening - there's not a lot of craft or depth here. Note: I listened to the audio version and the narrator did a good job with what she had.

Story: Isla has been raised to battle in the centennial: the magical battle to survive and have a chance to break a curse that has plagued the realms for centuries. For each realm is bound to a type of magic (star, sky, moon, fire, Earth, darkness) and each is cursed in a horrible way (e.g., Isla's Earth people are cursed to eat human hearts, the star people die at 25, the darkness people can only go out during the day, etc.). There are high stakes: if a champion dies, their people will die too. But for Isla, the competition is even harder: she has never had magic and will be defenseless when the time comes to fight.

A LOT does not make sense in this book and the plot holes are big enough to drive a truck through. It's best to turn off your brain or it will be hard not to make derisive comments out loud about the silliness of it all. The characters are very flat, lack nuance, and there is absolutely no chemistry in any of the romances. Most of the plot twists are very obvious and easy to figure out while a few are surprising only because there really weren't any buried clues about them. It took away the fun of figuring out the twists when they were either super obvious or completely random. The whole competition was really bad - despite being around for centuries (and several characters having had to live through them since the beginning) no one seemed to have a clue about it or have ever attempted to actually break the curses.

Our main character is an egregious 'tell but don't show' - we keep hearing how tough and beautiful she is but it isn't obvious in most of her actions. Often, she does things guaranteed to lose the tournament or make enemies - yet somehow everyone falls all over themselves in love with her despite it all. She's supposed to be so beautiful it hurts but spends most of the book whining about how normal she is. It's a typical YA in that way. For me, I got tired of reading how she was constantly getting hurt/hurting herself with grievous injuries that were pretty much forgotten the next day. That she had spent her whole life being physically abused in order to make her tough enough to survive without magic but there are no psychological wounds as a result. Our main character never seemed to notice the torture porn and was more concerned about the handsome emo boy called the Darkling...er Grimshaw.

That said, it was an easy YA read: undemanding and silly. If you are looking for a bit of escapism and willing to turn off your brain, you could do worse. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this title. I have chosen not to post my review publicly as it is negative and I prefer to keep my social media a positive space focused on books I enjoy.

With all the early hype, some gushing reviews from big-name YA authors, and the promise of a really cool premise, I had high hopes for Lightlark. Unfortunately, the execution fell flat, and this was ultimately a disappointing read.

It isn't badly written, but the characters are underdeveloped, the world-building and relationships lack depth, and there was a huge amount of telling without showing. This made it difficult to immerse myself in the story and become invested in any of the characters or their fates.

If I had gone into this book with zero expectations, no promises of "The Hunger Games x ACOTAR", and no knowledge of what kind of story to expect, I probably wouldn't have been so disappointed. But the major problem with this book is that it does not deliver on anything the marketing or author blurbs promise.

I was expecting vicious. I was expecting villains. I was expecting to gasp and swoon. I was expecting some Hunger Games-esque fighting and action. I got none of that. I was, at the very least, expecting the scenes the author shared in her TikTok marketing. But, very confusingly, they weren't.

I was so hoping to find an incredible new book to fall in love with, and I'm sad that Lightlark didn't give me that.

I love Hunger Games series and always trying to find similar books that offer strong MC and bloody competition with high deadly stakes. Lightlark promised me that, deadly competition between six rulers every 100 years. I dont really care about ACOTAR but premise to get "enemies turn lover" in this book wont hurt neither. But did I got all of that?
Let we started with the details. The audio narrator did her good efforts to narrated this book with different voice for each characters. The main voice is for Isla the MC and I captured her personality perfectly. The intonations is good and each words is pronounced clear. Sadly I dont like the male characters voices. It sound like old and unappealing in my taste.

Eventually we got six rules as the participants of the Lightlark competition but we only get informations about them from Isla's POV. It is very lacking because Isla is the youngest, information was being withheld from her and basically she live in secluded area. Sneaking one or many not make her become expert and we must depend on her to explained everything for us? My problem with Isla's narration are repetitive, mostly info dumping but still lack of everything. She isnt the most interesting character to follow too. Her infos only scraped the surface of the epic Lightlark world. With six realms that suffer for many years, each of them deserves details information. The couple lines to described their curses not enough for me. So many things not make sense and still need alot digging explanation from this world. For this type of story I would prefer multiple POV with intriguing narrations. Each of them will make me must guessed each war strategies, planned moves and motivation from each six sides.

The plotline, conflicts and plot twist. When the author promised deadly competition full of backstabbing, lie and betrayal. I expected it with highest level wickedness from the most cunning rules. Dinners and talents pageant is far from those promise. Hunting for artefact through libraries and forrest is excluded to deadly competition category in my definition. And the conflict, what is the real conflict in here? Everyone looks busy doing whatever they want to do, in the back spotlight and all of that not connected to the competition at all. Plottwist okay but isnt mindblowing level.

Now romance better than ACOTAR. Sigh... I heard how amazingly mouth watering male characters and steamy level of ACOTAR was, and romance in this book I wont call it as romance at all. Both males are bland, one dimensional and acted like supplementary characters. I cant see any real interesting or intriguing personalities from them. I dont feel any building chemistry from their bland banters. There was not tension either in their actions. It feel instant, lack romantic vibes and difficult to believe.

I really wished I could love this book. I keep listened on the Audio ARC even when I was not feeling well and cant read for days. But it seems this one just not for me.
Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for let listen this copy. I am grateful and my thoughts are my own