I. Hate. Love. Triangles.

Anyway, I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. People complained it jumped all over the place, but there’s a lot going on so I think it has to do that just to keep the story going. The plot is pretty solid, entertaining, and easy to follow in my opinion. The love triangle is torturous, though. My least favorite bit of this book is absolutely her angsty I can’t pick attitude. If this was a why choose, it would be one thing. I do like that both men are tender and willing to help and listen to reason, but I hate that they’re put in that situation. I don’t want to see the prophecy fulfilled either.

The characters are the same we knew from older books, minus a few additions. I had a hunch who the traitor was, and I was close. The villains are literal evil from the main characters’ POVs, but I wonder if she doesn’t have a backstory that makes you see things differently. I’m more inclined to think she’s just evil. I AM super excited Isla has finally grasped she isn’t a little weakling, it took forever!

I’m terrified for the next book. I thought this was the last in the series, but once I found out it wasn’t, I was okay continuing because the other two didn’t leave on big cliffhangers. You can imagine my outrage when I got to the end.

The writing is easy to read and understand, her writing isn’t anything too fancy. The romance is steamy and descriptive, but not extra spicy or anything.

I’d give this 4⭐️ because it was a bit teenage angsty through the middle of the book, and it got on my last nerve. Many times I had to sit down the book just to get away from it. The action of the end redeems it though. I don’t see why people are bashing it, but I’ve never been one to let others options deter me from reading what I want.

So it seems this was extended at some point from a trilogy to be longer. That’s disappointing, but makes sense as to why the pacing seemed to drag along a bit. I wish it remained a trilogy. The ending was crazy though, so I imagine I’ll continue on.

The audiobook narrator was amazing! She does lots of voices and has a calm demeanor. I enjoyed her portrayal of the characters.

Isla discovers more about her powers in the second half of this book. Much about that is, of course, very conveniently timed. Overall, the pacing was much slower and it took me longer to get through this one.

What bothered me is Isla wore the power blocking bracelets for about half the book instead of training. She continued to be reckless and hurt people because she couldn't control her emotional outbursts. Overall, disappointed at the lack of character growth.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced audio copy!

Skyshade is another compelling novel to the the Lightlark saga. The last third of the book was fantastic as well as the relationships Alex Aster writes between Isla, Grim, and Oro. I felt Isla's character development as she both explored and fought against the darkest parts of herself in this book. Her action at the end of the book was a brilliant expression of her growth and selflessness.

I do wish the love triangle felt more balanced, particularly in this novel as well as Nightbane. I also felt that the first 2/3 of the book was slow-paced and included unnecessary side quests rather than focusing on the main plot. This series would have made a great trilogy, but it feels as if the story is being drug out, as two more books were recently announced in the series .

Specifically for the audiobook, I was extremely disappointed in the narrator's voice for Grim. It almost ruined my experience of the book, as the raspy, guttural voice did not represent his character at all .

Thank you to NetGalley, Alex Aster, and RBmedia for the ARC audio. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think the real downfall of this book came when the decision was made to switch the series from a trilogy to a 5 book series. In doing so, I think it had Aster pulling at straws on how to fill the pages, and honestly, too many of them came up empty and devoid of any meaningful or impactful content. This whole book could have been distilled down significantly and still left room to wrap up the love triangle and finish up the main plot. I wish the decision had been made to say less with greater impact. Having read the first 3 books now I feel obligated to eventually finish the series, but my eagerness to continue has significantly dwindled after reading the 3rd installment. That’s not to say I hated the book entirely, there were elements I enjoyed, I just maintain that it should have stayed a trilogy and been concluded within this book.

Also, I haven’t found Isla to be a particularly lovable character and I think it’s hysterical that not 1 but 2 rulers are world-endingly in love with her. She, frankly, doesn’t deserve either of them.

Thanks for the audiobook!

The audiobook narration is amazing as always, but the same can't be said about the story. There comes a point where the love triangle needs to be resolved because the same things keep getting recycled over and over again. I love Grim and Isla together but I'm sick to my stomach when she's so indecisive between him and Oro it pains me. I just want them together with no inconveniences.

A fantastic continuation of the series. I love Alex Ater’s writing style and world building and can’t wait for the next books to come.

This is a okay book. The action in book three is fun to read and the story is progressing. But I am.having a hard time caring about any of the characters at all and just need this love triangle to end. I do want to read the next book based on how this one ended and hope it gets better.

This book let me down a bit in comparison to the other two in the series. It took me a long time to get through with how many times I stopped then restarted it. I kept just hoping it would pick up, but it didn't until almost the end. I felt like a lot of this book was just filler. While I still plan on reading the rest of the series, I'm not as excited about them after reading this one. Truly though I think this could have been wrapped up in this book, if the rest of the series are going to be full of fluff like this one was. Giving it 3 stars just because I've enjoyed the series as a whole so far.

okay maybe i’m the only one who actually likes this book, even enjoyed it more than nightbane (SNOOZE). probably because this book was 75% of isla and grim and not oro.

isla frustrates me SO BAD, but i think she’s meant to be so frustrating and not a super lovable fmc in this book.

so upsetting this series is no longer a trilogy and a fourth book was announced on release day. that’s so annoying.

i will absolutely read the 4th book though because i am very intrigued by isla’s flair (even though it makes her so overpowered now and i hope it doesn’t ruin the magic to it), and the new world she is traveling too.

I was given an opportunity to listen to the advanced audio version of Skyshade by Alex Aster, and was so excited to dive right in. I loved Lightlark, and Nightbane, and couldn't wait to continue the journey. Although the story was fun, and I'm deeply invested in the characters, It doesn't feel as if much happened in this book. We didn't actually get anywhere. It felt like filler, and sure do hope that the next novel in the series expands on the current narrative, more than Skyshade. Furthermore, the narrator's voices of the male characters took me out of the story quite often. Sorry Alex, I adore your work, but this one was quite a bit lackluster for me.

I really like the narrator of these books. She makes it super easy to listen to. I am getting quite annoyed with the story and why a choice hasn't been made....

I overall enjoyed the narrator and the listening experience. However, as the third book in a series (which I also had thought was originally supposed to be a concluded trilogy?) I did not love this book.
I felt like the love triangle is being dragged out and the relationships are unearned -- I currently am not invested in either relationship and honestly don't even know who I'm rooting for her to end up with. The love triangle seems more like a necessary plot device for her to just have access to all these powers she needs rather than there being any kind of true emotional depth or trust or connection that was built between her and either of the love interests. As a young adult librarian, I know there is currently an overlap of "true" young adult vs. more "new adult" content for more mature teens/older readers who enjoy the young adult vibe but with more maturity (like myself) and this book seems to straddle that line as there were some more intimate scenes in this book compared to the previous two. But since both relationships have somewhat toxic dynamics, I'm not sure I would call this one super appropriate for the truer teen reader compared to the prior two books in the series.
The plot also felt dragged out and then when things actually happened they were either too quickly resolved or left as an entirely unresolved cliffhanger. There are still enough tings left unanswered and the world is open to more expansion based on where this book ended, so I am still interested in seeing where the story progresses.

Initially, in the first book, I was torn between grim and oro. In the second book, like most people, I began to like grim more. I started to become bored of the plot/politics in the second book, to the point of only caring about the romance. In this book, I completely lost track of what was going on politically and was becoming increasingly irritated by isla. I was bored with her character in the first 2 books and in this book, I just feel like she’s so confused and a tad annoying. I truthfully stopped reading at 50%. I might pick it back up and try reading the books physically. It’s possible my opinion is because I listened to them all on audio.

Ooh, another great story in the Lightlark series. I like the books in this series; they are fun reads with a sprinkling of romance. I hope that the next book sees Isla pick a partner and find peace for both their worlds (or all the worlds), but we will have to wait and see what happens.

Suzy Jackson did a great job narrating this story and I hope she continues narrating the rest of the series.

Oh, I just loved reading this book! I've really enjoyed this series, and I couldn't wait until this latest installment! The previous book ended on a pretty big note, with a lot of big changes, and I had to know what was going to happen next!

Isla is dealing with a lot. With what her power did, and that she's in love with Oro and Grim, and married to Grim-but she's only recently regained all her memories of Grim. That there's the prophecy that she's going to kill one of them or the other, yeah, that's a pretty sticky situation!

Honestly, I didn't know where I wanted this book to go. I loved Oro and Grim, but I didn't know who would be better with Isla, and I had to read this book to find out who she wanted to be with, in the end. So I had a burning reason to keep reading!

With the reveal that they came from a different place, yeah, that's a game changer. It was a really complicated problem, and Isla had to work through it. I had such a great time watching her do so, as new information came to light, and I had to know what she was going to do!

I didn't know before going into this book if it was the last book in the series or not. Around the time that I was finishing this book, I saw an interview with Alex Aster saying that there was going to be more, so yeah, knowing that, and seeing how this book ended, I need to know what's going to happen next!

Loved reading this book and I can't wait for book 4!

This book was entertaining, but a little bit of a let down compared to the first 2 books in the series. I found the story to drag in the middle which caused me to struggle to get through parts. I think it could have been edited a little better to leave out parts hat weren't necessary to the storyline. I got hooked back into the book in the last 25% and the story picked up in excitement. Although I am a bit disappointed that it didn't wrap up, I am intrigued enough to see where the story goes from here.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ALC of this highly anticipated third book.

Unfortunately, this book was a huge disappointment for me. It felt so drawn out, and the constant back-and-forth between the characters was exhausting. We’re already in the third book (which I originally thought was the finale), and yet the characters still can’t make up their minds? Seriously, why?

At this point, I don’t think I’ll be continuing this series. I hope something in the future might change my mind and reignite my love for it, but as of now, I’m feeling let down.

The thrilling newest installment in the Lighlark series, Skyshade sees secrets unearthed and bonds tested. Bringing back old enemies and new problems. A little steamier than I expected of something rated for young adult, definitely intended for a new adult audience much more.

The twists were handled well, nothing was so shocking as to be jarring but shocking enough to keep you on the edge of your seat.

DYING because I thought this was going to be the grand finale where we finally learn WHO our girl Isla is GONNA PICK (team Grim forever), but alas, there is going to be another book. But I can't be too mad because that just means another book for me to eat up! I do wish that the world building and the powers were explored a bit more in depth because it's fascinating (tell me moreee), but I truly love the relationship dynamics. The DRAMA. Devoured it in a day, and I do recommend!

Bravo to the narrator as well. It was a great performance that brought the story to life! I hope she narrates the remainder of the books that will be published in the series!

Skyshade was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 so I can’t even begin to say what my excitement level for reading this. It has been several days since I finished listening to the story and I have never been more torn about what star rating to give this since I have so many feelings about this for things that I love and things that I didn’t love about it. Something I love so much about this story is Isla’s journey in wanting to know more about her parents and what happened. It was such a beautiful journey and it made me cry! 💕😭 I also I additionally love the many moments in this story between Isla and a guy character who I will not be naming! You all have to read this and find out who I am talking about! 🤭 This leads me to my next part of things about this that I didn’t like. One of the things I really didn’t enjoy was the love triangle. I admit that the love triangle trope in general is a trope I usually don’t personally enjoy unless it’s done really well. I loved the love triangle a ton in Lightlark and Nightbane but in this story it really bothered me a lot! 🤦‍♀️ Isla was with one of the guys throughout this story and then as soon as the other guy pops up she becomes so wishy-washy about who she wants and it annoyed me because she’s playing both of them and it really isn’t fair at all to either one of them. It’s really clear to me which guy is end-game since I have been on the team for the guy I’m on the team on since Lightlark. I still am not going to tell you all who it is though! 🤫 Lastly, don’t even get me started on that ending! ☠️😱🤯 I wasn’t prepared for that ending in any possible way whatsoever and I am still processing what happened over a week later because I am in actual shock! 🙀🙀🙀 If you love the Lightlark series, major twists and turns, prophecies, a love triangle, chosen one, angst and tension, and an ending that will emotionally destroy you then I recommend reading this book!