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A review by annad318
Lightlark by Alex Aster
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book was good but not great. I may have DNF'd it had I not been listening to the audiobook. The audio allowed me to detach myself from the writing in a way (the first few chapters were a little corny). Unsurprisingly, the FMC is an earth-shatteringly beautiful girl and a skilled fighter with a taste for blades/daggers (yawn).
I am pretty tired of fantasy novels centered around trials; though the premise of the curses was interesting, I still couldn't bring myself to care that much about the different realms when the figureheads (besides Grim, Oro, and Isla) were just names without much personality. The plot dragged a bit until the last few chapters. Each of the trials/contests put on by kings and queens of the realms could have been better. All they did was hammer into the reader's mind that Isla is powerless--in case we forgot!--but manages to persevere despite it all. If I had to summarize what the audiobook felt like, it was practically hearing the words powerless, bond breaker, and heart on loop. I also noticed that every few paragraphs would recap what had just happened as if we needed a reminder.
I'm not a massive fan of the love triangle they've got going on. However, it was the one thing that kept me listening.Grim with his dark and hungry love, and Oro with his sweet and attentive love. I struggled to focus during the last few chapters (like, who did what now?), but finding out Grim and Isla have a past was a flop. I hate that Isla has to work backward and relearn to love him or whatever. I was ok with them being together solely because he was the hot bad guy who got the girl because he could. Then the book takes a hard left turn and ends with her cuddling Oro on her balcony!? Meanwhile, Grim is who knows where after losing his girl and his dreams of immense power in one fell swoop.
I'm curious to read what happens in Nightbane based on a friend's commentary, but when a love triangle is all that carries a story, it's an empty feeling.
I am pretty tired of fantasy novels centered around trials; though the premise of the curses was interesting, I still couldn't bring myself to care that much about the different realms when the figureheads (besides Grim, Oro, and Isla) were just names without much personality. The plot dragged a bit until the last few chapters. Each of the trials/contests put on by kings and queens of the realms could have been better. All they did was hammer into the reader's mind that Isla is powerless--in case we forgot!--but manages to persevere despite it all. If I had to summarize what the audiobook felt like, it was practically hearing the words powerless, bond breaker, and heart on loop. I also noticed that every few paragraphs would recap what had just happened as if we needed a reminder.
I'm not a massive fan of the love triangle they've got going on. However, it was the one thing that kept me listening.
I'm curious to read what happens in Nightbane based on a friend's commentary, but when a love triangle is all that carries a story, it's an empty feeling.