Lightlark
by Alex Aster
Book: Lightlark #1
Publisher: Amulet Books
Pub Date: August 23, 2022
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Magic
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought
Book Links: Goodreads Amazon
Welcome to the Centennial.
Every 100 years, the island of Lightlark appears
to host the Centennial, a deadly game that only the rulers of six realms are
invited to play. The invitation is a summons—a call to embrace victory and
ruin, baubles and blood. The Centennial offers the six rulers one final chance
to break the curses that have plagued their realms for centuries. Each ruler
has something to hide. Each realm’s curse is uniquely wicked. To destroy the
curses, one ruler must die.
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.
To survive, Isla must lie, cheat, and
betray…even as love complicates everything.
My Review: Yikes.
The cover is beautiful and makes you want to
pick it up and read the blurb, but that's about it.
I really wanted to like this book, but it
gave me such a headache that it was a struggle to just finish it.
Isla is bland. She's the youngest one, been
hidden away her life to be trained and ready for this moment. She
isn't what I would picture for a leader, there were very few moments
in which I liked her at all.
The world building was messy, a lot of
things weren't explained well. The realms are also countries and at
times it was so relaxed that it made it seem like these high stakes
trials aren't all that its cracked up to be.
Overall, this book was a hot mess for me and I'd haste to say it and I rarely do, but this one was a true waste of time. Not amount of hype and marketing can make up for such a bad read.
