Lightlark

By: Alex Aster

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS

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

This book definitely gives me mixed feelings. Lightlark, by Alex Aster, is a romantasy book including curses, games, and a scavenger hunt. Once every 100 years, the 6 rulers gather on the island of Lightlark to participate in the Centennial, a game made to break the curses that plague the realms. However, this year it is imperative that they find a solution. Isla Crown, the head of the Wildling realm, is determined to fulfill the prophecy and save her and her best friend, Celeste’s, homes. So, there is definitely a lot to unpack here. 

Let me start with the world-building. I feel that the author added many random things and didn’t explain them. For example, Aster says things about Isla having the option to go to other places/countries yet she never expands on this. The rules of the game are also very intricate and confusing at times. Throughout the book, there were many times I didn’t remember a certain rule and had to flip through the whole book to make sense of what was happening. I was also very puzzled about why they had to wait for certain days to do things and how relaxed it was. The rules stated that for the first 25 days, they had to do “tests” made by each one of them. The purpose of this was to see who you want to kill off. I find this very complicated and very strung out. Especially since you are only allowed to kill after the 50th day. Meanwhile, you get paired with a partner and have to look for a solution to the curse. I kind’ve understand why the author did this. In the book, Aster stated that these rules are enforced because in the first Centennial, they just tried to kill each other for 100 days and it didn’t work. However, I think this is worse. Some rulers just did strange tests, such as making you tell the truth or swimming in a below-freezing pool. Also, in the whole book, I believe only one person was killed. I definitely think the author could have thought this out a little better. 

The characters were also not one of my favorite aspects. The main character, Isla, has a confusing backstory. She doesn’t have any “powers” and it's because her mom broke a rule. The author also brings up a tool called the starstick that Isla uses to transport places, however, I find it a little random. She will just randomly pull it out of her pocket and go somewhere. The love triangle is also a little puzzling. I feel that it wasn’t necessarily needed. I’m not going to go too much into depth with it but it is a little unnecessary when I think we all know who she is going to end up with. 

Even though I have said a lot of negative things there were some aspects that I did enjoy. I love the basis and plot of the story, however, if it was a little more thought out I would have liked it more. The supporting characters were enjoyable as well. Ultimately, my favorite thing was the plot twists. There were a lot and I have to say they did surprise me. Overall, I am going to rate this book a two out of five stars. 

Rating: 2/5

Reading Format: Kindle