24 January 2025
Lightlark by Alex Aster Review And Book Club Questions
Reviewed by: Melissa Ng
Quick Facts
Book Publication Date: 23 August 2022
How I Read It: Borrowed from my local library
Where You Can Find Lightlark by Alex Aster: Amazon Australia* | Kobo US* | Kobo Canada*
Content & Trigger Warnings: Blood, Death, Vomit, Violence, Mild Spice
Lightlark Summary
Every hundred years, the mysterious island of Lightlark emerges from its shroud of mist to host the Centennial – a deadly competition where rules of six cursed realms fight for their survival and a chance to break their curses.
For one ruler to win, another must die.
Isla, ruler of Wildling, enters the Centennial with a secret: she was born powerless.
Isla is determined to hide her secret and do whatever it takes to win, even if that means lying, betraying, and breaking hearts – literally.
The Centennial tests strengths, wits, and alliances, with the added drama of a prophecy: to break the curses, one ruler must die.
But when Isla’s path crosses with Grim and Oro, alliances blur, secrets unravel, and the line between love and betrayal becomes dangerously thin.
Is Lightlark spicy?
There’s very mild spice that is not explicit.
Lightlark Characters
- Isla: Ruler of the Wildling realm
- Grimshaw (Grim): Ruler of the Nightshade realm
- Oro: King of Lightlark and ruler of the Sunling realm
- Celeste: Ruler of the Starling realm
- Cleo: Ruler of the Moonling realm
- Azul: Ruler of the Skyling realm
- Poppy: Isla’s guardian and charm teacher
- Terra: Isla’s guardian and combat teacher
Each realm and their ruler brings their own curses to the table:
- Wilding: They must kill anyone they fall in love with, and they must survive solely on human hearts
- Nightshade: They cannot venture out at night
- Sunling: They cannot feel the sun’s warmth
- Starling: They die by 25
- Moonling: People are killed by the sea every full moon
- Skyling: They can no longer fly
Lightlark Spoilers
This section contains major spoilers for Lightlark. Read at your own risk!
At the end of the book, Isla and Oro find the heart, but Oro reveals that Grim must die to break the curse.
Isla refuses to kill Grim and instead pursues the Bondbreaker, a rumoured artifact that can break any curse.
Celeste is revealed to be Aurora – once betrothed to Oro’s brother (Egan), 500 years ago.
Aurora cast the original curses when she found out Egan was in love with her best friend, and Isla’s ancestor.
The Bondbreaker is actually a Bondmaker and Aurora uses it to steal the powers of Isla, Grim, and Oro.
How? Isla is half Nightshade and has had powers all along, however her Nightshade side cloaked her abilities. Isla also has the powers of Oro and Grim, because they have fallen in love with her.
It is revealed that Grim and Isla were in love before the Centennial and Grim wiped Isla’s memories and betrayed her for his own agenda.
Isla uses the Bondmaker to transfer the powers back to herself, kills Aurora, and breaks the curse.
Isla returns to Wildling with Oro and the story ends with Isla unlocking a mysterious vault, leaving readers eager for Nightbane, the sequel.
Memorable Lightlark Quotes
They had always loved wildly, lived freely, and fought fiercely.
She was a temptress. A monster who subsisted on their hearts of easily seduced prey. They thought they knew her. They knew nothing.
Lightlark Review
Lightlark by Alex Aster has all the ingredients for a great YA fantasy: magic, a deadly competition, and a mysterious prophecy.
As a millennial who grew up on The Hunger Games, I’m a sucker for a competition-based fantasy, even if the plot isn’t wholly original.
However, Lightlark fell short in some areas.
The Good:
- The premise is engaging, and the cursed realms concept is great.
- The final twists, while predictable, were still fun.
- The romance subplot adds spice (though mild), especially for fans of love triangles.
The No-So-Good:
- The world-building is disjointed, with vital details drip-fed in a way that makes the first half confusing (even for a seasoned fantasy reader like myself).
- Pacing issues and repetition plague the book: the slow build drags until the last quarter. This book could have easily been 100 pages shorter.
- Too many side quests dilute the main plot. Between Isla’s tasks with Poppy and Terra, Celese, and Oro, the Centennial itself felt sidelined in the second half of the book.
- Upon reading other reviews, many have compared the plot to ACOTAR. It’s been a long time since I read ACOTAR, so I can’t comment on it.
While I wasn’t entirely sold on the execution, the potential is there.
With a movie adaptation in the works and Nightbane and Skyshade expanding the series, Lightlark could find its stride with future installments.
Books Like Lightlark
If you’re looking for more books similar to Lightlark, I suggest checking out:
- The Hunger Games* by Suzanne Collins
- Powerless* by Lauren Roberts
Lightlark Book Club Questions
- What were your favourite and least favourite moments in the book?
- Did you find the world-building easy to follow? What questions do you still have?
- What did you think of the Centennial competition and who did you think would win at the start of the book?
- Did you think Isla and Celeste would be successful with their side quest?
- How do you think Poppy and Terra’s training helped Isla survive the competition?
- Who was your favourite character, and why?
- Did your opinions of any of the characters change throughout the book?
- If you were to be a part of any of the six realms, which would you choose?
- What did you think of the romance between Isla and Grim?
- What did you think of the romance between Isla and Oro?
- Why do you think Grim betrayed Isla? Were his actions justified?
- Do you want to know more about Isla’s and Grim’s romance before the Centennial?
- Did the ending surprise you? Were you able to predict any of the twists or reveals?
- Do you think Lightlark lived up to the hype from TikTok?
- Will you be continuing the Lightlark series and reading Nightbane?
- How well do you think Lightlark will translate to a movie? Which actors would you cast for each character?
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