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Lightlark #1-3
Lightlark, Nightbane, Skyshade
The Lightlark Saga Book
3 Books Collection Set
9781419760907
9781419773785
Publisher
An instant #1 national bestselle r--so on to be a major motion picture. #BookTok phenomenon and award-winning author Alex Aster delivers readers a masterfully written, utterly gripping YA fantasy novel
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.
Filled with secrets, deception, romance, and twists worthy of the darkest thrillers, Lightlark is a must-read for fans of legendary fantasy writers Marie Lu, Marissa Meyer, and Leigh Bardugo.
The seductive and action-packed follow-up to Alex Aster's instant #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and internationally bestselling novel, Lightlark
Isla Crown has secured the love of two powerful rulers and broken the curses that plagued the six realms for centuries, but few know the true origins of her powers. Now, in the wake of a crushing betrayal, Isla finds herself hungry for distraction, preferring to frequent Lightlark's seductive haunts instead of embracing her duties as the newly crowned leader of two separate realms. Worse, her fellow rulers haven't ceded victory quietly, and there are others in Isla's midst who don't believe her ascent to power was earned.
As certain death races toward Lightlark and secrets from the past begin to unravel, Isla must weigh her responsibility to her people against the whims of the most dangerous traitor of her heart.
Alex Aster's intricate world expands after the riveting culmination of the Centennial games, delving more deeply into Isla's memories of her past, as her future hurtles toward two possible fates.
The pulse-pounding third novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Lightlark Saga, by acclaimed author and #BookTok sensation Alex Aster
Love kills kingdoms...
Back in Grim's castle on Nightshade, Isla is reeling in the wake of a brutal battle and the devastating truths it exposed. Her future--and the fate of the world--now hinge on a heart split in two.
Past Isla, who fell in love with the ruler of Nightshade, fights to resist feelings she considers treasonous. The Isla of the present, who has seen the ruin her powers can cause, will do anything to save Lightlark and its king.
As the line between enemy and friend is tested, Isla is more desperate than ever to understand the oracle's final prophecy and change her heartrending fate. But a storm is coming. And with it, a long-buried evil greater than anything the realms have faced before.
With the clock ticking on her destiny and the survival of two warring kingdoms hinging on her own shattered heart, Isla Crown will either save the world--or destroy it.
Biographical
Alex Aster is a #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author as well as an internationally bestselling author and one of the most followed novelists on social media. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied creative writing, and is also the author of the critically acclaimed Emblem Island series. Explore the world of Lightlark at asterverse.com.
3 Books Collection Set
9781419760907
9781419773785
Publisher
An instant #1 national bestselle r--so on to be a major motion picture. #BookTok phenomenon and award-winning author Alex Aster delivers readers a masterfully written, utterly gripping YA fantasy novel
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.
Filled with secrets, deception, romance, and twists worthy of the darkest thrillers, Lightlark is a must-read for fans of legendary fantasy writers Marie Lu, Marissa Meyer, and Leigh Bardugo.
The seductive and action-packed follow-up to Alex Aster's instant #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and internationally bestselling novel, Lightlark
Isla Crown has secured the love of two powerful rulers and broken the curses that plagued the six realms for centuries, but few know the true origins of her powers. Now, in the wake of a crushing betrayal, Isla finds herself hungry for distraction, preferring to frequent Lightlark's seductive haunts instead of embracing her duties as the newly crowned leader of two separate realms. Worse, her fellow rulers haven't ceded victory quietly, and there are others in Isla's midst who don't believe her ascent to power was earned.
As certain death races toward Lightlark and secrets from the past begin to unravel, Isla must weigh her responsibility to her people against the whims of the most dangerous traitor of her heart.
Alex Aster's intricate world expands after the riveting culmination of the Centennial games, delving more deeply into Isla's memories of her past, as her future hurtles toward two possible fates.
The pulse-pounding third novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Lightlark Saga, by acclaimed author and #BookTok sensation Alex Aster
Love kills kingdoms...
Back in Grim's castle on Nightshade, Isla is reeling in the wake of a brutal battle and the devastating truths it exposed. Her future--and the fate of the world--now hinge on a heart split in two.
Past Isla, who fell in love with the ruler of Nightshade, fights to resist feelings she considers treasonous. The Isla of the present, who has seen the ruin her powers can cause, will do anything to save Lightlark and its king.
As the line between enemy and friend is tested, Isla is more desperate than ever to understand the oracle's final prophecy and change her heartrending fate. But a storm is coming. And with it, a long-buried evil greater than anything the realms have faced before.
With the clock ticking on her destiny and the survival of two warring kingdoms hinging on her own shattered heart, Isla Crown will either save the world--or destroy it.
Biographical
Alex Aster is a #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author as well as an internationally bestselling author and one of the most followed novelists on social media. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied creative writing, and is also the author of the critically acclaimed Emblem Island series. Explore the world of Lightlark at asterverse.com.
- GenresFantasy
1216 pages, Hardcover
Published November 12, 2024
79 people are currently reading
528 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 3, 2025
These books had great potential but the endings always felt rushed and there has been minimal foreshadowing so by the time we get to the second half of book 3, it doesn't make sense.
September 7, 2025
Alex Aster’s Lightlark trilogy has been one of the most talked-about YA fantasy series in recent years, gaining viral attention. The series follows Isla, a seemingly ordinary ruler of a cursed realm, as she becomes entangled in deadly competitions and ancient magic across the three books. She also forms complicated alliances with Grim and Oro, powerful rulers who became central to her life, and the origins of curses, hidden histories, and forbidden secrets culminate across the series. This series arrives cloaked in the promises of curses, secrets, and deadly romance. Instead, what readers actually get across Lightlark, Nightbane, and Skyshade is a saga that stumbles through its own worldbuilding, forgets half its lore, and mistakes shallow intimacy for meaningful character development.
The explanations of the curses are almost nonexistent. At the beginning, the powers of each realm and the reason behind the Centennial is briefly touched on, stumbling along like a toddler in heels, not going into depth. It’s understandable that the first person limited point of view was incorporated to provide insights into Isla’s thoughts and experiences, and that Isla’s thoughts and experiences probably wouldn’t involve a whole explanation about the world she lives in. But that isn’t an excuse to leave the reader in the dark – except the purpose was not to leave the reader in the dark. There simply was no purpose as Aster understood her own story’s world no more than we do. This was Aster’s debut as a celebrated author. Heralded as a dazzling fantasy, the tragedy unfolded page by page.
‘Shambolic’ is a word too frequently applied to books like these. Such chaos cannot be captured by a single word – the plot holes and contradictions must be illustrated visually – though this isn’t hard, since the lore has the consistency of Swiss cheese. During the opening ritual, each ruler’s blood exhibits unique magical traits – except Isla’s, because she's non-magical. So she hides rose petals between her fingers to fake it. However, despite bleeding multiple times later, no character ever calls her out on it, and the inconsistency is never addressed again. Celeste being revealed as Aurora at the end of the book was too predictable. As a reader, we were expected to empathise and emotionally resonate with Isla being betrayed by a flat doormat that’s so insignificant people won’t even remember to wipe their feet on it. And even a virus would notice how illogical the Wildlings’ need to eat hearts is, as surely their already declining population can’t provide enough dead hearts to sustain them.
Nightbane was a particularly tedious travail. My brain has been conditioned to endure many things – including maintaining a state of half-consciousness while being subjected to a three hour diatribe about how slouching can cause organ compression and spinal cord paralysis – but watching a story lumbering along, collapsing, and writhing on the ground while the main characters watched is not one of them. Because for the majority of the book, literally nothing happens. Then, all at once, the plot thickens. Too bad the characters didn’t stay around to see it happen. Also, seemingly important characters and events constantly materialise out of thin air, like Cinder and Marren, whose fates are mentioned once and left unresolved. And Grim starting a whole war for Isla. And Oro saying that Grim was the only thing standing between them and a greater evil, but I guess we’re supposed to pretend that conversation never happened.
If Nightbane was execrable, Skyshade was an amplification of all its worst qualities. We, as the poor reader, are being constantly pelted by illogical, irrelevant pieces of lore. I just don’t understand why Aster would do this to us – even in Medieval European sieges, catapulting faeces at each other was seen as a last resort tactic, and the point of writing books isn’t even to infect the reader with diseased dead cells. There are too many examples to count: the origin of the Dreks, which were said to be cursed warriors of Cronan but also a byproduct of the storms, the blacksmith’s name, which is “Barron” in a flashback but actually “Ferrar”, and the undead army, which is said to be from a past war but simultaneously created by Lark. At this point, Aster probably has a dice full of random lore ideas that she rolls when it’s time to insert a new revelation.
Another thing that really bothers me is the colossal amount of intimacy, especially in Nightbane and Skyshade. First of all, the age gap was obtrusively confronting; Isla is 19, and her lovers Grim and Oro are ancient rulers well over a hundred. But since it’s fantasy, I’m not wasting my time going over the laws of consent and relationships. What was even more questionable is that there’s nothing to say about the character growth, mutual understanding, or chemistry in these relationships. Isla, Grim, and Oro were strangers for most of the first book, then suddenly, overnight, they’re caught in an ineluctable love triangle with no reason at all. And to exacerbate the shallow nature of these relationships, heavy emphasis is placed on intimate moments between them. To illustrate, I skipped through every sentence containing some form of kissing or touching when I read Skyshade (yes, I was unfortunately strong willed enough to stick with it till the very end), and ended up finishing it in two hours. I understand that the series was intended for a mature audience, but this sort of vivid, unfiltered intimacy is just too much, evidently neglecting story development and stripping the characters of any emotional meaning or depth.
On a less livid note, I felt that Aster didn’t even know what to name her second and third book. Given the heavy weight carried by a book’s title, it is expected that the title bears superlative significance and relevance to the plot. Nightbane turned out to be a flower used to produce drugs, but its role and importance felt more like a justification of it being the title. Similarly, the otherworld Skyshade was a trivial, escapable detail that was not mentioned until the very end, failing to signify its magnitude throughout the book. This gives me the impression that Aster used AI to generate fancy word combinations to compensate for her own extreme extent of indecisiveness detachment from her own novels.
The job of being an editor must be fun, navigating the meticulously crafted, complex mazes you enter when you read a book. I don’t know where the editors were going for this one, but clearly they thought this maze was unsolvable because it was clever, not because it was improperly designed in the first place. Walls shift randomly, pathways crumble underfoot, and dead ends multiply like mould. The lore isn’t a guiding thread through the labyrinth, but a hastily scrunched together ball of yarn that leaves you walking in circles, circles which split into passages that argue with each other about where they’re going. Lightlark is a grand stage full of potential and promise. Until you accidentally knock it over and realise it’s cardboard. One out of five stars.
The explanations of the curses are almost nonexistent. At the beginning, the powers of each realm and the reason behind the Centennial is briefly touched on, stumbling along like a toddler in heels, not going into depth. It’s understandable that the first person limited point of view was incorporated to provide insights into Isla’s thoughts and experiences, and that Isla’s thoughts and experiences probably wouldn’t involve a whole explanation about the world she lives in. But that isn’t an excuse to leave the reader in the dark – except the purpose was not to leave the reader in the dark. There simply was no purpose as Aster understood her own story’s world no more than we do. This was Aster’s debut as a celebrated author. Heralded as a dazzling fantasy, the tragedy unfolded page by page.
‘Shambolic’ is a word too frequently applied to books like these. Such chaos cannot be captured by a single word – the plot holes and contradictions must be illustrated visually – though this isn’t hard, since the lore has the consistency of Swiss cheese. During the opening ritual, each ruler’s blood exhibits unique magical traits – except Isla’s, because she's non-magical. So she hides rose petals between her fingers to fake it. However, despite bleeding multiple times later, no character ever calls her out on it, and the inconsistency is never addressed again. Celeste being revealed as Aurora at the end of the book was too predictable. As a reader, we were expected to empathise and emotionally resonate with Isla being betrayed by a flat doormat that’s so insignificant people won’t even remember to wipe their feet on it. And even a virus would notice how illogical the Wildlings’ need to eat hearts is, as surely their already declining population can’t provide enough dead hearts to sustain them.
Nightbane was a particularly tedious travail. My brain has been conditioned to endure many things – including maintaining a state of half-consciousness while being subjected to a three hour diatribe about how slouching can cause organ compression and spinal cord paralysis – but watching a story lumbering along, collapsing, and writhing on the ground while the main characters watched is not one of them. Because for the majority of the book, literally nothing happens. Then, all at once, the plot thickens. Too bad the characters didn’t stay around to see it happen. Also, seemingly important characters and events constantly materialise out of thin air, like Cinder and Marren, whose fates are mentioned once and left unresolved. And Grim starting a whole war for Isla. And Oro saying that Grim was the only thing standing between them and a greater evil, but I guess we’re supposed to pretend that conversation never happened.
If Nightbane was execrable, Skyshade was an amplification of all its worst qualities. We, as the poor reader, are being constantly pelted by illogical, irrelevant pieces of lore. I just don’t understand why Aster would do this to us – even in Medieval European sieges, catapulting faeces at each other was seen as a last resort tactic, and the point of writing books isn’t even to infect the reader with diseased dead cells. There are too many examples to count: the origin of the Dreks, which were said to be cursed warriors of Cronan but also a byproduct of the storms, the blacksmith’s name, which is “Barron” in a flashback but actually “Ferrar”, and the undead army, which is said to be from a past war but simultaneously created by Lark. At this point, Aster probably has a dice full of random lore ideas that she rolls when it’s time to insert a new revelation.
Another thing that really bothers me is the colossal amount of intimacy, especially in Nightbane and Skyshade. First of all, the age gap was obtrusively confronting; Isla is 19, and her lovers Grim and Oro are ancient rulers well over a hundred. But since it’s fantasy, I’m not wasting my time going over the laws of consent and relationships. What was even more questionable is that there’s nothing to say about the character growth, mutual understanding, or chemistry in these relationships. Isla, Grim, and Oro were strangers for most of the first book, then suddenly, overnight, they’re caught in an ineluctable love triangle with no reason at all. And to exacerbate the shallow nature of these relationships, heavy emphasis is placed on intimate moments between them. To illustrate, I skipped through every sentence containing some form of kissing or touching when I read Skyshade (yes, I was unfortunately strong willed enough to stick with it till the very end), and ended up finishing it in two hours. I understand that the series was intended for a mature audience, but this sort of vivid, unfiltered intimacy is just too much, evidently neglecting story development and stripping the characters of any emotional meaning or depth.
On a less livid note, I felt that Aster didn’t even know what to name her second and third book. Given the heavy weight carried by a book’s title, it is expected that the title bears superlative significance and relevance to the plot. Nightbane turned out to be a flower used to produce drugs, but its role and importance felt more like a justification of it being the title. Similarly, the otherworld Skyshade was a trivial, escapable detail that was not mentioned until the very end, failing to signify its magnitude throughout the book. This gives me the impression that Aster used AI to generate fancy word combinations to compensate for her own extreme extent of indecisiveness detachment from her own novels.
The job of being an editor must be fun, navigating the meticulously crafted, complex mazes you enter when you read a book. I don’t know where the editors were going for this one, but clearly they thought this maze was unsolvable because it was clever, not because it was improperly designed in the first place. Walls shift randomly, pathways crumble underfoot, and dead ends multiply like mould. The lore isn’t a guiding thread through the labyrinth, but a hastily scrunched together ball of yarn that leaves you walking in circles, circles which split into passages that argue with each other about where they’re going. Lightlark is a grand stage full of potential and promise. Until you accidentally knock it over and realise it’s cardboard. One out of five stars.
September 29, 2025
It took quite a while to get into it. They had to really set the society up, which I felt like took longer than it should’ve been. And it was hard to tell the dynamics between the characters for the first half of the book. But you learned at the end why there were some mystery behind the dynamic between characters.
March 27, 2025
Completed all 3 books .
I'm team Grim all the way .
I sure hope there is another book somewhere
Because she went threw the portal and now what ???
It's a good series.
I'm team Grim all the way .
I sure hope there is another book somewhere
Because she went threw the portal and now what ???
It's a good series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2025
I absolutely ADORED this series (wanted to rate it 4.5). I wanted to give it 5 stars, but I wouldn't be realistic. While this series was incredible in every way, there was predictability in some parts of each book. I was able to essentially 'call it' for a few events that would have been more enjoyed if I hadn't figured it out so quickly.
Aside from that the characters were complex and different and Isla is an FMC that has growth and so much thrown at her and I rooted for her at every turn, even if she took a little to grow on me. The continuity was on point and the development of relationships and powers was well done and showed the intensity they meant.
Some of the magic in the series was a different take on what I'd expect for certain ones and I enjoyed the counters to each one. The companions that later arrive in the series and the conflict were different but some felt a little rushed with getting through them but I overall liked the pace of the books as well.
The spice was more uh I'd say pg-13 for description. I yearned for more, ill be real and a little *more* if you catch my drift. I felt a little teased by some of the encounters but at the same time definitely had my eyebrows raising in Skyshade.
I recommend this intensely. If you're into magic powers (with themes), a love triangle romance, some spice, tons of conflict and mistrust, and a FMC that grows on you, you'll love this too.
Aside from that the characters were complex and different and Isla is an FMC that has growth and so much thrown at her and I rooted for her at every turn, even if she took a little to grow on me. The continuity was on point and the development of relationships and powers was well done and showed the intensity they meant.
Some of the magic in the series was a different take on what I'd expect for certain ones and I enjoyed the counters to each one. The companions that later arrive in the series and the conflict were different but some felt a little rushed with getting through them but I overall liked the pace of the books as well.
The spice was more uh I'd say pg-13 for description. I yearned for more, ill be real and a little *more* if you catch my drift. I felt a little teased by some of the encounters but at the same time definitely had my eyebrows raising in Skyshade.
I recommend this intensely. If you're into magic powers (with themes), a love triangle romance, some spice, tons of conflict and mistrust, and a FMC that grows on you, you'll love this too.
April 3, 2025
i saw this book all over my social media and i was so excited to read it. this was a crazy disappointment.
this should have remained on wattpad. all the characters were so lame and lacked personality and the story also kind of sucked. it was very generic and there was no uniqueness to it. and most importantly, the love triangle pisses me off.
what do you mean you're in love with two 500 year old men (as an 18 year old girl) at the same time? get a fucking grip.
this should have remained on wattpad. all the characters were so lame and lacked personality and the story also kind of sucked. it was very generic and there was no uniqueness to it. and most importantly, the love triangle pisses me off.
what do you mean you're in love with two 500 year old men (as an 18 year old girl) at the same time? get a fucking grip.
December 19, 2025
I absolutely loved this series! The powers and the history of the land was super easy to understand and I never had to reread pages or was confused on any scene,I love all the character though I’m team grim, I would recommend to people trying to get into romance and fantasy mix
June 1, 2025
let me just say, i am traumatised and scarred on so so many levels by all of these books. BUT I LOVED THEM ALL SO MUCH I NEEEEEDDDDD A FORTH BOOK!!!!!
August 18, 2025
I listened to an audio copy of this book via the Libby app.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews