The Neon Sky

The Idlewood Duology #2

by Alyssa Villaire

For fans of Stephanie Garber and Maggie Stiefvater comes the bewitching sequel to The Glittering Edge, where magic is real, witches make irresistible boyfriends, and keeping secrets is dangerous—but not as dangerous as the truth. Penny Emberly didn’t expect to fall head over heels for Alonso De Luca last summer—or to discover that he’s a witch. Together with their friend Corey Barrion, they managed to save her mother from a deadly spell. Now autumn has arrived, and Penny believes they can take on anything. But darkness is descending on the small town of Idlewood. Corey is desperate to undo the bloody legacy that made his family rich. The price, however, is to unravel the magical bargain made by his grandfather, Corey must take a life. As Corey wrestles with an impossible choice, Alonso begins to change. The more he pushes the limits of his magic, the more volatile, violent, and possessive he becomes. When tragedy strikes one of their classmates, the trio is forced to confront a terrifying is Alonso being consumed by something that’s bent on the destruction of everyone around him—especially Penny and Corey? As supernatural forces drive them apart, Penny, Corey, and Alonso must decide what they’re willing to sacrifice before more blood is spilled—even if it means losing each other.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Witches, Magic, Romantasy

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 19, 2026

About the author

Alyssa Villaire is the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Glittering Edge and the upcoming sequel, The Neon Sky. She writes fantasy books with eerie magic, complicated friendships, and lots of yearning. She’s based in Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and a steadily growing library.

Reviews

[hater ★]

(4.5) i can’t believe it’s over?? this was such a comfort duology and i’ll prob reread it someday. i don’t wanna spoil anything because everything would be a spoiler from the first book, but starting around page 40 or so i was fully hooked, reading non-stop, needing to know what was gonna happen. there was something i thought i wasn’t gonna like (saying what it is would spoil the ending of book 1🧍‍♀️), but in the end i really liked how it was handled and carried out. so no complaints about the plot itself. my only issue is the romance, it should’ve just been YK WHO and i wasn’t into the love triangle they tried to add, it made sense in the first book not in this one. anyway, ignoring that part, everything else was great and i ended up flying through it.

[Ashleigh (a frolic through fiction)]

This duology is the height of YA fantasy and you cannot convince me otherwise.

[Zoe]

excuse me alyssa keep your windows open at night to give your sequel manuscript some air ❤️

EDIT OH MY GOD COVER AND BLURB WOMAIQJSNSIQUNWIWUQMWOQMQKQM IM GOING INSANE

[h i n d]

that cliffhanger

[Jayne K. (Fyrefli Fictionary)]

YA Paranormal Romance
Book 2 in duet. YA swoon.
What you need to know:
The 2010s style PNR you’ve been wishing for. The cause of the curse is uncovered, but the trouble has only begun after something followed our MCs across the veil. Relationships are tested as a malevolent spirit tries to keep them from undoing the bargain.
Wonderful, single narration.

This finale kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way! It’s giving less creepy Twilight vibes and I’m in love. I love how the characters have grown and their relationships have shifted in unexpected ways after surviving the summer and The Glittering Edge. What I really loved the most was that every character had their moment to shine and weren’t left behind with all the relationship drama. I also really loved the realistic treatment of love with 17-18-year-olds just trying to figure out life.

[King.Roberts.Library]

I absolutely loved The Glittering Edge, so I went into The Neon Sky with really high expectations… and unfortunately, this sequel just didn’t fully work for me.

The biggest issue was that I struggled to connect with the characters for most of the book. Penny especially felt very different compared to the first installment. Her low self-esteem and insecurities came across much more forced this time around, which was confusing because I never perceived her that way before. It almost felt like parts of her personality had been rewritten to fit the conflict of the sequel rather than evolving naturally from Book 1.

I was also expecting much more emotional and psychological impact from Alonso being possessed by Giovanni’s poltergeist. The setup had so much potential for tension, horror, and drama, but it never reached the level of intensity I hoped for. Everything felt a bit too restrained considering the premise.

And Corey falling for Penny was so obvious from the start that there was barely any suspense or emotional payoff in that storyline for me.

That said, the atmosphere and writing still kept me engaged enough to finish the book, and the final third definitely improved the experience overall. I just wish the emotional depth and character development had been stronger throughout the entire story.

Not a bad sequel by any means — just one that sadly didn’t live up to the expectations the first book created for me.

[Amelia]

3.5 ✨️

That love triangle ruined it for me.
Otherwise a more original YA story hence the rating.

[Cally]

One of my favourite ya fantasy duologys ever - I absolutely love these characters!
The stakes were high, especially after the ending of the first book, and I was on edge the whole time rooting for the guys to succeed! The yearning between Penny and Alonso, it was full of those giddy butterfly feelings you get when you’re young and in love.
The plot was fast paced and fun, I loved the witchy magical side and the attempts at the exorcisms and the veil to the other side. I enjoyed having multiple PoV with the different characters. I didn’t see the twists and reveals coming at the end!
Emotions were high the whole time and I love when an author creates characters you love and care about as if they’re real and you know them in real life.
This is definitely a cosy comfort duology for me that I will revisit again and again.

And that ending was perfect - I shed a tear.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

[︎lillie ✧.*]

My main take from this is… we love men who yearn.

Because it felt like the mantra for this book. Nearly every male character in this book/series has been caught yearning over a gorgeous, amazing, brilliant woman, and we love them for it!

Toxic masculinity? Not round here partner?

But seriously, I’ve been so scared to read this book since The Glittering Edge was one of my favourite reads of all time last year, and I’ve already been let down by long awaited sequels quite a bit lately. So basically, I needed this one to be perfect!

And it delivered. It 100% delivered!

Just like before I was caught up in the story from page 1, and it was no surprise that I inevitably decided to just stay up and finish it since I only had so much left. So yes I read this (technically) in one sitting. And it definitely had me making the shocked pikachu face a few too many times.

It had me on the edge of my seat, biting my nails, clawing at my hair, to the point I wasn’t sure how the story was gonna go. And yes I did in fact cry which is a very rare thing for the books I read to do to me, so just for that it automatically got 6 stars.

Is it a perfect book? No. The pacing is a little too fast and the story felt rushed at times. But was it the perfect book for me? Yes!

It was just what I needed and the plot unfolded better than I had ever imagined. Alonso and Penny are my otp and I adore them with all my heart.

(Lowkey felt very Southern while writing this review, and I have absolutely no idea why…)

[kate]

I think the fact that I somehow finished this in one day is proof enough of how much fun I had with this book.

This duology is a gem. It's got everything you could want in a witchy YA read. A small town with big secrets, family feuds, curses, a love triangle (which I didn't love but understood and the ending was fabulous). It's also got great discussions around race, privilege, mental health and classism.

I couldn't help but picture this as a teen TV drama in the Teen Wolf/PLL/Vampire Diaries era. I am such a huge fan of this duology and would happily reread all over again. I can't wait to see what Alyssa Villaire comes up with next.

[Temi (temisreads)🧸]

4.25⭐
i really loved this as the conclusion to the duology!! the ending for all the characters felt right and overall this is such a fun ya witch fantasy series!

[Laura.has.too.many.books]

* You need to read the previous book first, this book is a direct continuation.

Last summer, Penny Emberly got caught between two feuding families in her hometown of Idlewood. The Barrions and the De Luca's were caught up in the gasp of a teerifying curse, but Penny, with the help of Corey Barrion and Alonso De Luca, managed to solve the decade long mystery. Now their fragile friendship is put to the test again, as supernatural forces are trying to separate them again and all of them have to decide what they want to sacrifice to banish the dark forces once and for all.

Pro's:
+ Just like the previous book, this book is really fast-paced with a lot of action scenes and I think the urban, yet magical angle of this book really works well for this type of story. There was no dull moment and I think that kept me on the edge of my seat.
+ The characters of this book are again top-notch. We see the story from multiple POV's, but it all stays very easy to follow and simple to determine each characters objective. It was also fun to see more of each protagonists family, as each of them has quite the impact on this story.
+ I now have the matching Fairyloot editions of this duology and I'm so freaking happy with that. They are gorgeous and have some awesome art on the inside.

Con's:
- The entire love-triangle bussiness in this book became incredibly cliche very soon after starting it. I can safely say the only predictable, boring element of the story is the romance in its entirety and the ending of it was so very boring, wish we could have gone without.

The first part of this duology was one of my favorite books from last year and I think this entry will be high on that list as well. The story is incredibly fun to read and since it is easy to follow, none of the many events will stray you of the written path. This book has the same 'Breakfast Club'like vibes as the first book, but I think this book is way more magical as the first book. The characters are still a lot of fun, but now we're meeting more of the adjacent families and I think that works really well for this story. There is a bigger halloween-y type vibe to this story and I love that a lot. Let us hope we will get more epic stories like this in the future.

[Ally Marshall]

I think if this story didn't have the love triangle, I would have really loved it. Maybe I'm just over the love triangle scene though.
It was definitely a page turner and I really liked the ending. I think I'm just a little too old for the teenage angst scene, especially in a fantasy setting where people will get killed while the kids are pining over each other! 😅
I think 16 year old me would have loved this a lot more! And that is who it's for after all so I would absolutely conclude that this is a good book! 💛

Since this is a YA story, here are some trigger warnings (which include spoilers) in case you want to buy the book for your kid:
Death (including a young person and an animal), murder, gun violence, car crash, loss of a parent, mental health issues, cursing (both swear words and actual curses lol).
There are some spicy kisses too, though nothing more than that. :)

[renee ♡]

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After loving the first book, I'm genuinely so disappointed that this one fell completely flat for me. I had such high hopes for this to become one of my favorite duologies, but unfortunately, book two decided to ruin that for me.

The first book set up such a promising opening for the sequel, which the author sadly chose not to make the most of. Instead the focus was more on the love triangle in my opinion. That should have been resolved from the beginning because, honestly, it completely ruined what could have been a more interesting plot. All that drama made me want to stop reading and pretend the sequel didn't exist.

And yet, somehow, I still think this is a cute YA duology overall. Despite many grievances, I'd still recommend it if you're looking for something cozy to read in the fall, especially if you love a cute witchy romance.

[Irina Touw]

Deze duologie voelde voor mij ZO nostalgisch! De setting, de love triangle, het plot: het voelde net alsof ik als tiener zat te kijken naar shows als Teen Wolf of The Vampire Diaries. I loved it.

Dit tweede deel was ook echt een perfecte afsluiting van de duologie. Als je nog op zoek bent naar een boek waar je echt doorheen vliegt en je de vibes geeft van de series die ik hierboven noem: pak deze boeken op.

[kaitlyn]

Missing Idlewood already 💔💔

[Charlotte]

Literally the only book that's ever had me rooting for the blonde male love interest

[_linnslibrary_]

This book was okay.. some things were done that I did not like. The romance(s) where chaotic. I do not like that we go from love triangle, to the girl picking a guy, and then back to the love triangle again back and forth

[Sharky]

Arc provided by Net Galley

I LOVED this. I was so worried for Alonso especially when he wanted to sacrifice himself but im glad he survived and in the end was able to learn to control his magic and ended up with Penny. I like that Corey is also getting a happy ending too :))

[Milda]

There is some magic to these books for sure because tell me why I stayed up till my eyes could barely see to read this darn book? The first half was good, but the second half (and that's true for the first book also) gripped me so tight that I had to physically force myself to put the Kindle down and go to bed because the sun was up 🙈
It's a perfect witchy read.
Granted it does have that phenomenon where not a single adult stops then from running around doing very dangerous stuff but who cares, I had a really good time and I can see the possibilities for coming back to this world to follow the side characters 👀🤞

[Mara Miniaci]

✨Full review will follow soon✨

[uxia]

Just finished and I’m already missing them and Idlewood 🥹🥹🥹 that ending omg (justice for Corey I need to know more about his days in uni)

reseña de la bilogía:

Al instante de acabar el segundo libro ya echaba de menos Idlewood y a estos tres personajes que me han robado el corazón; Penny, Alonso y Corey. Han sido dos libros que, todo y ser sencillos, me han recordado lo que es amar, conectar y entender a los personajes. Los he disfrutado muchísimo: todos los personajes que se nos presentan son interesantes, tienen sus propios problemas y su propio rol en la trama, cosa que añoro leer, ya que tengo la sensación que hoy en día los personajes de muchos libros son planos.

La ambientación es maravillosa, me ha transportado a Idlewood y ha sido como estar allí mismo con ellos. Son libros super cozy y otoñales, aunque el primero sucede durante las vacaciones de verano.

Le pido a la escritora que, por favor, escriba un tercer libro en el que podamos ver a Corey después de todo lo vivido. Su historia se me ha quedado corta, quiero verlo triunfar y ser feliz.

Definitivamente leeros esta bilogia si os gustan los libros como “the raven boys” o las peliculas como “practical magic”.

[Kenna]

Such a satisfying follow-up to The Glittering Edge. Twisty, fun, and character-driven, The Neon Sky resolves the cliffhangers and allows us to spend some more time in our favorite small Midwestern town, Idlewood. I really enjoyed the additional perspectives and the new characters (I need a Marley spinoff stat!). But my favorite component of both books of the Idlewood Duology is the strong familial ties - nuanced, at times complicated, but rooted in deep love at their core.

[Athena 💗]

Solid 3⭐️ Spooky atmosphere with witchy vibes ✨

I went in with my expectations a little high after finishing the first book, The Glittering Edge but this one didn’t quite live up to the hype I built up in my mind.
Penny started grating on my nerves after a while and I wasn’t feeling the love triangle either.

It might not have been for me but I could see others really enjoying this story. It does read very young so if YA isn’t your thing I would skip over this series.

[Vidhi]

Disclaimer: I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a satisfying conclusion to the explosive debut novel The Glittering Edge - I loved that we go to know more about how witches work, like seeing the council The pacing did feel a touch rushed toward the end, but that might have been because of the sheer amount of things that were happening - I feel like this could have easily been a trilogy at least. There was a lot of character development that happened off-screen between this book and the last one that I wished that we could have seen, I love these characters and this world and would absolutely love to read a novella about Alonso's adventures at witch boarding school All in all, this was a fun and enjoyable read, and I would absolutely re-read it again.

[Kamila Reads]

This is such a good duology! I really liked the first book and this one wrapped up the story quite nicely, at least for our main characters. When it comes to some side characters, I feel like there were some things revealed/started that were not acknowledged again? It would make sense if the author wants to write a spin off or something bit idk. Anyways, I liked the first book more but this one was still good.

[The Book Nerd's Corner]

The final installment of the "Idlewood Duology" features a dangerous poltergeist, a love triangle, and a fight to end a decades long family curse.

Penny Emberly's life has changed so much in one summer. She learned that magic is real—and that it almost killed her mother. She's also in love with the town's bad boy, Alonso De Luca, which she never saw coming. Oh, and she also learned that Alonso is a witch with powerful magical abilities. With the help of their dear friend Corey Barrion, the three saved her mother's life, but they still have to break the curse that haunts all of their families. Unfortunately, Alonso has been possessed by the poltergeist of his grandfather who is out for blood. Corey has learned that in order to break the curse, he'll have to sacrifice the life of another. With all three of them desperate for the bloodshed to end, Penny, Corey, and Alonso must put their heads together to finally end this bloody curse that has haunted them their entire lives.

I absolutely ate up the first book in this series, "The Glittering Edge," so I was excited to read book two when it came out. My library was awesome enough to purchase it for me, so I didn't have to buy it myself. I definitely didn't like this one as much as the first, but it was nice seeing Penny, Corey, and Alonso get the resolution they deserved.

One thing I noticed right away was that this book followed way more PoVs than the first. We're in Gio, Dylan, and Marley's heads on top of our three MCs. I think this distanced me from the story a little bit, but I understand why it was done at times. I personally was okay with Gio's perspective, because he at times replaced Alonso, but everyone else felt a bit out of place.

At the start of this book, Penny and Alonso are together. I think it's fun when characters start out in later installments of a series already in a committed relationship, because it lets the author explore their romantic bond more. Seeing how Alonso adores Penny at the beginning was really sweet, but it sucks that other circumstances get in the way and pull them apart pretty quickly. Corey also has a huge crush on Penny, which is something that he tried to avoid for all of book one due to the curse on his family. With Alonso out of the picture for a bit, it's even harder for Corey to deny how he feels. I personally thought that the love triangle element got a bit old in this book, but Corey has every right to feel how he feels and Penny is honestly a confused mess throughout this entire book.

I feel that our three main characters are still the highlight of this series. Penny is an extremely anxious individual that cares deeply and with her entire heart. I felt really bad for all the heartbreak she goes through in this book, but it is clear that she cares so much for both Corey and Alonso. Corey has been burdened with his family's expectations since the moment he was born, so he's been stressed out since he was young. I was happy to see that he finally is starting to put himself first and pursue the things that make him truly happy. Alonso has always been a troublesome lad with a violent streak. He's been doing better ever since he got with Penny, but now he is forced to live with his grandfather's crimes, too. So many people have been hurt by his family, and Alonso takes much of this burden on himself. These three young adults certainly have experienced a ton of pain in their lives, but it's amazing to see them persevere through all the hard times.

This one does seem a bit repetitive in content, so I'm glad I didn't read them back-to-back. Our three MCs are still trying to find a way to break the curse, Penny's family is still in extreme danger, and the love triangle is still going strong. I wish there would have been a tad more variation, but it was still a fine read.

I want to touch briefly on the ending, because I found it rather unsatisfying. I'll avoid spoilers, so this part will be vague, but I feel the need to express my thoughts. I was honestly pissed at Alonso for the decisions he made. It was truly frustrating to see him push everyone to the wayside like that, but whatever. I'm glad that Penny took her life into her own hands and made a plan that suited her needs. Corey sort of receives the short end of the stick, but at least his epilogue was tinged with hope for a better future. Honestly, the entire epilogue was penned in this style. It gave just enough information about the characters to tease a happy next chapter for them, but it was vague enough that everything it hinted at could never come to pass. I didn't love this for an ending, but at least all the major plot points were tied up.

Overall, "The Neon Sky" wasn't as exciting as its predecessor, but I'm glad that Penny, Corey, and Alonso were given a resolution and that they dealt with their family curse in their own unique way. I did find elements of this book to be a bit tedious such as huge similarities in plot to book one, the ever-going love triangle, and the random PoV shifts. I'm glad that everything was wrapped up, but I found myself a bit disappointed by the ending of this one, too. Penny, Corey, and Alonso are still such fun characters to follow, so I'm happy that I experienced the happy for now ending to their story.

[Rachel]

The Neon Sky picks up where The Glittering Edge left off. Whilst things may seem to be ‘getting back to normal’ following the events of book one, there’s a sinister presence lurking in the background. A supernatural force that’s out for revenge and doesn’t care who gets hurt in the pursuit of that. Someone who’s dangerous and violent and out for destruction. And has their sights set on the Cosy Book Club.

“He feels his coven’s anxiety. Their fear. Their occasional attempts at magic that might unlock his situation. But the only real clue they’ve had is the tarot card Alonso pulls from Aunt Donna’s deck every single day: The Devil.”

I really enjoyed this sequel! It has the nostalgic feel of those 2010s love triangle YAs but brought into the modern day. The writing was polished, the world building was vivid and the characters were characterised so well!

Penny is trying to move on from the events of book one - she’s happy with Alonso and trying to decide what her future might hold. She really ends up going through it in this book and my heart broke for her! I love how her character progressed throughout - from her anxiety struggles in book one, to standing up for herself in book two.

Alonso is definitely being put through in this book and it was actually heartbreaking. I really like his character - from his magic, to his love for Penny and his quick wit. But we also get a different side to him in this book - his struggles and how he faces what happens to him in the sequel. I love a multifaceted character and Alonso didn’t disappoint.

Corey is struggling under the pressures from his family but also his growing feelings for Penny. He knows she’s with Alonso, but he also knows if he falls in love with her then she dies. Talk about stakes! He either has to watch the girl he’s falling for love someone else, or she dies. There’s no happy ending for him unless the curse is broken. I enjoyed how he stood apart from his family and only wanted to do the ‘right’ thing. He’s evolved since book one and I really liked his arc.

A special mention has to be made for the side characters in this - especially Dylan and Naomi.

Overall I really enjoyed this one. The tension of who Penny will end up with and the heartbreak of the one who’s left out. And the carnage that the antagonist leaves in its wake was so captivating! I had no idea how this was going to be resolved and I couldn’t put it down.

This book is bursting with magic, drama and so many reveals! If you’re looking for a gothic fantasy with a love triangle then this is the duology for you.

ARC copy provided by Penguin & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

[Meghan]

Ended up really liking where things went and how they wrapped up! There was a second in the middle there when Corey and Penny were having there moment where I was like 🤨 because it felt a bit sudden, but I came back around.

I absolutely loved all the characters here. Each one, even the side characters had so much depth.

I’ll also say I hate when a love triangle is rendered obsolete because of some outside force (e.g. one of the suitors dies, or they move, etc) you get it. I much prefer when a choice has to be made, and that’s what happened here. Thank you Alyssa Villaire.

Only thing about this series that I couldn’t get on board with and thought was corny was the amount of physical alterations we had. But that does feel like a stereotypical high school trope, so I can forgive it. I just needed those boys to go take a walk or do some breathing exercises.

[Mihaela Krusheva]

I just finished this book around half an hour ago after rereading „glittering edge“ last week. I went into the book with certain expectations, thinking that maybe we will now focus more on the characters being teens and just trying to solve the mystery around the family curse/ bargain. I was expecting cute moments between Alonso and Penny maybe even cozy autumn / winter vibes. The first part of the duology had an amazing summer vibe. Maybe I was expecting too much but it felt very rushed.

First of all it started off with Alonso breaking up with Penny and then yearning for each other for almost the entire book but we barely got any moments between them. TBH I started reading the books because of the premise of a goth ml and was disappointed when you could put all of their moments in to probably 10pages. There were constant weekly or monthly times skips. Wish we got more into how the characters felt. Dylan’s story was extremely skimmed through. No one ever found out about the betrayal and what she did.

James Barrion being a De Luca was in my opinion a nice plot twist but suddenly it felt like all wrongdoings were forgiven just because of the family ties. IRL most people would have went no contact already by the end of the first book.

What I absolutely despised was the rushed ending with the act | act || and more. It’s like reading the book till the end to not really know how their lives develop after the end of the plot and the way even if they are close to failure they always manage to pull the most op shit ever. That is honestly kind of annoying. Not a single character important to the story died when there were many chances. It would have bought more depth to the book given all the dangerous scenarios the cast went through.

The worst part of the story for me tho was Alonso ending up with a men bun and switching to soft goth . I will never forgive the Author for this 🫩😭 lol


Forgive me if my review is hard to read. English is my third language.