Fantasy

Lightlark

Lightlark

  • Downloads：5457
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-08-20 07:19:48
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Alex Aster
  • ISBN：B09S6JGRMH
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

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。

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Reviews

Elena ，

Giving 1 ⭐️ reviews to a book you haven't read it's not cool， it's mean。Giving 5 ⭐️ reviews to a book you haven't read it's false advertising。 PLEASE STOP RATING BOOKS YOU HAVEN'T READ。 No matter what that rating is。 Giving 1 ⭐️ reviews to a book you haven't read it's not cool， it's mean。Giving 5 ⭐️ reviews to a book you haven't read it's false advertising。 PLEASE STOP RATING BOOKS YOU HAVEN'T READ。 No matter what that rating is。 。。。more

valerygergievstoothpick ，

“Lightlark was a shining， cliffy thing。”

Lena ，

For some that are saying why this book has so many reviews when it is not out and speculating that the reviews are fake， the book is out in the UK。 It has been out in waterstones for almost a week。

Melanie ，

8/18/22First off: I pre-ordered this book （mostly to get the slip-in fanart pages） and because I wanted to read this book！Second off: Holy hell， I haven't visited this page in awhile and it already has 2。5 stars and it's because some people are review bombing this books wtf？ But besides that the valid 1 star reviews are kinda confirming my doubts about this book。 I was hyped when I came across this book idea she first posted on tiktok and helped with her getting this book hyped and a six-figure 8/18/22First off: I pre-ordered this book （mostly to get the slip-in fanart pages） and because I wanted to read this book！Second off: Holy hell， I haven't visited this page in awhile and it already has 2。5 stars and it's because some people are review bombing this books wtf？ But besides that the valid 1 star reviews are kinda confirming my doubts about this book。 I was hyped when I came across this book idea she first posted on tiktok and helped with her getting this book hyped and a six-figure deal。 But once she started being annoying about it on social media I had a strong feeling it was not going to live up to expectations。 I understand being completely happy and amazed with an outcome for one's own work， but her videos talking about this book and her life became almost like bragging， redundant （shoved in our faces）， and unauthentic （like the video of her seeing the final copies。 That was staged af）。We'll see how it all goes。 I'm hoping I'm wrong but my first look at the first couple pages weren't that promising。 。。。more

Lady Sif ，

Everyone rating her a one star is an idiot and an ignorant assholes。 I’m rating five stars till I get the book in my hand and put out my true honest opinion。

Abby ，

This got 2⭐ purely because I commend the audiobook reader。 She did a fantastic job。 Otherwise this would have been a big fat 1⭐。 This was a convoluted mess， with a lot of slut-shaming。 Everything is told， not showed， which makes for a lot of annoying inner monologue。 Especially when the MC goes on random tangents all the time。 I'm confused about this "competition" and "deadly game"， when the competition is just picking partners （which you can switch willy nilly later） ， and the deadly game won't This got 2⭐ purely because I commend the audiobook reader。 She did a fantastic job。 Otherwise this would have been a big fat 1⭐。 This was a convoluted mess， with a lot of slut-shaming。 Everything is told， not showed， which makes for a lot of annoying inner monologue。 Especially when the MC goes on random tangents all the time。 I'm confused about this "competition" and "deadly game"， when the competition is just picking partners （which you can switch willy nilly later） ， and the deadly game won't even let you try to kill someone until day 50？ But you also can't kill your partner。。。。 So who's dying exactly！？ Where's the high stakes？This book was a major letdown。 。。。more

Esme ，

don’t trust these toxic people from "booktok"， that book is AMAZING don’t trust these toxic people from "booktok"， that book is AMAZING 。。。more

Seran Halter ，

I literally couldn’t put it down。 10/10 I loved every second of it。 Not sure why everyone is hating on it-i blame tiktok。 I thought it was the perfect set of world building and there were tons of surprises for me。 I loved the voice and I loved the writing。 Can’t wait for the next book！！

Alejandro Vargas ，

You s uck， get a job and do a flip

kat ，

i’m disappointed。

Madison ，

Review will be live in my YouTube vlog tomorrow （8/19） at 9:45am EST Full review here TK

Matt ，

I haven't read this book but I will be giving it 5 stars up to when I actually read it。 Review bombing this book because its become trendy to do so on TikTok is really fucking weird。 I hope yall got those 5 likes for shitting on a new author who has done nothing problematic nor is deserving of the amount of hate being sent to her。 If you haven't read this book and are giving it 1 star reviews， it just shows that 1） you're immature as hell and 2） don't know how to think for yourselves I haven't read this book but I will be giving it 5 stars up to when I actually read it。 Review bombing this book because its become trendy to do so on TikTok is really fucking weird。 I hope yall got those 5 likes for shitting on a new author who has done nothing problematic nor is deserving of the amount of hate being sent to her。 If you haven't read this book and are giving it 1 star reviews， it just shows that 1） you're immature as hell and 2） don't know how to think for yourselves 。。。more

A。R。 Hellbender ，

I didn’t even know how hyped this book was when I read it， so I’m probably not even as disappointed as a lot of people are， because I had no expectations going into it。 This book was just so flat and completely devoid of anything。 It’s not a big deal that it made no profound statements or have much of a moral of the story， because not all books necessarily have to have that， they’re just supposed to be good reads。 But it was that combined with the complete and utter lack of any character persona I didn’t even know how hyped this book was when I read it， so I’m probably not even as disappointed as a lot of people are， because I had no expectations going into it。 This book was just so flat and completely devoid of anything。 It’s not a big deal that it made no profound statements or have much of a moral of the story， because not all books necessarily have to have that， they’re just supposed to be good reads。 But it was that combined with the complete and utter lack of any character personalities， and onslaught of plot holes， that made this book so annoying to read。 Not to mention that it reads like it was taken apart and put back together with a different story （which I bet is what happened）。Don’t get me wrong， there were some good ideas in here， but for the most part， it’s just about a girl with no personality， who is automatically good at everything AND it gets shoved down our throats how beautiful she is， who has to compete with 5 other rulers in a contest that makes no sense and is full of convenient plot devices。Right off the bat， the world isn’t explained at all， and the narration just name-drops characters without showing who they are to each other or anything， so it takes a second to even grasp the situation。 And then every time a plot twist happens， it’s not a surprise moment at all because the characters had no personalities to begin with， so nothing seemed in or out of character for them。 And some of the twists were surrounded by plot holes that never got explained。I’m sure the tv show will be a lot better， because I bet that will have things like actual characterization and actual worldbuilding。 。。。more

paigereads ，

I'd like to preface this by saying I've never read this book and I never received a copy， but I do think this poor author is getting unnecessary hate for nothing and getting an unbelievable amount of bad ratings simply because a few people who received a copy didn't like the book。 It's okay to criticize a book， but to completely ruin this author's chance of success over a few minor inconsistencies is honestly disgusting knowing you guys don't put this much energy into the authors that are actual I'd like to preface this by saying I've never read this book and I never received a copy， but I do think this poor author is getting unnecessary hate for nothing and getting an unbelievable amount of bad ratings simply because a few people who received a copy didn't like the book。 It's okay to criticize a book， but to completely ruin this author's chance of success over a few minor inconsistencies is honestly disgusting knowing you guys don't put this much energy into the authors that are actually problematic。 Seeing her on tiktok being so happy over her book and knowing this is the hate she's receiving broke my heart and this my my contribution to try to bring her rating up。 。。。more

Caitlyn Spaker ，

Great book

Angie ，

If I were you，I’d read it and decide what you think of the book for yourselve bc most of these reviewers are haters and like to ruin this woman。 You’re welcome。

sisi_readsbooks ，

Didn’t read this。 Just felt bad for the unnecessary hate towards it。

Nada ，

I don’t get why most of people rate this book without FUCKING READING IT ？？？LIKE WHY！！！

Elvir Belardi ，

Let me add to this discussion:Authors like this are a problem bc she is automatically put at an unfair advantage due to previous connections in the industry， mainly due to nepotism。 Now， nepotism is not an issue unless the person is using it unfairly and in a problematic way。 She lied about what took in the book just to get money and to deceive her audience。And that’s just the tip of the ice berg。There are tons of artists with works 100% better than this recycled garbage who never get a chance b Let me add to this discussion:Authors like this are a problem bc she is automatically put at an unfair advantage due to previous connections in the industry， mainly due to nepotism。 Now， nepotism is not an issue unless the person is using it unfairly and in a problematic way。 She lied about what took in the book just to get money and to deceive her audience。And that’s just the tip of the ice berg。There are tons of artists with works 100% better than this recycled garbage who never get a chance bc ppl like her sit on their parents’ connections。 Not to mention all the lackluster rep in the book that seems like the author hardly did any research at all。 。。。more

Maria ，

personally i haven't read this book yet but i really dont know how there are over a thousand ratings even tho the book hasn't been out yet。 And even if all these reviews read the book your telling me over a thousand individuals got to read the book and rate before it came out？ from what ive heard there was barely 70 arcs sent exclusively before the release date so people are being ridiculous at this point。 For the people who are writing fake negative reviews you should be ashamed of your self yo personally i haven't read this book yet but i really dont know how there are over a thousand ratings even tho the book hasn't been out yet。 And even if all these reviews read the book your telling me over a thousand individuals got to read the book and rate before it came out？ from what ive heard there was barely 70 arcs sent exclusively before the release date so people are being ridiculous at this point。 For the people who are writing fake negative reviews you should be ashamed of your self you are helping with destroying an author's image just for fun。 No im not paid to write this even tho i dont have followers I've been on goodreads for a while and this is by far the book with the wrost ratings ive seen。 I do get that she may have had connections in publishing and her movie/series deal and i appreciate the people who read the book ， didn't like it and gave a genuine review i get that not everyone is going to love it 。There was also this "conspiracy" that the author is selling herself as a rags to riches story even tho she never spoke about herself struggling financially。 I also want to point out is that people are saying that every person who gives a good review about this book has been paid to do it？？ i mean not everyone has the same taste or the same critiques as you just because they liked a book a majority didn't enjoy does not mean they were paid to show thay they liked it。 Also im sure half of the rating are people from tiktok coming to hate from things they've heard， i myself didn't like the stuff i heard about it but that doesn't mean i should go ahead and slander the author even when i haven't even read the book to judge it。 Many also used this book to gain followers and attention by hating on it wich is disgusting the author is human too you can give your criticism while being respectful not curse and yell like your life depends on it。 Where the heck was this energy when other authors did much worse？ where was all this slander， hate， attacks when Lionel shrivel spoke out against the me too movement？ when Nyla k。 wrote a "dark forbidden romance" book about two minor twins and their frickin step dad？？ it literally has almost 4 stars on good reads wich is also very disturbing because most of these ratings are by grown women， i dont want to talk about other authors but the point is that if you haven't read a book its very simple not to hate and write a fake bad review by copying what other people said honestly all you are doing is humiliating yourself。 So many authors have spoke out and said that they are now terrified to publish their books that they worked so hard on because of what they saw happen to Alex Alester ， is this seriously what we are doing？ making people scared to publish their books because some clout chasers want to bash books for fun？ For the record if you wanna hate about her having connections and that its not normal for books to get signed for movies or series before getting published， yes she may have connections or not i don't know that but it's not this new thing that has never happened in the history of the universe。 others are also complaining about tiktoks she posted with book quotes not being in the book wich is not true most of them are and some have been worded differently in the final edited version， you have to realize that she posted those thing before the book was edited so hating on her is useless if its for that reason ， and i do agree on the fact that there wasn't much representation given the fact that the author is a poc and she promotes herself like that so if you want to give your criticism give it respectfully and about valid points not some random things you've heard that aren't true。 。。。more

Sydney ，

I've been aware of Lightlark and Alex Aster since some of her TikToks ended up on my fyp in 2021。 The concept for this story sounded entertaining and I had high hopes when it started getting a large marketing push。 That being said my high hopes also went hand in hand with a healthy dose of skepticism since the vast majority of books I've seen hyped on BookTok before their release rarely have lived up to the hype because tropes and aesthetics aren't enough for a book to be good。 Fast forward to t I've been aware of Lightlark and Alex Aster since some of her TikToks ended up on my fyp in 2021。 The concept for this story sounded entertaining and I had high hopes when it started getting a large marketing push。 That being said my high hopes also went hand in hand with a healthy dose of skepticism since the vast majority of books I've seen hyped on BookTok before their release rarely have lived up to the hype because tropes and aesthetics aren't enough for a book to be good。 Fast forward to this week in which this book has absolutely exploded but not in a positive way。 There are a lot of reviews with legitimate criticism （a lot I agree with）， other reviews from people who have loved it （but some people now don't trust those reviews even though they may be legitimate）， and an absurd amount of 1-star ratings from people who haven't read it but are just piling on。 Since I had an ARC I wanted to form my own opinion ahead of its release and overall。。。I personally did not like this but I do think there are people who might have a fun time with it。 My biggest issue with Lightlark is it feels a lot like a first draft and needs some serious editing。 There is SO MUCH infodumping and the plot relies heavily on telling rather than showing。 There are also just a lot of phrases （and parts of the worldbuilding） that are super repetitive for no reason。 There are a lot of cool concepts here but the execution is extremely weak and I never got invested。 In general the plot was underwhelming especially for how this was pitched。 Comparisons to The Hunger Games should never have happened because the competition does not have the same high stakes。 I think Throne of Glass would be a better comparison because the competition in this reminded me a lot of the competition in that first book （though Throne of Glass still had higher stakes。。。and more interesting characters）。 I never once was on the edge of my seat while reading this which is what I expected from how this book was pitched。 There were a few interesting plot reveals at the end that I actually enjoyed but didn't feel as impactful as they could've been because getting there was so underwhelming。In addition to the underwhelming plot， the characters all felt so flat and their relationships were uninteresting by extension。 Like the book's plot， characterizations also felt like they were told but never shown。 We're constantly told that the protagonist， Isla， is a beautiful seductress who can "scheme like a general" but where was that？？？ We're also constantly told that Grim， one of the love interests， is so ~dangerous~ and ~evil~ and never once could I buy into that。 He never felt like a possible threat， only a mild annoyance （and he's a lot like Rhys from ACOTAR and Hawke from FBAA complete with constant ~innuendos~ that grew tiresome quickly）。 I actually found Oro to be the most interesting character but he wasn't super layered either so I can't even articulate why I liked him more （and the fact that his name means gold in Spanish and there's also an Azul and their ~colorful~ names tie into their powers/kingdoms feels like a bizarre/lazy naming choice in the year 2022）。 All of the other rulers are similarly one-note and unmemorable outside of the single personality traits they were given。There is a love triangle （I've seen some reviews saying that there's not） but I never really bought into either side until the end - this is partially for plot reasons but also because it's hard to care about these characters。 I think Isla's endgame relationship is pretty clear （although I could be wrong！ authors have fooled me before but it's rare！） and I'm glad the ending made them somewhat more interesting to me。 Personally I significantly prefer the other side of the love triangle （that I expect will be the least popular side） since they actually had more of a slow-building rivals to allies to friends dynamic in this book which was by far the most compelling relationship amidst an uninteresting plot since we actually got to see it develop。A major part of this books criticism is that people feel that they were lied to by TikTok/this book's marketing so I'm going to conclude by addressing some of this。 Did the marketing lie？ Yes and no。 The main pitch of this book is that it is a "dark fantasy" described as "ACOTAR meets The Hunger Games" and it's geared toward upper YA/NA audiences and。。。oof。 It's definitely NOT dark fantasy and while I've already talked about how bad the comparison to THG is， I do think ACOTAR is a better comparison than The Hunger Games （but ACOTAR has stronger characters and occasionally a stronger plot）。 Romance content wise I think upper YA/NA is the right audience but the rest of the writing causes the characters （even the 500+ year old ones） to feel younger than that targeted audience。 They read as being 16 year olds at most to me which would be fine if this wasn't also marketed as a "spicy" fantasy romance （something that was a red flag for me when promo for this book started since it is YA not adult）。 And for the record， it's not really "spicy" so I don't know why that has been used to promote this。 It's milder than ACOTAR and on par with other upper YA fantasy romance books in terms of content （not fade to black but not explicit）。In addition， a main part of the marketing for Lightlark has been TikToks about specific tropes/quotes/scenes that Alex Aster has said are included in this book。 Before reading I actually scrolled through her tiktok and made notes of these scenes to look out for them。 Of the twelve scenes/quotes I wrote down only four were included。 Maybe some of these moments are going to be in the bonus chapter for the Barnes and Noble Exclusive Edition？ Maybe they're meant for later in the series？ Maybe they got edited out？ I have no idea but some of these scenes were posted in promotional TikToks as recently as July and so it's a weird move to make a month from the release date when they aren't actually included in the book。Anyway this is longer than I meant this review to be but I think with significant editing and marketing that isn't misleading this book could've been a fun time。 There's elements here that have potential they just needed to be developed better。 There's a specific kind of YA fantasy that， for lack of a better comparison， remind me of my favorite CW tv shows - the writing is not necessarily life changing but the story is fun， addicting， and involves characters and relationships that I easily get invested in。 I thought Lightlark would easily fall under this umbrella but unfortunately at most it is better compared to mid/bottom-tier CW shows that people usually only watch for one or two of their favorite actors and gets cancelled early on because it's just Not Good。 Those shows always have some genuine dedicated fans though and I'm certain Lightlark will as well （if you're one of them I'm happy for you！）。 There are moments that are enjoyable but they weren't enough for me。 。。。more

gaby ，

ITS SO GOOD GUYS I RECOMMEND IT SM ！！！！！！！ read it in 4hrs！！

Krisi ，

The only reason why i want to read this is because of the drama lmao。

Aleksandra ，

I left an unflattering comment under one of her tiktok videos （note that it was regarding to lying about content of the book， it was absolutely not a hate comment！） and she blocked me 💀。 Miss gurl relax。 Not everyone is gonna praise you。

Mady ，

I wasn't interested in reading this book but here i am thanks to all the booktok drama I wasn't interested in reading this book but here i am thanks to all the booktok drama 。。。more

Becky ，

Why did the chicken cross the road？To get to the （view spoiler）[ egg in the sky <\spoiler> （hide spoiler）] Why did the chicken cross the road？To get to the （view spoiler）[ egg in the sky <\spoiler> （hide spoiler）] 。。。more

Francesca ，

I could write so many things about this， but I’m just gonna say: stop hyping things up before reading them or this is gonna happen😭And please HIRE some good editors next time my god

Elle ，

I have not read this， but since people who haven’t read it either are rating it 1-star， I thought I might as well balance out the dishonest ratings :）。 Will not stand for bullying。

Tierney ，

When something is so hyped up， then when you actually read it it’s really not that different or exciting。。 also the love interest makes me feel Uncomfortable。 The age gap。 That’s all I’ll say about that。 Saying this was like ACOTAR was the farthest reach I’ve ever heard。 The only way I see this actually getting a movie deal， is that it’s just cheaper to buy the book before it’s out。 I feel let down。 No hate just didn’t like and feel like I was lied too。

Saido Hirsi ，

People should relax a bit and wait to the actual book has been released。 Ngl I feel so bad for the author。 Imagine spending years writing something， and people hate on it before it’s actually out。 Calm down

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Lightlark

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Lightlark&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Lightlark&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0