Nightbane (The Lightlark Saga Book 2) Series: Lightlark #2 Published by Abrams on November 7, 2023
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Action & Adventure / General, Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Romance
Pages: 384
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Goodreads
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 all: 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.
Review:
Nightbane was a bit of a disappointment if I’m being honest. I get it: trilogies and series can be hard to write, and sometimes middle books accidentally act as fillers until we get to the meatier volumes. I suspect this is the case with Nightbane, but this could have been done as a novella or a short story rather than an entire 400-page book.
It was so utterly dull. Lightlark was full of treachery and deceit. I enjoyed watching the lies unravel, and I loved how it ended. I was concerned about Nightbane going in because of a tone shift. The curses are broken. The game is over. What else can be so pressing that we need a dedicated book?
The answer is nothing. Nightbane is filled with Grim and Isla’s back story, which I hated. The “lost memory” trope is acceptable when appropriately executed, but I found I didn’t care about their past together. Nor do I see why we needed a whole book about it. I would have liked the rebuilding of Lightlark and the strategies against Grim, but the backstory flipping between present and future was more confusing and bored me.
I also didn’t care about the rebuilding of Lightlark and the endless chapters of strategy building and characters arguing with one another.
About alex aster
Alex Aster is the #1 New York Times bestselling, #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling, #1 Publishers Weekly Bestselling and USA Today Bestselling author of the Lightlark series (soon to be a major motion picture) and the Emblem Island series, inspired by her Colombian heritage. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied English
