#yes this is about lightlark

[izoexa]

You'll never know true hating mentality until you watch a 7 and a half long youtube analysis of why a book is shit. Fuck the kendrick and drake beef this is the true level of hating i signed up for.

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

How do you suggest they make grim more evil? should he start selling kids too? His self pity was a flaw, yes. the only flaws darkling had were being beyond stupid and vile. he was so fucking disgusting and there was nothing good going on with him. Grim is complex, his flaws are more human, has some good qualities sprinkled in between. How are you even comparing.

This is the funniest possible thing anyone could say about a character from Lightlark

[gloriousmonsters]

Yknow something else that rly grinds my gears about TotK's storyline. So in most Zelda games there's always the "King Of Hyrule" w/ no mention of the queen even though there's always the implication that sacred power of the family is matrilineal. This is even made explicit and is a plot point in BotW, and obviously the assumption is that they got this power from SS Zelda's bloodline.

BUT THEN TOTK COMES IN AND IS LIKE "um actually they got this power from a man. The sealing and light power is from Rauru and Sonia has time powers instead. btw we're gonna stick her in the fridge while we're at it. So yeah this power that only manifests in the royal women that is passed down from mother to daughter and is said to be the goddess's power is actually from a man, not a woman you stupid fucking idiot."

It's just. Whyyyyyyyy

even MORE belated reply, but YEAH--it's honestly just very weird to me how Raaru and Sonia are treated like Zelda's New, Cooler Parents and her powers being split between them feels like part of that, even though it makes... very little sense (are you saying that if we just did some intermarrying with the Zora and Gerudo sages the next Zelda could have Spirit/'''''''lightning'''''''*, water, light, sealing, AND time powers? We are rapidly entering Lightlark territory and that is the worst possible place to be).

But yes, suddenly introducing 'there was a man from a different, Even More Superior race behind the powers that have been solely characterized as belonging to Zelda and associated (though I have very mixed feelings on SkSw) with the Hylian/Zelda's patron goddess' feels pretty damn sexist, especially paired with how Sonia's character is pretty much 'Wife, who is also Motherly' with a very child-of-nature, barefoot and Primal design, because women are Primal unlike men who are smart and science and have robots dont'chaknow. Paired with, yknow, taking away Zelda's pants and her main scientific/technical interest and putting her in a white dress so she can cry and be pure of heart and a sacrificial maiden. It's pretty awful, especially since while BotW is awful about some women, Zelda's character is one of my favorite things from it because she got to be a little less traditionally feminine and had scientific/technical interests.** It's another case of 'it's not just you fucked up, but you fucked up SO badly it's hard to comprehend' in TotK's story and characterization.

*someday, i will reach a kind of peace with Spirit being taken from the Gerudo to be given to the NEW Super Godly Race that they Sinned against. it is not that day and will not be for a while

**Nayru, Zelda's patron/associated goddess before everything became the Hylia Show, is said to be the goddess of science as well as magic in ALttP's lorebook <3 so Zelda being a researcher/scientifically minded feels especially right to me

[wutheringmights]

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins is an overall disappointing read. Do I think it’s clever and humorous? Yes. Is it also drowning in squandered potential? Double yes. (And will I be using this review as an opportunity to procrastinate on my writing? Triple yes.)

I first heard of this book through a booktuber, who pitched it as “Nona the Ninth, but better.” I haven’t read Nona the Ninth, but I was markedly disappointed by my reading of Gideon the Ninth a few months ago. I thought a book that had similar ideas but better execution would be a perfect fit for me. 

I never actually wrote a full ramble about Gideon the Ninth, and I really am regretting it now. I really wish I could just post a link to that review for context and then move on. But I didn’t, so here’s a brief summary of the relevant stuff. 

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir has a really fascinating world and the hints of an intriguing plot that is bogged down by poor execution. The plot never gained real momentum or stakes, and every instance of humor broke my suspension of disbelief. The book is also extremely opaque, to the point where it’s actively hostile to new readers. There’s a difference between throwing readers into the middle of the world and telling them to figure it out, and making it so confusing on purpose that you have to reread the book. Some readers can like or excuse that; I can’t. 

To some extent, The Library at Mount Char has better execution, if only because it is not determined to be indecipherable to the casual reader. Not every question it raises gets answered, but it knows how to meter out information effectively so that you’re never truly lost. It also has a better sense of humor (to an extent). All of its jokes are rooted in making fun of pop-culture, but because the story takes place in America, it never takes me out of the moment. It also never relies on referential humor. I will spare you my full-length rant. Just know that jokes that I have beef with humor that boils down to just making references to other jokes. 

Despite all that, Gideon the Ninth is still the better novel, if only because it takes full advantage of its conceit. On one hand, The Library at Mount Char has a fascinating idea at its core. The man our main character calls god has a library filled with all knowledge, which is broken up into twelve catalogs. Each catalog is mastered by one of his twelve apprentices. When god disappears, the apprentices now have to fight for who has control of the library, and therefore the universe. 

Cool stuff, right?

The story’s not really about that. None of the apprentices fight each other, and our main character, Carolyn, isn’t really our main character. Most of the apprentices are barely mentioned by name and they (spoiler) mostly die two-thirds of the way through. Our real main character is Steve, who is just Some Guy being dragged along by an extraordinary woman. It’s so standard, and none of the weird set-dressings can disguise it. We’ve read this story before (much in the same way Gideon the Ninth is a stock-standard vaguely-important-people-compete-in-deadly-game-for-more-power plotline, a la Lightlark). 

Gideon the Ninth isn’t really the best comparison to make. Muir and Hawkins may have crept onto similar ideas here and there, but their inspiration comes from elsewhere. Muir was obviously inspired by Homestuck and anime. Hawkins so obviously admires the works of Neil Gaimen. 

Fun fact: I am a long time Neil Gaimen hater. I have never mentioned this before, as up until very recently this was the Neil Gaimen loving website. But I am well-known in real life for not liking his novels. Gaimen is an author who has really cool ideas, and no ability to effectively execute on them. American Gods, Good Omens, Caroline, Stardust: all of them have deeply disappointed me in numerous ways. Despite giving him four tries, I always get harassed about how I’m just reading the wrong work. I won’t get Gaimen until I read the Sandman comics, Graveyard Boys, or that one with the London subway system. To that, I say no. I’m not doing it. I’ve given him enough chances. I’m not going to waste my time any longer. 

A lot of my least favorite Gaimen-isms creep their way into The Library at Mount Char, such as the clunky way he handles writing women. Women are cool and competent, but he never finds them to be as compelling as men. His concern for women’s issues always circle back to sexual assault. Carolyn should be a fantastic character, but the narrative is never concerned about her. She’s a machination for the plot, and nothing more. 

Hawkins also follows Gaimen’s path of having a weird hang-up on some sex thing, but instead of being overtly dedicated to informing the reader how much and what kind of sex every woman in the story wants, Hawkins is very concerned with anal sex. There are constant jokes about men putting things up their butt, and none of them are particularly original or in good taste. A prison rape joke stands out in my mind. Another is how the backstory of a character’s estranged relationship with her son being boiled down to her seeing him, verbatim, take something up his ass (this is part of a trend I find in male writers where their attempts to include topics not about straight men becomes weirdly othering; see aforementioned sexual assault). 

Then, after a hundred pages of this joke, Just Some Guy Steve has to shove some medicine up his butt, and bam. Joke over. We never hear about it again. What a weird set-up and pay off. 

I’ve spent so long talking about Gaimen and Muir’s works because, by itself, The Library at Mount Char doesn’t leave much to talk about. If I disengage from what I thought the plot was going to be about and only focus on what it is there, it’s fine. Underwhelming, but fine. I really like the dialogue. There are multi-page streaks of characters just dialogue that never feels stale or sparse because the dialogue is that vivid. 

Besides that? Eh. It’s truly just okay. It’s not as weird as what the reviews will tell you, nor as gruesome. It’s a middling fantasy story in the style of American Gods. The novel ends on a note that heavily implies a possible sequel. If it happens, I’ll have to pass. One was enough for me. 

--

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

[homely-lunatic]

this is gonna sound kinda mean ig but everyone's reactions to the book lightlark makes me feel gaslit bc yes it gets a lot of criticism but the criticism is usually along the lines of "the worldbuilding is bad" or "the characters or flat" or "the storyline is cliche" (all true tbf) and never about how staggeringly horrific the actual prose is. like no you guys don't get it, when I downloaded a copy of it I went and redownloaded it a second time, because when I started reading it my first thought was that I'd gotten some weird tampered-with version bc it was so terribly written I didn't think it could've gotten published. like im freaking out why isn't anybody talking about it from this angle.

[girlhelpicf]

in no way am i a lightlark defender (i hate hate hate lightlark) but the massive amount of backlash it got is a little disproportionate considering the absolute bullshit a lot of people are pushing out, and when you consider the genre and the fact that alex aster is a woman, it feels like twilight pt2 (i also hate twilight and think just about every ounce of criticism is deserved). is a 5+ hour review of just shitting on the book necessary? no. will i watch the entire thing multiple times? yes. But it is a little weird

[seagull-energy]

WIP game!

Inspired by @nocompromise-noregrets :D

Rules: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs. Okay so disclaimer that this is FAR from everything in the WIP folder because the number of things I have in there is outrageous and there's a lot that's currently on the back burner. Also I've included the final titles of the ones that already have chapters posted, for convenience Right, no more waffling. WIP titles be upon ye!

50 SECONDS can spark THIS???? [also known as Thawed Hearts]

arwen brings andúril au [also known as Bearing Hope's Sword]

Red Shadows - AA nat fic :)

am I actually doing a lightlark rewrite??

elnor lotr crossover

That one Clint&Nat defection fic

spy time (but fun! (ish))

Aaaaaa revealing my document names feels oddly exposing ngl. A lot of them are fairly boring but the ones that aren't are an unfiltered glimpse into my writing brain that usually only my sibling gets to see XD Anyway, ask away!! I am very happy to blather about all of these :D

Tagging... @mischieffoal @herenya-writes @championrevali @asexual-slut-society (hope it's okay to tag you guys!!)

[spearxwind]

I am DELIGHTED by the Lightlark drama thank you for introducing me

this made me go "YES!!!!" out loud because my god i need more people to know about it. its so wild

[an-aura-about-you]

Tell us who's Enya :D

I shall!

Enya is a character in the Lightlark book Nightbane. She is friends with Oro, the king of Lightlark, and has known him since they were children. This means that she's well over 500 years old. This isn't such an unusual thing in Lightlark, but I do want to mention this to put the next part into context.

On the day Enya was born, her mother was told that one of the Oracles had a message for her, and that message was that she knew the exact day and manner of Enya's death. With Enya at her breast, literally hours old at most at this point, her mother was like, "Well, are you going to tell me?" So the Oracle did. And when she thought Enya was old enough to handle it, she offered her the choice to learn this information as well. Enya said yes, so she has known her end ever since she was a child.

Enya is an organizer. She likes to spend time planning and most of what she does in Nightbane is helping Isla get her shit together now that the curses have ended. Isla didn't even really have to ask; Enya jumped at the chance and even takes the initiative at some points to get shit done. I'd argue that, from what little I've seen of her, she's probably one of the most suitable characters to be a ruler and it's a crime that she's not.

Enya is a Sunling, which means any power she might have is drawn from the Sun or related to fire. Extremely skilled Sunlings also have the power to gild things. (Yes, this does mean potential Midas touch horror, and this is something Oro has accidentally done.) As of this point in the book, around or more than 75% completed, we haven't seen Enya use any Sunling powers the way Oro has. (Or if we did I was distracted by other shit.) During the events of Lightlark when the curses were in place, Sunlings were cursed so they could not go out into the Sun without turning to ash. This means for the past 500 years, Enya has either been nocturnal or forced to spend all her waking hours indoors like the rest of the Sunlings.

Enya has a little friend group with Oro and some other people and has mentioned she's dated some women over the years, but she's never taken a wife because she feels it wouldn't be fair to put the emotional burden of knowing when and how she's going to die on a partner. While the only certain thing about her orientation is that she is sapphic, given that Aster took the time to write that Cleo has had both men and women as partners because we as readers can't possibly conceive of a bisexual person NOT having multiple partners of more than one gender, it's likely safe to assume that Enya is written with the intention that she is a lesbian.

My head is having trouble retaining a description of her, but what I seem to remember is red hair and a bunch of freckles. Each realm has a signature color to wear and culturally it's weird not to wear your color, but I can't remember off the top of my head if Sunlings wear gold or yellow or if both would be acceptable.

[crow-caller]

I posted 634 times in 2022

107 posts created (17%)

527 posts reblogged (83%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@les8ean

@gullbones

@lokebrenna

@spearxwind

@crow-caller

I tagged 255 of my posts in 2022

#sometimes theres asks - 24 posts

#book review - 14 posts

#books - 14 posts

#art appreciation tag - 14 posts

#pokemon - 12 posts

#review - 11 posts

#yewchube - 9 posts

#lightlark - 9 posts

#taskmaster - 7 posts

#mortal engines - 7 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#i will finally buy from your store one of these days. okay i did years ago when you had a print of good angel charas.... but god so nice. so

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Me: I should read something good and refreshing

Me: (opens That One YA Dystopia About Human Pets)

See the full post

105 notes - Posted September 30, 2022

#4

That One YA Dystopia Trilogy about Human Pets: Perfected

I read an entire book trilogy at once for this review, and it’s 2014 to 2018’s Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch, a mainstream published series about humans being kept as pets.

Aw jeez.

I’ve never done a full trilogy at once, but after Lightlark I wanted to do something properly exciting. Slash disturbing. This will be roughly the same format I always do- full synopsis with discussion, and broader analysis. (And yes! This trilogy, which unilaterally earns 0 stars, is better than Lightlark!)

Read On WordPress here! Or the video is below which is the same!

148 notes - Posted October 18, 2022

#3

people love to infantilize asexual people like im not out here serving cunt 24/7 you just aren’t allowed to touch it

291 notes - Posted June 12, 2022

#2

I write silly books about angels and demons and love as the world ends around you (and how maybe it can still be okay in the end anyways)

A naive angel befriends a bullied demon and that forbidden friendship kick-starts the apocalypse. About identity and love and what it's like to be a cosmic being not meant to have free will.

A huge swath of LGBT characters and stuff too, especially in the realm of questioning and experimenting. No real romance, just friendship, and ace/aro/queer stuff.

If you don't know, it's about impossible for indie authors to spread the word about their work. I'm a very ill and disabled person unable to work, so every reblog and especially review matters so much.

I offer free copies for anyone who wants one. Ideally you'd review, but I just want people to be able to read them.

Gum eboook

Amaz print

Goodreads

336 notes - Posted September 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Tiktok sensation LightLark is the final boss of bad fantasy YA— a failure built on aesthetic boards and tropes, unable to pretend it has a heart

Tiktok sensation LightLark is the final boss of bad fantasy YA— a failure built on aesthetic boards and tropes, unable to pretend it has a heart

View On WordPress (Includes audio version)

A full summary with spoilers, analysis, quotes- and so much more on the subject of a book you should never read. This is a long piece. Like ‘Youtube Video Essay’ long.

Lightlark is joyless, a husk beyond parody, a checklist of every Island of Blood and Bone and Glass and Hearts that has come out in the last five years, built and sold on tropes and aesthetic boards. This is a book written by an author who is not a writer. It would fit in on the dregs of an amateur writing site with eerie perfection.

But Lightlark is more than that. You see, Lightlark is… a TikTok book.

EDIT:

See the full post

10,013 notes - Posted September 16, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[unyieldingwings]

LIGHTLARK BY ALEX ASTER REVIEW

Title: Lightlark

Author: Alex Aster

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Romance, YA, Romantasy

Series: Yes

Rating: 3.5/5

Duration of read: 5 days

Page count: 409

I finally finished Lightlark!

It was such a wild read. I can honestly say that the book did make me feel a lot of emotions, and it was certainly a rollercoaster for me, and I decided to tab the book in this category: World Building/Important Stuff, Happy Stuff, Sad Stuff, Romantic, Suspicious and Frustrating/Making  Me Mad, which all the more proves that this was such an emotional read for me.

Though the premise of the plot of Lightlark was certainly interesting, I remember the first time that it came through my TikTok fyp, I immediately favorited the original video from Alex's account and decided to wait for it to be released in my country, and after finishing it, I did give it a rating of 3.5/5. The reason for this is because as I was going through the book, all the information that we needed to get to fully grasp the story were a little bit disjointed, incomplete and disconnected. To be frank, it was a little difficult for me to follow at first because in the beginning of the book, we would get descriptions, a few sentences of important information and then we would skip over to a new scene and then circle back to the original thought/information that was being discussed by the main character. I do understand that it is entirely possible that that is what the author wanted us to feel while reading the book, maybe she wanted us to feel exactly as clueless, as scared, as desperate and as helpless as the main character/main narrator to better connect with her, it just wasn't the easiest thing to follow for me. Even though I gave the book a solid 3.5, there are still things that I liked and did not like with it. Let me tell you more about them.

I loved the idea of Lightlark and the division into six rulers and realms (Sunling, Wildling, Nightshade, Skyling, Moonling and Starling). I loved the premise of participating in a deadly political game called The Centennial to decide which ruler and realm would die to free the entirety of their people from the curses that were spun 500+ years ago. I absolutely loved the drama of the fact that there were rules to be followed for the duration of The Centennial, and I also loved that there was drama among all the rulers. I also loved how the mentality of a person who has been manipulated by those around her was shown in the context of Isla's character--how she seems to struggle with her own identity, her own decisions and how she feels guilty for standing up for what she personally believes in, but I loved it more when she was able to gain a sense of confidence in her abilities, her identity and in who she is. Out of everything else though, the one thing I loved most about Lightlark is Grimshaw Malvere, ruler of Nightshade. I know, I know, Isla is the main character, but I cannot help it. Grimshaw is painted in such a mysterious, and admittedly, delicious way that I can't help but love him--flaws and all.

Moving on to the things that I did not particularly like about Lightlark. There are a few, and I think I would need to use bullet points for this.

I guess the main one would be the predictability of the major twists of the book. I don’t know if it was just me, but it was very easy to follow the clues leading us to the true villain of the story. It felt like we were trying to be misled to another conclusion, but the clues were just there and very easy to connect.

Another thing that I struggled with in the book is how it is always reinforced that Isla has been trained her entire life by her caretakers, however she always seems to get into precarious situations that could have been avoided if she actually used her training. It felt like her training was conveniently mentioned when it would suit the plot for some scheme-y type events, but would be conveniently shelved otherwise. It felt like her training was implied to be second nature to her, but actually isn't. This is what I meant by the information being a little bit disjointed because if she were actually trained to a point where she was one with all of her skills, she would not easily forget her own strength and fall prey to all the misfortunes that happened to her. I get it, The Centennial is supposed to be dangerous and Isla is supposed to be one of the youngest rulers in all the realms, however, it just really doesn't track for me how she's only well trained when it suits the plot, but she conveniently gets into so much trouble when it also suits the plot. I hope I'm still making sense.

It absolutely infuriated me how Poppy and Terra were the ones who mainly manipulated Isla, but it felt like it was only skimmed over when in truth, their betrayal of Isla's trust is so much more disgusting than what happened with Grim. It kinda felt to me like it's going to be some sort of set up for a possible redemption arc for Grim because it felt like I was being forced to vilify him in all ways possible.

I also did not like how the Centennial was presented to be a deadly, political, game that would showcase just how cruel, and cunning all these centuries old characters are, however it did not give me that sort of experience while reading it. I guess it's closely related to how I didn't get a lot of consolidated and solid information about Lightlark and the Centennial as much as I wanted to, then again, it is only the first book so that still remains to be seen for the remaining part of the series. In terms of it being political and exciting and anxiety inducing, and them showing just how cunning they can be, it wasn't really all that for me. I kind of expected a more complex way of all the rulers trying to manipulate, expose and spy on each other all the while trying to understand the prophecy and break the curse on Lightlark. I also kind of expected the entire Centennial to be more than a few paragraphs and chapters of them showing bits and pieces of their power, the weird tests they have for each other, and the demonstrations that feel like are just being used to further the plot of a love triangle instead of actually showing how deadly the competition is. I also had some trouble understanding how this was classified as a game when it sort of wasn't? I just had a lot of trouble with it. As I said earlier, it was a somewhat difficult read for me as it was hard to follow at times (except for the main villain plot thing.)

Main Characters:

Isla Crown, Grimshaw Malvere - ruler of Nightshade, Oro Rey - King of Lightlark.

Main Antagonist:

Celeste/Aurora ruler of Starling.

Supporting Characters: Azul, Cleo, Ella, Poppy, Terra, Juniper

MAIN CHARACTERS

Isla Crown:

Description: Isla has long, dark brown hair, green eyes, and tan skin.

Thoughts on Isla:

I personally did not like Isla as a main character. She infuriated me way too much. I understand that she has been manipulated by every single person in her life from the day she was born, and that does have a lot of consequences and effects on someone's life, however, I just didn't connect with her as well as I expected to. I have read a lot of fantasy series where the main character is a woman, a lot of them even younger than Isla's character, and a lot of them have also gone through very traumatic experiences (yeah, I know, trauma is trauma and people are allowed to react and feel differently because any experience is unique to the person). I feel like, Isla could have been written in a better way that showcases so much more of her strengths and her abilities as a supposedly fully trained warrior leader of the Wildling realm. As I mentioned earlier, it was difficult to swallow the fact that Isla keeps on boasting about her extremely harsh training that she received ever since she was a child, however it's still very easy for her to be taken advantage of, beaten and be basically helpless and be a damsel in distress negating all of the training that has been beaten into her bones and body, and then she suddenly becomes this well-trained girl who is one with her skills and abilities when the plot suits it.

Grimshaw Malvere, ruler of Nightshade:

Description: Grim is tall with pale skin, black eyes, black hair, and a dimple on his cruelly cut face.

Thoughts on Grim:

Where do I even begin? Grim is my favorite character out of all the people currently known to us in the Lightlark universe. Maybe I'm just being extremely biased, because he does feel very Rhys coded to me and I am absolutely in love with Rhysand (from acotar). Other than that though, I do love how Grim is written in a way that is very playful. I also love how he is very unconditional towards Isla. (Yeah I know, shit move on the memory erasing thing, but come on, we have to give him some leeway about that. More on that later) An example I have about him being unconditional towards her, whenever she asks him something that is absolutely within his power to answer, he doesn't act all high and mighty like the information only belongs to him, he answers as honestly as he can. He doesn't make her 'work' for the truth or the answers that she seeks as if she isn't worth honesty. Another thing I like about him is how he seems more than willing to sacrifice something about himself for the good of Isla (I absolutely love to see a whipped man for the main character). An example of this is how he was more than willing to expose his own flair when Isla's secret about her not having power was revealed by Oro just to make sure that Isla would be safe, away from the other rulers who might have nefarious plans for Isla. I also love how he  helped her move from the palace to the Wildling fortress no questions asked. Anything for Isla, anything she asks, he does. Anything she needs he gives with no conditions. Especially with the black diamond necklace he gifted Isla for whenever she's in trouble, I loved that so much. Grimshaw Malvere has shown us through his actions multiple times already how he is someone Isla CAN and SHOULD trust even though his own words say otherwise. More on the stuff about him feeling very Rhys coded to me is the tortured soul vibe I get off of him. Yeah sure, you can justify it as him feeling tortured because he did wipe Isla's memories for an entire year , but it kinda feels like it's more than that you know? I just have so many things that I love about Grim, and I hope that we get to know more about him in the next book. I hope we get to know him more, how he actually acts in his realm, what is important to him other than Isla, how he thinks, how he feels and why he acts the way he does. Let's not forget all the times that he refers to himself as a monster, how he always says that he is playing a role that is already expected of him by the other rulers--he must have a reason for that. There must be something that he is trying to protect in his realm, in his lands, or something that he is trying to expose which could be the reason that he acts the way he does. Now, I do understand that Grim is a controversial character for most readers because of the memory stealing thing that he did for Isla, I get it, that was definitely violating on so many levels, however, we should still give him some leeway about the fact that he was also manipulated by Celeste/Aurora. Remember, he suddenly inherited the power of his father when his father died for the prophecy to break the curse, and at this point Celeste/Aurora was already hundreds of years old, so she was already a conniving bitch, and as per the book, the Nightshade realm and Grimshaw are the only ones standing against some greater evil that Oro doesn't even want to explain to Isla (because he's manipulative like that. More on him later), so there must actually be MORE to him and how he is important to the story than we actually know. I know I'm rambling, but I just have so many thoughts about him and as much as I try to organize it, I just want to gush about him.

YES I AM A GRIMSHAW MALVERE APOLOGIST.

Oro Rey - King of Lightlark, ruler of Sunling:

Description: Oro has blond hair, gold eyes and fair skin.

Thoughts on Oro: 

I don't particularly like Oro. Yeah I get he saved Isla in the first part of the Centennial, but he really only saved her for his own purpose not because he actually loves her. I also understand that he is an untrusting person because he had been played and plagued by people who want to get close to him because of his status as the King of Lightlark, however, with the many changes of his personality, attitude, I don't even believe any of the faces that he shows us in the book. Oro to me, feels very icky. In a sense that he is not very forthcoming with information. Every time Isla asks him questions, he either dodges it or makes Isla work for the answer, he withholds information as if no one else is deserving of the truth other than he. He is a very conditional person, and I guess I just don't agree with people or characters that always have conditions for everything. I don't like how secretive he is, it doesn't feel mysterious for me, It feels manipulative. Especially with his sudden decision to kill off Grim. It felt very convenient how he and the other rulers just suddenly decided to off Grim just like that. It feels like he and the others were already planning something for Grim because he wasn't even invited by Oro in the past few Centennials and was only invited to this one when Isla would be playing. It just feels like there's more bad to him than good.

MAIN ANTAGONIST:

Celeste/Aurora:

Description: Celeste has a long, straight sheet of hair and a heart-shaped faced.

Thoughts on Celeste/Aurora

From the moment I read about her, she was already feeling kind of sketchy and shady for me. The way she was written didn't feel like she was someone I could trust. She loved to restrict Isla, and loved to remind her how she was weak and insignificant and needed protection. From those things alone, I already felt like she had something to do with the curse. It seemed like she was in the business of minimizing Isla as much as she can, she also seemed to always be in the most convenient of places to make sure she can reinforce her agenda of protecting Isla as well as the idea that she needs help. I understand she was supposed to be written as a major betrayal, however, it was very easy to follow the trail of the villain back to her. Just studying her actions, her words, what she does are kind of some flags pointing towards her.

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS:

Azul, Cleo, Ella, Poppy, Terra and Juniper.

I loved how friendly Azul was to Isla, and I am very sad for him in regards to what happened with his husband. Cleo felt like she was planted as an obvious choice for Isla to hate, or be suspicious of, though I do like her as a ruler because it was shown just how loyal her subjects are to her, and how far she'll go to protect them. Ella was very easy to like. She made me feel like she's someone I want to protect. With regards to Poppy and Terra, I am able to understand why they did what they did to Isla and her parents, however I cannot accept or ignore it. What they did to Isla--gaslighting her, manipulating her, lying to her, that is something that I cannot understand nor accept. I don't get why it was just skimmed over, I get it it was nearing the end of the book, but come on. I really hoped it would have warranted a little bit more of a reaction from Isla. She had more of a reaction towards Grim than them which was really rude imho. Out of all the supporting characters, I would like to see more of Cleo, and see how she plays into the plot of Lightlark.

Theories

Do I have theories about Lightlark? I'm not sure if these actually counts as theories, they're more like hopeful predictions for me, maybe even wishful thinking. Haha.

Mainly, I hope that the second book would be better written than the first in a way that it would be less difficult to follow, and it would have a more consolidated approach to the information we would need to understand the lore of Lightlark.

Now, for what I think will actually happen in the next book, I just have a few thoughts to share. First, I think that when Isla regains her full memories about her time with Grimshaw, she will understand further why Grim did what he did. Second, I think that Isla is going to find out the truth about the darkness/evil that the Nightshade realm is standing against, and I think Isla will find out that Oro is either behind that evil or he has something to do with it, and in a way has either convinced the other rulers to side with him or he has tricked them to side with him. I think that Isla will go back to Grim (because Oro feels more icky than Grim lol) and I do honestly think that something else is causing Oro's degeneration (the thing that's happening to his arm and body). I think we're also going to see how powerful Isla actually is when she finally trains her abilities as a Wildling ruler, and also her Nightshade powers plus the powers she got from winning the Centennial, and lastly, I think we're going to see just how Rhys coded Grimshaw Malvere actually is lol.

Will I be continuing the series and buying the next book or dropping it entirely?

I will be buying the next book -- Nightbane. At first I thought I would actually be DNF-ing the book, but I wanted to find out more about Grim, and after reading the last few chapters, I am determined to know more about him.

[strangeauthor]

12 & 20 for the book asks, if that's alright!

12. did you enjoy any compulsory high school readings?

ok so when i typed the numbers it got really large for some reason so that was weird

anyway yes i did! i enjoyed how the garcia girls lost their accents and the watsons go to birmingham!

20. what are things you look for in a book?

i often joke about that i look for who's gay but ive since retired that joke. in honestly i just want the author to like. engage me with the characters--regardless if the characters themselves are "relatable" or not. basically dont be lightlark lol

[spaghetti-academia]

My name is Spaghetti! My pronouns are he/they, and I'm 22 years old. TERFs and bigots are not welcome here.

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

I graduated from college, so now what does one do with their studyblr?

On this blog, you'll find: book reviews, book memes, and other book-related stuff! I may also post stuff related to movies and TV shows, but most of my posts are going to do with reading.

Important note: I like to read non-fiction. I do not agree with every author I read. Reading their book is not an endorsement.

Currently reading

Before She Sleeps by Bina Shah

The Bible (English Standard Version)

The Death of Democracy by Benjamin Carter Hett

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

Homestuck by Andrew Hussie (look for my Homestuck liveblogging)

July 1914 by Sean McMeekin

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

Lightlark by Alex Aster

The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Secret City by James Kirchick

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

key: fiction non-fiction webcomic

yes i'm aware that this is a lot of books

What genres do I like to read?

Fantasy & Sci-Fi - always been a huge fan of these genres. I'm a huge sucker for interesting worldbuilding, and I'd like to read more about soft/social science fiction

History - Learning about history is super important! It reveals a lot of about why things are the way they are

Society & Politics - I studied sociology and political science in college, and I want to keep learning.

What are some of my favorite books?

The Warriors series by Erin Hunter

Wolves of the Beyond series by Kathryn Lasky

World War Z by Max Brooks

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

I'm also participating in The Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do (HRCYED) by Qwordy!

Books I've read so far in 2024

[midiosaamor]

“i literally have 0 idea what to put here soo…” yeah okay lil bro

FANDOMS ?

shatter me. the inheritance games. the folk of the air. books. powerless. once upon a broken heart. a good girls guide to murder. this woven kingdom. the sturniolo triplets. lightlark. if he had been with me. spider man.

ARTISTS ?

the weekend. lana del rey. arctic monkeys. olivia rodrigo. chase atlantic. cigarettes after sex. isabel larosa. the neighbourhood. ari abdul.

FAVS ?

strawberries. friends. books. chase atlantic. reading. writing. music. meddle about. the weekend. shatter me. the inheritance games. red, gold, and black. aaron warner. grayson hawthorne. kai azer. anakin skywalker. motorcycles. joey lynch.

EXTRA !

minor. gemini. 5’5. brunette + glasses. sarcasm’s girl. introverted extrovert. adrenaline junkie. adhd book reader. bisexual. gen z but hates skibidi toilet. downtown + rich girl 🔛🔝. night owl. very talkative online. mixed lala and okok. hopeless romantic realist who keeps on crushing her dreams of finding the perfect guy. yes i do have anxiety and adhd and i swear to god if you say “youre just doing it for attention!!!” I LITERALLY GOD CHECKED OUT BY MY DOCTER AND IT GOT PROVED

other accs: @vampirel00rd ,, ouabh. @maklovesstars ,, powerless. @kingofardunia ,, this woven kingdom. @graysdarling ,, writing. @pip-fitzamobi ,, a good girls guide to murder. @savannahgrayson ,, the inheritance games. @angelbellx ,, dhr. @the-future-proprietor ,, dhr.

NOS ?

asking irl info. inappropriate questions. hate. messing with friends. being weird. over-stepping boundaries. missing the two chance rule. if isreal supporter, pro-lifer, russia supporter, pedo, porn account, DNI.

WHAT’S THE TWO CHANCE RULE ?

basically something i made up that i use in real life and online. you get two chances. if you mess up them, you get blocked. i will not give people three chances. two is my only limit. you will get blocked if you overstep my boundaries/nos/dni. no you wont be special and get another chance even if youre a close friend.

[west529]

Excerpt From Lightlark by Alex Aster

“And she didn’t love him . . . she barely knew him.

But shouldn’t he be afraid of what she was feeling now?

She pressed herself closer, completely against him, reading his reaction, surprising herself with her boldness. And Grim only laughed darkly. His hand ran a slow trail down her spine—then up once more. “Hearteater,” he said into her ear. “You’re killing me.”

I actually downloaded my tumblr again so that I can have a place to dump all my feelings about Lightlark cause I can’t contain all of this alone. 😭 But I’m quite surprised with the reviews I saw here!! It was well praised on Instagram as far as I know… and I am actually enjoying it. 😭 I am not that much of a reader so maybe I understand why some bookish people would have some negative opinions about it cause they know… hahaha anyways I’ll keep on reading and see how it really is. It’ll also be made into a movie so I wanna know how it’ll turn out. 😂

Huhu also don’t tell if you know, but I wonder if Isla will end up with Grim or Oro, or no one at all. 😭 I want it to be Grim cause maybe of all the mysteriousness and stuff. But Alex Aster is still playing with the emotions I guess at this part of the book! Hahahaha crazzzyy… why is Grim helping Islaaa I wanna knowww

[what-the-hecketh]

I posted 1,059 times in 2022

That's 352 more posts than 2021!

18 posts created (2%)

1,041 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@cowboy-garfield

@antichrists-tealover

@theparallaxview

@cold-egg

@officialeggsuprise

I tagged 411 of my posts in 2022

#posts that give you radiation poisoning - 12 posts

#posts that give you radiation damage - 8 posts

#what - 7 posts

#oh my god - 4 posts

#damn - 3 posts

#im losing my mind - 3 posts

#oh god - 3 posts

#i want to just live like that - 3 posts

#lol - 2 posts

#god yeah - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 135 characters

#yes im lightlark posting because i tried to finally finish the book after two months and had to stop after 2 chapters whats it to ya???

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Shakin and cryin rn

10 notes - Posted March 4, 2022

#4

New vid just dropped besties

12 notes - Posted August 31, 2022

#3

In other news

This is on Lalo's Wikipedia page right now.

20 notes - Posted July 11, 2022

#2

Blue

Something about Lalo in his blue shoes and Howard and his Hamlindigo...being, both buried under the structure where meth so pure it's BLUE is made.

GOD, , It's got to mean SOMETHING.

Two strangers, one who killed the other buried under two friends and business partners who will eventually refuse to kill each other.

GOD

21 notes - Posted July 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

For everyone calling Dream their little meow meow...I have great news about the bonus episode.

18,289 notes - Posted August 19, 2022

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