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Nightbane (The Lightlark Saga Book 2): Alex Aster (The Lightlark Saga, 2)

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Nightbane was a very anticipated read for me and I am so so forever grateful I was sent a copy. Because nightbane did not only NOT DISAPPOINT, but also EXCEEDED my expectations.

i dropped an early bad review of lightlark. i found it to be pretty shallow and silly, sparse in its worldbuilding and preoccupied with romance but. i guess that has a place. looking over that review, i stand by it and am here to report that the prose was less try-hard lyrical and adverby. the rest of the book however? I read MANY books, and somehow Alex weaves stories that stay with me, front and center—and make me wish desperately that I had more in front of me. Diversity? An attempt was made. As we learn more about the world, we see more people, and they're more diverse than in the first book. I have my criticisms about how in books like this, race only feels skin deep, but an attempt was made. Is it a successful attempt? It was a step in the right direction that's for sure. I really, really enjoyed LIGHTLARK. The whimsical fun, the mystery, the triangle, the anxiety and betrayal

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. We got significantly less "an x was an x thing". I still think the prose was not as terrible as everyone made it out to be to begin with, but there are construction issues and the entire thing is so poorly conceived and researched that it feels like there is. There were some neat metaphors in there. There were some less neat metaphors. Oro also has friends and his friends become Isla's friends and it's nice. Oro girlies we're winning battles, even though we will inevitably lose the war (a sequel has not been announced but it's probably going to get a sequel). Oro was not Tamlin'd (at least, not really in the way Tamlin was Tamlin'd). He has some screentime until maybe 40% of the book before it becomes the Grimshaw show.

The Average Citizen. Isla actually talks to average citizens in this book, but they're all single minded and one note it feels weird. These people don't have interiority or conflicting feelings. They are simply on Isla's side or they are not. Sometimes they switch between the two, but yeah, there isn't much more beyond that. This is especially true when she meets her own Wildling people.

Alex Aster Press Reviews

There's some 7th realm. I am cursed with a physical copy of this book and though the secret chapter in Grim's POV was focused on smut, there was a mention that he was battling these things called dreks so I'm gonna guess there's this evil realm that all the other 6 realms have to team up against but Isla will be the most powerful in stopping them I mentioned in my Lightlark review that I listened to an arc on audiobook. I read Nightbane with my own two eyes, so... I do think that made a lot of the structural issues and prose issues more relevant. But before I get into the negatives, I'd like to discuss the positive Personally, I'm hoping the following comes true (not because I'm invested, but because I've digested enough of Alex Aster's TikTok content to infer the high likelihood I might be right): Isla. If a major criticism of Lighlark is how Isla is stupid and makes rash, emotional decisions, then the major criticism of Nightbane is how she's now aware she's stupid and makes rash, emotional decisions, feels insecure and stupid about it, and then continues to do so anyways. It's not imposter's syndrome if it's warranted sweetie. She's so insecure about all of this, she almost feels like a different character from the first book, but maybe that's because she had little personality to begin with and her appeal relied on how good she was at fighting and also how sexy she is. But she's also horny in this book too don't worry. If you're here, you've probably already read, or know about the infamous Lightlark. I really didn't know what to expect going into the sequel. I mean, I don't think anyone expected a huge jump in quality, but it would be interesting to see what improvements the author made. Were there improvements? Sort of? I don't know.

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