Review: "Lightlark" by Alex Aster is BookTok hype at its absolute worst

I fell for the TikTok marketing. The author was all over my feed, promising a mix of The Hunger Games, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and epic fantasy. The viral videos made it sound like the next great YA phenomenon. I bought the hardcover, sat down with coffee, and regretted the hours I spent reading it.

Lightlark reads like a rough draft of a 2014 Wattpad story that desperately needed an editor. The world-building is lazy: realms and curses are introduced, but none feel fleshed out. The magic system makes zero sense and contradicts its own rules whenever the plot needs help.

Isla is supposedly a calculating ruler trained her whole life for a deadly tournament, yet she behaves like a naive, hormone-driven teenager and repeatedly makes the worst possible choice. The twists are telegraphed miles away and the romance has no organic chemistry. It is a masterclass in how an algorithm can sell a product with no substance. Save your money.