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Lightlark #2

Nightbane

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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 struggling to win respect 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.

432 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2023

10873 people are currently reading
198291 people want to read

About the author

Alex Aster

18 books17k followers

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5 stars
61,108 (37%)
4 stars
65,355 (40%)
3 stars
28,291 (17%)
2 stars
6,263 (3%)
1 star
1,985 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 21,002 reviews
Profile Image for Helen Willis.
8 reviews9 followers
March 24, 2023
GOOD THING THERE IS A NEXT BOOK IN THE SERIES, BECAUSE THOSE PLOT TWISTS LEFT ME SCREAMING, CRYING, THROWING UP—

Hand the next book over, Ms. Aster. We are waiting.
Profile Image for Nora Halper.
1 review5 followers
March 27, 2023
If Isla doesn’t end up with Grim, this will be my villain origin story
1 review10 followers
April 2, 2023
idc what people say, I am #teamoro.
Profile Image for neeks ★.
118 reviews36 followers
December 20, 2023
4/5

you cannot put grim there and expect me to choose the blondie with the personality of a snickerdoodle
Profile Image for Yana.
175 reviews26.5k followers
May 10, 2024
WHAT AN ENDING!!! I mean, I’m gonna need 3-5 business days to process it. Oro is Tamlin 2.0 YOU CANNOT CONVICE ME OTHERWISE. I was team Grim from the very beginning, and stayed team Grim until the end. Live, love, laught Grim. I said what I said.
Profile Image for Batty.
30 reviews5 followers
November 11, 2023
**SPOILERS FOR LIGHTLARK #1**

These 1-star reviews because Isla didn't end up with Grim are ridiculous.
Yes, let's choose the person who schemed behind her back several times, lied, repeatedly erased her memories, and ignored her for weeks at a time??? and because why... a previous love history?? You don't do that to a person you supposedly love.

What's wrong with you all? Throw that mentality right into the trash. I'm happy she didn't go that route since I would've been mad. She had more connections elsewhere obviously.

I'm excited if there's book #2.




Edit: I have finished book 2. I'm intrigued. Still NEED the context behind the scheming 😭
Profile Image for Marianna Moore.
420 reviews55.7k followers
October 23, 2024
3.5 ⭐️ At this point I fear I cannot trust you if you are team Oro. Because where?!!!! How??? The fact that someone could read about Grim in Nightbane and think you know what, nahh im gonna go with the one with the personality of goldfish who she doesn’t even posses a small grain of romantic chemistry with….??? The math simply is not mathing. I was told the love triangle would get more difficult in book two…. Now I have trust issues. I fear I’m Oreo’s number 1 hater at this point because the more he opened his mouth the more I wanted crawl into a deep dark hole and never come out.

Exhibit fucking A

“I want to be the only person you glare at, Hearteater. I want to be the only person you insult. I want to be the only name you speak in your sleep. You know what? I want everything. I want to be greedy and selfish with you. I want all your laughs. All your smiles too. I would rather die than watch you smile at anyone that isn’t me.”

“My entire world was night, and you lit a match. No matter what happens to me in this life, I’ll find you in the next one. I’ll always find you. What I feel for you can never be extinguished. Like the nighttime sky, it is infinite. You and me . . . we’re infinite.”

Meanwhile Isla had to BEG Oreo to kiss her. Like pop off sir give us absolutely fucking nothing king!!!

Grim did not have to go so hard in this book I fear my obsession with him is going to make me check myself into a mental hospital. If this man is not end game I might actually have to hold a funeral for these books because I will burn them.

All that being said… this book was definitely better than Lightlark, but I have to be completely honest with y’all, I’m strictly here for Grim and Isla and the love triangle drama. The overall plot in this series is average at best. And there was far too much Oro and Isla in the begging of this book. It was a bit of a slog at first, but once I hit the 50% mark I simply could not put it down. I’ve said it before I’ll say it again, this is entirely a vibes read for me, I’m having a silly fun time but would I recommend it at the end of the day..?? HA I literally have no idea. I can equal parts see how people either love this book or hate it. The plot holes at points actually cracked me up because I thought I was starting to make things up in my head. But alas Grimshaw has me in a chokehold and I became blind to the issues with this book because of him.

Like….
“The gods don’t listen to people like me, but I would go on my knees and beg them to let me keep you. You were once the bane of my existence . . . and now, you are the center of it.”
DO YOU BLAME ME?!!!!!

Yeah yeah yeah he betrayed her. I will let you know when I find a singular fuck to give. FORGIVENNNNNNN

GO GET YOUR MAN ISLA DONT BE DUMB!!!!!

I need skyshade like yesterday. My mental well-being shouldn’t be so reliant on who Isla ends up with but like here we are.
Profile Image for caitlin.
187 reviews897 followers
January 2, 2024
did you know, radiohead copyright sued lana del rey for her song “get free” allegedly being too similar to “creep.”

as someone who has been listening to ok computer on repeat for the last month and had lana del rey as their top spotify artist this year, i feel uniquely qualified to talk about this.

because it’s kind of crazy, right? radiohead and… lana del rey. it’s ironic because the band famously doesn’t even like the song, “creep.” even more ironic, years before, a different musician won a copyright suit claiming “creep” was copying their song.

but we as a culture have been going after the wrong sensational lawsuits.

sarah j maas should sue alex aster for this duology. she’d win too.


okay, so getting into the actual book, this is a not a spoiler free review. i’m literally going to tell you the plot, so if you care, run run run as fast as you can and get out of here!

now that we’ve lost them, let’s get into it.

this is a bad book. it just is. the copy i read said it was 600 pages long, so that’s the metric i’m going to describe it by (it also felt 600 pages long), even though goodreads says it’s only 300 and something.

the first 400 pages were unbearable. absolute agony to read. it was 400 pages of isla (the fmc) and aster (the someone who decided to write this godforsaken book) trying to justify isla and her relationship with wonderbread. it was “isla went and did this,” “isla went over here and did that,” “isla is in love with him,” over and over and over except I DON’T CARE.
I DON’T GIVE A FUCK AND I DON’T WANT TO KNOW.

400 pages of yapping is just unacceptable, especially for a book that actually has an editor and publisher.

the writing is also just not super nice, and if there were issues with the world building in the first book they are more than apparent now. to an infuriating degree.



so yes, it’s an objectively bad book. but that said, damn it, i got kind of invested. so i have A LOT of opinions about the stuff that happened in it.

for the sake of continuity, i’m going to be really clear here to avoid confusion:
i have nicknames for the love interests.
oro will be referred to as either wonderbread or an old man or my personal favorite, “walking chastity belt,” or some combination of the three.
grim = rhysand. and i’m just going to call him that too.



there was no action or interest in the first 400 pages at all:
just a girl i don’t like dating a guy i don’t like and doing things i don’t care about. the only reason i had the strength to keep going (because otherwise i spent this whole book rage-quitting even 15 or so pages) was because i needed to know if it would fix itself.

i don’t particularly like isla and i don’t like either of the “love interests,” oro or grim, but she should not have been with oro. if i didn’t like grim, i ACTIVELY DISLIKE oro.

what the fuck do you mean i had to spend 400 PAGES WATCHING THIS CRUSTY OLD MAN AND HIS CHASTITY RING TURN HER DOWN OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND LIKE PHYSICALLY REFUSE TO TOUCH HER.
THAT WAS PAINFUL. THAT’S FUCKING CRUEL.

“hey babe, so i’m in love with you and all and you’re like super hot, but no so i actually don’t want to touch you. i need to be really stoic and vaguely reference to chivalry for a bit, so you can just get fucked, i guess.”

are you serious.
unfortunately, aster is.

anyways, long story short, turns out isla was getting it on w rhysand before all the events of book 1 but things went south and so he took away her memories (after she asked him to, I KNEW IT!!!), hence why she couldn’t remember any of that and chose oro at the end of book 1.
she gets her memories back bit by bit this book—which ended up being the only enjoyable part of the book—and yeah, she ends up w rhysand. but only BARELY.

I STOOD THROUGH SO MUCH SHIT ONLY FOR HER TO BARELY END UP W HIM. like, she left with him in the final scene, sure, but they didn’t save the world. nothing was wrapped up. she went with him BEGRUDGINGLY. this is not the happy ending i wanted, but it’s also not the tragedy i would have taken, so it’s just boring instead.

but the saddest part is there was potential here! there really was. despite how cliche it is, isla’s confusion between grandpa and rhysand was real! i didn’t know what she would choose and the tension could have been SO GOOD.
i shed a tear towards the end. granted, i cried more from seeing a squirrel fall off a power line about two weeks ago so maybe that’s not as important as it sounds, but i swear IT COULD HAVE BEEN GOOD. AT LEAST A LITTLE.
it’s a shame it wasn’t.


and lastly, the acotar allegations.
i’ve seen people (me) alleging that this is just like acotar (it is).
and i have to tell you, they’re true, they’re all true!

this could win a copyright suit, unironically.

everything reads just like sjm. rhysand 4.0 and her relationship with him, the things that isla does, her relationship with grandpa (who has the power of sun and growth and lives in a castle and has blonde hair… remind you of anyone?).
deadass there was a whole scene where isla wears a small black dress fashioned EXACTLY like the one feyre wears in the court of nightmares to go outside with grim and ends up sitting on his lap.
it’s not even trying to be creative.

anyways, i think that’s it. i definitely have more complaints i just don’t have the memory to remember them, so i guess aster gets off this time.
Profile Image for Phoebe Fallon.
8 reviews59 followers
March 31, 2023
Lightlark was the best book I’ve read in a long time and I am IMPATIENTLY awaiting this sequel.

Oh and Team Oro.
Profile Image for Madi.
2 reviews2 followers
Read
November 5, 2022
I don’t think it’ll be easy but, I think, if the author truly tries hard enough, this will prove to be somehow worse than the first one!!
Profile Image for Sandra Rosas.
11 reviews7 followers
March 24, 2023
Lightlark kept me reading until 4am. I suspect the sequel will yield similar results.

Can’t wait.
Profile Image for Elaina McClendon 📚🌸.
391 reviews38 followers
December 26, 2023
Let me preface this by saying I truly didn’t care who she was gonna end up with. Also, dnf at 52% because I honestly don’t care anymore.

To keep this review simple, Sarah J. Maas should sue Aster. I don’t care what y’all gotta say. This is just Aster blatantly copying SJM’S characters and all the way down to the actual writing. I wish I could provide examples of sentences that look too similar to what SJM would write, but I don’t have the copy. I didn’t care enough to actually buy the book.

The one star is reserved for the astronomical level of smut and it being too much alike SJM’S acotar series and writing.

Grim is a terrible love interest because there was literally no chemistry between him and Isla. No, idc what y’all say. Oro is a terrible love interest as well. And yes, it was very predictable. I knew who she was gonna end up with by the time I was on chapter 10 I believe.
Profile Image for Felicity Reads.
129 reviews
Want to read
March 13, 2023
Whatever you do, DON'T TURN ORO INTO TAMLIN. Thanks, bye.
Profile Image for Andreea.
1 review1 follower
July 25, 2023
I NEED ORO AND ISLA. I’m team Oro 4life
Profile Image for Madison Kait.
191 reviews4,616 followers
June 30, 2025
4.5!! this series, the world, the magic is soooo fun
Profile Image for Carolina Garcia.
1 review3 followers
April 2, 2023
8 months before publication, and the book is already #1 on Barnes & Noble and Amazon. I guess I’m not the only one counting down the days
2 reviews4 followers
March 24, 2023
I'm so excited for this second book. I have read lightlark twice and truly am wondering where Aster is going to go next with this story.
2 reviews4 followers
April 2, 2023
wow... I assumed this would not come out until 2024. Guess it's time to reread lightlark!
Profile Image for isa ౨ৎ.
110 reviews149 followers
July 29, 2024
₊‧ ୨୧ 4 stars

꒰🗡️꒱ “𝐢’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬… 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞”

SPOILERS FROM LIGHTLARK !!!!

this was definitely better than lightlark. the writing style has improved a lot so i was hooked from the beginning. my favorite part has definitely been the chapters between grim and isla, remembering what they experienced before. i loved seeing how they got to know and love each other 💌 at the end of lightlark you could see how much grim loved isla and even though he betrayed her you can see that isla didn't stop loving him either in this book

⋆ ˚。⋆୨ “𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡. 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐢’𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐢’𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝. 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞. 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞… 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞” this quote is my favorite by far. i truly believe grim would destroy the world for isla 🧎🏻‍♀️

⋆ ˚。⋆୨ “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞… 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭”

i am still loyal to him although i have to admit that in the first part of the book i became very fond of oro. “𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭”
but always #1 defender of grim !! also, throughout the story it is noticeable that isla and oro no longer have the same chemistry that they once had (i hope it's because the author wants an endgame for grim and isla 🤭)

anyways, the story? in the first book it was more interesting but i really liked seeing how isla began to control her powers and finally was able to help her people. i have grown more fond of her this book 🫂 it makes me so happy to see that she can finally connect more with her mother, thanks to lynx.
but honestly, all i cared in the book were grim and isla 🤭

but hear me out. I NEED THE NEXT BOOK NOW. i love that ending and i want to know what happens next 😩 pls grim endgame, that’s all i ask for skyshade 🫠
Profile Image for naz .
397 reviews703 followers
November 21, 2024
“𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝑰 𝒅𝒐. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏.”

✨Hello ✨ it has taken me WEEKS to write this review because if i'm honest im scared for book #3 due to all the reviews I been seeing. But DUH I will read it because how book #2 ended i'm sorry butttttt WAAAATTT! 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭

Since this is book #2, I won’t spoil anything for you but seriously, you NEED to read this series! It’s a YA fantasy where Isla plays a dangerous game involving Lightlark (the magical isle at the center of their world). After the curse from book #1 is resolved, you’re immediately thrown into a new problem that sets up an entirely different plot. And, of course, that means you also enter the love triangle 😭💔 Prepare to have your feelings twisted, tangled, and thoroughly confused… and then suffer some more :)

“𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 . . . 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒃𝒚𝒆.”

This book was so fun and easy to dive into! But let me tell you, I wanted to grab Isla, shake her, and scream, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING" but that is what makes reading fun to be frustrated with the fmc and be in love with the mmcs right?? 🙃 I really hope i'm right 🫠

⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.
this finally arrived from libby, am I scared?
✨Abso-freaking-lutely✨
Profile Image for tyrosine.
273 reviews114 followers
April 30, 2024
EDIT (4/30/24): FINALLY FINISHED.



let's start off with the important things, I got BINGO woo


Hard as she tried, I think Aster had to acknowledge some of the criticism she received for Lightlark. But honestly, her biggest crime (beyond being a failed TikTok singer who can't write) is the fact this book was so fucking boring. My friends were making fun of me for being dramatic (I am in fact, dramatic), but I think my intense dislike of this book was fueled by how much of a waste it is. Waste of publishing. Waste of opportunity. Waste of paper.

Aster continues to get undeserved accolades for subpar writing. If I was in her boots, I'd lean into the absurdity of my success and make the plot go haywire! Instead, she's desperately trying to prolong the tail end of the ACOTAR romantasy craze with cardboard cut out broody men and a vapid self-insert who is a lacklustre presence for the entire duration of the novel. Do you know how bad it is when the second lead guy has more interiority than your main character??? Oro is king of Lightlark, constantly wrestling between his responsibilities and personal aspirations; he's gifted with a Flair for determining honesty (stupid name by the way. if I get started, every naming convention in this series is as creative as a 3rd grader who's watched Winx Club for the first time AND WINX CLUB IS 13343245239X BETTER); he is in love with a woman with a past that he isn't afraid of. At every turn, Aster tries to make us hate this man and it's hilarious because there's clearly nothing wrong with him. She can't Tamlin him and I know she's hates that she's backed herself into this corner.

Grim is just a shit character. There's literally nothing compelling about him. He is a Walmart Rhysand who has no depth. We're constantly visiting Nightshade but there's never any information about what that realm is like. The most I got was that Nightshade people wear scanty clothes and live in darkness. ACOMAF I won't defend you, but just know that you did the broody morally grey shtick better. It's so funny because Oro and Grim cannot be distinguished from each other. In both the Oro x Isla and Grim x Isla love story, it's broody man who is untrusting of the quirky Wildling girl until she gets past their defense and gets them to fall in love with her. Same person in different fonts, Isla sucks regardless.

EDIT (4/7/23): oooh I was so close with the title. how many bets Nightbane is a secret item/ingredient etc that Isla has to find in Nightshade

I'm hopped up on Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Pretzel Nuggets and struck with inspiration so I present to you all: Lightlark 2 Bingo Card


(Posting a second time for the mobile users lmao)
description

Bingo Card Alt. Text
Isla is #traumatized (ACOMAF vibes)
sequel is called Nightshade
“Grim grinned”
conflict w/ Moonling realm
Isla x Oro ship killed within first 20-40% of book
flaws in Starling world building never addressed
Oro gets Tamlin'd
something with the Wildlings who don't eat hearts
only Grim can teach her how to use her powers
"X was an X thing"
v Isla x Grim spicy scene (even tho this is YA??)
"Wildling" (flirty)
Free Space
Isla in pretty dress that she hates bc she's #different
Cleo gets mean girl redemption
Isla embraces her sexuality for seduction
Isla gets a Nightshade girl best friend bc feminism
secret 7th realm
Grim has ~trauma~ (mommy/daddy issues)
Isla does something with a sword/weapon proving she's ~strong~
ACOTAR dupe
Azul still has no personality as token Black character
Isla either 1. gets ALL the powers or 2. loses all her powers
something with the "dreks" where Isla stops them all w/ Grim
"Hearteater" (flirty)

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):

- Sequel is called Nightshade (duh, Isla is half Nightshade because her dad was some Nightshade general and all signs point to Isla x Grim endgame)

- 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

- Speaking of smut. Ha, remember when Alex Aster's Booktok besties got on this forsaken website to defend her book by insisting it was meant to read dumb because it's written for 12-13 year olds? Side eye, CalvinBooks...SIDE EYE. I expect at least one very cringy attempt at steamy smut between Isla and Grim, not Isla and Oro - he's blonde!! We all know the blonde ones hardly make the cut in today's fantasy love triangles. R.I.P. Oro, you will not be missed because of that weird body-count conversation you had with Isla in the caves. What was that lmao.

You all might say I'm a hater, and you're so right. I'm vibrating with excitement for this book to come out. Heck, I might even be surprised with the improvements Alex Aster makes! Knowing how she's responded to feedback though, and the several yes-men surrounding her...she's gonna keep doing what she does.
Profile Image for Zainab Unnisa.
54 reviews1 follower
May 20, 2023
I don't care what anybody says. I am team ORO. And I want isla and oro to end up together. That's ittt.
Profile Image for Kaven Hirning.
Author 12 books2,799 followers
October 28, 2023
Well……. I am at a lost for words.
I really, really enjoyed LIGHTLARK. The whimsical fun, the mystery, the triangle, the anxiety and betrayal
(and grim. Most of all grim)
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.
Let me tell you something,
Come in close….. closer!!
THIS BOOK IS A HIT AHHHHHHHHHHH THAT ENDING AHHHHH!
*screams violently into your ear*
The second half of this book was what really got me going. Once the pieces started to click, there was no stopping that train. I genuinely lost my mind at the end there. It’s been a few hours and I’m still pacing!
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.
I simply devoured this book.
My Team Grim mentality has only grown stronger.
The world, the stakes, the powers, love and angst grows exponentially.
The spice???? Well.. no one can say this reads ya anymore WHEWWWW 🥵
I’m ANXIOUSLY and IMPATIENTLY awaiting the third installment. I loved this book so much.

ALSO:
If you’re one of those BOZOS who thinks I’m paid to say I like this book, please gtfo. I’ve never been paid for a review except with sweet, sweet stories. I feel the Grim scenes were payment enough. THATS MY MAAANNNN 🗣️ 👏

Already ordered the b&n copy with bonus scene!! Cannot wait to explore more in this world!! (And more of Grims body)
Profile Image for nat ⟡.
148 reviews216 followers
November 3, 2024
I fear we need to talk about this book.

I am downright the most adamant hater for love triangles, enemies to lovers, and smut in general. And yet, I gave this book a 5 star rating, even though it contains all of those despicable attributes and poor attempts at romance.

Why? No clue 👍

This book is everything to me, it rearranged my heart and rediscovered my soul. And I’m sure should it be totally different characters I would absolutely dread it.

Is the world building good? No
Are the characters likeable? Not particularly
Is the plot good? Heck no
So is this a good book? I DON’T CARE

Sticking with my five star rating, this will always be my guilty pleasure. Speaking from the heart 🫶
Profile Image for alistair :3.
34 reviews2 followers
April 15, 2024
i think isla should get a girlfriend ---
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