"This high-stakes opener to a high-concept YA fantasy series sees a deadly game play out amidst danger, deception, betrayal and romance."
Alex Aster’s Lightlark, the first book in the The Lightlark Saga series, sees the TikTok sensation serve YA readers a feast of cinematic fantasy centred on a deadly game. Suffice to say, the concept is sure to entice fans of The Hunger Games, with the story also delivering the lushness, romance and twisting secrets of novels by Leigh Bardugo and Sarah J Maas.
In a richly-imagined world, Lightlark island manifests itself every 100 years as the stage for the Centennial — a game that rulers of six different realms are summoned to play. The game is deadly, but success means said rulers will break the centuries-old curses that have been thwarting their realms. But there’s a catch — a ruler must die if the curses are to be broken.
Into this, Isla — ruler of a domain of despised Wildlings who are cursed to kill those they fall in love in with — finds herself having to lie and cheat her way to survival, while grappling with high-stakes matters of the heart.
Alongside the central story, fans of YA fantasy romance will love the gadgets and potions, and the lush, glamourous settings and breathless encounters.