“Skyshade” by Alex Aster is the third book in the Lightlark series. With the first book in the series being “Lightlark” featuring Isla, the main character and her troubles during the continental. 

The continental is a game that happens every 500 years on the Lightlark island. The games consist with the ruler of each realm competing, with the last runner up being extinct along with all of their realms. 

I personally enjoy the book’s theme of each realm having its own aesthetic making it its own. This allowed for a unique flow and structure of the story, leaving me intrigued to unravel more realms as I read further through the chapters.

Realms are the different places one can live, each one with different powers, strengths, weaknesses, and curses. Once born into a realm, you are unable to switch. They do this to try to get rid of the curses set on each realm at the last centennial, 500 years ago. Now it’s time for Isla to participate to save herself and her realm.  

Grim is the ruler of Nightshade and fell in love with the main character Isla, but Oro the King of Lightlark also fell in love with her. Isla needed to fulfill the prophecy, which was to kill either Grim or Oro to save the work from Lark Crown, the creator of the Lighlark world. 

“Skyshade” is about how Isla had to choose Grim to end the war between Lightlark and Nightbane. It goes through her and Grim having to be more acquainted with each other so she can become the new queen for Nightshade. 

The Lightlark series is one of my favorites, and I love Alex Aster’s writing style. It’s so unique compared to other authors’ books I’ve read. Aster is a fairly young author, making her writing so relatable to young adults, that I automatically feel more connected with her books and characters. 

The ending has to be my favorite part. It shows how she has grown in strength and knowledge throughout the book, how she learns about her past and present, strengthening her realms and relationships in the process. I love how she ended the book with a cliffhanger, It makes me more excited for when her new books come out for this series. 

I love this series because of how relatable this book is emotionally, and I believe this is the top book on my favorite list. It’s a funny romance thriller fantasy that is still appropriate for teenagers which I appreciate. 

If you love books with fancy, royals, thriller, and a little romance this book is definitely for you.