Skyshade (The Lightlark Saga Book 3)

Great book and definitely team grim here. Can’t wait for the next one.

 I really wanted to enjoy this addition to the series, but I found it lacking compared to the previous books. The character development, plot direction, and overall foresight felt poorly executed. It seemed as though the creators didn’t put enough thought into where they wanted to take the story. Let’s start with Isla, the main character. Unfortunately, she follows a tired trope: the strong, beautiful, seductive woman whose only apparent flaw is her self-sacrificing nature—always willing to take the pain herself to protect others. In the earlier books, her most significant flaw was her lack of power/ lack of control. This is resolved far too easily within the first hundred pages; Isla conveniently gains immediate control over her powers by wearing bracelets or using the Skyre, eliminating any meaningful struggle or growth. This brings me to my biggest issue: Isla’s actions have no real, lasting consequences. If she injures herself, she has the Wilding elixir or Oro to heal her. She goes on dangerous, reckless killing sprees at night with no powers and somehow never gets injured or caught. She lies and betrays both Oro and Grimm, yet they remain hopelessly in love with her, ignoring her repeated dishonesty and manipulations. She’s used the Skyre which everyone warned would eat parts of her soul, the worst was some pain that dissipated overnight. and if I’m being more honest, until the end of the book, none of her actions were very helpful in accomplishing her goals. Her treatment of Grimm, in particular, is frustrating. As a partner, she’s terrible to him. The constant lying and emotional manipulation aside, the worst offense is her failure to tell him about the prophecy predicting she would kill either him or Oro. Somehow, she confesses this to Oro within a day of being with him but never tells Grimm, her twice-married husband, after living with him for months. And if she’s staying away from Oro to protect him, why isn’t she doing the same for Grimm, the one she supposedly chose? She deserves neither. Then there’s the matter of both Grimm and Oro—ancient beings who have lived for centuries. Neither has ever fallen in love or considered having children until Isla comes along? At only 20 years old, she somehow manages to defeat both of them in individual fights, which is utterly implausible. She was supposed to win lightlark by seducing Oro, and her guardians never taught her how to seduce- though this is mainly my gripe for the first book. The plot inconsistencies don’t stop there though. Isla seeks out multiple prophets, none of whom provide her with clear answers. She can’t use the portal stick in the sky, but she can in water. She travels to an island yet somehow misses the only cabin there. She realizes her mother had the ability to see the future but inexplicably refuses to activate this ability, even though she risks death multiple times to gain similar insights. And despite knowing her mother could see the future, there’s no evidence her mother left behind anything to help guide Isla through her challenges beyond that letter which still wasn’t helpful. And if we are being honest, Isla should already have her mothers flair since she killed her. Ultimately, this book felt like a step backward for the series. The lack of meaningful consequences, implausible character decisions, and unresolved plot holes overshadowed any potential it had.

This book did not feel like it was even part of the same series as the first two. The writing style seemed a lot more rushed and was very messy, and like what happened to the plot?? Most of this book felt fluffy and unnecessary, I loved the storytelling in the first two that I just felt was completely missing here. The “plot twists” did not make sense and felt more like afterthoughts. Very disappointed, honestly not interested in sticking around for the next book if this story is going to be drawn out in a way that’s not enjoyable. The only thing I’m rooting for at this point is Grim.

I can't wait until the next one comes out!

I loved all of the twists and turns in this book!

Grammatical errors, spacing mistakes, and a feeling of “cheap” fantasy storytelling riddled this book. The repetition of various tropes and conversations became old so quickly and there was no empathy for Isla from me as a reader because of the writing. If you’re really invested in this story, go ahead and read it for free on a library app. But if you don’t want to go through another version of Nightshade where she starts and ends around the same place, then don’t bother.

Overall messy plot, repetitive dialogue, felt rushed in the final scenes, ending abruptly in a ridiculous cliffhanger. Thought this was a trilogy? Should have been further developed.

idk what i expected but im done with the dragging out of the love triangle.Also wasn’t this supposed to be a trilogy? that ending did not give trilogy. The best part of this book was grim, honestly i only read this book bcs of him and all of his scenes and lines ABSOLUTELY DELIVERED(its a 2 star but ill give an extra one for him). Isla is so unlikable some times but it did give me some curiosity towards what the next book will be about.