This is definitely a very solid and intriguing first book in a series. I loved the idea of flying horses and anything involving a tournament gets me excited. I also really liked the more political plot lines going on too, really added to keep the intensity of the book. The chapters were long enough to roll the story along and hook you in and make you question what will happen next.

Aluma is such a great character and I liked seeing her development throughout. The characters are great and the plot and world building were just so astrometric. I liked the fantasy, but also dystopian feel within this book. A great read. Would love to read more from this author or even more from these characters.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book.

I can say for sure this was a super interesting book in terms of setting, took a little time to get used to it (it’s quite busy)
But I liked how the plot mwould bed there wasn’t excessive time wasted on certain plot needs but I have to say the love triangle in this book needs work... they spend far too much time making each other jealous when the fate of the world (& your dad) is on the line! That felt very teenage and of course younger readers will probably love it but as a slightly more mature reader it got a little repetitive but overall I enjoyed the book and will definitely purchase a copy when it becomes available for my shelves!

I received a copy for an honest review via NetGalley.


I was drawn in by the cover. I love horses and the wings made it even more enticing.

You can tell the author was familiar and comfortable with horses which is also a plus when horses are in books. It bothers me when people don’t do research about horses or their subject matter.

This felt very hunger games meets divergent but in a fantasy world. It had a lot of YA tropes: "not like other girls" protagonist & love triangles. I predicated many of the plot points and wasn’t surprised when things turned out the way they did.

I would say similar things about the rest of the world-building and the plot points. It felt very seen that already.

This book is one for the horse lovers out there.

The first book in a new series finds a teenager, Aluma Banks, thrust into a fantasy adventure with flying horses and her struggle against a wicked Prince. To save a country she will have to depend on new friends. Keep reading and you will find an engaging story with characters to love cheer for and others to despise. story with characters you will want to love and cheer for, and others to despise.

A Light in the Sky is a warm, action-packed story that combines fantasy and magic with technology and dystopia, plus what really drew me to the book — flying horses! And that gorgeous cover.

There’s a lot I liked about this book: a brave heroine, Aluma, who makes real mistakes, a great supporting cast of friends, a strong father-daughter relationship, and a wonderful portrayal of the bond between humans and animals. The scenes with the horses really came alive.

I struggled a bit with the world-building, and understanding exactly what was happening in the wars between different countries, and what the general population actually knew and believed. The evil prince never clicked for me — he seemed a bit silly, as did a lot of the people and place names in the story. Aluma’s voice is fairly generic, which made it hard for me to get into the book at first.

There were aspects of the world that were very intriguing, though: I’m curious to know more about the relics and how the horses’ wings work, and what lies beyond the sea.

Overall I recommend this one to teen fantasy fans or anyone into younger fantasy novels, especially readers who love horses.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC for review.

I received a free eArc copy of this work in exchange for an honest review, thanks to NetGalley and Wink Road Press for the opportunity to read this story.

This is a semi-dystopic YA fantasy novel which follows a very naïve, horse-loving heroine on a journey of discovery, magic, and political revolution. This story reminded me a bit of Divergent, and was filled to the brim with YA and other fantasy tropes.

The worldbuilding stumbled a little bit on introduction. From the premise describing an aspirational soldier who wanted to be on a squad of elite flying horses I assumed more high fantasy historical-ish setting rather than what appeared to be post-magic/technology? setting. Having read other works like Mercedes Lackey's Hunter series or Kaylnn Bayron's Cinderella is Dead, I would have liked to see more layering of the history and a better explanation of how these ideas were more holistically integrated in to the world - ultimately as it was introduced it just seemed very jarring and at times I had trouble reconciling how the world should work. I would have liked to see a little bit more realism in terms of how she cared for her horses or other physical things in the story - there were too many times when a convenient servant analog would just show up and whisk away the horse, or person who needed care, or didn't account for actual things needed (which further emphasized the main character's demonstrated commitment to a lack of plan for anything ever, but more on that below).

The protagonist was rather a weak example of a female heroine - it followed the "chosen one" and "secret princess" tropes pretty closely, and I felt she lacked the backbone, charisma, and gumption needed to convincingly take power the way the plot did (all tell, no show). Her St. Crispin's Day speech was pretty lackluster and over the course of the book, she didn't really have to work hard, or strive, or develop very much as a character at all. And I strongly dislike when characters make bad, impulsive decisions which seem to only be for the sake of forced dramatic tension.

The relationships were the most challenging part of this story for me. The instalove cause of the love triangle was awful, and pointless, and really didn't help the plot except to add some very strange drama and maybe a setup or some nods to the Darkling situation in Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone'. I didn't like it. I also think that the instatrust between characters REALLY didn't feel at all earned and it would almost have been a relief to have some unexpected betrayals. The one actual betrayal that occurred was super obvious, but in a YA. I'll forgive it. I also feel like the villains weren't really all that villainous - sneering and moustache twirling and some kidnapping were about as bad as it got, so the stakes never really felt all that high for me.

Overall, the read felt like a bit of a slog, and while I can tell the author is full of heart and passion for her work, there were plot points that were SO sloppy and poorly written that I almost DNF'd this book several times. For example, 40% of the way through the book I started counting the number of times that "somehow" was literally and conveniently used to solve important plot problems and it was a VERY distressing amount. Things ended up being a bit too convenient and they felt unearned, so the conclusion was not actually very satisfying for me.

I wish the writer well with her future endeavors but I would not read any further with this particular story.

I wanted to enjoy this book but I really struggled to get into it and it was a major slog to get through it. The ideas were good if a little clique but I just didn't like the female lead character, something about her or the writing style just majorly put me off.

An all round good YA story filled with flying horses, friendship, love and the fight for balance and light.

The nitty gritty:

Just to get a few things off my chest- I was unure about the relationship between the riders and their steeds. Don't get me wrong, I understood that the relationship had to be one of trust and understanding but I felt some background was lost as to how the steeds suddenly understood language and what their riders wanted them to do.

There is a love triangle somewhere in the background ... but it had no real significance in my opinion. Maybe it was trying to bring more feeling/emotion to the characters.


What I loved

I wish this had been around when I was in my "horse mad stage"... A book about horses that can fly? Pass it over here!

The cover is stunning and instantly drew me in.

The writing is solid, it moves at a good pace although I felt some background to characters was lost.

The world and its torrain was easy enough to picture and I felt like I knew where I was.

Tension building was good too. Using chapter endings to keep the reader motivated to read the next page.

All in all a great read.

A light in the sky - Shina Reynolds

Ummm Not really sure what to say about this one. I couldn’t get into it and therefore didn’t finish it.

In A Light in the Sky, the first in a series, readers are introduced to Aluma Banks who dreams of soaring through the skies on the back of her winged horse just as her father did before her. Unfortunately, her father has forbidden her from ever entering the competition that would allow her to enter the Empyrean Calvary as a Rider. That is until an accident occurs and in order to save those she loves, she must enter the competition and train as a Rider. What follows is a fast-paced, unexpected journey into a world where war is looming, truth is not always what you think it should be, and adventure awaits around every corner. Author Shina Reynolds has created the first in a series that is sure to draw readers with a love for strong female leads, interesting characters and a story line that pushes readers to the end.

Thank you, the author and NetGalley, for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, congratulations to the author on her fantastic debut book.

Wow! That was a great read! Can I write spoilers in my review? Probably not! I’ll try hard to stick with the basics, although there are many things that I would like to discuss and share in my review.

At first, I thought I was reading a typical fantasy story, but soon I discovered that the world had advanced technology and futuristic settings. I LOVE it when the author mix fantasy with technology. You can sense some dystopian vibes (The Hunger Games) came to my mind while reading (I am a huge fan), so this is an extra reason why I was totally into this book.

The beginning was a bit slow, and there was a little bit of info-dumping (I don’t mind that at all, it set up the world perfectly), and the pace picked up quickly. If you like a page-turning book, then look no farther!

The characters were well developed and easy to love and connect to them. Aluma massively grew as the book progresses, and it was easy to communicate with her. Now I can’t wait to read the next book!

Overall, I highly recommend A Light In The Sky for fans of YA dystopian/fantasy stories.

I did not know what to expect going in this book but I was pleasantly surprised. The plot was well developed and intriguing but I especially loved the characters and the relationships developed throughout the book whether they are platonic, romantic, or family. This was a great debut novel and I will be happy to read another book by this author! Bonus point for the world-building which was incredible in this book.

This was a fantastic book. The story is well written, engaging, and crazily entertaining. I read it in one sitting because I couldn’t bring myself to put it down. Aluma is a beautiful character, and I'm dying to find out what happens next.

This book hooked me from the start, the story plot is gripping and the book just drags you in so you will not want to put it down, highly recommend this book, I was lucky enough to get an ARC copy and I will definitely be getting the paperback

It's an enjoyable young adult fiction book. It is not for everyone but if you love fiction you will like this

This is a YA fantasy novel about a young girl who dreams of being one of the elite group of riders who fly on winged horses. She secretly steals out of the house at night and breaks all the rules by flying her father’s horse. Of course, events change the course of her life and she ends up getting her chance and becoming one of the Empyrean riders. However, this means that she has to pledge her allegiance to the king who has conquered her country and forced her people into poverty.
For a debut novel, I was seriously impressed. A lot of it covers familiar ground: young people meeting in a school and forming relationships, rebelling against the ruling classes, a love triangle, however, the story moves along at a good pace and the world building is excellent. The world is revealed to us gradually as Aluma finds out how little of her world she understands. I also liked the elements of a dystopian future. Aluma is a strong main character who drives the plot forward. In a way, she is too central as I felt that all the other characters were a bit lacking in depth. I did feel that some of it was predictable, however, I still found myself thinking about the book and wanting to finish it to find out how it all ended up.

I haven't finished this yet as it's rather overly descriptive and kind of hard to get through. It is enjoyable buy a tad dry in places. Characters are a little scattered. Other wise very entertaining.

Reynolds creates interesting characters and explores many relationships such as father-daughter, sister-brother, love and even platonic ones. This book follows Aluma, who is forced to take part in a tournament after her father was mysteriously injured and although she is finally allowed to pursue her dream of flying, she learns the devastating secrets behind the king and the centuries-old war with Laithlann.

For a debut novel, this was actually really good. I enjoyed reading about all the characters and the plot was so wonderfully planned out and was unexpected in the right places. However, due to my natural bias against love triangles, badly written or not, I had to take off one star for the unnecessary trope (in this instance it wasn't really necessary because she met the other guy two days ago or something and he wasn't even the villain). And I 100% love that even with all the character development, she's still reckless and commits to her insanely stupid ideas.

Thank you netgalley for sending me a digital arc copy in exchange for an honest review!

A light in the Sky is a YA book about the adventures of a seventeen year old girl living with her dad and brother on a farm in Cintrenia, on the island of Eirelannia. Cintrenia is one of the kingdom ruled by King Breasal. The king and its retinue are from Tarmensil, capital of Uladmond. Its people are wealthy, rich and well fed. The king and his brother have been adding to their realm by annexing lands close-by. And Cintrenia is one of these annexed lands, where famine is on everyone's doorstep due to heavy taxes from the king. So rebellion is in the air. The last kingdom to be annexed is the kingdom on Laithlann which, to me, seems like New York under water. Tall skyscrapers, their base in water, define the capital city.
Aluma's dream is to become an Empyrean Rider and to fly a Pegasus-like Empyrean Steed. The horses have wings. How cool is that! Every year, at the Autumn fair, a tournament is held to select the next candidates to go to Galghesworp, the Riding training center. Aluma would like to compete but her father is dead set against it.
From there flows a really nice story on what happens to Aluma and her family. The story is full of friendship, love, filial duty but also betrayal, spite, heartache, hatred and death. As the book evolved, Aluma is faced with choices that will impact other people's lives and destinies, And these choices are not easy to make.

I like the story overall. It had a good rhythm, the key characters were well developed (i would have liked a little more details from the secondary characters), I had no issue turning the pages to find out what happened next.
What i didn't like as much were ..... the names. I am not sure why but they struck me as odd but i couldn't shake the feeling that they were very very odd. Also I am not sure about the timeframe of this story. Are we talking post-apocalyptic? what year or century? what happened to Eirelannia and when?
It would also help to know if this is book one of a series. If it is not, then this story needs a lot more. There are some ends that need to be tied: Aluma's mum and brother for e.g.

Overall a good effort from the author. I think that teens or young adults will really like this story, especially if you are into horses.

#ALightintheSky #NetGalley
thank you to Wink Road Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.