It was so fast paced, well written and left no crumbs!
The Characters were likable and also their development was amazing! Also the ending was perfect! It did leave you with a satisfying feeling because there were no questions left

With exciting new twists and plot points while maintaining its signature mysterious fantasy feeling. The lightstruck makes it one unputdownable read.

I honestly struggled with this one! I just couldn’t get invested in the plot at all, and almost feel like the first book would have worked better as a standalone. I pushed through because I didn’t get invested in book 1 til about 60% but this one just never clicked for me

DNF at 17%. This book just didn’t grab me the same as the first one. I was really looking forward to it but I just struggled to stay hooked, Just not as compelling as the first book, such a shame

The book left me feeling a bit disappointed. Despite my curiosity after finishing the first book, I found the story to be quite lengthy and slow-paced for the majority of it. There were moments when the pace picked up, only to slow down again shortly after. Towards the end, I started to lose interest. Even after Vesper and Co. were seemingly defeated by the king, I found myself patiently waiting for the resolution without feeling truly invested in the outcome. However, I did appreciate the ultimate resolution and how it shed light on the complexities of being human. One aspect that contributed to my dissatisfaction was the slow revelation of information, which mirrored Vesper's own journey. It felt like she only took action after countless pages, and it became frustrating.

The Lights Lightstruck was the perfect sequel to The Darkening. I love the characters, the storyline was fantastic and gripping. Would definitely recommend.

Unfortunately after only reading 2 chapters I had an error message come up every time to tried to open this book to continue reading. I uninstalled the app hoping that would fix the issue but it actually made it worse by removing the book completely ☹️. When I looked the archive date had passed. I have waiting several months before posting this review hoping my local library would purchase a copy as they have the first in the series the darkening but so far they have not acquired a copy. From what I did read it seemed to be a promising start and I really did enjoy the first book so fingers crossed the library gets a copy soon

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this title in exchange for this honest review.

Overall this was pretty good. I did find the start and sometimes the middle a bit boring, but the ending really made up for that!

Worth the wait! The Lightstruck continues the story from The Darkening and I really enjoyed the prose and interesting time jump. The plot was different from her previous book and made more exciting from the eyes of Vesper who’d been through so much after her ultimate sacrifice. The romance was filled with a very ‘will this happen or not’? Kinda storyline. Overall, I’m pleased with the outcome of this duology.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

The world of The Darkening was pretty immersive, and after the conclusion to the previous book I wasn't sure how Mara was going to even have a sequel! And actually, I think The Lightstruck doesn't quite live up to the promise of its predecessor. Playing with the concept of removing choice was a clever move as it could definitely be seen as positive rather than negative. I wasn't completely on board the Vesper-Dalca train (Cas all the way!). I'm also wondering if the mention of other cities is a tease for another future series...? But all in all it was a satisfying conclusion to the duology.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review*

Man, I loved this book. This was an exciting sequel from a dearly beloved book and author. I loved the characters, the world-building. Everything. I HIGHLY suggest you read this book.

Didn't find this as good as book one unfortunately but thought the beginning was really well done!!!!
Bought the Fl version to match my book 1. Thanks to netgalley for the arc

3.5/4 star

I loved The DArkening and The Lightstruck is even better. A strong, well written and gripping story featuring great characters
Loved it
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

It really hasn't been long since I read The Darkening - maybe two months? But I found this to be very confusing from the offset - I didn't understand anything about what was going on with the Great King and the Lightstruck, and I get that Vesper didn't either, but I think someone should have explained something a lot earlier on, because it made me feel a bit disinterested after a while.

The characters also felt completely different in this book - in the first book, they had distinct personalities and I liked each of them. In this installment however, they felt very interchangeable and boring. It felt like Dalca and Vesper barely knew each other - all of the buildup that happened in the first book felt like it completely disappeared.

I didn't love the first book, but it intrigued me enough to really want to read the sequel and find out what happened in this world and to these characters... and now I wish I'd just never found it. It was just boring, sadly.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the first one and this one did not disappoint. It kept me gripped throughout the story.
I liked seeing the characters development in this book but did feel that some of the side characters did get a little lost at several points.
The world building was once again fantastic and I absolutely love the magic system. It’s complex and beautifully written, I really enjoy this authors writing style a lot.
The plot starts off a little slower than I would have liked but it did pick up pretty quickly.
I enjoyed the ending and felt that it wrapped up everything nicely for me with this duology.

I look forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This series has some really brilliant world building, and I love the magic system! I wasn't quite as gripped by this book as I was by the first in the series, but it was still a solid fantasy and an excellent read.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

"If you should be so lucky as to be deeply defeated ... you will know what it means to be alive ... And if you should triumph over it, then go and find something greater to be defeated by."

I'm not going to summarise the plot as I usually do to avoid spoilers, so I'll just refer to my feelings about the book.

The sequel to "The Darkening" can't be described as slow, yet it dragged a bit in parts for me. Our FMC Vesper Vale is facing a new danger, that emerges from her actions in the first novel. Even those within her closest circle may not be who they seem. With many ordinary people worshipping her, the pressure is on to save not just those she loves, but everyone in the kingdom. The problem is, she doesn't feel like a hero. Self-doubt plagues her, so much so, that it becomes a little annoying. Come on Vesper – yes it's not easy to be the saviour but you have a lot of support. Believe in yourself a little!

What's positive about this book is that the male love interest isn't set up to be the one who rescues the FMC. The book isn't about how a relationship can conquer everything, but rather about finding strength within yourself to overcome obstacles.

A sequel that improves upon its predecessor!

There was a lot I liked about the first book, The Darkening, the world, magic system, and story felt fresh, still very YA-like in it's character relationships and overall themes, but it had more to it than the usual, more complexity, better writing, particularly in creating vivid imagery, and just interesting ideas. The first book lost me a little in the storm, which, unlike the rest of the book felt kind of vague and hard to visualise, for me personally, and just the idea of the characters 'facing themselves'- I dunno, it just lost me at that point.

So, the second book, I really wanted to see where it went, so was really pleased to receive and e-arc, though apprehensive, because, while I always give honest reviews, I do genuinely want to love all the books I receive arcs for, and feel bad when I don't, and because my interest in the first book had diminished towards the end, I wondered if the next one would be a disappointment...it wasn't!

The start of The Lightstruck was brilliant, an unexpected start, and the issues Vesper faces coming out of that opening sequence and the various beliefs and politics and reactions to her in the beginning of the book was really well done. There were still some ideas that I couldn't quite get my head around (the rainbow-coloured apparitions, for example, not sure about them), Dalca didn't have much to do, the side characters were very much side characters, and I did wonder if the main conflict was going to be a straight repeat of the first, basically switching one deity for another, but the resolution was so well done, I was really pleased, and the duology pacing was just right, it felt like a satisfactory ending to a story that wouldn't fit in a single novel, and would have been too stretched as a trilogy.

A higher 4-star rating than the first, though I may well re-read this, to see if it improves to a five on second reading given how much better this reads than some of my other YA reads this year.

The Lightstruck is a gripping read and continues on from The Darkening in this fantastic sequel. After reading The Darkening I couldn't wait for book 2 to come out, and am happy to say that it doesn't disappoint. Vesper faces many new challenges as she tries to find her place in the world now that the storm has ended. There are heavy expectations weighing on her from the new court, along with new threats, new faces, a new guard and new beasts. Together with Dalca, Cas, and Hadria she must find her way in this new world and face those that threaten her home.

I'm certain if you enjoyed the darkening that you'll enjoy the lightstruck too.
I was a little nervous at first because it was the set up of the storm encompassing the city and how they have to fight it that initially drew me in and I thought now that that's resolved the book might not have the same effect on me. But Mara's writing is beautifully descriptive and just pulls you in.
The book is a worthy conclusion with everything being neatly tied up at the end. The romance was more developed, it could've been more for my taste, bit as a side plot it worked.
The only thing that was a bit annoying is that initially Vesper was told nothing like she didn't just save all their asses? And everyone pretends everything is fine when it's clearly not for way too long. But other than that one things get going it's really fun.