*✩‧˚ 𝟰 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀 ੈ✩‧₊˚

"𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗿｡"

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

I have followed this authors journey for some time now and I have been highly anticipating the release of this book! I already have my special edition on pre-order so I was stoked to get the chance to read this before the release date!

I was immediately sucked in to this story the minute I started reading. It is quite fast paced and we are very quickly thrust into the main plot after getting a glimpse of our protagonists backstory. That would be Alexis, or Lexi for short.

𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀
╰➤ chosen one (or four)
╰➤ morally grey MMC
╰➤ found family
╰➤ fantasy adventure
╰➤ elemental magic
╰➤ high stakes quests

𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧
Lexi has grown up being plagued by not only the hallucinations of the Shadow Man, but an element of control this figure has had over him - creepy AF not gonna lie 🫣. But his visions have subsided and he craves the normal life of a teenager - that is until he literally falls through Stonehenge into an elemental world with his BFF and two strangers while out on a trip. Our four main characters soon find out they were destined to meet, that they are the children of the elements, each with a unique elemental power, and that they are to go on a quest together to find the elemental stones that will release each of their magic to it’s fullest potential so they can save the world from an eternal darkness (and breathe!) - a lot for a teenager to take in, no? 🤣

The world-building was amazing and so very well written, I love how we learn everything at the same time as these kids so it is very east to keep up with the story. The authors writing is honestly beautiful, I have never really been one for visualising what I am reading but I found myself feeling like I was watching the events of this book through my own two eyes. Also, some of the quotes I highlighted in this book!! I felt like the author was talking to my very soul, honestly felt like I was in bloody therapy in places 🥹

"𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴｡"

"𝗜𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀, 𝘄𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴｡"

"𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 ｡｡ 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱｡"

𝘉𝘙𝘉 𝘊𝘙𝘠𝘐𝘕𝘎 😭😭😭

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦
I love how the author gradually introduced the characters at pivotal moments throughout the book, it never felt info dumpy, which I appreciated. We meet Lexi, his family and his best friend Demi first, then we meet Blaise and Caeli at a time when the story really takes off. It is found family at its finest and I particularly loved the verbal sparring between our four main characters.

🌊 𝗟𝗲𝘅𝗶 - hello morally grey! My god this boy is as mysterious as they get. I don’t think we have even scratched the surface with this character and I am so eager to know more about him, his father, his dreams, Nero, Incantus, the shadow man - good gods - I feel like there has been some major foreshadowing in this book!

🍃 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗶 - love her as Lexi’s best friend, she is so loyal, really just sees the best in everyone and much like her element is so very down to earth.

🔥 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 - his ‘lad’ energy is epic and his confidence bounces off the page. The way he instigates a bunch of the verbal sparring makes him such a fun character, but he has such a big heart deep down.

🌪️ 𝗖𝗮𝗲𝗹𝗶 - it took me longer to warm to this character but I really grew to like her, she puts up a front that comes off a bit cold in places but she is so sensitive deep down, feeling the need to prove herself constantly.

Special mention to 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘂𝘀 too! Incantus to Lexi was like Dumbledore to Harry Potter, like Gandalf to Frodo, I loved him as his mentor but as his friend too. I still think there is so much more there to uncover though and I can’t even with my anticipation for the next book!!

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝟱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀｡
This wasn’t quite a five star read for me for a couple of reasons. Our main characters go through some vigorous training together when they first learn of their quest .. mission .. thing! (LOTR fans know what I did there!) While we got to see some of the training I felt like there was more telling than showing in parts. I wanted to really feel like I was learning with these kids, what they can do, what their elemental magic means to them, watch them fail and learn from one another. I believe this whole part of the book spans over a few weeks but it all felt very quick to me on the page.

The next was the way this “fantasy” world runs alongside the “real” world. Things are done so that the real world are oblivious to the goings on in our story and at times it took me away from the fantasy. I want to enjoy my book without worrying about what Janice and Bob think who just so happen to be walking up the same mountain as me while we fight some elemental creature (that totally doesn’t happen in this book but I hope you get my drift), I want to be fully immersed without worrying about the real world.

Finally the romance, while it was there, and when it was there IT HIT! I just wanted a bit more. What we got was cute and adorable and yes I was kicking my feet at times, but I thought I would get more romance going in to this so I do hope there is more in the next book. That isn’t to say I didn’t love what we got though, because 𝗜 𝗟𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗧 𝗨𝗣!

"𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿｡ 𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴｡"

𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦
All in all this was a blooming cracking debut and I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience. I loved the characters, I loved the plot, there were some shock twists and a damn cliffhanger that we all hate to love 😆

“𝗜𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗺𝘀” - unforgivable, this was UN.FOR.GIVE.ABLE - that is ALL!

I cannot wait to have this book on my shelf, as I sit eagerly waiting for the next book to be released!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advance copy to read.

The Light That Blinds Us by Andy Darcy Theo is a YA fantasy book featuring The Elemental Children. Whilst I knew going into this it was YA I wasn't expecting it to be so young. I really struggled to relate to it and get into it. I wouldn't really call it romantasy either.

However, for the right target audience this would be a great read. There is lots of action, unique storylines, great character relationships and found families. The writing is great and full of rich descriptions. There are some really lovely heartfelt quotes throughout too.

I imagine reading this with my 8 year old and him enjoying it.

Based on the correct audience reading this I would rate it 4 stars.

ARC Review

It wasn’t my favourite book, but I can see why others might like it. Andy Darcy Theo packed this novel with adventure, excitement and a sprinkle of romance. The story follows four adolescents, of varying backgrounds and genders, working together with their elemental powers. The story is at a medium pace, and is a combination of plot and character led. Overall, a great YA debut.

Absolutely loved it, got me out of my book slump and the hype of the book lived up to its end of the bargain. Fast paced, and definitely giving percy jackson vibes.

I don't think I've ever read a fantasy book this fast in my entire life. First of all, the writing is absolutely beautiful, the way it sets a scene and describes it so well, the way the characters are written and how they develop from the start to the end. The plot is fun, enticing and flows really well, it's also (from my point of view) very original.

Also, I cried.

What I didn't like was the cliffhanger, even though I'm prone to writing cliffhangers myself, I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!
I'm very grateful to be one of the few people that got to read this book before it's release, I think it's going to absolutely storm the book world. Well done, Andy, and thank you for bringing us into this new fantasy world.

4.5/5