This book was a bit shorter than I expected. It probably could have benefitted from a few more pages. Still, it was a pretty unique story.

The City of Silver Light is a lovely novella perfect for younger readers, that was written in beautiful prose.
The characters struggle with typical teenage issues, which I feel will resonate with many of the readers, so they will be able to relate to these characters.
It is a quick and easy read, but I do wish that the world-building had been 'fleshed' out a bit more, as it would have made the plot richer.
Personally, this book was slightly too young for me, however, I know that there are younger readers out there that will enjoy this book.

This was a really interesting book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes subtle fantasy. It was a cosy read

the cover was what drew me in and I really enjoyed getting to know the characters. I look forward to more books in this series as this book was a very strong start.

A very short story with a chilling atmosphere. A bit too short for me but I did like the prose and the character of Luke, who was definitely flawed but also likeable, a good lead protagonist for a YA book.

For such a short story there was too much repetition happening. There could have been so much more added to keep us entertained for the novella. The story itself was good it just could have been deeper.

This was kind of a weird book, but I liked the premise. The topics touched on and characters were quite interesting.

ARC from NetGalley

2.5 stars

The NetGalley site lists this as "Teen/YA," but in my opinion it leans closer to middle grade. I'm reading some of the reviews here that call it gritty and I'm like...

It's an interesting premise, but not a whole lot comes to fruition. Cari falls from the sky, we get to know her and a bit about where she came from. The rest of the book is pretty much Jake being concerned about typical teenage issues. I felt like nothing much really happened.

I struggle with rating it because I feel like it isn't the kind of age group I normally gravitate towards. I settled on 2.5 for a few reasons; YA was mentioned in the description, and I don't find this to be YA; it was honestly not terrible gripping; and the ending was flat.

This was a nice enough story, short and sweet (Or not so sweet), but I found given it was a novella a bit repetitive at times. I think for its length it’s trying to achieve too much and unfortunately the story suffers for it. Nice but felt incomplete


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

My thanks to NetGalley and Hague Publishing/Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

This book was a quick read, about 1.5 to 2 hours, novella size. It moved quickly, but there was quite a bit of repetition re: the MC's stressing over his best friend, who was a girl, whom he had a crush on dating his male best friend.

The characters didn't really have much time to develop and it wasn't until 49% of the way into the book that I was able to say with certainty that the setting was Australia. Up until that point, it was generic British to me. (I am American, so for locations that are English speaking but not American, I need it to be made obvious where the book is taking place, or I'm just going to assume England.)

I'm also not a huge fan of "humans are horrible and are destroying the planet" storylines. When I read fiction, it's to escape from reality for a little bit, not to wallow in the negative humans are really good at producing.

Though to be fair, the residents of the titular city of silver light are pretty horrible themselves and kinda dumb to boot. They have this whole superiority over the Earthling humans thing going on and they realize that they need to keep their city a secret so the Earthlings won't invade and take it over, yet NO ONE is allowed to be curious and try to learn about the Earthlings and if they DO try to learn, they are banished TO EARTH.

Ummm... if you banish your own people who are breaking the rules to the one place that can never know you exist, how are you keeping your city safe from discovery? You can't control what that person does and if they decided to spill the secret, where are you then? Just trust that the Earthlings will think they are crazy and ignore your former city resident?

Also, apparently, breaking through the veil to get from the city to Earth causes the extreme cold from the city to leak into the Earth, causing HUGE weather problems. Like of Ice Age proportions. The character we meet who knew this knew enough to close the hole her banishment had caused, so Earth wouldn't freeze. But the teen who starts this book off didn't know and apparently, neither did those who banished her.

So by their lack of knowledge, which is made worse by no one actually being allowed to STUDY Earth and the veil and what can happen when the veil is pierced, the city's ignorance can spell both the Earth's doom and their own.

I was not overly thrilled with this book. It is the first of a trilogy and I think while the story arc in this book comes to a definitive end, it might have been best to have all three books together, as I have no personal drive to want to read the next two. As a longer book or all three together, the characterization could be more fleshed out and maybe the setting could be made more distinctly Australian.

This isn't a bad book, I just wasn't overly wowed by it. I can see this working for a higher middle grade reader who is into other worlds, the environment and a slightly more exotic than America setting. 2.5 stars, rounded down to 2, as I am not in any hurry to read the next books.

This one didn't work for me, but it's a quick read and there are two more where this came from if you enjoy it. Definitely a unique idea.

This book (novelette) was weird, but it captured my attention. It was quite a bit grittier than what I normally read, with lots of swearing and some heavy topics. I am usually more interested in a fantasy book set in a more fanciful world. That being said, I did enjoy this short story. I don't think that I will read the sequels, but I was intrigued by the premise and the character development, which again is impressive given how short it is. So, if you are looking for a short, gritty read set in modern day Australia, you might like this pick.

Thanks publishers and Netgalley for the free e-arc.

Seeing that this only has less than 90 pages, I honestly did not have high expectations for this book. Since I’ve breezed through my TBRs for this month, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give this a try, and I’m really glad I did.

Short as it is, the book was able to tackle relevant issues such as climate change and marital problems, and still maintain the fantasy theme. Jake is an ordinary boy who came across a rather extraordinary girl in the most unusual circumstances. I love how we get to see Jake progress from brooding about his mundane high school problems to his dealing with his life-changing discovery.

I found the plot and worldbuilding a tad lacking, though. I think this had the potential for a richer plot than just him meeting Cari and hanging out with his friends before she ultimately returns home. I think it would have been better as a full-length book to give more attention to worldbuilding. The first mention of the city in the skies had been captivating, but it ended up a bit underwhelming when the book ended with only just the barest of glimpses.

I think I might still read the rest of the series if only to find out what happened to the interesting characters I have grown to like.

An amazing fantasy novel that I really enjoyed. I can’t wait to read the second book of the Bridges Trilogy. A great young adult fantasy novel, well written with a good plot and very nice writing style.

This reads more of a short story than a book. It is a coming of age story with science fiction/fantasy twist. It just felt a little incomplete and I wanted more content.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a DRC of The City of Silver Light in exchange for an honest review.

I want to make it expressly clear that my issues with The City of Silver Light have nothing to do with it's status as a novella. Obviously, I went in to reading knowing about the short length. I've read plenty of novellas I loved, plenty I didn't, and this just happens to be a novella I think needed to be a novel to function effectively.

The City of Silver Light tries to do too much in its short length. Nothing feels completely developped and everything feels a tad rushed. This wouldn't be a problem if it were aimed at younger audiences who thrive off of simplistic language structures and care about characters simply because they exist, but the inclusion of swear words and references to adultery force this book into more of a 15/16+ audience. At that age, you have to earn a reader's attention.

The City of Silver Light has a wonderful premise, but that's about the only thing it has going for it.