Song of Light is about a young girl escaping a terrible situation. She learns how to take care of herself, but also how to love and how to be a part of a family. Once I got past the "Wildling" part of the story, this book was really easy to lose myself in. The author weaves a tail of magic and adventure, while including the importance of family and love and loyalty. This book was a great read and I look forward to more!

A lovely, fantastical story that took me to a whole other world. I enjoyed every minute of reading this book, and have bought my own copy to display on my bookshelf!

This was a very fast-paced story! I really like the concept of this book. However, there was not much development on the world-building. I did like the main character and how she grew strong over time. I also liked the strong message of family. Thus, I am still interested in reading the sequel!

I'm a bit conflicted on this book as I did find it entertaining at points, yet I also found it to have some pacing issues and it didn't feel cohesive enough. While most novels have an overarching theme ,the main character, Salia, goes on numerous adventures so there are multiple problems and resolutions. However, the book is fairly short, so they did not feel complete enough to me. While some characters had okay development, others really could have used more time to help the reader develop more of a relationship with them. I was still able to easily finish the book and liked many parts and lessons that Salia learned along the way, despite some of the technical issues throughout the book.

I really enjoyed this book. It is very well written and easy to read. Not many books start with a main character as a child, so it is nice to see her growing up. I wonder what other adventures await her in future books.

This was a quick read. It reminded me of a cross between Peter Pan and Alice in wonderland. It wasn’t YA as much, but not 100% a children’s book.

Song of Light by Sandra Saidak – 4/5 stars

“You don’t have to be a Chosen One to make a difference.”

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Song of Light is very much a coming of age novel. Combining elements of Peter Pan and The Lord of the Rings into something that is all its own. The main character Salia, forced into a life of servitude at a very young age, lives a hard life, but is able to flee into a magical world where growing up is optional and family is based on love, not blood. Over the course of the novel, we see Salia wrestle with growing up, finding her self-worth, and finally finding a true purpose for herself.

My only critique of this novel is the pacing. It is very start and stop, with huge swathes of time being covered by summary. Salia’s first 3 years in the brand new world are summarized in a single paragraph. While I did eventually grow accustomed to this style of story-telling, it was a little off-putting at first. By the end of the novel, however, I was less put off by it and more impressed that an entire fantasy epic had been told in less than 250 pages.

For anyone that enjoys fantasy, this book is a quick and easy read that tells a good story along the way.

As readers alongside the main character, Salia, we are brought through time and space to watch as she faces her fears and rises into a wonderful, strong young woman. We get to watch her grow from a child into a teenager and are brought along for the ride amongst kingdoms and responsibility.

I would recommend this more for my step daughter who is 10 going on 11, rather than young adult as it is a very much PG rated story, made for younger minds.

Despite the inclusion of a few heavier themes and 1 swear word, I think Song of Light works much better as a middle grade story than a YA both thematically and because of pacing and language use. It's a really interesting, unique 'child finds magical world' book with some great messages about family, empathy, and darkness. I like how the main relationships here were more parent-child in nature and found it a refreshing dynamic change from what I'm normally used to in this genre.

Song of Light is about a young girl escaping a terrible situation. She learns how to take care of herself, but also how to love and how to be a part of a family.

Once I got past the "Wildling" part of the story, this book was really easy to lose myself in. The author weaves a tail of magic and adventure, while including the importance of family and love and loyalty.

This book was a great read and I look forward to more!

*This eARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good book, but not a book that stood out to me in any real way. I felt the characters seemed too bland and the plot was interesting with the intrigue and arranged marriage, but it just didn't do it for me. It was tough to not DNF it, though I'm sure someone will enjoy it more.