A Light in the Sky is an epic young adult fantasy novel and a coming-of-age journey of its protagonist, Aluma Banks, thrusts into the world of politics within their kingdom ruled by an oppressive king and his slew of disciples.

Each year, Rider hopefuls across the kingdom of Eirelannia compete in the Autumn tournament for a chance to join the ranks of the aerial warriors known as the Empyrean Cavalry. The victors of the competition get to earn wings for their stead, given that they pass their subsequent training.

My favorite thing about this story is its very detailed world-building. I loved the combination of this old and modern society ambiance, and it’s vividly different for each ‘kingdom.’ I thought this is where the author excelled the most.

On to the story itself, the early part of the novel was so fast-paced that it almost feels like I’m missing many details. I know that this is just the first book, but for most of the story’s first half, several characters were introduced but did not get to play significant roles in the second half. I’m probably just impatient for its next installment, but I thought some characters should’ve gotten more “page” time. I’d loved for the secondary characters to get their characters developed fully in the long run, along with the main protagonist.

There is also the inevitable love triangle which I find a bit problematic. I was like, girl, you’re in the midst of war, your father’s life is in peril, and a few days after meeting the guy who saved you, you thought that you’re already in love. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Aluma’s character, and she’s supposed to be smart and all, but she lacked focus most of the time, and it could get frustrating.

As I’ve said earlier, I loved the picturesque and vivid setting of the story. Hopefully, the pacing will settle a bit as we get more character development in the second installment. I won’t delve much deeper into the story because the official synopsis was already a dead giveaway, but I’d say that this is still a fantastic effort from the author.

Overall, I found this story to be very engaging and entertaining. The characters may not remain with you, but they’re generally likable. I’m looking forward to its second installment!

This book is really amazing! The world building and characters are excellent and relatable and immersive. While it's the first of the series, it's definitely a must-read.

The tale of Aluma and the rich world of Eirelannia is an interesting one.

-SPOILERS AHEAD-

This book is a blend of so many genre’s, and encompassed so many complex elements that painted this world in such vivid colours. I love high fantasy, and find not a lot of YA novels seem to go as in depth with their world building as I like. Shina Reynolds does. The blend of ancient elements and modern technology is very well balanced, and I found it very easy to immerse myself into the world.

I think the pacing of the story was done just perfectly. You dive heard first into the action, and it never felt like I was spending a lot of time reading about the one incident. The momentum of the plot was just right.

I will say that the use of so many unusual and difficult to pronounce names was very distracting throughout the book. I also found it really hard to enjoy the romance elements because of the love triangle between Aluma, her childhood friend, and the handsome and mysterious foreign prince. She spends far too long torn between the two of them, and listening to that inner conflict felt very repetitive. I’m not a massive fan of the love triangle trope, but when it is done when and provides opportunities for character development and growth I can get on board with it. Sadly, this just wasn’t the case here.

Overall, I did enjoy a lot of parts throughout A Light In the Sky, but the romantic elements were lacking depth and were often repetitive and frustrating to read.

I’d like to thank NetGalley for my copy of A Light In the Sky.

I really enjoyed this book. It felt like a mix of fantasy and adventure, similar to The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), but also similar to Eragon (Christopher Paolini). Thayer especially gave me Peeta Mellark vibes. Speaking of Thayer, a love triangle? Really? I wasn't a fan. It reminded me of The Hunger Games again, except the love triangle was less well executed. Gattacan had no personality for Aluma to like. I think my favourite character was either Wolkenna or Xander. Wolkenna was sweet, but at the same time really badass. Xander had the potential to be really bratty and spoiled but was a genuinely nice person. Something I couldn't understand was how the horses could understand full sentences of instruction. Horses are smart creatures, but they're not that smart. If it's a magic Empyrean Steed thing, it's never explained. Overall though, I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend if you enjoyed The Hunger Games or Eragon.

A Light in the Sky is a story about Aluma, a 17-year-old who has dreamed of being part of the Empryean cavalry and riding her own winged horse. We follow Aluma through betrayals, successes, and going on a quest to save her world.

Once I saw the cover I knew I had to read this book as I've always been interested in winged horses and I loved the idea of a flying horse cavalry. This book has both regular and flying horses and I really liked the lore of how they both fit into the world, with flying horses being given wings later in life. I could tell that the author has experience with horses and was glad that I didn't have to read, "she squeezed with her knees" 500 times like I have in all other adventure books. I felt like the horses were grounded in reality, although as the book went on they became less grounded with the the horses understanding full sentences. That certainly would make riding easier! The rest of the world building is really nothing new and I found myself picturing areas from other fantasy books to picture the locations instead of actually feeling like I was anywhere new.

This book had a lot of YA tropes that I have seen in many other books. We have a "not like other girls" protagonist who is from a not special area with her hot friend from childhood but gets thrown into being special and meets another equally hot but much more mysterious new guy and love triangles/shenanigans ensue. I was especially reminded of Shadow and Bone, Divergent, and the Hunger Games. I know that books borrow from each other, especially YA fantasy books, but I really feel like the author could have played more with audience expectation as I felt like many of the main plot points were very predictable.

I thought that the writing in this book was very basic, even for a YA book. I could predict the end of many sentences because they were so cliched. I felt this the most with the villain writing, there were a lot of, "silly girl, you think you're so clever," "you must do more to defeat me," "you will never fulfill your destiny," etc. Some of the character premises were interesting, but the dialogue was so cliched that I had trouble thinking of them as actual characters and not one-dimensional fantasy archetypes. I really hope that any following books flesh these characters out more!

If you were excited as I was about flying horses, I'd give this book a read. If not, I wouldn't recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and Wink Road Press for the advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I am blown away by how much I loved this book. The world building is amazing, with a little bit of an info dump at the beginning but I don't mind that - I felt it set the scene very well.

I am a great lover of horses so was thrilled to dive into a new fantasy series about winged horse riders. I'm now desperately wishing I could get wings for my own horse! Aluma is such a fierce character and really grows into herself as the book progresses. There's action and excitement and a building romance - what more could you want! Needless to say, I am eagerly awaiting the publication of the sequel!

Read an ARC of this.

The What : Magical flying horses in a kingdom ruled by a tyrant. Citizens join forces with neighbouring kingdom to fight back. Very YA. You will feel the 17 years of age of the protagonist in every immature interaction.

The Good: Interesting premise. The world building is rich and detailed. Wolkenna.

The Bad : The information dump at the beginning is overwhelming and slightly tedious. Some plot choices felt like plot holes.

I will not be picking up a second instalment of this unfortunately but I think it's because it's target audience is the bottom tier of young readers. Just not for me but might appeal to others.

I thought this book sounded super interesting and I was very excited to read it. I ended up flying through this book in one afternoon! I thought the plot and main characters were very unique and I loved it. Great read!