The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: Wings of Starlight

Series: Standalone

Author: Allison Saft

Genre: Young Adult, Disney, Romance, Adventure, Faries, Magic

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

It has been years since warm season fairies have crossed into the Winter Woods and while many fear the legends of monsters lurking there, Clarion can’t help but being intrigued. Under the watchful eyes of the Queen and seasonal ministers, Clarion doesn’t have much time for dreaming. When a report of a monster coming from Winter across the Spring border, Clarion views this as way to prover her worthiness as the future queen. Instead of finding a monster on the border, she finds Milori, the young guardian of the Winter Woods. Together they make an unlikely pair as they race to save their lands. As their alliance grows into something more, they learn why warm season and cold season fairies don’t mix. The cost could be just as deadly as the monsters that prowl the Winter Woods.

I was disappointed. I struggle to articualte what I struggled with pertaining to the book, but I shall do my best. Before I get too far, I still liked the book and feel like it deserves 4 stars.

It didn’t feel magical. The Tinkerbell movies have such a magic to them that makes you want to pack a bag and move to Pixie Hollow. I feel like this book was lacking that magical feeling.

My greatest issue lies with Milori and how Clarion and his love story played out. First, if you have seen Secrets of the Wings, then you know how their love story ends. In those few scenes, there is such pain and love. I felt like that was missing from the entirety of the book. I am perfectly fine reading a book that I know is going to end in heartbreak, but I still expect to feel something when I get to the end. That didn’t happen with this book. I didn’t really feel anything, except maybe confusion. The decision Clarion came to seemed really out of left field. Add to that, by the end of the book I had no clue who Milori really was. He was in the book enough, but not shown, if that makes sense. By the time I was done, he was an unknown, flat character. I couldn’t muster up any emotion because I felt like I didn’t really know many of the characters.

It also seemed that Clarion was making decisions, but her thought process wasn’t fully discussed, so it was disjointed. It felt like everything was told to me than shown.

I actually wanted more of Elvina and Clarion. In the beginning, it seemed like Elvina was potentially an evil dictator. Towards the end of the book my opinion changed and there was such a heartwarming moment between the two characters. This one part made me want so much more.

I really loved the world, though it was lacking some of the magical feelings from the movies. I also really enjoyed the supporting characters. They weren’t the best, but I liked them, and they added to the story in a really nice way.

I was excited for this book because Secret of the Wings was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. Maybe I didn’t like this book much because when I watched the movie, I was always focused on the sibling relationships. I think I liked this book more for nostalgia than the story itself. I think I am giving it 4 stars because of this.

I liked the idea of Wings of Starlight, but the writing wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be. The setting was lacking, the characters weren’t developed well, and many of the actions and feelings were told and not shown.