Crowntide by Alex Aster
- Jan 15
- 3 min read
The fourth book (not including the novella collection) in Alex Aster's Lightlark series, Crowntide is supposed to be the second to last novel in the series. It was only just published in December of 2025 and has already sold three million copies. I'm sure her fans are eagerly awaiting news on the final book in the series, but neither the title nor the release date has been announced yet. Crowntide deals with bullying, death - including of children, genocide, torture, general violence, blood, murder, abandonment, colonization, war, and injury detail. This is a review of Crowntide. For summaries of the first three books in the Lightlark series, or for spoiler free study guides, please check out our Lightlark series page.
At the end of Skyshade, Isla went through the portal intent on killing her newly unearthed ancestor Lark, closing the portal behind her and leaving both Grim and Oro behind. Surprising to (hopefully) nobody except Isla herself, she is woefully underprepared for what she finds on Skyshade which includes, but is not limited to her most powerful enemy yet - Cronan Malvere himself. She struggles in this new world and must come to terms with the mistakes that she has made in the past while carving out a new future for herself and the men that she loves. Meanwhile, left behind on Lightlark, Grim and Oro drive themselves crazy trying to find a way to either get to Isla or bring her back to them. But can they put aside hundreds of years of animosity and scorn in order to work together or will their feelings for each other doom not only Isla, but the rest of Lightlark as well?
I did not like this book. In fact, I would say that's understating my feelings. For starters, the characters are are nonsensical and one-dimensional. It is as if these people don't have realms to run, they are so focused on one particular thought - and in the case of Grim and Oro, the only thought is being close to Isla. It is as if the characters are incapable of having more than one tangible thought at a time. Both the plot and the setting are half-baked, full of holes that the author fills in with another prophecy that originated one thousand years ago but hasn't been discovered until just now or some sort of unconscious mind manipulation. And that's just the plot for Crowntide, when I look at the overarching plot of the Lightlark series, I'm begging for someone to die just so that it can be over with. As for the writing, let's just say it's not good and leave it at that.
I'm giving Crowntide 2 stars out of 5 and, honestly, that's being generous - mostly because I think the plot could be good if it were worked properly. It has a spice rating of 1.5. It feels like these books are being pushed out too quickly, when they could take the time to have them edited properly and those plot holes addressed. I don't know that it would ever be great as a series but it would greatly improved. The last book in the series is coming soon if the author's publication history is any indication. I will be reading it. I do not expect to enjoy it.
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Pairs well with pepper steak pie and just putting me out of my misery.
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