"I've read worse." Thats an understatement

wake up honey james tullos video on lightlark

The best description I have seen of this book is that it’s somebody writing tropes, and not much else. I doubt that a movie will be coming out though. My understanding is that a production company will buy dozens of movie rights for books that haven’t been released because it’s cheaper than getting the movie rights to a book that has already gotten big. Because 20 maybe books at $20k each is still cheaper than 1 guaranteed success at $3 million.

"it's when you open it that things get bad" has got to be the biggest book roast I've ever heard

I think it could have been a decent middle grade fantasy. It's that it reads exactly like a middle grade book but with random finger banging that makes it a 0 for me. It's creepy.

So, so, soooo much worldbuilding doesn't make any sense. 1. If a storm rages on the island for 100 years, why are the towns cute and whimsical? Why are the forests lush with trees and flowers? 2. Wildlings would never be able to ever harvest enough human hearts to consume once a week (or month? either way). Unless they had a human factory farm. The author waves it away with "oh, we just kill prisoners." 1a. Which has its own implications. Is everyone who is arrested sentenced to death? The author says they imprison/kill those who come and steal their gems, so we execute people for theft now? what a corrupt judicial system they must have, but that's not explored. 1b. Also, on the heart thing, Isla gets a heart delivered to her once a week during the Centennial *that she just throws out the window* because she's not affected by the curse. AND I'M SUPPOSED TO LIKE THIS GIRL? 3. the king and others live on the island, where they can hunt for clues on how to end the curse in between the Centennial and nobody does. Isla is absolutely stupid. We've been told she's strong, smart, and has the mind of a general (actual quote), but multiple people sneak up on her, and she *falls off a balcony because the king scared her by clapping.* She has to be rescued each time she gets in trouble, but I'm supposed to believe she survived three days alone in a hurricane with no supplies? That she's been trained from birth to be a seductress though she's so painfully awkward and bratty? This book is just a shit cake with shit frosting.

Lightlark isn't a good Hunger Games, but it's not the racist furries from Save the Pearls at least

Isla Crown is almost as dumb as America Singer lmao Nah but for real YA has been like this for a while. It’s all about aesthetics of something sounding cool, rather than substance. Some authors have even been reported to sell books based on Pinterest boards. On another note I just wish we could let books like the hunger games, a court of thorns and roses, and twilight go. I’m not talking about whether or not these books are good or not (personally I didn’t like any of them), but none of these books came out within the last five years. I just want something new, not a derivative of a YA novel that sold well 10+ years ago.

Bethany Church is my drag name

This book has the same problem I have with a lot of anime where it feels like it was made by a committee and not an author

there are lots of extremely important details james forgot or got wrong, like the wildlings *also* being cursed to eat human hearts and the king of lightlark being oro and not grim, and about the purpose of the no killing period being for investigation to figure out how to break the curses, but honestly can we really blame james for forgetting this shit

To be fair, Azul is a name in Spanish. Celeste as well, means light blue. Don't know anyone in my country named Isla thought. The only one that comes to mind is Isla fisher

The top down premise seems like it would be more interesting if you replaced Hunger Games with Danganronpa. If the rulers are living together anyway just make it a discreet killing game to succeed rather than a manhunt 50 days later.

I really think this is literally the result of hyping something up a without having the ability to provide. Being new at something isn't a crime, but publishers ignoring actual good, experienced writers in favour of tiktokers with big fanbases really is. I've spent my entire life learning how to write, analyzing books & styles & tropes etc. still learning & honing my craft every day, but all that seems to have been for nothing if all I have to do is make a tiktok with stock images saying "what if these two cishet white people fell in love in the totally-not-the-hunger-games?" Not saying I could totally make one of these books in under a month but I could totally make one of these books in under a month.

Love this guy. Ive been watching his older videos and he is very sensible when he approaches reviews. Such a nice fella, i trust his takes

If your story has: -Countries that surround a main island; -One place being evil; -Things happen without resolution/for barely any reason; -The main character is secretly from two places; Its not lightlark, its fire emblem engage /j

This sounds like a fledgling indie author's self indulgent first time out. If you've ever been in an indie writers' group, you know the type. You're probably been the type. They've wanted to write a book for awhile, but they never took the plunge. But, they have some friends that keep hyping them up, so they finally give it a go. They're nervous at first, unsure of themselves, constantly picking the group hive mind for ideas until, slowly but surely, they build confidence. And then, after months of hard work, they're finished. They've written A Book. They go back and read it and- it's trash. Maybe not irredeemable, but it's discouragingly awful. So, they decide that they should get a second set of eyes and show it to their writer friends to see what they think. I suspect this is where Lightlark went wrong. A good writer friend will encourage the newbie, saying things like "it's a first draft, it's supposed to be awful" and "no one gets it all right the first time." The important thing is that they encourage, while also managing expectations. And then there are the ones who get a heady whiff of their own ego and decide "you know what? Maybe I'm not bad. Maybe I'm so good, no one can understand my genius." And their friends, rather than helping keep them grounded, blow more smoke up their arse until finally, one day, they pull the trigger and decide to publish. Most of the time, the end result is a lamentably bad web novel that no one reads and the author will look back on in shame after a few years. But sometimes, ever so rarely, the right combination of connections and audience come along, and we get something like this.

Oh, thank god. So many people have only reviewed the drama without actually saying what was in the book. Thanks for stepping up to the plate, James.

This was a very entertaining review but just one observation: Isla and Azul are actual names in Spanish 💀 I've never met an Isla, but I know many Azul(s?) We have a lot of names that are just colours. Blanca (White), Rosa (Pink), Violeta (Purple), Azul (Blue), Celeste (Cyan)... It may sound stupid if you're not Hispanic but they aren't necessarily stupid.

I think better curses would've been... Wildlings: they must consume hearts of any animal to feel emotion (say, love?) I feel like this would get rid of a heart supply issue pretty handily. Starings - As soon as the first stars are out, the Starlings all fall asleep in a comalike state. Moonlings - They are forced to never see the moon, running to the ocean if they see it and diving in. In this the moon is the source of their powers. Sunlings - Sun causes them to go feral Night... shades - Prolonged darkness causes them to go feral Skylings - Their power can't be used anywhere that isn't covered or completely overcast and if they do it hurts them

He hates hard on the name Azul but I’ve met people with that name so it’s not so unrealistic

My Finnish ass bursts in laughter every time James says "Ääpö Säväläinön". But you know, Kudos to Ääpö for being a generous long time supporter of this content.

Bethany Church sounds really funny to me because beten=to pray in German and that's probably how a German with low English proficiency would pronounce that name: Behthaneeh (no "th" sound in German, just a hard "t"). 😂😂😂

I too didn't hear about Lightlark until Hello Future Me's video. To me, the attention this book is getting, as well as others like it, is a sign that the YA dystopia category still has an audience and isn't going away; its effects will be felt for some time. It's really disappointing considering the way the publishing industry seemed to push Lightlark and these types of books because it feels as though they were aware of how mediocre these stories are, but the attention these books always seem to get is what keeps motivating publishers and authors to create them. The fact is, positive or negative reviews are still attention, and still signs that these books are generating audiences and sales. As Hello Future Me states in his video, it seems like the author is being used by an industry that knows her book isn't great but will still generate discourse, attention, and ultimately $.

I'm not gonna lie the one thing i absolutely love about ya novels like this is the ridiculous names. especially if EVERYONE has a weird name, then clearly it's just part of the universe or the way society has grown out of touch with how the world used to be.

Wow, I a British person and long time fan of James Tullos will surely enjoy this new video on the high-profile failure of the novel Lightlark!

In all fairness I would use family connections too to get my book out there or more noticed

NOOO THE HAIR IT WAS SO LUCIOUS!

When you mentioned "a bunch of random spanish words" I though "oh, maybe one is called 'llanta' or 'queso'" lol Azul (which does mean blue) is an actual name, female tho (since I believe the name is used in a male character) but my point still stands. I did check and it looks like the name "Oro" (gold in spanish) is present. That one is bs haha

It feels like that 50 day no killing setup could be made to work, especially if the tournament ends as soon as one participant kills another. It could be 50 days of the various participants making themselves likeable or intimidating enough so that they're not the ones targeted or forging alliances, etc. Alternatively, for the less politically astute participants it could be scouting the area and making some sort of safe space to hide, etc. It sounds like the book did none of these things?

"I don't have a TikTok". This is why you read, James. Never change this.

The smugness in the way he said _“I’ve read worse”_ lmao at this point he’s a seasoned trash reviewer :’)

i just got SO excited seeing you made a video about this book omg

What's better than 16 minutes of James? 17 minutes!

Azul is a common girl name in my country and in many latin american countries. I think you meant no harm but it is kinda rude to call it a stupid name. It's like calling your child Rose or Hope. Just because it is a pre-existing thing doesn't make it stupid imo.

The sad thing is that this book had some interesting ideas and concepts, but they weren't fleshed out in the slightest. This reads very much like a first draft, which is sad. I don't think the book would have been anything mind blowing or ground breaking in the spectrum of fantasy, but if it had proper time in the oven, it probably would have been an enjoyable read. What's even worse is that she's written other books, so this isn't even her first book. There is no excuse.

thank you for your service

Your becoming one of my favourite book reviewers.

YES. I was hoping you would do a video about this book.

Im so happy you made this video

If it wasn’t for her getting popular on tiktok, no one would be talking about it. However, this book is bad in a special way as I have watched many videos on it and I don’t remember any specifics after the review. It’s not you or any of the other talented reviewers I watch, this book is literally that boring.

i was hoping you'd cover this book!

for my ya novel I'll go with name Rando Johnson

Azul is a real name, I knew some girl name like that. Some people just like to use some colors for names I guess

You're probably the fourth KZfaqr I've listened to reviewing this book, and I still don't remember what's in it.

"weird names like Bethany Church" I feel like I've heard of someone with that name

I misread it as "Larklight" and got confused. I never heard of Lightlark before... but I liked Larklight XD

Never buy anything from TikTok

Azul is an actual name in Spanish tho. Actually any of those names could exist in any Latinoamerican country 😬 so they're not really that "random" Although I do agree they're a little on the nose, but eh, could've been worse

I subscribed the moment I heard the intro song

Definetly more acotar than hunger games lmao

They have a movie lined up for this? Maybe I should feel more confident about my writing...

About time!! 😆

If it becomes a movie the Pitch Meeting for it is gonna be fun!

So when I saw this video, I was confused, because I thought i read those book a while ago and thought it was actually pretty good... then I looked it up anr realized that I was thinking about Larklight by Phillip Reeve, a much better book.

When you said the thorns and roses I thing of ACOTAR even if I haven’t read it yet. It ain’t easy getting books here where I am

Hearing my sisters name, Isla, described as stupid brings me a lot of joy

I am Costa Rican and I know a cat named Azul. Not a common name for people in my country, but it is common in other Spanish speaking countries.

Every single time You mentioned the character Oro in My mind i see him as the Funky street fighter character.

wait wait wait i'll come back and watch this when i'm done reading. brb

Hearing this described just makes me want to read the Sedition arc of Hunter x Hunter.

One day I sure do hope that our kind host will read something by R.A. Salvatore. Its high fantasy but less stupid. Even if our good host didnt like them Id still love that video.

That setting sounds really interesting though. What a shame.

2:03 - Why did that made me laugh?!

Could you please do a review of Heavens Official's Blessings?

Dang dude, British catching a lot of strays in this one.

Gotta bookmark this for later😂

"I didn't know about this at all until I saw the Hello Future Me video" so the videos were connected

I started this book and only made it to the second chapter sooo

3:33 I saw a 1.5 hours review of that book, and I swear i forgot 100% of it after it ended, to the point i had to search what was lightlark and then was like "wait, ai already saw a review?"

I think the biggest issue with this story is that we see the prophecy, and it doesn’t actually say any of the things the characters say it does. It says nothing about the rulers having to kill each other, and nothing about any kind of reward for the kingdom/ruler who fulfills the prophecy. Like, I get that prophecies are difficult to write. You need to strike a balance between being vague enough that the correct interpretation isn’t immediately obvious and being clear enough that the correct interpretation makes sense when it’s revealed, but if it’s meant to be taken as absolute fact that a prophecy says a specific thing, IT NEEDS TO ACTUALLY SAY THAT THING. That’s, you know, the BARE MINIMUM of writing a prophecy.

don't have any plan to read this book but like the review

I just finished reading this for my book club…almost dropped out of book club 😂

The part when he started making fun of the names, I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now. The three he listed in a row sound like they'd fit right into a JRPG, and as we all know those have very normal names.

Here I am sitting down and nodding and agreeing and from nowhere receive a bunch of stray British bullets lol

I had no idea there was a parody character named Valentine. That’s literally my name LMAO. At least my last name isn’t Neverwoods

Best book tuber ever 🗽🗽🗽🗽

Lol. Isla was among the most popular baby girl names a few years ago. Thanks to Isla Fisher I think? It has become extremely popular.

Your number one British fan agrees!

So the central island had people living on it? A curse that says no one lives past 25 sounds like it would be devistating for people like it would decimate a place rapidly.

At first, I confused the title with the children's steampunk book Larklight. Why do so many books have similar titles?

A society where everyone dies under the age of 25 would crumble on its own. Just the decreased timespan to have children alone would be terrible, potentially irrecoverable, depending on fertility and child mortality rates. The society will likely engage in child marriage and they get flooded with orphans. Anyone over 18 would leave a child of maximum 7 years old behind when they die. There's a reason most senior positions are given to people over 40. Putting aside emotional maturity reasons, people simply will not have time to build up expertise and train the next generation before passing. Your quality of goods and services will suffer if your administrators, craftsmen and trades people have to be replaced every 5-10 years. At least two children per woman need to survive to have kids of their own if this society is to survive. It's not impossible but that curse would be a serious impediment to any complex society.

Can you please review “mine were of trouble” it’s so good.

Can you read Outlander Diana Gabaldon and Breaking Time Sasha Alsberg

Isnt the heartrade way worse and they neey 2 hearts a month and they never explored the heart industry? Its worse than falling in love. Not that that was explored. I heard. But might make a good story if anyone wants to steal, how do you get hearts?! Grim dark , haha , was not the king.

The brightness of your shirt just emphasizes the lack of luster this book is giving off.

Someone needs to sue her.

I think the takeaway here is it's probably not interesting enough for me to read for badness or goodness. Not gonna lie, I would absolutely LOVE to hear your thoughts on ACOTAR if you ever decided you felt like reading it.

omg i couldnt help but peep ur poster, is that berserk?

I hope he reads decent books every once and awhile, all the shit he reads can't be good for the mind XD

the funny thing is that grim isn't even the king of lightlark, that's some other guy whose name I don't remember

Say what you will, but I saw Alex Aster last weekend at the 2023 Miami Book Fair, she was part of a three author YA fantasy panel. The room was packed, and of the three her line was the longest. People spent over an hour in it, in the burning Florida weather. Says a lot.

Please put The Introduction Song in its very own #KZfaqShort please!

funny enough azul is like. an actual name. i live in argentina and i once had two classmates named azul and celeste (blue and light blue)

I thought this was about Larklight, the fun pulpy sci-fi novel by Philip Reeve. Read that instead.

This color suits you

you got grim and oro confused lol

ok question: I have a story about a witch becoming a detective with a non-magical detective partner, the witch is called Celeste Altair and the non witch is called Belle D’Arc, are the names ok or no

One last thing to the people who didn’t read Lightlark yet and are only typing negative things about this book and the author after hearing about it in rent videos, review videos, and seeing passages of the book, without actually understanding why that word or specific sentence was used and in which context, please read the book beforehand. Please. Just because someone else didn’t enjoy it doesn’t mean you won’t. And that gives you no right to go around social media telling everyone that it’s horrible. To the people who have read it and dropped it, if possible, I recommend you read atleast until the plotwists part. It’s really twist after twist every page, the last few chapters had me hooked. My honest opinion on this book? It’s a good book. Not the best fantasy novel ever written and maybe slightly overhyped with some confusing elements to it, but it’s a good read. I won’t sugarcoat it, it’s not extraordinary and will not leave you crying for days or think about it all the time, but it was definitely worth my money and I enjoyed it in the end. I’ve even ordered Nightbane. Whether other ppl have a different opinion is their problem and I’m not trying to convince anyone that it’s the best book ever or anything like that. I’m just giving my own opinion on the book, hoping ppl who haven’t read it yet won’t be so influenced by all the negative hate comments on this book before reading it. And I basically rented about how I’m tired of hearing about this book’s controversy. Thanks to anyone who’s read this comment to the end! I’d actually want to hear all your reviews and thoughts on this book in the replies if anyone wants to share :3

This actually sounds more like Mortal Kombat than Hunger Games. She's young and she has something here. Nicholas Sparks started with mediocre reviews. The movies were better than the books.