Wings of Starlight out now from Random House/Disney; 400 pages
Content Warning: Violence
About the Author: “Allison Saft is the #1 New York Times, Sunday Times, and USA Today bestselling author of A Dark and Drowning Tide, A Fragile Enchantment, and other romantic fantasy novels. After receiving her MA in English Literature from Tulane University, she moved from the Gulf Coast to the West Coast, where she spends her time practicing aerial silks. She lives with her partner and an Italian greyhound named Marzipan” (Bio from author’s website).
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Wings of Starlight is a fantasy novel set in the world of Pixie Hollow, where Princess Clarion’s worries are her finicky powers and becoming a good queen. But when monsters begin putting fairies into an endless sleep, Clarion discovers that her abilities might be the only thing that can stop them. Little is known about the monsters, called Nightmares—only that they come from Winter, the closed off season that has no contact with the rest of Pixie Hollow. When Clarion tries to investigate, she meets the Warden of the Winter Woods, Milori, who needs her help to rid Pixie Hollow of these monsters and find a cure for the sleeping fairies. Love blossoms in between monster hunting and secret meetings, but for two fairies that can only spend a short amount of time in the other’s season, how long could it last?
Allison Saft’s novel is the long-awaited story of how Pixie Hollow’s Queen Clarion fell in love with Lord Milori of the Winter Woods. As a kid, I loved all things Neverland, but I had always been caught on the Secret of the Wings movie. This film, the fourth in the Tinkerbell movies, introduced many new things about Pixie Hollow, but nothing made me more curious than the untold love story between Queen Clarion and Lord Milori. This book answered all the questions that had been stuck in my head, and even ones I didn’t think to ask. I found that Saft did an incredible job of including both the already established world-building and her own creative touch. The novel spanned only a month, but not a moment felt rushed, which allowed for an exploration of the world and the characters. Both Clarion and Milori were well fleshed out, and I loved the parallels between their characters and the burdens they carry in order to govern and protect their people. The side characters were also wonderfully developed, and each of them were unique in a way that gave them each a distinct personality. The relationships, platonic and romantic, were carefully depicted to showcase the friendship and love the characters shared. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and even though I knew how the book ended because of the movie, there was still a lot left to be explored, and I loved the adventure to get there.
Hannah Goerndt, Pine Reads Review Writer