ARC Review: "Wings of Starlight" by Allison Saft ★★★★★

ARC Review: Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft

I always wanted a prequel to the Secret of the Wings film about Queen Clarion and Lord Milori. I am so glad we have this: a clean young adult fantasy with star-crossed forbidden romance, which both healed and broke my inner child. Utterly beautiful! 🧡

“I wished that there could be a different future for me in Pixie Hollow,” Milori had told her.
The thought of him— of a wish she carried safe within her— stirred something in her. Starlight kindled in the cold hollow of her chest, swirling through her like the comforting warmth of a fire in Autumn. Perhaps she could make that dream a reality for them both. Perhaps a good queen *was* like the star from which she was born. Not one cold and distant— but one that carried her subjects’ hopes forward.

[Contains some spoilers]

PLOT SUMMARY
In the Queendom of Pixie Hollow, most fairies are born from a child’s first laugh. But its rulers are born from a fallen star, a star that has a child has wished upon. The current Queen, Elvina, has ruled the Warm Seasons for many years, and eventually Princess Clarion emerges from a fallen star. She is destined to be the next Queen.

Now, Clarion’s coronation is one month away on the Summer Solstice. She feels unready – as a governing-talent (all fairies have a talent which is the role they are most skilled in), she should be able to harness her starlight magic and teleportation magic. All rulers were born with powerful starlight magic to be used not only to attack and shield Pixie Hollow but also to provide its people with hope. Despite her friendship with Peta a tinker-talent fairy, and Aremis her personal guard, she feels very lonely as she doesn’t belong.

As preparations go underway, Pixie Hollow is attacked by shadowy monsters called the Nightmares that takes on the form of people’s worst fears. It has escaped from the Winter Woods, the realm that the Warm Season fairies are forbidden to visit – both because they distrust the Winter fairies and because crossing the Seasons threatens to destroy wings. Determined to find answers, despite Queen Elvina’s insistence that this is not her concern, Clarion goes to the bridge between Spring and Winter.

There she finds Lord Milori, Warden of the Winter Woods. She sneaks after sunset into the Winter Realm after finding the means to protect her wings. It is discovered that they are slowly but surely escaping from their prison, now that the dream-talent fairies are diminishing. With her starlight magic which seems to link to the dreams like dream-talents, Milori believes she is the only one who can help.

The closer they work together to save both realms, the deeper their feelings for each other grow. But they are losing time: the Nightmares grow stronger by the day, to the extent more have broken free; Queen Elvina has found the means of severing the connection between Winter Woods and the Warm Seasons – and worst of all, wants Clarion to carry it out when she becomes Queen. They must find the source of the Nightmares, before Pixie Hollow is doomed for eternity.

When she allowed herself to dream, she thought of Pixie Hollow, united and safe. She thought of the warmth of Winter, where respect did not mean distance. She thought of Milori. Those moments of freedom and happiness had felt something like power. What would it be like if she got out of her own way? If she trusted her instincts? If she did what felt right, not what she had been taught? Conviction felt like sunlight, illuminating her from within. Maybe her heart had never really steered her wrong.

This is told from the third-person past-tense POV of Clarion.

OVERALL OPINIONS
This story may have been 15 months in the work, but for fans of Clarion and Milori, it has been a long time coming. In a Q&A in an email for her fans, Saft confessed the challenge about writing this book was both the fact the characters aren’t her own and that she wanted to ensure she did justice to their love story. I commend her in her efforts, for to me they were not in vain.

I personally think, considering the pressure and expectations, Allison Saft has done a wonderful job and has composed a beautiful albeit tragic (though this was to be expected) story here. From her gorgeous descriptions to the compelling plot itself, this has captured my heart to the extent I can’t not rate this 5 stars. Especially looking at this from the perspective of it being a young adult genre. As such, this is a clean story (there is no spice/smut), pretty much the whole thing is predictable and perhaps the lack of depth to the romance makes it feel akin to a middle-grade novel, but this made it a cozy, comforting read. It might not be for everyone, though.

ㅤ 🌸descriptions❄️

Take some examples of the descriptions in here: “That familiar ache of loneliness unfurled through her like a collapsing star” – very fitting! “cut through her gloom like the abruptness of a summer rain” – stunning! My personal favourite (other than the ones I list in my Fav Quotes section):

he held a notebook, filled to bursting with his haphazard scrawl. He’d told her it was a checklist, but Clarion could not in good conscience call such disorder a checklist. Items had been scribbled out and tacked on with reckless abandon. His mind worked in leaps she could not follow.

Not only is this is so amusing, it tells you so much about the Lord of Autumn, Rowan (honestly wish there had been more of him!). He is quirky and chaotic though tries to be orderly.

The most fitting and clever of descriptions is this one:

The gulf between them had felt nigh impossible to bridge for weeks, but now, this shared pain bound them together.

There have been both literal and emotional bridges involved in this book. There is not only a gulf between the Queen and Clarion (in the sense that they are divided by their beliefs in what is best for the kingdom) but a gulf between the Warm Seasons and the Winter Woods too (the cultures have been divided and separated for years). Both have been bridged.

ㅤ 🌸creativity❄️
While there is no Tinker Bell, the essence of the stories from Pixie Hollow are all here: there is a good combination of the usual humour and action (the former of which according to Saft was lacking in her initial drafts) and I wouldn’t be surprised if they did turn this into an animated movie.

Indeed, other than Clarion, Miori and the Keeper, all the other characters are original. And the names are so ingenious and fitting too! For example: Elvina means “Elf friend”, Petra means “Rock” (perfect considering she is a Tinker but also petrified of everything), Artemis her guard is named after the Greek Goddess of the Hunt, Yarrow the healer is named after the plant for herbal medicine of the same name. Noctua the owl, from the symbol of the Greek God of Wisdom, Athena. The cleverest is the wolf Fenris, I think. For those who don’t know: this wolf named after the one from Norse mythology who plays a key role in Ragnarok. Now, the start of Ragnarok is marked with Fimbulvetr, a long winter that lasts three years – extremely fitting for a wolf in the Winter Realm to be named this.

Looking at the new material she has given us, I admire her creativity: the idea of Queens appearing from a fallen star is stunning; the tale of when the Pixie Dust Tree was a sapling so dreams flew over Pixie Hollow and dream-talents separated the bad dreams from the good is captivating.

The thing I love the most that Saft has created is the Pixie Dust Tree being sentient and communicating by blooming flowers. Through the language of flowers, these messages can be interpreted: for example, lady’s mantle (comforting love) and freesia (friendship) means “I am here for you”; forget-me-nots (true love and memories) and white roses (young love) appear when Clarion is glowing from her kiss with Milori which she considers cheeky. Clarion recounts that it sprouted golden butterfly magnolias (positivity and perseverance) when she had a bad day. This is so lovely!

ㅤ 🌸relatable aspects❄️
Despite this being fiction, some moments felt relatable. Petra and Clarion’s friendship was one of them. They were inseparable when they were younger but now as they have gotten older, priorities have changed as Clarion focuses on her royal duties and Petra with her role as royal tinker. I think a lot of people can connect with the struggles of maintaining friendships as you both grow apart. What I love here is that Saft shows them both working through this.

Another small thing is, at the beginning, Clarion helps an exhausted bee get the sugar it needs to energise it. This happens very often to bees in real life too, and I feel this small section encourages us to keep doing our part to help them.

Clarion’s loneliness I’m sure will be relatable as well. I like that all the Lord/Ladies of the Seasons give her encouragement/support. I especially loved Iris’ quote:

“When things seem impossibly dark, bulb flowers are sparks of hope. It takes time for things to bloom. You just have to be patient and nurturing.” After a considering pause, she jabbed a finger at Clarion. “So be nice to yourself. You’ll grow into it, I promise.”

ㅤ 🌸to conclude❄️
This brought back all my fond memories of being a tween watching Secret of the Wings, and being so emotionally invested in their story (remember how sweet they are together in The Pirate Fairy too?). They have been my Roman Empire these past 13 years. In this book, Saft captures their tenderness and how communicative they are, which I adore. I especially love their meeting where Clarion does not realise she is speaking to the Warden of the Winter Woods, and he teases her. Super cute! The way they fight side-by-side is something I was hoping for, and I was pleased to find it here.

Overall, this was everything I hoped for and my inner child thanks Saft profusely for this! I must check out some of her other work now.

@saqphirc 📖"wings of starlight" by @allisonhsaft (out now!) my ARC rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ #wingsofstarlight #wos #allisonsaft #disney #disneyedit #disneybooks #tinkerbell #tinkerbelledit #tinkerbellandthesecretofthewings#secretofthewings #secretofthewingsedit #queenclarion #queenclarionedit #clarion #clarionedit #lordmilori #lordmiloriedit #milori #miloriedit #clarionandmilori #booktok #bookstagram #bookstorec #bookrecommendations #booklover #youngadult #ya #youngadultfantasy #fantasy #fantasyromance #fantasybook #fantasybooks #fantasynovels #fyp #foryoupag ♬ original sound - Sophie 💠

<< Positives >>
🠚Beautiful cover!
🠚Excellent descriptions, great humour, and a creative plot!
🠚The relationship between Milori and Clarion is everything I had hoped it would be.
🠚Explores not only romantic relationships but general ones too (Elvina and Clarion, Peta and Clarion). The latter gives very Nakoma and Pocahontas vibes!
🠚Lesbian representation through Petra and Artemis.

<< Negatives >>
🠚There is never any explanation about where the dream-talent fairies have gone to. If they stopped coming, what happened?
🠚The Keeper and Queen Elvina don’t do very much. I wondered if Queen Elvina would use the last of her magic to work with Clarion, as this would have changed the pattern of Clarion doing most of the fighting the Nightmares at the lake alone. And I thought at the very least The Keeper would be mentioned at the coronation.
🠚Some descriptions felt repetitive, particularly the descriptions of Milori were usually to words of the effect: “he looked handsome in this light”. Clarion doubting herself and then not doubting herself crops up a lot.
🠚There could have been more depth to the romance as it felt somewhat middle-grade in terms of level/standard.
🠚I would have loved it if this had been a dual POV book, where we also get to read Milori’s thoughts.

CHARACTERS
-ˋˏ ꒰ Clarion εїз꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ I admire her strength and perseverance. It is a little difficult to visualise how she gets from this fairy to the one we know in Tinker Bell. The only thing that was stupid about her was the moment she decides to look for the monster “it couldn’t hurt to look… could it?“ – at least she’s self-aware and admits it’s foolish to be doing it shortly after. But I was like gurl this is all wrong.

-ˋˏ ꒰ Milori ❅꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ The hand flex after he holds Clarion’s hand excuse me! You can’t tell me this was not a Mr Darcy reference from the 2005 Pride and Prejudice film! And omg that moment where Milori says he saw her falling star. I crieddd! I love him even more now.

PLAYLISTㅤ{SPOTIFY LINK}
The Night We Met - Lord Huron | King of Pain - The Police | Somewhere Only We Know - Keane | The Man who Can’t be Moved - The Script | cardigan - Taylor Swift | Sad Beautiful Tragic - Taylor Swift | What Was I Made For? - Billie Eilish | A Wish Worth Making - Julia Michaels | Say Yes To Heaven - Lana del Rey | ceilings - Lizzy McAlpine | I love you, I’m sorry - Gracie Abrams | Can’t Catch Me Now - Olivia Rodrigo | Those Eyes - New West | All of the Stars - Ed Sheeran | What Have They Done To Us? - Mako & Grey (ft. Sasha Alex Sloan) | All the Stars - Kendrick Lamar and SZA | run for the hills - Tate McRae | You’re Losing Me - Taylor Swift | we can’t be friends (wait for your love) - Ariana Grande

FAV QUOTES
• “you seem happy here.” His tone turned almost gentle. “It’s nice.” | How could she not be? In the gathering dark, with someone who saw through her, this seemed to her a place she almost belonged. An entire world made of starlight, glittering and silver.
• “Because you were made for this. I feel it, when I look at you. Perhaps it’s your magic. Perhaps it’s you. Whatever it is, you have an aura about you. You command respect, yes, but more than that, you inspire hope. It is the first time I have felt it in a very long time.”
• They sat almost knee to knee in the darkness, close enough to touch. The very thought prickled along her skin like electricity. Ridiculous, she scolded herself. They’d been far closer than this last night. But then, that had been out of necessity. Somehow, this felt far more vulnerable. Especially when he was looking at her like this. Clarion could not name what exactly she saw there, but it made a terrible longing rise up within her.
• “I do not think I’ve been subtle about it, but I feel I should tell you that I like you, too.” Clarion couldn’t help laughing, even through the threat of tears constricting her throat. She leaned her forehead against his shoulder, if only to hide how much his words had affected her. She supposed she had known for quite some time how he felt, but to hear him admit it aloud . . . It made *this*— whatever it was— real: something she could lose.
• The stars overhead glittered brighter. Wonder filled Milori’s expression as their light danced on the snow fluttering around them. When his gaze found hers again, she could not remember how to draw breath. How beautiful, to see the exact moment he fell in love with her. Perhaps he had always loved her, on some level, ever since that night he allowed himself to hope again.
• It amazed her how a place could carry both such joyful and painful memories. But she wanted to remember Winter like this: a friend, holding its companionate silence with her.
• She loved him. Perhaps she was always bound to, from the very moment she saw him standing on the border. How could she not? She loved his steadfastness, his kindness, even his reckless, selfless bravery. She loved his wry humor and his unshakable devotion to his people. She loved him because he had set her free, too. And yet, he had broken her heart.
• It was strangely comforting— and strangely beautiful, to be known without having to speak a word.
• How could she ever teach new arrivals to fly? How could she dare to unfurl their wings with the tenderness they deserved when she would always remember the ones she had broken?
• His eyes were the brightest, clearest things she had ever seen. They pierced straight to the heart of her with his quiet, kind strength. Her heart gave a terrible lurch. She did not know if she would survive losing him. But whether they stayed together or not, she would lose him. One way or another, the stars would keep them apart.

══════════ ⋆★⋆ ══════════

I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review and I’d like to thank Allison Saft, Bonnier Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity. This has not affected my opinion in any way.

“Wings of Starlight” is out now!