Lanterns in the Sky

The Starlight Chronicles, Book 1

By: P.S. Malcolm

Narrated by: Claire Riley

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Everything was normal for Lucy Maisfer until the day a star fell from the sky and knocked her out. Upon waking, she comes face-to-face with Jason Woods, who also happens to be the mysterious new guy in her best friend, Valarie's, life.

Then the strange dreams begin, and she learns about the Starlight Princess - who must not under any circumstance be reawakened. Driven to uncover the meaning of it, she finds herself caught up in a strange twist of events that eventually lead to bigger danger than she ever anticipated. Before long, Lucy is forced to make a choice between saving the world, or saving her best friend; only to discover that Valarie cannot be saved...that she has an even darker secret, and that her supposed star-crossed romance with Jason might not be so destined after all...

©2019 Machova Productions Inc (P)2020 Machova Productions Inc

Starlight Chronicles

What a different read from some of the other fantasy novels I’ve dove into lately. Lucy comes in contact with a fallen star and a mysterious new guy in one evening. What ensues is a catalyst of world-as-we-know-it ending proportions and some heavy secret reveals.

There’s a few different things going on here and I have to admit I didn’t see a lot of it coming. There is a mixture of “aliens” and angels that left some background and world building to be desired. I am still a little confused on how these two separate entities can mesh in the world. I think a little more discovery into their histories and how they fit the Starlight and Earth worlds would help this out (maybe book 2). The two worlds were an intriguing idea by the author but I feel more was needed there as well. They held an almost unrealistic feel in the fantasy element if that makes any sense.

There’s a part of me that felt this could almost be a middlegrade read based on character personality, content and writing style. The pace is quick and the narration is easy to follow in cadence. The characters develop in personality slowly and I preferred the final portion of the novel to the beginning. Lucy definitely has some growing to do as a character. The ending was a well disguised cliffhanger and I think readers who stick with the story will like that plot twist.

Overall, there are pros and cons with this one. I liked the unique plot perspective into the Starlight world. The cover is beautiful and I can see potential for the second book in this series. Thank you to Parliament Press for the opportunity to listen to this novel via audible for an honest and unbiased review.