Lightlark by Alex Aster is a young adult spectacular fiction novel about a dangerous game that occurs on the island after every 100 years. Isla is a young female ruler of the kingdom of Wilding. Wilding is one of the world's six kingdoms that are collapsing. The residents of the Wilding realm are cursed to kill the people they fall in love with. Isla has a big task ahead because she leads detested and feared people who look up to her for help. For the people of Wilding to survive, Isla must lie and betray other rulers from other realms during the centennial event. The rulers of the six kingdoms congregate during the event to break away from the curses that affect their respective jurisdictions.
When Lightlark Island becomes visible, all the six rulers of the kingdoms come together to the isle to accomplish a perplexing prophesy. Each leader has unique powers, except Isla Crown. The people of Wilding have never known that their leader has no natural powers. Despite lacking any natural power, Isla is naturally a beautiful woman with leadership skills and the ability to read the minds of her competitors.
Isla Crown is prepared for the Centennial event because she has trained for it her entire life. However, the success of Isla Crown in the event depends on whom she shares her secrets with and the kind of people she befriends. According to the prophecy, one of the rulers in the six kingdoms must die to break the curse. People believe that the leader who dies is the weakest, and her citizens will suffer more from the curse of death. While trying to fulfill the mystifying prophecy, Isla comes across a magical witch who gives her puzzling insights on how to break the curse.
At the novel's end, Isla survives the centennial event because she successfully fulfils the prophecy. Consequently, Isla is gifted with all the powers and her people are spared from the curse of death for the next 100 years. To consolidate her power, Isla takes caution about the kind of rulers she interacts with because most have ill motives to bring her down.
