“Wings of Starlight” is a romance-fantasy novel written by Allison Saft. It is a prequel to Disney’s “Tinker Bell” franchise, focusing on the forbidden romance between Queen Clarion and Lord Milori before the events of the films.
The story follows Queen Clarion before she became Queen of Pixie Hollow and her journey of not feeling she is fit to be queen. Having to live up to the standards of the Queen before Clarion who also is presented as a mother figure for Clarion, Clarion struggles to find her own power constantly wanting to be like the current queen of Pixie Hollow.
The reader gets to understand Clarion’s personality, dreams, anxieties and the difficulties of being the next queen of Pixie Hollow.
When a mysterious Nightmare Monster comes into Pixie Hollow putting fairies into this deep nightmare state where they are unable to wake up. As this problem evolves, Clarion is also looking for the forbidden Winter Woods, a place where warm fairy wings cannot withstand the cold.
That is when Clarion meets the Winter Worden, Milori.
As someone that grew up with the Tinker Bell franchise and loved it, I thought this book brought me back to my childhood.
“Wings of Starlight” has that feel of nostalgia and magic that came from Pixie Hollow, but also that forbidden-romantacy feel that makes it YA.
I rated this book a four point eight out of five. The story was interesting, the writing style really matched the feel of going back and watching Tinkerbell and being brought back into Pixie Hollow. I also just liked Saft’s writing in general as well, even though I have never read anything from her before. It was very clean and cute.
The characters as well had a lot of depth. I got to understand both Milori and Clarion, but the other background characters like the side couple Petra and Artemis where I felt like I got to understand them, almost as much as the Milori and Clarion. Saft did a very nice job writing the background characters and giving them depth. I also loved how there was a lesbian side couple where the romance was really cute.
The plot was also pretty interesting. Clarion discovering herself and finding her confidence in her powers while also figuring out the mystery behind the Nightmare Monsters. Though I did feel the pacing was off. It went a bit too quickly at times, especially when it came to the mystery of why these Nightmare Monsters are there.
I also felt like the book should have been a bit longer. It was 27 chapters long, which surprised me a little. I don’t know if that is what Disney wanted or that is just how Saft wrote it, but I just think if it had a couple more chapters going into the plot it would be a perfect five.
Overall the book was really cute. I recommend this book to anyone that likes Tinkerbell and grew up wishing for more Lord Miliori and Queen Clarion, or for anyone who needs a cute fantasy read.