Wings of Starlight: A Cute YA Romantasy I Didn't Expect to Love

In this charming and whimsical young adult romantasy, Claren battles with enemies and her own heart to discover what it truly means to be Queen.

What happens?

Born from a fallen star, soon-to-be Queen of Pixie Hollow Claren, struggles to become the Queen that the fairies of Pixie Hollow need. Claren does her best to follow the example of the current Queen, Elvina, but Claren fails to control her emotions in the way Elvina says is necessary to become a strong ruler.

For thousands of years, Pixie Hollow’s queens have ruled over fairies of three seasons (Spring, Summer, and Fall). However the fairies of the warmer months, including the queens, haven’t had any contact with the mysterious Winter fairies. But when mysterious enemies, the Nightmares, escape from their frozen Winter prison and begin cursing fairies with a permanent slumber, Claren must do what no other Queen has done for millennia--travel to the border her kingdom shares with Winter and seek help from the fairies there.

At the border, Claren meets Milori, the Warden of Winter, who is in charge of guarding the Nightmare prison. Milori wants to meet with Queen Elvira to request aid, but Claren knows that Elvina disapproves of any contact with the Winter fairies. Instead, Elvina wants to leave the Winter fairies to their own devices. Claren decides to go behind Elvina's back to help the Winter kingdom defeat the Nightmares. But Claren doesn’t expect the growing feelings she develops for the Warden of Winter, which go against everything Elvina has taught her.

Claren and Milori must work together to stop the Nightmares, and perhaps reunite their two kingdoms in the process.

How was it?

I’ll admit. I read the first ten pages and thought, "Oh no, another cliche “sheltered princess wants to connect with her people, but is too busy with her schedule forced by her advisors/parents.” In fact, I almost stopped reading then, but I was on a plane with limited reading options, so I pushed through. And *wow* I am so glad that I did. This was a charming read with a memorable romance. It just goes to show that it’s not about the tropes, but what you do with them.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from a world based on Disney’s Pixie Hollow universe, but I found it incredibly charming. I haven’t seen any of the *Tinkerbell* franchise movies since I was a kid, but I was impressed with the way the story brought this whimsical world to life. I loved hearing about all the silly things the fairies did with magic (painting rainbows, making dewdrop mosaics, herding bees). Still, there’s enough seriousness to cut the sweetness of the world (real stakes if Claren fails).

Without giving any spoilers, I thought the ending does an excellent job exploring themes of love, duty, and sacrifice. To me, it felt like the perfect conclusion to the story.

How was the romance?

I adored Claren and Milori’s dynamic--such cute banter. It was so cute to see them get to know each other and develop feelings for each other. I loved seeing Claren and Milori work together to overcome challenges--there was excellent character growth on both sides. 

Most of all, I loved that there are *no* forced miscommunications between Claren and Milori, which was *so* refreshing to read. In their relationship, open communication is key--when they have challenges in their relationship, they talk about them and actually *listen* to each other. (If I had a nickel for every YA romance I’ve read that showcases healthy communication, I’d probably have less than a dollar.)

Okay, there has to be something you didn’t like

I’ll admit it. I’ve been generous with my star rating since I found the story so adorable. 

Elvina’s character sometimes felt a bit cliché at points. I did like how she is a morally gray character (and I liked exploring her relationship with Claren), but some of the things she does just feel…evil? Like, straight up Disney-villain-level evil. Which, I mean, good on Disney for showing that even people we love can make bad choices, but also…(**minor spoiler ahead**) the Queen of Pixie Hollow is (essentially) pro-genocide? (**spoiler over**) To some extent, we need Elvina to be evilish in order for Claren to shine, but it raised some concerning questions about Pixie Hollow Government.

The method of defeating the Nightmares is a bit convenient (although to be fair it doesn’t contradict any rules of fairy magic land, since fairy-magic-land magic is pretty nebulous). At some points, I was a bit confused about what was happening with the Nightmares, but I was mostly focused on the characters, so I didn’t care as much about any confusing plot moments.

Overall take?

If you like cute romantasy with fairies, give this one a go! I thoroughly enjoyed it.