Notes:

*Initially had a Twilight vibe to it. No vampires.
*It got better though in the second half.
*What was Holly and Kate's purpose in this?
*Speshul snowflake. Practically perfect in every way
*Love at first sight?
*But, be honest, we've all wanted this kind of connection. ( )

Author's guest post at my blog:
http://bookfare.blogspot.com/2016/01/foodfic-please-welcome-elizabeth-isaacs.htm...

Wonderful story with amazing world-building, unique concepts, beautiful romance, and enjoyable characters. The first half of the book was amazing, though I did feel that Nora's character in the later half became slightly flat, and perhaps even a bit too perfect. I would of liked to have seen more stumbles and struggles with her, and not an immediate acceptance (Mia's dislike wasn't enough) by everyone and to be suddenly so powerful, so poise, and speaking with a voice that sounded like it was old and wise. That was the only thing keeping me from giving this book 5 stars. ( )

WOW! I knew this book was going to be great since a lot of my friends commented on my weekly haul video saying that this book was just simply brilliant. And surely they did not lie! When I first started the prologue, I was stunned by the lyrical writing of Elizabeth. Her words captured me as if they were jumping out of the page and grabbing me with their small ink hands. The words seemed to twist and turn like mist and slowly forming into pictures and scenes that I can picture with clarity. And surely the prologue was just the beginning. I really appreciated how the action started immediately (seriously, I was two pages in). It really reminded me of how fast Of Poseidon started (if you don't know, Of Poseidon is one of my favourites of 2012 so far).

The character Nora is just so kind (but also real - I find a lot of kind characters tend to sound unrealistic, but Nora was kind and real). I think one of the reason why she was so real was that we really acted like a real high school graduate. Her relationship with others are so unbreakable. She immediately reminded me of Winry, and as Edna entered (who reminded me of Pinako), I knew that I will be picturing Winry for the rest of the book.

Winry

Pinako

And shall we talk about Gavin? Of course, he is GORGEOUS! I mean emerald eyes! EMERALD! I mean emerald is so great that even Pokemon has an emerald version!

The romance between Gavin and Nora can be seen as rushed. I mean they bumped into each other and sparks flew. Normally I hate instant love connections (really I usually have a puking fest in my brain), but I didn't mind this at all. Elizabeth! What have you done to Ashley?! Yes at parts the romance can be overdone but I think it was necessary.
The character Gavin reminded me of Ichigo, especially his will to protect.

Ichigo

Okay now setting! HELLO! The world building for this book was out of this world.
There are setting that are beautiful like the background of the Snow White and the Huntsman poster. (Okay, I don't care if you don't like Kristen Stewart, just look that the background, the background people!) See the prettiness?

And at parts, where everything is dark, gloomy, dangerous. Think of the scariest Harry Potter setting or anything that scares the crap out of you. Well right there are some of the scenes you can expect from this book.

Really, Elizabeth controlled both light and dark, contrasting, but also connecting the two with her magical words. She captured romance, action, pain, joy, friendship and betrayal so perfectly that I just want to scream.

See review with pictures: http://firestarbooks.blogspot.ca/2012/08/review-light-of-asteria-by-elizabeth.ht... ( )

Find full review at http://www.readingangel.com/2011/07/light-of-asteria-by-elizabeth-isaacs.html

I wasn't sure what to except when I went between the covers of The Light of Asteria. I hadn't heard much about it before starting it, so I was truly going in with fresh eyes. I was so pleased to find the each page held what it did! The Light of Asteria was a fantastic read! I enjoyed the storyline, the writing, the characters, the moral, just everything about this book. ( )