"Deftly explores a range of human differences against the backdrop of a lush, immersive world populated by characters who are diverse in appearance and culture. The whiplash of experiencing heartache and hope in rapid succession leads to thought-provoking questions. Heartbreaking, heartening, wondrous." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
PRAISE FOR SONGLIGHT: "The multiple immersive perspectives and the anticipation this narrative will create in readers make this first installment in a planned trilogy unputdownable. Buffini captures the human spirit and all its messy and beautifully complex emotions. A brilliant character study that examines the effects of war, genocide, and misogyny.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
PRAISE FOR SONGLIGHT: “In this stunning YA debut, Buffini expertly juggles a complex plot. By playing off conflicting internal motivations to explore weighty topics of reproductive freedom, internalized homophobia, and state oppression, Buffini crafts a nuanced adventure, all the while dropping tantalizing hints of further conflict and hidden history broiling under the surface.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
PRAISE FOR SONGLIGHT: “A dynamic dystopic fantasy for fans of Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes and Morgan Rhodes’s Falling Kingdoms.” — School Library Journal
PRAISE FOR SONGLIGHT: "Vivid and powerful" — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
PRAISE FOR SONGLIGHT: “Buffini weaves a setting plush with detail and world building. Songlight will appeal to readers who enjoyed Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale." — Booklist
PRAISE FOR SONGLIGHT: “Action-packed and simmering with fury, Songlight leads a chorus of fierce young narrators coming into their power. Like the hook in your favorite song, her melody will stay in your head long after you turn the last page.” — Michael Grant, NYT bestselling author of the Gone series
PRAISE FOR SONGLIGHT: “With thoughtful nods to Atwood and Le Guin, Moira Buffini crafts a post-apocalyptic future that confronts harsh and timely realities, yet still shimmers with an empowering undercurrent of optimism and agency. Readers will eagerly await the next installment in this high-stakes trilogy featuring an unforgettable cast of characters. Sweeping, cinematic, and luminous.” — Rebecca Caprara, award-winning author of Spin
PRAISE FOR SONGLIGHT: “A dark yet piercingly hopeful tale, Songlight imagines a dystopian world on the brink of revolution, courtesy of its teen protagonists who dare to love. Buffini’s ethereal prose and harrowing plot twists kept me reading long into the night.” — Lyssa Mia Smith, author of Revelle
★ 2025-07-03
The war between the Aylish and the Brightlings continues in this sequel toSonglight (2024).
Knowledge of the earlier volume is a must as readers are immediately plunged back into the action. Peace talks in Northaven have gone horribly wrong. Fleeing the carnage, Elsa, her mother, Heron, and Kingfisher head into the dense Brightland forest. Unbeknownst to Elsa, her love, Rye Tern, has escaped from a Chrysalid House; the metal headband blocking his ability to communicate using songlight is still attached. Meanwhile, Piper, Elsa’s estranged brother, is questioning his loyalties, but he continues to work for Lord Kite, Brightlinghelm’s new leader, whom Queen of Propaganda Sister Swan also serves. Elsa’s friend Nightingale, who’s a prisoner of Sister Swan, tries to convince Swan to use her influence over the Brightlings to further peace with the Aylish, while she secretly communicates with Elsa through songlight. Diary entries from 17-year-old Petra of Sealand, a remote island with a technologically advanced society, appear throughout; she’s traveling on the airshipCelestis as part of a surveillance mission, seeking new land where her people can expand. This volume, which sets events up for the trilogy closer, deftly explores a range of human differences against the backdrop of a lush, immersive world populated by characters who are diverse in appearance and culture. The whiplash of experiencing heartache and hope in rapid succession leads to thought-provoking questions, and a revelation that has unforeseen consequences will leave readers eager for the next volume.
Heartbreaking, heartening, wondrous.(Dystopian. 14-18)
