Summer in the City

Alex Aster, also known as Alexandra Pierson, is a Colombian American author of middle grade, young adult, and adult novels. She began her professional writing career with the release of her middle grade fantasy series, Emblem Island, followed by the massive release of her bestselling Lightlark trilogy, a young adult fantasy romance series. Summer in the City (2025) is her adult novel debut.

Aster is a #1 New York Times Bestselling, #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling, #1 Publishers Weekly Bestselling, #1 Indie Bestselling, and USA Today Bestselling author of Lightlark. The novel sold in over 30 territories. She is also among the most-followed authors in the world, boasting over 1.4 million followers in TikTok alone. Although Aster’s middle grade series found moderate success, Lightlark catapulted her into the spotlight, largely due to her self-promotion on BookTok, where her videos went viral. The massive popularity of her posts helped secure an unusually large publishing deal, which sparked controversy among readers and writers who questioned the role of industry connections and privilege in her rapid ascent. This backlash centered on the perception that Aster’s rise was not solely due to the strength of her manuscript, but aided significantly by pre-existing industry access, a high-level agent, and a viral platform few debut authors could replicate.