Book Review

Moon Reads: Star Friends Energy Thief

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Star Friends – Energy Thief by Linda Chapman. Illustrated by Kim Barnes

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light. 

I am always up to some new series and items to read from Little Tiger UK, so when this had a fox and a cute premise I requested it and got a copy to review.

Now, I did not realise this was many books into the series, so I was missing some context when I started reading it, however, it was also ok, because it was slowly filled in as needed. 

Maia and her friends have magic that is seen through their Star friends, who are animal companions that assist with their magic.  So when Maia starts having visions of accidents happening in their town, they all get to investigate what is happening. 

What they don't count on is that somehow their investigation will keep getting stalled and derailed by the same type of accidents that she herself was seeing. There seems to be someone influencing the people of the town in causing them accidents, but also in their behavior because adults are behaving a bit more odd than usual. 

This was very cute, and it made me add the series to the books I will go get from the library when I have the chance to binge read them. 

The friendships were lovely and the town was cute as was the fact that there's a lot of adults involved and it isn't just the kids being ultra magical and solving everything without an adult ever involved. Instead here they consult with adults and involve them in parts of their adventure which was nice to read about.

If you're into magic, animal companions, and a plucky set of friends who are ready to solve chaos and mysteries, this is a great series to go through. Very enjoyable.
Book Review

Moon Reads: All Hail Chaos

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All Hail Chaos by Sarah Rees Brennan

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light. 

All Hail Chaos was one of my most anticipated reads for this year, and if you're too impatient to read the review, the short thing is that it did not disappoint. You can read my review of Long Live Evil before this one if you're interested in it. 

I am going to try my best to avoid big spoilers for this book because I think getting to the last few chapters and making those discoveries is an experience you can only get once when you read it and it's not worth spoiling. This does mean I will be writing one of those insane reviews that are a bunch of nonsense. I mean the title is all about chaos, so we might as well embrace it. All Hail Chaos!

We left Rae engaged to her favourite character, the Emperor, whom is not whom she thought actually was. And she is afraid.  Being the villainess was fun when it you think that it's just characters and not people like you, but once you cross the line, it becomes harder to make villainous decisions and things are a lot deadlier. 

Rae is trying her best to survive and for that she needs to continue her villainess chaos and to continue trying to not be predictable, and to challenge things. And at the same time she wants to free the Emperor and to free herself from the mess that has become. 

She also has Cobra trying to discover secrets and preempt some of the plot that they know happens, trying to make changes. And there's also Emer and Lia, who have escaped simply to stay in the town and start stoking a revolution. 

There's indeed a lot of chaos going on here, but the main thing they all have to grapple with is that there are constants for this story, and this plot, and they can try to change things, but they will come to happen one way or another. And sometimes the bargains, the fake engagements, the bravery, they backfire into something you can't predict or that maybe you hoped would not be the case. 

That part of them all trying to understand what the plot wants, how much they can push and pull at it and bend it to their will, and where it just won't budge was super fun and really cleverly done.  This adds tot he twists and turns, and you know that there are going to be many, but they turn in on themselves as you hope something will happen and boom, something else ends up becoming the plot because it just won't bend that far and the bounce of trying to make it do things it just won't gets interesting. Navigating these many plot points and what the "original" plot was versus the many variations that slowly unravel, the butterfly effect of it all is a lesson in how to be a master in writing, and Sarah does it amazingly well. 

Another part of this was that as I read this, I kept thinking a lot about a phrase I live by, which is that you either become the person you needed most during a crisis or you become the villain and closer to those that caused you harm than the other way. And that at the end of the day, what you do, is a choice you make. 

All Hail Chaos is full of those moments where each character has to face the music and realise that the choice they are making will impact more than just this moment but also they only have a moment to decide. 

There is still a lot of sadness in this book, but whereas the first one was marked heavily by grief, here the grief has shifted more into vulnerability and pain. And in this book that pain makes some beautiful and beautifully ugly things. 

My recommendation is to definitely read this book and enjoy the ride, then despair because the third book is not out yet and you will need it immediately after you finish reading this.
Book Review

Moon Reads: Bless

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Bless (Vol1 and 2) by Yukino Sonoyama

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection. 

I heard Bless was being made into an anime and the little snippets that were seen reminded me of Paradise Kiss (one of the first manga and anime I consumed and I was won, it's all about fashion and modelling), and Princess Jellyfish (also about clothes and fashion and being yourself), so one about makeup and modelling sounded right up my street (and the snippets were utterly drop dead gorgeous)

The first volume is a good introduction to the two main characters: Aia, who has been scouted as a model and is utterly stunning, but what he really cares about is makeup and is always dreaming up makeup for others. The other is Jun, who is the quiet tall classmate who is always hunching and hiding to be less noticeable, particularly as she has a bunch of freckles.

They end up being the ones representing their class in the school runway fashion contest, low expectations for them, but he convinces to her to be the model and let him do the makeup and look, an as they team up they discover they are both very similar in having secret ambitions of wanting to be more than what everyone assumes for them and also different in one is super organised and the other chaotic and distracted. 

Now, the premise is really awesome, with Aia wanting to do makeup but being stuck as the model and Jun wanting to be a model but thinking she's not the right fit, and then reversing those roles and putting themselves out there. The whole plot/story that follows them while they complete the challenge in school and their first tempting steps attempting to go outside of the school with those dreams was superb. The one downside is that makeup benefits from colour actually being used and the manga is black and white, so the descriptions don't match what you end up seeing on the page and therefore you're less amazed (though some of it is done beautifully). 

The other thing for me was that once the main challenge goes, with the school competition happening and suddenly realising they each wants to pursue this further, we get a bit of Jun pursuing modelling, but we mostly get Aia being super confident and yet not enough, the balance is ood where he doesn't seem entirely true to himself through the two volumes. The Aia you encounter int he first, is not exactly the same throughout the second volume, and we barely see Jun in the second volume. We mostly focus on Aia and makeup, but barely anything for Jun and it almost seems like she was there purely to advance his plot and that's it (which fair but the premise and summaries hint that it's about both of them).

There are some fun moments thoughout boht volumes particularly as they try to figure out what the focus of their school contest entry will be. But also as Aia continues trying to find what he wants to do with makeup and how he wants to approach.

My overall verdict was that it's a story that for once I think I'd rather watch as an anime than read as a manga and I will wait for it to come out to continue the story.
Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Academic Rivals Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Academic Rivals, November 2025

Ownership: Subscribed on their 6 boxes option. If you are interested in purchasing an Illumicrate subscription, you can do it on their website.

Illumicrate is a book subscription box that usually features fantasy and sci-fi, and curates a wide range of books, including both young adult and adult fiction. It usually contains a new release and several bookish goodies. 

I have to admit this was one I didn't remember as much from last year, but it was all about academia again (there's been quite a bit of focus on academia type of novels, dark or otherwise). From memory they had revealed the book ahead of time, and it wasn't one I didn't particularly want but I also wasn't crazy about it. 

Let's go over the contents, starting from the left and going towards the right:
  • Puzzle, jigsaw, whatever you call it. Cute, I liked that it basically has a celebration of the books it has done through the last 10 years as it was an anniversary jigsaw.
  • The already known book, which was A Rather Vengeful Accord by Danielle Knight and I admit I have no real opinion except I am not crazy about getting to read it, so if I end up reading it great, if not, that’s ok.
  • A calendar which as always delightful illustrations, I am just sad it is a wall calendar instead of a self-standing (as I used the one from the previous year on my desk and love it so much that I ended buying one for my desk for this year since theirs was not a desk calendar). I also wish the cover was a bit more catching, but still, I like they give a yearly calendar.
  • Underneath the items there’s a laundry bag, and honestly I like that they send nicely useful things that can be taken around and not just for shelf display. Useful to traveling and splitting things, though the design felt a bit bland for me.
  • A monthly leaflet as always
  • And above the leaflet, we have an iron on patch. Now I am definitely NOT a fan of patches because I don’t have anything to put them on, so they end up not staying as I have no use for them, but I love the design and colours of this one even if I won’t use it. 
So as I already mentioned, the overall box felt very forgettable. Yes a laundry bag and jigsaw are nice (and I am definitely someone who likes making puzzles and spending time on them), but it just felt a bit empty and not really a god box, just a bit bland and not amazing. Definitely hope the calendar this year is self standing, because I do wish I could use them on my desk.
Book Review

Moon Reads – A Home for Spark the Dragon

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A Home for Spark the Dragon by Michael Sheen and Jess Webb. Illustrated by Sarah Massini

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection. 

I saw this book while I was browsing Waterstones and the first thing that got me was that it was by Michael Sheen and the second thing was that it was supporting Shelter, so I had to buy it.

Spark the Dragon loses his home to a storm and therefore is sad and trying to figure out what to do. So he finds a bear friend, who offers him to come and stay with them, but the cave where the bear lives is a bit too damp and dark for Spark's comfort and so he politely thanks his friend and moves on. 

Next he meets up a beaver, who again, offers his home and Spark helps in the building of it, but it is too noisy and not for him either. 

You can see where the story is going, right? Spark keeps searching and trying to share someone else's house for a bit, but it isn't right for him. 

He finally finds something that feels close to the right thing but it still isn't. But thankfully his friends show up and help him make a new home for him so that he has a house and a roof over his head. 

The art for this is adorable, it is soft and sweet and gentle. And the story is also cute and nicely written. I was looking forward to the next house and to what Spark would do, but also hoping he'd find his own home. 

I really liked that his friends help him make a house a home, because as someone who was homeless at some point in her life, if it hadn't been for my friends putting me up in their couches, I wouldn't be here. They made a huge difference and even helped me get out of that bad spot in life, and I am ever so grateful to them.

But I also know how it feels to have no place to call home and to feel lost and unsure. And it has made me appreciate home even more (and it also makes me more sensitive to not feeling at home at times). Plus I am glad it is to support Shelter, who is a wonderful charity. 

Worth reading, and worth reflecting on how lucky we are to have a home right now and that there is indeed a lot of luck involved in these type of things.
Book Review

Moon Reads: Worst Man

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Worst Man by Brandt & Stein

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection. 

I like graphic novels and I had been in a bit of a slump, so I decided to grab one and give it a punt.

Worst Man is about the wedding of Domino McElligott and Battista Lovely, they are getting married in a remote island far away from everything, a nice secluded perfect wedding. 

Introduce Radcliffe Raleigh. He is a professional "worst man", who works to stop weddings from happening to avoid people who aren't truly in love or that others think are a bad pairing or shouldn't marry. He is hired by the mother of the bride, who is a tech mogul, Valentina McElligott. She had previously hired him to break up her other daughter's wedding, which Rad failed to do as they were truly in love and therefore was against his policy, but for that he had six months.

To stop this wedding, he is now given 32 hours and a threat on his life. So he gets to it and tries hard to pull all the tricks he can muster in such a short time. But what he doesn't plan on is the best man who is on his own mission to see this wedding succeed for his friend. 

Add to the mix the fact that Domino's sister came and they vaguely remember Rad from the time he was their own worst man, and that she is upset that her perception is that their mother gave them the island to Domino and Battista but didn't even show up to her wedding. A groom who insists on being blindfolded so he doesn't see the bride before the wedding because it is bad luck. A mother of the groom with a terrorising pooch that is also the ring bearer. A hotel that had their staff scared away by Rad so it's only him and his hacker friend, alongside the best man and the two friends he brought up to help.

And Valentina is also helping by bringing quite literally a boatload of people from her company and a wedding planner that is having a crisis and frustrated and determined to somehow still make this the best wedding ever (she's in a war path). 

This was so so funny. Between Rad desperately slowly falling for the best man and trying his best to at the same time ruin this wedding, but also frustrated because how is he going to undo this when the best man seems to be undoing whatever he does to cause chaos. 

Chaos is just everywhere. One of the fun things is you get to see loads of very messy family and friends relationships. Like the misunderstandings between the sisters and how they see the other different than they themselves perceive who they are. You get to see a bossy mother of the groom who knows best. A bride and groom who truly love each other and are just trying to have a good wedding without too mcuh chaos and somehow with Valentina involved that feels impossible. 

But, will love prevail, both for Rad and for the couple? 
Go read to find out, it is worth it and a very fun journey.
Book Review

Moon Reads: Blind Date with a Werewolf

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Blind Date with a Werewolf (A Novel in Stories) by Patricia Briggs

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light. 

Probably not obvious but I am a big fan of Patricia Briggs, have been since I first read The Hob's Bargain (I should probably re-read it and review it properly here) back when I was a teenager. She was my introduction to urban fantasy (or paranormal or whatever you want to call it now, to me it will always be urban fantasy), and yes I am aware that the Hob's Bargain is not urban fantasy but that was the gateway and Mercy Thompson won my heart and I had a soft spot for her Alpha and Omega books too.

So when Orbit (a while back) said they were publishing the collection of short stories about Asil's blind dates, I jumped at the chance (and then kinda moved house and lost the book and had no pictures and didn't review it until now, my bad). 

Asil is a deadly old werewolf, he's lived a long time and lives a reclusive life since he lost his own mate. But his friends are challenging him to go on five blind dates in the span of three weeks. They even made it easy and chose the people, everything is organised and perfectly scheduled, all he has to do is show up and be a good date. 

Now, these are five short stories, one per date, that make up a bigger one, but you don't need to technically read them all to know what's going on, and for me it had been a while since I had read the Alpha and Omega books, so I had a vague memory of the characters but couldn't recall everything.

Despite having some blanks, this was pure fun. The dates are actually nicely planned with well meaning people and each one just gets more chaotic and more hilarious than the last, and yet they are also very serious and show you well that Asil is very true to himself through and through no matter the chaos. And there is a lot of chaos thrown at him. There's people feeling stood up or on a joke, and then there's big felines and other old magic flowing through and showing up at inconvenient times during the date. 

Honestly I breezed through this and it was such a joy to read, reminded me why I fell in love with urban fantasy and why I loved the Alpha & Omega series, but also why I enjoy Patricia Briggs' books so much. 

All I can say is that you should read them for a good time in chaos dates and an impeccable werewolf who is trying to do his best for this challenge of blind dates. There's a little bit of everything here for everyone. And if my books weren't packed, I would've just ignored everything and gone to binge read the Alpha and Omega series after finishing this book because it was a delightfully enjoyable read.
Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: In Every Life Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: In Every Life, October 2025

Ownership: Subscribed on their 6 boxes option. If you are interested in purchasing an Illumicrate subscription, you can do it on their website.

Illumicrate is a book subscription box that usually features fantasy and sci-fi, and curates a wide range of books, including both young adult and adult fiction. It usually contains a new release and several bookish goodies. 

More knights, but now a story that goes across many reincarnations and lives, and of course I knew this one had this specific featured book so I was looking forward to it. 

But how well did it do? Let's go over the contents, starting from the left and going towards the right:
  • Packing cubes inspired by Our Infinite Fates, these are really cool even if they aren’t displayed much on the picture.
  • The featured book, which I have read and reviewed here before, The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri, which was awesome and I love the artwork for it.
  • A cross stitch kit inspired by Godly Heathens, which I have yet to make but I do enjoy when they send craft kits (I have yet to catch up, my current craft is a fox blanket).
  • A shaker keyring, I am not super crazy on this one to be fair as it a bit meh, they’ve done better keyrings.
  • A book ceramic pot for “A Soul’s Guide to Eternal Life” which I am keeping.
  • And the monthly leaflet.
Overall, a good set of items in the box with only the keyring not being one for me, and feeling less fitting to it, but I love the book, and the special edition, and I do love a craft kit because it is fun and something to get me to not be staring at a screen but rather focus differently and have a tangible result. So win on that overall.
Book Review

Moon Reads: Monster Movie!

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Monster Movie! by Chuck Wendig

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection. 

This was a bargain book found in Forbidden Planet that my partner suggested and added to my pile of books to buy, a gamble trusting that I would enjoy it.

Ethan is afraid of a lot of things, almost everything except certain constants in his life. Mostly what he likes is being able to be in control of the variables and to have predictability, and he doesn't like complex emotions, the more stable and predictable and not scary, the better. 

And thankfully he has two best friends who complement him and don't mind that is scared of so much, and that usually accommodate for him. But when the entire class gets invited to watch an apparently rare almost impossible to find horror movie at the house of the most popular boy int he school, his friends insist he should join them. But "scariest movie ever" does not  sound at all like something Ethan will enjoy, but he debates this over and over, and while he debates this, the movie turns out to be a monster and Ethan is the lucky one to escape amongst his classmates who were watching it. 

At first he only wants to escape and forget it, but as the monster starts wreaking havoc in his little town, Ethan realises he may be the only one who can stop it and get his friends back. 

Now this was pure chaos and havoc, and craziness. Ethan has a lot to confront and a lot to decide as monsters coming out of a scary movie and stealing everyone's heads is not the ideal scenario for him to shine. But he really cares about his friends and he wants to fit in a little bit better. But as he tries to find a way to stay alive and not fall victim to the monster and also a way to try to recover his friends, he realises everyone can be scared of things, and that doing it scared is possible, even if it is scary. 

For me this was a funny read, and I liked how Ethan solves and saves the day on it, it was a nice twist that fit into who he is and also helped him grow into himself, and gave him a little bit more courage to be himself, even if it doesn't automatically make him brave and courageous (which I actually liked, he is still Ethan at the end of the book, and still scared, but maybe less things scare him now). 

One other thing it covers is that we all have value, and passion and our projects, and that if we like something we don't have to give it up to fit in, and maybe that thing might be a strength, even if some people may not see it that way. It was an good framing of how things aren't always perfect or how times change and also that at the end of the day we all want to succeed, are afraid to fail and that anxiety is a painful companion that sometimes has to take the back seat and let us exist.
Book Review

Moon Reads: Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star

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Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star by Laura Noakes. Illustrated by Flavia Sorrentino.

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection. 

I knew Laura was writing a book for a while and that the main character would have EDS, which in between having been in an instagram pod with her for a long time and also having EDS myself, this was a necessary purchase and read. 

I read it a while ago, I am just a mood reviewer and this is my blog, so I more or less come and write my reviews when I finally feel like it, and apparently today is one of those days when I feel like writing about myself while I review a book. 

Cosima can only remember the Home for Unfortunate Girls (therefore why she is called Unfortunate), all she knows is she was dropped up as a baby, and that who her parents are/were seems a bit of a secret. The Home for Unfortunate Girls is a school/orphanage for children who are disabled or deemed different, and it is more or less obligatory that if your child falls under this category, then they gotta be here. 

But for Cosima, this is home, even if it doesn't treat them amazingly well and there's always some weird schemes going on between the Home's manager/matron and the benefactors, that involve the children working a bit too hard. Luckily, Cosima has made good friends here (Pearl, Mary and Diya) and what they enjoy a lot (particularly Cosima) is running mini heists where they obtain cakes, biscuits and other sweet goods for the themselves and to share with the rest of the children. 

Now, Cosima is here because she has EDS, and her knee dislocates often alongside her joints giving her trouble, so she uses various walking assistance to move as needed dependent on how she's feeling that day. This was a nice thing to see throughout the whole book as her disability is ever present (and as much as it is part of the plot, it is not the main plot nor does it work as plot tool exclusively) and therefore it shows how it displays in a dynamic way. 

As someone with EDS, it was just nice to read a book that was pretty mcuh my experiences. As a kid, playing games that involved "pulling" could cause dislocations easily (to the point my parents and myself became experts and pushing my elbow or shoulder back) so I had to be mindful of what I did. I have always adapted to it and didn't know how dynamic it really was becuase in my family this was all considered relatively normal. EDS is a hereditary condition, so it wasn't anything "new" or any different quirks to the ones the whole family had. It was actually really amusing when I got my formal diagnosis and then suddenly almost every single family member started questioning their quirks and reframing them into this context and suddenly the diagnosis made even more sense "what do you mean x is a symptom? I've always been able to do that and also this 15 other things that fit the criteria and that as a family we thought were totally normal". Great conversation to ahve. 

Anyway, I have gone off topic, but the above does have something to do with Cosima's heist, and the fact she desperately wants to find out who her parents are/were as she holds hope that her father is still alive. So when she finds out that Lord Francis Fitzroy wants to adopt them, she plots the biggest heist ever as she is not convinced about this and wants some truth and the money to bu their freedom. 

During her heist which was fun and amusing to read, and very clever and creative, Cosima inches closer and closer to finding the truth about her family and maybe understanding her condition better. 

Honestly if you have EDS or a similar disability, this is a must read with good representation and own voices, but even if you do not, it is a wonderful read, funny and quirky and just very sweet, and it depicts dynamic disabilities really well.