Book Review

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Last Unicorn

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The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px 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 read The Last Unicorn from an old battered paperback my mum had back when I was a young teenager, and by then had watched the film a few times, I was hooked (also terrified to death of the Red Bull, which to me means the film and book did a wonderful job creating the Bull). It has always been a favourite and a comfort watch and read, but I didn’t have my own copy so when Gollancz announced the special edition hardcover reprint, I had to have it.

Let me tell you, it is glorious and I have zero regrets. It is a beautiful and stunning edition and matches the colouring and vibes of the film in it’s design, and I absolutely love it.

But what about the story Moon? What do you think of it now that you’re read it again?

I still love it. The book and film have their differences and I like both versions, each has their nuances, the book in some ways feels slightly more philosophical than the film, but then the film can play with other elements. You all know the story of our unicorn who has been living happily in her forest and is unaware that she may be the last, until she overhears a conversation and then curiosity gets the best of her, throwing her into an adventure to find if she is really the last or not.

Turns out she may be last one living freely and that may not be for that long if she doesn’t find a way to save herself and the rest of the unicorns. There is a lot of magic, shenanigans, failures, pondering about humanity, identity and in some ways what we dream of and what we may truly find makes us happy that is not part of our “dreams of happiness” and it is a lovely interesting story to read which to this day still feels like a masterpiece.

A fantastical journey into a world that is fascinating and that will make you want to watch the film again.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Galaxy The Prettiest Star

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Galaxy The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axelrod and Jess Taylor

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.

This was one of those recommended books by Storygraph and Goodreads on due to whatever I had been reading, and so I liked the artwork and decided to go for it.

The artwork is absolutely love, very colourful! It is a wonderful palette of colours and it is vibrant and very alive, telling the story well. It also has a corgi sidekick/nanny which is adorable and drawn so well!

As for the story, we follow Taylor, who looks like a perfect boy with good grades, a loving family, sports going well, and yet he is unhappy. Because he is not actually human but the princess from an alien planet and one of the few survivors from a horrible war.

Enter Katherine, Kat, who is incredibly confident just being her own self, and suddenly Taylor seems to be seeing a different way of life, and maybe it isn’t worth to keep hiding her own identity and be human, is it so bad to be her own self and a princess?

Obviously this whole thing is a dangerous thing, because she is a survivor and a princess and well, there’s a reason for hiding her, but the story does this well and the relationships, with heir strains, their impact and the feelings everyone has are conveyed in a lovely way that makes it a heartfelt narrative.

An overall entertaining read even if not absolutely life changing, but I could see it being a light for others when they read it, and as such I think it is a worthwhile read.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Greenteeth

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Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px 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.

This is one of the books of this year for me (even if I read it last year).

If you like T. Kingfisher, or similar chaotic fantasy, then this is a great book.

Let’s start with the narrator, Jenny Greenteeth. She is your average swamp monster living in her lake with sharp teeth, a love for fish and a healthy lake. So when the villagers suddenly decide to throw in a witch instead of useful things that Jenny can enjoy, she does not expect to end up in a huge adventure.

Temperance knows the old ways and has been helpful to her village, until the new pastor starts poisoning the minds of the villagers against her and claiming she is a bad influence and a witch. So when she gets thrown in the lake, she can’t do much, except maybe convince the Jenny that rescued her to help her make things right.

Now, without spoiling this, I will say that in the first few chapters I thought “oh this is going to be x” and that guess was indeed true, even if, by the time you get to it, it doesn’t spoil or make it worse, it was actually satisfying to think “oh hell yeah, I was right”.

The story is well done, partly monstrous tale, partly a fairy tale, huge adventure and a lot of chaos with not the normal trope of characters. You get Jenny who is a lake monster, and you get Temperance who despite being thrown in the lake just wants to get back to how her village used to be and her husband and family, and you also get a few other monstrous creatures in the mix to aid in the adventure including even a bit of Fae in it.

It grabs all that myth and legend from Britain, from old school stories, from Fae and gives you a wonderful monster of an adventure that will leave you wanting more, and also, extremely satisfied with the ending and the overall adventure. It comes packed with interesting characters, a horrible evil that will be ending the world (or as close as possible), impossible quests that are yet somehow possible, a lot of fun and a heap of old magic just for good measure.

The perfect recipe (and maybe Jenny will share her fish recipe with you).

Highly recommended if you love old magic and chaos and a fresh new take on myths, legends and magic.

10/10 would happily join Jenny and Temperance in the lake and their adventure.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Last Hour Between Worlds

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The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

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.

Just to add to the disclaimer above, I did get a free copy from Orbit, but I also had a purchased copy and one from Illumicrate, so apparently this was a book I just needed to read. The copy in the picture is the one from the publisher because it is the one I actually took everywhere (you can see it, woops) and read.

The review before today’s was for Diary of a Void, which is about faking a pregnancy, and well, this book is not about pregnancy in itself, but rather about a main character who has given birth recently and is just trying to enjoy herself rather than work on an end of year party. It felt to me like these two books had to be next to each other because they approach a part of life that isn’t always included in books beyond a side note, and in both, it is an important part of it.

I also want to highlight that our main character is not a young adult, which was refreshing as was seeing that she is trying to balance motherhood and her return to work post birth. I need more books that just include it in the plot and where it is relevant in how it colours the decisions and thoughts of the character but not as a “plot” point exclusively. It was done masterfully here.

Now, to the actual proper plot, which is a crazy multidimensional mystery and trying to stop people from dying and close to the end of the world for the people involved, but in reality is more of a power game between higher entities.

Kembral is trying to enjoy herself at the end of the year party but the party just won’t let her as people start dying and then time seems to “rewind” and it starts all over, but moving between dimensions. As to why she seems to be one of the only ones to notice this, part fo the overall mystery.

Thankfully, she ends up joining forces (reluctantly) with her personal and professional nemesis, Rika. As they try to work on their own personal/professional tangle and at the same time, survive and save the world(s), chaos ensues.

There is a lot going on in the book, which is normally overwhelming, but the various threads of plot and pieces do tie each other nicely as it progresses. We learn more about why Rika and Kembral have such a relationship and what each side thinks, plus what they are seeing or kept hidden from each other. We also get, as mentioned the impact of her motherhood into the story, and her own professional relationships and morals as she tries to resolve what is happening. Then we have the various dimensions and worlds, which is chaotic and wonderful worldbuilding. Then we have the rituals/murders that keep happening each time and in each dimension. And the question is how to make it stop and save everyone, how do you solve a game and ritual that is at the level of higher beings and not you?

I had to stay up reading this book and really wanted to keep going, it was incredibly well written, kept me hooked and I wanted to know more on all points. I can’t wait for the next book.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Diary of a Void

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Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi

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 bought this book on a whim while I was in Oxford in Blackwell’s because it looked good. See, when I was barely in my twenties, translated fiction was ridiculously cheap because it wasn’t selling, and so I bought it and read it and loved a good book, but then it exploded and I was slightly put off by the price. So this was a call from my mind to remember my roots and my love for it.

Now, this specific review will be a bit more personal than you would normally get, because I read Diary of a Void in the early weeks of pregnancy, before I knew I was pregnant and the story hit me in a specific way at the time. Then I found out I was pregnant, and had a miscarriage and now that I am sitting down to write a review I can’t help but be hit by it in a completely different way (and it doesn’t detract from it, but rather, it makes ever so more interesting).

The premise for Diary of a Void is a slight pun at a guide book through pregnancy in Japan (there is a fancy explanation in the book about this), and it follows Miss Shibata as she suddenly has enough and says she’s pregnant. And she decides to continue the ruse with the help of reading about pregnancy, and some different ideas, but then how far is too far into having a make believe pregnancy?

Culturally, I can see this working in Japan, but not so much here in the UK or other western countries, so it is important to come to this story considering the setting, since it is important. And heck, the book is a quick read as we go through the different stages and the updates of how baby should be impacting our protagonist and what is recommended she do.

As she tells us the story, we start seeing when it becomes too real and she is deep in the lie, and it just gets interesting to see how she navigates each stage of the pregnancy and how to let work know updates and keep faking it. One of my favourite parts was the changes she decides to make due to the “pregnancy” and what is recommended, and how that makes her health and life better. This is still my favourite part after my own experience and the fact that I took habits from what I was doing for the pregnancy that was lost, and still do them. The routine, and the changes are still good. It is interesting what we can do and change for another life, even if in the case of Miss Shibata is purely for a void.

It was a good choice to get back into translated fiction and it is a weirdly interesting book, pregnant or not, to read, with some interesting reflections on how we react to pregnancy in us and in others and how society works around it.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Leina and the Lord of the Toadstools

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Leina and the Lord of the Toadstools

Written by Myriam Dahman & Nicolas Digard. Illustrated by Júlia Sardà

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px 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 have p[previously reviewed The Wolf’s Secret, which had stunning art and a wonderful story that was the reason as soon as I saw this book was coming out, I had to order it. I have no regrets.

Júlia has a perfectly fitting art style that makes the book flow beautifully to the story. It perfectly matches authors and artists, and I loved it.

Our story follows Leina who has the only boat in towna dn therefore helps ferry people to the forest so they can gather supplies like wood and hunt in the woods. But the forest is scary and therefore it is known that not everyone comes back from it.

So, when one of her friends doesn’t make it out, she decided to go looking for him, because why not? As she moves through he forest, she meets the Lord of the Toastools, who seems a bit magical and very strange, so Leina has an inkling that he might know where her friend is.

She is then invited for dinner in the palace fo the Lord of the Toadstools and because she wants to find her friend, she accepts, which then brings us to a few discoveries in the palace and why people disappear int he forest.

This one was less cosy than The Wolf’s Secret, but it was still in the same mysterious and cosy but slightly scary territory as the previous one and I don’t know, for me that combination is just perfect, like a modern type of fairy tale that one wants to keep reading more of.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Artic Fox

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The Artic Fox by Holly Webb Illustrated by David Dean

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 have enjoyed a few of Holly Webb’s books before and one about an Artic Fox sounded perfect (and is the perfect review to post this Christmas week).

This story follows Ellie, who is going on a winter surprise holiday with her family (parents and little brother) to Lapland just before Christmas. This is exciting, so she tries to find out more about where they are going and that it has artic foxes, even if they are rare (due to being an endangered species).

Still there is a tiny bit of hope in Ellie, and there is enough to do during the trip too, visiting Santa, going on a sleigh ride and trying to catch the Northern Lights, so it is not like she’ll be having a bad time. However, one night during her trip she wakes up and hears a strange whining noise that leads her to a little artic fox caught in a trap.

As usual with this series of stories, our character is almost transported into living the life of someone else in the past, and so this time she’s trying to view how the fox hunting was in some ways necessary, and killing animals is, for survival, but not to overdo it. The story is cute even though it wasn’t my favourite out of the ones I’ve read (I think Star was the best).

But it is a lovely story for this winter to be cosy with and to share our love for animals.

Book Review

Moon Reads: You Only Spy Twice

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Agent Harrier: You Only Spy Twice by Ben Sanders

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.

Agent Harrier is a super fun and funny series of a wonderfully chaotic spy dog (he thinks he is the absolute best). There is in general a lot of fourth wall breaking and just chaos.

This is the second book in the series, and if you haven’t read the first, please do, it is hilarious.

But You Only Spy Twice finds Harrier somehow feeling like there is deja vu happening and things are repeating themselves in his current spy mission, what a very funny feeling indeed, specially when there seem to be two of him!

The book makes good use of negative space int he illustrations and lots of dramatic elements and overall the page. it is one of the best uses of the space in the pages to narrate and to give the reader an immersive experience, even when the characters break the fourth wall, it still feels interactive.

The story is funny, very Spy Kids but much younger type of chaos, and a perfect story for young readers or to read to them given the setup of the pages. Quick read too, very quick.

Can’t wait for the next one!

Book Review

Moon Reads: Doughnuts and Doom

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Doughnuts and Doom by Balazs Lorinczi

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 love a good little graphic novel and Doughnuts and Doom does not disappoint. For starters, what a title!

But our story follows Margot who has troubles being a witch in public or under stress, she just wants to get her license and be able to do her own life. But as she gets a craving for doughnuts to cheer herself up, she accidentally casts a curse on Elena who just wants to be a rock star and make it.

Their lives now accidentally entwined due to Margot’s chaos and her magic being a little out of control, we keep getting some interesting interactions and a cute story.

One of my favourite things is that there are a lot of raw feelings depicted here, the frustration, the anxiety, the fears, they are here and they’re not “positive” or made pretty, instead they cause chaos, they harm, and then our characters have to figure out a way to make things work, or to find a way to keep going.

A feel good lovely graphic novel that will have you craving doughnuts and maybe a good soundtrack in the background to listen too while reading.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands

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Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

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.

This is the sequel to Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies, which is a cosy fairy fantasy book and I found it to be a wonderfully autumn/winter read that I devoured. Map of the Otherlands was also a devour alongside some tea and cake type of book.

Emily is feeling more secure in her position at the university after publishing her encyclopaedia and her adventures in the previous book, and well, there is also the fact that she has some feelings for Wendell Bambleby who isn’t entirely human and more part of the Fair Folk.

What’s even more interesting is the fact that he has proposed they get married and well, she is unsure how to navigate that, does she want to marry him? There are a lot of implications and ramifications she doesn’t even want to think about. I don’t blame her, it is a big bold choice, even when you choose a human, so I assume one of the Fair Folk is an even more difficult and big decision.

And there is also the fact she’s trying to map the fairie realms, but this plan of researching goes a bit sideways when Bambleby is almost assassinated by his mother’s underlings. This spurs a new adventure to the Austrian Alps, in search for a door that may help Bambleby figure a way to free himself from whatever it is his family is planning which so far does not bode well. It is never good news if your mother is trying to kill you, you know?

Once again we navigate a lot of chaos and interesting situations as our pair navigate new company in their adventures and even more interesting stakes.

I enjoyed this one, which still had the same feeling as the previous one, and as a sequel it stands good. It does not have as much punch as I felt the first book had, but it was still cosy and delightful. A good pastry of a read with a good feeling left behind and more curiosity about what is to come. It reminds me in a way, but more cosy of Lady Trent’s Memoirs (A Natural History of Dragons). It is also a lighter approach and it feels less dense (I love the other series but this one is a lot easier to read for tired minds and a lot smoother to go through).

So I can recommend this if you like fairy tales, you like stories about the Fair Folk, and similar books to Lady Trent’s Memoirs. Or if you simply want a cosy read with a nice feeling afterwards.