Books – Page 10 – The Constellation of Moon

Moon Reads: Alone With You In The Ether

Posted on November 26, 2022

Alone With You In The Ether by Olivie Blake

Rating:

Read before: No

Ownership: Review copy provided upon request from the publisher

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.

If you have read This is How You Lose the Time War, then you will find this book a close and similar read, but also a completely different read all in itself.

It is in itself a story full of stories, where two people, Regan and Aldo, meet up at the Art Institute in Chicago. Partly because both are trying to find answers, and they suddenly appear to find it here.

Without spoiling much, this book deals with big topics including mental heath and other issues, as both characters have their own quirks and challenges. Regan tries to find answers in chaos and being rash and impulsive, whereas Aldo goes into routine and other ways to cope. So their whole meet up is a collision course and also, like a supernova, creates something very interesting.

If you have read Olivie’s books before, then you will be familiar with her style, but if you are not, be aware this is a character driven book, with a lot of heavy “in my own head” chapter or monologue like conversations. There is a lot of thought processing and figuring things out, which is in itself fascinating, but may not be for everyone.

As for the love story part of it, it may not be your conventional love story, which is where it reminds me a lot of This is How You Lose the Time War, even though this is not a book about time travelling or such a complex setup, in this case the complexity comes from the characters and the conversations and interactions.

Overall, an interesting read that makes you think and reflect on things and ponder a lot and very enjoyable.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Atlas Paradox Blog Tour

Posted on November 9, 2022

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake

Rating:

Read before: No

Series: The Atlas

After that massive cliffhanger of a thing in The Atlas Six, we get finally the next one, The Atlas Paradox.

We pick up a little less into exactly the cliffhanger but more of a recap of things. I admit some of it was helpful to refresh but some of it was a little too much and I would have preferred more action and less living in the characters heads.

But then we start seeing how some alliances are being tested as we go into each of the minds of the six and how they perceive others. This was interesting as a first shot, particularly seeing Reina figure it out, but it was also slightly not as interesting as it progressed, probably because you already somewhat know what to expect. After that, we descend into chaos of a story where everyone has to decide if they are sticking with their current allies, if they are actually pro certain things, more secrets are revealed and unlikely or unexpected alliances are made.

Now I will admit I love Reina and have curiosity about Libby and Nico, the rest are not here nor there for me and I could do without, so I avidly read their chapters and less enthusiastically the others. And I will admit as much as aI like being in the mind of characters sometimes, this book had a little too much of that, very little action and very little dialogue, becoming an exposition by thought, which more or less killed some of the greatness of it. Let me see them do what they think and act on their fears and thoughts rather than psychoanalyst themselves first then act on it. The shock or surprise was sometimes lost to this. However there was still quite a bit of fun, some interesting twists and ideas, and it once again left on an interesting cliffhanger.

I am intrigued to know how it will end and how right or wrong Atlas actually is, so my curiosity is still alive. But I am also aware that the way it shows you all of this massive plot is unusual and may be too much exposition for some. However, if you liked some or all of the characters, this is worth reading and figuring out what happens next.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Narwhal’s School of Awesomeness

Posted on November 3, 2022

Narwhal’s School of Awesomeness by Ben Clanton

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Read before: No

Ownership: Preordered because I love this series

Series: Narwhal and Jelly

If you haven’t read any of the books from the series I can highly recommend it, starting with Narwhal and Jelly. You can search for reviews on them all throughout the blog as I have loved each book and this is the sixth one.

The main thing is we have Narwhal who is enthusiastic, very friendly and extremely chaotic with a high love of waffles and a good heart. Then there is Jelly who is anxious and scared and has not a lot of friends. But they somehow become best friends and go on adventures, mostly started by Narwhal.

In Narwhal’s School of Awesomeness they decide to go to school after finding a school of fish, the puns are gorgeous and really cute. So we embark on a set of lessons by Narwhal and Jelly to the fishes on various topics they deem important, including waffles of course. It is a fun take at how cool school can be at times and learning being a good process which was very enjoyable and obviously there is the whole antics of Narwhal and Jelly and their friendship.

Overall, another winner of the series.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Shades of Fear

Posted on October 31, 2022

Shades of Fear. Edited by Allison O’Toole

Rating:

Read before: No

Ownership: Backed on Kickstarter

As much as I am not into horror somehow I decided to back this project a while ago, and honestly I will say it was indeed terrifying, a little too much for me.

There are several mini stories in graphic novel form, each from a different artist and with a different focus one after the other.

One of the things I liked was the variety in this book and that each short story is intense and packs a lot into a few pages, but on the other hand, some would have benefitted from being a lot longer than they were as part fo the horror effect was lost on them or it came too fast as it was trying to do a lot. But over all, it was a good book, quite scary and horrific.

Some of the stories really stayed with me, one of them about an engineer in space, and some others more chaotic are still sometimes in the back of my mind, so if you like horror and scary books, this is definitely one to look out for, as it has a lot to offer and a variety of “genres” all of which are horror focused.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Annual Migration of Clouds

Posted on October 27, 2022

The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Read before: No

Ownership: Bought for myself

I read Premee’s Beneath the Rising a while back and so this felt like a nice extra to read plus it is a novella, and those edges are stunning. It was hard to resist, and at some point it was the exact book I needed to read for my brain.

We follow the story ofReid, a young woman who lives with her mother in a post climate disaster version of Alberta, Canada. Part of the new “world” is that there is a mind-altering parasite like fungi that they call Cad that basically invades the human boies and slowly takes over. It is slightly unpredictable and has some odd effects on each body so as mcuh as it is predictable it is also very particular.

And as a post disaster world, communities are closely knit and into a somewhat symbiosis so that they can survive, so when an opportunity that is rare presents itself for Reid to leave she has to counter in her mind if it is worth leaving what she knows for some unknown that she might not even make, or to stay and stick with her community that needs her and her mother, who is also infected by Cad.

The story is short but packs a punch and it deals with some interesting effects of the fungi, but also has a good look at what would come if the world had to be remade and who would survive wher and how that would look. As usual I really enjoyed the book and the writign of Premee so this is a climate advocating and decision making good book to read and you should add it to your list.

Book Review, Books

Moon Reads: Horizon Zero Dawn Peach Momoko Poster Book

Posted on October 21, 2022

If you saw me review the comics as they came out for Horizon Zero Dawn , then you’ll know I loved the artwork of Peach Momoko so a poster book with all of the art, yes please! This was just too hard to pass when I am so in love with both the games and the artwork used in the comics and their covers. Honestly, they’ve done so well with artists involved in the project.

The poster book itself is relatively simple. It contains a bunch of posters alongside a couple of extra pages to provide details of the posters and overall feel. But mostly you get a solid poster collection inside a book, and you know what is the best part?

No?

You can detach the posters easily and then display them. My Lego Tallneck had some fun scanning them alongside the watchers that had cornered Aloy…. I tried to be creative, ok? I have a lot of merch but not enough space for all the beautiful posters in a single surface.

As a heads up that those are not ALL of the posters, I just ran out of space to display them all together the rest are on another bookcase side). And I had a lot of fun figuring out how to match them and make them look cute together. I also tried to add the collectable figures I have from the preorders but again, not enough space, so please enjoy some of my chaos in trying to create a cute scene and display the great content of this book.

If you are now intrigued and want to see the missing posters or collect them for yourself, you can preorder via the following links:

US: amzn.to/3CGbUrk
UK & Europe: bit.ly/3eID492

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Wildest Hunger

Posted on October 14, 2022

The Wildest Hunger by Laura Laakso

Rating:

Read before: No

Series: Wilde Investigations

I have been loving Laura’s books since Fallible Justice, and each time I love each one more and more. The overall story follows Yannia, one of the Wild Folk, living in London and solving magical crimes/investigations. It has mental health, chronic illness EDS/Hypermobility), a bisexual main character and various other representations in it.

The Wildest Hunger is probably one of the hardest adventures for Yannia, as it is about confronting what makes a Wild Folk one of them, and also, more than anything she has to deal with Dearon. As she investigates if it is indeed a Wild Folk and things get harder and harder to resolve, the book gets deep into what living with pain and illness.

As I read it, I kept finding several parts of chapters that struck me deep. There is one where Dearon treats Yannia in a way that I wish I would be treated, and I felt both seen and unseen because I have not had that I felt for Yannia because she was so unaware of how lucky she was in having that response from Dearon.

Then there was a conversation with Lady Bergamon which once again, struck deep on how we have expectations of ourselves, how living with a body that doesn’t cooperate sometimes makes you hide this and you know, make do, and so on, but again, it was very interesting to see and read.

So the main review is that I want more books, because the ending left me wanting more and needing to understand more, but also I love the books because the representation, the way it is written is amazing.

Oh and last but not least, I am in the acknowledgements and I love it and I am so happy to have been part of fueling this story in some way.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Girl from the Sea

Posted on October 11, 2022

The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag

Rating:

Read before: No

I read the whole Witch Boy series and enjoyed it a lot. So it felt natural to buy this and read it.

Morgan has a little secret, she is ready to leave her idyllic life. The island may be perfect, but she wants to run away from the sadness of her family after the divorce, her little brother that seems extremely needy and dramatic, or her friends demanding her attention and not understanding her. But wanting to leave her life isn’t the biggest secret she has, her biggest secret is that she wants to kiss a girl.

So when she is saved from drowning after slipping on a rock, by a cute mysterious girl named Kelpie, at first she finds her annoying and frustrating, but then they become friends and suddenly she’s enjoying her life a lot more, or at least life around Kelpie.

The story follows basically both girls keeping secrets and at the same time trying to slowly build a relationship that has to be a secret.

I admit I liked this one less than the Witch Boy series, I think partly because the story is trying to do way too many things at the same time and deal with way too many secrets that it kinda slowly unravels a little bit and I think that was felt through the story.

The art is still adorable, there are a bunch of tiny details put into the scenes and mini kudos to things, but it doesn’t save the chaos of too much trying to be covered by the story, which is why it is not a 5 fox read.

Overall, if you like graphic novels, sea life and other little things, and liked Witch Boy then this is worth reading, and it is a cute story.

Book Review

Moon Reads: A Magic Steeped in Poison

Posted on October 6, 2022

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

Rating:

Read before: No

Ownership: Somehow I ended with 3 copies of it because I preordered it twice and also had one from the publisher.

Apparently, if you say your book is about tea and magic, I might end up accidentally preordering it twice (Waterstones had a sprayed edges version that is absolutely stunning). In case anyone had doubts, I really wanted to read it. And I have no regrets.

A Magic Steeped in Poison follows the story of Ning, as she makes her way to the capital city so she can compete and maybe become the kingdom’s greatest shennong-shi—masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making so she can earn a favour from the Princess and save the life of her sister.

I absolutely loved the magic system in the book, come on, it is all about tea and herbs but it is also about intent and connections and Ning is genuinely a country bumpkin who just wants to save her sister and accidentally ends up in the middle of a big political conflict plus a fierce competition. And obviously the rich people that are all fancy pansy do not want Ning, the peasant to win a competition and be the greatest, so she also has to survive that chaos of prejudice and people fighting dirty during the competition.

Alongside that, there is a lot about political scheming, Ning being used and having to play her cards close to her chest while battling the feelings in her heart and her main goal of saving her sister. She keeps accidentally being in the right place wrong time or right place right time and listening to things she should not or being involved accidentally and I loved it. Her character was refreshing and I enjoyed reading the whole story.

If you like tea, magic, meet cutes, conflict, competitions in the midst of political scheming, then this is totally the book for you.

Book Review, Books

Moon Reads: War of the Wind Blog Tour

Posted on September 30, 2022

War of the Wind by Victoria Williamson

Because we’re part of the blog tour, instead of a review, we’re doing a little excerpt to get a taste of the book and what it is like.

The last sound I ever heard wasn’t what I expected.
If I’d been on one of those stupid game shows risking a million pounds on the final question, I’d probably have guessed it would be the cry of gulls.
Those monsters haunted the skies above the island like pale ghosts, swooping down to steal fish from the trawlers coming home to the harbour before the teams could unload. Dive-bombing in unison, they tore at the nets bulging with fresh-caught herring, snatching the silverfish and swallowing them whole as they wheeled back into the sky for the next attack. They kept circling right up until the last crates had been loaded into the packing sheds. Then, once their bellies were full and their wings were straining to stay airborne, that’s when they started to laugh.
I could still remember that noise clearly. It was a deep throaty sound that echoed across the scrublands of Pykeman Fell all the way up the slopes of Scarpa Brae. At night I used to hear the gulls circling our clifftop house before turning inland to hunt the burns and rain-swelled backwaters for smaller prey. They were always hungry, always calling out for food with their raw, mocking cry. So if I’d had to guess the last thing I’d ever hear, the cry ofgulls would be the sound I’d have picked to answer the million pound question.
But I wasn’t on a game show when it happened. I was on my dad’s fishing boat.
It was just a training run to try out the new deckhand who’d arrived from the Scottish mainland. No way would Dad ever let me out on a real deep-sea trawl till I was old enough to help haul in the net during a storm or steer the boat through a fog whiteout if the sat-nav failed. Too dangerous, he said. The Atlantic waters were too cold and deep, and when sudden squalls rose up, the heavy boat was tossed about like a leaf on a windy day. I was a good head taller than the other boys my age on the island, but still Dad shook his head and said I was too young to be a deckhand. Back then he had hopes of bigger and better things for my future.
That day the Bay was calm, the wind whispering round the masthead like it had a secret to share. Maybe it was trying to warn me what was coming. I wished now I’d listened. The gulls were quiet for once, watching us lazily from the rocks that gaped from the entrance of the Bay like jagged teeth in the mouth of a stone giant. I turned away from the scarred cliffs, shading my eyes against the summer sun and gazing out across the open sea. Dad was leaning over the winch drum, pointing out the controls to the new guy as the trawler net disappeared below the waves.
That was when it happened.
There was a sharp crack, then a harsh whooshing noise, and the winch line suddenly went crazy. One minute it was uncoiling steadily from the drum, the next it was snaking across the deck at a million miles per hour as the heavy net was sent into freefall. Next came the high-pitched shriek of the warning siren, and the rumble of dying machinery as Angus cut the power in the engine room. Uncle Stuart came tearing down from the bridge just in time to see the broken winch cable whip across the deck, snatching at everything in its path and dragging a water pump, a twenty-litre storage barrel, and a spare net over the side with it.
The last thing the cable wrapped itself around before it disappeared below the waves was my leg. And that was when I heard it. It wasn’t the gulls or the waves or the trawler’s dying engine.
The last sound I ever heard was my dad screaming my name.
War of the wind by victoria williamson

That last line of the excerpt gets me everytime.

If that has made you want to read more and find out what happens next, you can order the book at any of these retailers (none are affiliate links, so don’t worry).

Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781911107507
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/191110750X
Hive.co.uk: https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Victoria-Williamson/War-of-the-Wind/27526544
Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/War-of-the-Wind-Victoria-Williamson/9781911107507
Bookshop.org: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/war-of-the-wind/9781911107507