Books

Book Review

Moon Reads: Gallant

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Gallant by V. E. Schwab

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Proof copy provided by the publisher. Also got an Illumicrate copy with the subscription box I have.

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.

Creepy sentient houses and slightly gothic vibes? That sounds right up my street particularly since I loved Mexican Gothic. Now, I admit after reading Adie LaRue and not loving it, I had decided to not go into Gallant with high expectations. This was a good decision, however, I still had skewed ideas of what the book was aiming to do and that did mean I enjoy it less than I might have.

My overall review is that Schwab is now in comfortable quotable prose that writes beautiful phrases in almost every sentence and therefore is very good for selling to fandom and making fandom items of it. However, to me, this means the plot is sacrificed slightly for the aesthetic feel. This isn’t exactly a bad thing but I prefer less pretty words and more story.

Now that that is out of the way, Gallant has a mute orphan at the centre of it, one who longs for a place to call home and then, presto, suddenly the chance appears with an odd letter to invite her to Gallant, her family home. Now this is particularly odd but you don’t look a gifted horse in the teeth and you do not complain. But the house is spooky and there appears to be a second house, like a mirror but dark and spooky and beyond the veil kinda thing. And of course, we have the brooding family counterparts, the loyal servants and the heroine, alongside the characters in the alternative house. All pretty good for a gothic vibe, and yet it felt a little flat on gothic.

If you are not expecting as many gothic vibes it is an interesting introduction to the vibes of it and a fun quick read that has an interesting cast of characters. One thing is that once again we see Death as part of the plot and the longing to find a home and a place to belong when you don’t feel like you do, which is characteristic of Schwab. However, there is less about who makes a monster and more about finding out who the parents are and why they abandoned her.

Overall a quick read with beautiful quotes and phrases and a spooky slightly gothic vibe that will scratch a quick read itch.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Sea Witch

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Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Bought a while ago or gifted, not even sure but it was in my bookcase for a long time.

I can’t remember why I bought this one but it caught my eye and I think it was mostly that it was a retelling no of the Little Mermaid and focused as much on the mermaid but on the sea witch that provides the favours. And to be fair, that sounds interesting particularly if it is more of a general sea witch view and not a Disney specific one.

The story follows four friends, two princes and two girls, and their adventures near the sea. It appears initially very straightforward and you feel like you know where the story is going, you know you’re familiar with the Little Mermaid, so of course, you know this story, but as you keep going the story branches a little and does some odd twists.

I admit I enjoyed the book, even if it was more or less extremely focused on love and having a crush, and the feeling of being elevated to a higher status which I mean are powerful emotions to turn someone into a witch but still, it was an interesting approach.

At times it waxes too lyrical and tries hard to be mysterious about one of the characters and maybe it is maybe it isn’t, and I do wish it had tried less hard into hiding things and more into explaining why things happened, but overall it felt like a darker odd fairy tale that had modernised.

If you love the Little Mermaid this may be a book for you or if you like fantasy books that read like fairy tales or new takes on them. Like a refresh of stories, this is the book for you!

Books, Discussion, Wrap-ups and Tags

Moon Shouts: Black Water Sister Giveaway

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Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

A reluctant medium discovers the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy.

Jessamyn Teoh is closeted, broke and moving back to Malaysia, a country she left when she was a toddler. So when Jess starts hearing voices, she chalks it up to stress. But there’s only one voice in her head, and it claims to be the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma. In life Ah Ma was a spirit medium, the avatar of a mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. Now she’s determined to settle a score against a gang boss who has offended the god–and she’s decided Jess is going to help her do it.

Drawn into a world of gods, ghosts, and family secrets, Jess finds that making deals with capricious spirits is a dangerous business. As Jess fights for retribution for Ah Ma, she’ll also need to regain control of her body and destiny. If she fails, the Black Water Sister may finish her off for good.

Can you believe this book came out last year and now it is out in paperback?! Crazy how time goes!

If you are curious about this book or Zen’s writing in general, I have a nice surprise for you. I am doing a giveaway sponsored by the publisher and Black Crow, so you can get a chance to win a copy.

But how do you win a copy? Just retweet the following tweet before the 22nd of May and you are in for the giveaway. Easy, right?

Who doesn’t love fantasy with mediumship, intriguing characters and lots of cultural lore that will keep you turning the page? Don’t miss out on this opportunity.

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.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Witch for Hire

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Witch for Hire by Ted Naifeh

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Saw it in Forbidden Planet and it looked good so I bought it.

Witch for Hire is part high-school drama, part mystery thriller, part horror, and part fantasy. As such, it is a very odd combination that somehow works once you realise you are getting a little of everything. We have Faye who sits with the outcasts that somehow make it once good luck touches them except for Faye who wears her witch hat and doesn’t seem to care.

So when Cody who is the little sister of the popular girl finds herself shunned by her sister for not being cool enough, and into the rejects table with Faye, she thinks she’s found a good new friend.

Faye isn’t convinced of taking Cody under her arm or meddling in strange happenings that keep causing incidents and this weird series of pranks that are getting more and more dangerous until they seem to be entirely out of control. And even if Cody admits that she joined this odd challenge to become popular which is behind the pranks, it doesn’t fully explain what is going on.

Faye finds herself at odds with her way of doing things and wanting to help, but she fears the consequences and meddling despite her don’t care attitude.

It is a very interesting book and I just wish it was a little longer because the story is interesting even if quite twisted, but because of how twisted it is, it would have benefited from more back story in some places and just more context in others and tying a few loose ends that don’t detract from the story but that would make it a lot better.

As for the artwork, it is quite dark with an old school vibe and yet a twist of modern. In general, it seems to carry the effect of being a part of here and there and combining them in a way that works not just for the plot but for the artistic style and the way the story is told in pictures.

Overall a recommended not as well known witchy story to read.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Squire

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Squire by Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas

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

Read before: No

Ownership: A copy of this book was provided upon request from the publisher but I also bought a final copy, which is packed somewhere in a box currently.

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’ve been following Sara and her artwork for ages, and when I found out Squire was in the making, I was super excited about it.

Let me tell you, it did not disappoint and I can’t wait for more of it to come!

Squire follows Aiza, who dreams of becoming a Knight because it is a huge honour and also because it will probably mean people bully her less and she will be popular and a heroine. And finally, because she can then achieve Knighthood and have full citizenship. Initially, her parents are against it, reminding her of her heritage and why she is shunned, but in the end, they let her go.

At the training, she meets up with a few rivals and several other hopeful youngsters wanting to be knights. But as much as the training is hard, she is keeping her identity secret and this causes tensions.

To say much more would be to spoil the plot but I loved the many characters shown through it and their own unique stories and motivations, but not only that, the artwork is fun, the story has a lot to tell and it is, in general, a good read that I breezed through.

If you want new adventures of someone dreaming of becoming a Knight, of defending their country and the conundrum of their identity against what the values of this knighthood are, look no further, with fascinating and intricate artwork [some of those backgrounds are stunning] and a cast of characters that would provide you, someone to cheer for regardless of what your personal favourite type of character is, this I a book not to miss and read as soon as possible.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Horizon Zero Dawn Liberation

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Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation by Anne Toole, Elmer Damaso, Bryan Valenza and Jim Campbell

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

Read before: No

Ownership: A friend requested it form the publisher for me because I love Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Frobidden West and the whole story and world.

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 the first main book on the Sunhawk and a little bit of a taster before Horizon Forbiddne West came out, I reviewed the volumes here. It was a good book delving on Tallanah and finding new beasts, which gave a good introduction to what the new game would bring.

Liberation is different in that it is instead giving us more backstory, the parts of Erend’s story and how his sister became the amazing person she was, how they ended up being part of the Oseram who helped Sun King Avad dethrone his father, and all that. The art as usual is amazing, and the story was interesting as we have Erend trying to tell his story while they track one of the relevant characters to the past of him and his sister. Aloy is being very much herself, which I liked because she definitely sometimes feels like she has bigger priorities and bigger things, and then it is her friends who love her who bring her down back tot he world and go “hey, you have things to worry about, but so do we, and we can help each other, no one is an island”.

It was just a very very nice comic for me to read, it added to the lore, explained the relationship and love Sun King Avad had for Ersa, and just how much everyone could admire her and why. It showed too why Erend has big shoes to fill and how unfit for it he is and yet how hard he tries. And of course, it shows us how different Aloy is to this and how much she tries to understand this part fo the story and world that she was never a part of because of how she was an Outcast and set aside and then suddenly had to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders without really choosing to. And yes, we know she could have said no, but that would not be true to herself. She ahs a big heart despite sometimes forgetting it.

Highly recommend adding this book to your comic collection and to your Aloy and her friend’s collection. It is as good or even better than the first one.

Book Review

Moon Reads: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Copy provided by the publisher. They asked if anyone wanted one to review and I felt I had to given I am Mexican and I knew this would be a book I could talk about. I just didn’t realise how much I would understand this book.

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 just finished reading this book, and woah. I will start by saying that the whole fact that Julia’s mum expects her daughters to be perfect and to behave as if they were in Mexico and everything as she wanted to, is very much something I get. My own mum had her dreams of what my future should look like and it had incredibly intense consequences on the decisions I made around Julia and Olga’s age, and that in turn caused consequences I wish I could have avoided. Sometimes Mexican mums think they know best because they have imagined a full future and suddenly something clicks and they hold unto that.

But our story starts after Olga dies, the perfect daughter who is always helping her mum, who is studying to be a secretary and has a job but still lives at home, everything Julia is not. And without Olga to hold the high standards of their mother, Julia’s world quickly becomes suffocating and even harder to live in. And not only that but there are small hints that maybe Olga was not exactly who she said she was, that maybe she had carefully constructed a bunch of lies and there was more to what Julia considered a boring meek life as the perfect daughter.

Overall, the book is quite intense and paints a picture that I actually never felt was not Mexican enough or that was trying to romanticise it or anything. Instead it was factual, you can see how Julia judges some of it because she doesn’t understand the reasons, the culture, the traditions behind, or the hardships. And you can also see how the family does not get Julia and this American dream they hoped for either. The dream was not actually a dream, and in a way they are too afraid to make it be more. But you get all the little details that make it be true, be real, be genuine, and I liked that. I had no complaints on how Mexican this felt.

Overall, the one thing I have to say is that this book deals with a lot of intense topics and therefore it is worth coming to it prepared. Among them it deals with depression, death, attempted suicide, drugs, drug dealers, violence, pregnancy, abortion, affairs, parental abuse. There is a lot going on and it is an intense book, but it is also very nice to see Julia slowly find herself, and get out of the shadow of her perfect sister that was not actually that perfect or good and was trying just as Julia was, to live a life that would make their parents proud and make her happy, and that is a very hard balance and a lot of pressure to be under.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Atlas Six

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The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Review copy provided kindly by publisher. This does not influence my review, it just means I can read and review before it is published.

If you like Dark Academia, The Atlas Six is definitely a good one to add to your list! I am not someone that hangs out much in TikTok or booktok so this had flown under my radar, however, once the synopsis showed up, it sounded quite a good book.

We meet six chosen ones, each with a specific magical ability that raises them above and beyond the usual magical beings. Making them exceptional, but the Alexandrian Society, offers them an invitation to join, and only five will make it in. The point, in general, is to pit them against each other and yet ask them to work together and at the same time, they are there to learn and study and become better. Sounds like a tall order of the day for all the candidates!

And honestly, some of the plot twists were quite epic and thankfully not as utterly predictable. Most of the characters are not nice people, which is understandable because if you had that much power, you don’t win by being nice or rather it is harder to stay nice. For me, this was both a strength and a weakness of the book. Why? Because some of the characters I genuinely stopped caring or even really wanting to read about them from the first few pages. The only reason I read more was that they had a point of view of certain things others didn’t since obviously they were the ones that hung together or at least had similar things to show. However, it was also a strength as it gave me characters to consider interesting without fully rooting for them, and then there were a few characters that were mysterious or intriguing and some I liked almost instantly despite their flaws and prickly parts.

Overall the book was quite interesting, I very much want to read the next one and know what happens next and there was a lot of interesting pacing going on alongside some interesting takes on powers and magic that was refreshing to see. Recommended because it is a good magical dark academia vibe and we are here for it.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Wizard and Me: More Misadventures of Bubbles the Guinea Pig

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The Wizard and Me: More Misadventures of Bubbles the Guinea Pig by Simon Farnaby and Claire Powell

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

Read before: No

Ownership: World Book Day buy

So I have a soft post for book switch magic and I had my eye on the original book from which this one is based, however I will say that as much as the artwork is adorable, this was not the book for me.

Why was it not? There is a lot of poop and that kind of humour that I just didn’t get behind, it isn’t my thing and I get why it is done but I don’t agree with it and prefer not to read about it. The guinea pig also has a particular type of being which is annoying and meant to be a bit of rubbing the wrong way and being too amazing to deserve to be treated that way etc when they are not, also a point lost there.

However, I did see how this book was focused on you know pet ownership and kids may be getting a guinea pig from a pet shop and potential adventures and misadventures that could happen which I thought was fun and cute and well done for the book. So it was not all bad, just unfortunately it didn’t amaze me or make it one I would like to keep

But if your little one enjoyed the main book, this is fun add on or if they are into this kind of humour then do take it, it is a quick read and good on pet ownership!

Book Review

Moon reads: Welcome to Grimwood

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Welcome to Grimwood by Nadia Shireen

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Bought for World Book Day

Look, if I was going to buy one book for World Book Day, it’d be this one because it has foxes on the cover. I have not read the original book of Grimwood, so this was my introduction to this world.

As such I really liked that it comes with a little character introduction with funny commentary, which helped set the mood of what was to come in the little tales around the campfire. And I liked that a lot.

The short little book is all about a special festival in Grimwood where people do fun activities and at the end tell stories around a campfire. So we go through the characters and they each tell stories, some are true, some are almost certainly not even if they claim they are but it is funny to read and see where they exaggerate or make it up or in some cases where the story ends up being quite short. I loved the variety of stories and that their stories very much tell you a lot about who the character is overall. Interesting to see that the way one tells a story will change the story or how a story told can tell you a lot about the teller.

A hilarious little book with cute illustrations, and lots of laughing moments and silly moments. Good introduction to pique your interest for the book of Grimwood.