Books – Page 2 – The Constellation of Moon

Moon Reads: The Book of Fallen Leaves

Posted on March 17, 2026

The Book of Fallen Leaves by A. S. Tamaki

Rating:

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.

When Orbit announced this book I was in a Ghost of Tsushima mindset preparing for Ghost of Yotei, so of course I had to read it and review it. The description of it felt like it suited my gamer mind and would fit anyone else who enjoyed the games (yes, it is not actually anything to do with them, but I feel like they are a good match in how they approach Japan and Samurai with some mysticism and magic).

I haven’t written a review for Ghost of Tsushima or Ghost of Yotei, which are both games on Playstation. I mostly don’t have a review because I don’t have screenshots to share, but I loved the first game and also the second one. So if you as a gamer, enjoyed them, then the quickest review I can give you is, that this is a similar feeling to playing through the Ghost games but as a book and you have more character points of view.

If you are not a gamer and your eyes are glazing over why I would recommend this book, I am sorry, I will now review it as a book lover. The Book of Fallen Leaves follows Rui, who is a commoner, a no’in, and Sen who is the surviving son of a clan lord that tried to rebel against the Emperor and was caught. Both of them in their own ways feel a little bit at a loss on their purpose and life, and there’s something tugging at them that “there’s more than this provincial life” for them. Circumstances put them into the path of a civil war and various schemes that are political and some that involve the gods too.

Overall I did enjoy the book a lot, however I will say that the introduction or prologue is superb and then it just doesn’t measure up for the first third of the book. That first third is slow, it is doing a lot of trying to set up the politics and in some ways it over explains things while trying to keep a sense of mystery (which fell a bit flat for me after the start, maybe if the start hadn’t been such a punch, this wouldn’t have been such a contrast).

You are also introduced to a bazillion characters and each of their points of view, which again, felt slightly a bit too much without giving enough significant story, just a lot of backstory and setting each side character into their position for the real story to start. I do understand we needed a view into the Empire, the Capital and the factions brewing, but I feel like this could’ve happened in a different way and maybe be a little bit better. It ended up feeling slgihtly repetitive or dragging out certain chapters.

But, once the pieces are in the right places and we introduce Jobo, we go at better speed and then it is a chaotic adventure and I enjoyed the ride a lot. My favourite characters where Jobo, Rui and Sen’s sister (Sen to me was actually pretty boring over all, sorry!), because you get a delightful balance of politics, intrigue, mystery, magic and samurai life.

Overall, it was a fun read and I am curious to see what the next book will bring since the ending left a lot to ponder. And I recommend this if you like politics, Japan and samurai inspired books, and obviously magic martial arts (I would even say it gave me the vibes of Drunken Master Jackie Chan even if that’s not exactly what is going on here, but it was that type of fun chaos).

Book Review

Moon Reads – The Bakery Dragon

Posted on March 6, 2026

The Bakery Dragon by Devin Elle Kurtz

Rating:

Apparently we are on a theme of reviews being quite cosy. I think partly this is because the world is being a little bit too much and we need reassurance, a safety blanket and cosy books are perfect for this.

The Bakery Dragon was actually initially an illustration Devin Elle made and then this inspired her to write a little book story about a dragon who longs for a different kind of treasure.

I think the overall story is super cute with our little dragon, Ember, finding that a hoard of gold and treasure isn’t really motivating and then while wandering around the town they see a little bakery window and find it so enticing. I honestly fully understand the dragon, I find the bakery windows and looking at bread and pastries super tasty and exciting and I just always end up wanting to go in and buy something and taste it (specially if you add the nice smell of the bread, yum!).

Anyway, bread turns out to be the perfect hoard and treasure for Ember, who is curious and wants to learn how bread is made. The baker then shows Ember how to make bread and Ember learns that sharing bread and making bread and having others enjoy it is very rewarding and a treasure in itself.

I am a fan of Devin Elle’s artwork so it is not a surprise that I loved a book about a little dragon that loves bread and that expands on her illustration work and dedicates itself to bread and cute little dragons. This book is like a bread version of The Tea Dragon Society hitting all the stops in cuteness, food appreciation and dragons.

Book Review

Moon Rads – The Baker and the Bard

Posted on March 3, 2026

The Baker and the Bard by Fern Haught

Rating:

Felt like this fit nicely into the same vibes as our last book. The Baker and the Bard follows two friends, Juniper who is an apprentice at the local bakery, and Hadley who is a bard that performs at the local inn. The little adventure had in this book is sparked by a stranger requesting a specific pastry that requires magical mushrooms that need to be foraged since the baker doesn’t have them in stock easily.

Our two friends will then set off on a soft gentle adventure to the forest where they will also realise there’s a little mystery of something eating local crops and leaving a glowy goo behind. Might as well find magicla mushroom and solve the mystery, right?

The story is just cute with finding new creatures, a caretaker and a bit of understanding coexisting environments. I admit the story felt a bit shoe horned to just cover certain topics and at times it was a little weak but the art came into save it and honestly the art is the best part of this cosy adventure. It is still a very cute and cosy book which left me wanting some pastries and a nice cup of tea.

Book Review

Moon Reads – Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter

Posted on February 27, 2026

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

Rating:

This book was the perfect excuse to pull some cute cat plushies because why not, I have my own brand of “stray” cats.

I loved this book, probably even more the Emily Wilde’s series (and I enjoyed those a lot). And I am so so thankful to Orbit for the review copy because I was able to read the book before it came out and then I raved about it to other people (I do circus arts and I have an informal “book club” where we all read different things but weekly we talk about what we each read and recommend books to each other and this book has been one I’ve recommended a few times).

Anyway, to the actual review of this book. The short version of the review would be that this felt like I was reading a mix of the film and book versions of Howl’s Moving Castle (book version including the other two which rarely ever get included, but are so good), with Agnes being a little like Sophie and Havelock being like Howl. There is also like in the books, a much more involved sister and it is just very satisfying and wholesome and worth reading. Very cosy, very cute, you will want to visit a cat cafe and maybe watch Howl’s Moving Castle or read it afterwards.

Now the longer version, we start our story with Agnes trying to find a place to move into after a mage battle destroyed her previous shop front and the landlady she had cannot afford to fix the damage. Winter is coming and she needs a warm space for the cats and herself as she runs a cat charity to pick up strays. But most places she sees aren’t accepting her because she has cats. Until she finds the perfect shop, but she thinks she can’t afford it, despite being drawn to it over and over. Finally she decides to give in and just check it out, and somehow things work out in a way that is scary but feels meant to be. She’s quickly moving in and everything is pretty smooth, but then she starts getting weird visitors that go through her charity and into the basement of the shop.

To no one’s surprise, turns out she is a front for the most known mage ever Havelock, who is super famous and sought after. And well, as you would expect chaos ensues, with a magical battle between Havelock and another mage and our poor Agnes who loves keeping track of things and organisation struggles. But she’s practical and despite the fact she doesn’t agree with magic and mages, she will make the most of this chaos thank you very much.

She then goes on a mission (if you’ve seen Howl’s Moving there’s a scene that’s very similar to Sophie cleaning Howl’s Castle and it was so satisfying to read) to make things work out for this weird arrangement. But in some ways, she seems to be adopting Havelock as one of her strays and maybe, just maybe falling in lvoe with him despite her misgivings on magic and mages and the fact she thought she couldn’t love someone other than her husband who passed away two years before.

There’s a whole plot that I don’t want to spoil, but I definitely can say that this was adorable, very satisfying to read and honestly 100% worth it. I’d recommend it for the cosy factor, the magic, the Howl vibes, the pastries, the cats and the romance.

Book Review

Moon Reads – Control Alter Delete

Posted on February 6, 2026

Control Alter Delete by K. L. Kettle

Rating:

Control Alter Delete follows Halcyon (Hal) who more or less lives in a perfect virtual world called World 2.0 created by Hal’s hero, Francis Knox. This world is better than real life because she can be whatever she wants and she’s popular there. And it makes up for not knowing what happened to her dad when he disappeared.

But then she gets into the Knox Cup which is a fancy competition and suddenly everything becomes super dangerous and convoluted.

The reason this one gets a low score is mostly that it’s a little too incongruent with itself and trips over a lot of things between the first part fo the book and the second one. If you are reading this, be aware that I will be including potential spoilers here because otherwise I can’t properly explain why I struggled with the plot of the book. Read at your own risk.

We start with Hal somehow being pretty cool in this virtual world but not as cool as her ex boyfriend who won the previous cup and then they split up. But we have Hal super immersed in this World 2.0 and somehow the plot slowly tells us this is a fake virtual world and she basically lives in like a capsule and has to keep her body sorted with a fake programmed virtual mum made up her mum’s memories. And Hal is somehow “poor” and can’t afford anythign (but has a house, is always fed and never actually wants for anything except enough money to buy her entry into the cup and that gets resolved by rich guardian telling her to get her shit together).

So we have a “Hal is poor” but no real evidence of this. This was one of the first ones I struggled, she’s also not that into school, but somehow a genius, which again, there was a lot of telling and so little showing to prove this.

Once the cup starts and we start seeing the layers and the real story, it does get super interesting in to how the World 2.0 and 3.0 are created. And then we discover Hal’s parents (one disappeared, one sick and held at a hospital that Hal somehow never visits, again, what? why? this makes no sense) are 2 out of 5 original founders of the virtual worlds and all the cool things. And then we get back to how does Hal not know any of this or even question ANYTHING at all considering that as we go through the story, we discover her parents tried to protect her from evil things and were trying to make her like the “hero” or someone who could fix things. And we really only find her being able to do the things thanks to her imaginary friend who doesn’t seem that imaginary, Go.

So, overall in continuity and actually setting up the plot, this book has an incredibly low rating. The reason it isn’t a bad book is because once the Cup starts and we get to start figuring some of the plot and the weirdness, that there is corruption and that there seems something more sinister is going on (including the fact that her mum fell ill and was whisked away to a hospital and never heard of, very convenient disappearance of parent figures), and how the worlds work and then as Hal actually starts having a personality or at least starts acting (I feel like the plot happens to Hal and she kinda ends up becoming what the plot needs her to become) like she has one and starts trying to make a difference, then it becomes super interesting.

The idea behind how the virtual world was created and how it was sustained, what it meant and the good and bad implications of it was a really cool thing which reminded me of many books including Marie Lu’s Warcross, The Upper World, The Maze Runner and other similar books.

So I think it is an interesting read, but it could be better for sure.

Book Review

Moon Reads: How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days

Posted on February 3, 2026

How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days by Jessie Sylva

Rating:

I have typed this review a few times trying to find the best way to tell you “hey, this was really fun to read, and I wish everyone else would read, please go read it. I want more fun cosy chaos books like this one”, and I don’t think I know how else to say it.

How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days is a cute chaos hug to a fantasy nerd. You have Pansy, a halfling in search of a little adventure and that feels a little out of place in her village because of being a little odd and not wanting pure comfort. And you have Ren a goblin who is trying their best to support their clan and also they have a green thumb like nobody else.

Now have Pansy inherit her grandma’s cottage and she feels like this is her chance to make her own life without feeling a bit out of place, she has found her place. But surprise, when she goes to claim her inheritance, Ren is already living there and growing all manners of things (including lots of moss inside the house, apparently moss inside the cottage is not a halfling thing but I think is a pretty cool idea).

To the surprise of both, they somehow end up making a deal on who gets to keep the house, whomever doesn’t leave and stays in it. There’s a few ground rules like not being destructive to each other’s things and stuff, and that you can’t “remove” but only add things (you can already see this backfiring, right?). And so it starts, a little back and forth between them trying to find ways to annoy each other of the home.

It is not to the reader’s surprise of course, that these all backfire in very amusing and funny ways, but also in making the home cosy for both of them. I will say, this was a proper cosy read, with lots of plants and cooking, and questions about belonging and family (or clan) and what it means to be part of them.

But there’s also a lot of little elements reminding you of other worlds, other stories, other classics and some newer works, and it was this also that was fun to read. It felt like a good hug and was about as complex a read as I could muster at a time when I had no voice and a fever. I still enjoyed it a lot and it made me laugh, then cough then regret my life choices, but 10/10 worth it for the story.

Book Review

Moon Reads – Ladycastle

Posted on January 27, 2026

Ladycastle by Delilah S. Dawson with Rebecca Farrow and Ashley A. Woods

Rating:

This felt like the perfect follow-up review since we have women fighting for their castle!

When the King and his men go on a crusade and somehow get eaten by a dragon, the women aren’t that bothered because at least there’s a lot less having to deal with them and they can do whatever they want. But when it turns out there is a curse that attracts monsters to the castle (thanks to the heads up from the least capable and only survivor knight, Sir Riddick), the women decide that it is their turn to claim what is theirs.

So we have Merinor who is the blacksmith’s wife and now the newly proclaimed King, Princess Aeve becomes the Captian rather than a trapped bird in a cage until she decided to marry, and well, Sir Riddick is meant to help them train up and learn how to fight, defend, build and do all things men do to defend a castle.

But maybe, just maybe, they don’t need to do it the way men do and maybe just maybe they may be quite good at keeping their castle safe and fighting the curse.

This was a fun read, even if at times a little bit frustrating. It challenges tropes and stereotypes, but it also overdoes some parts and just gets stuck in monologues that aren’t necessary and just a little bit boring. I think if it worked better at the plot and less at the woe is me, this would’ve been a higher score on my rating. but the art was fun, and I had a good quick read of this and a lot of fun.

Book Review

Moon Reads – Blood of the Old Kings

Posted on January 23, 2026

Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-Il Kim. Translated by Anton Hur

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

When I first requested this book I wasn’t sure how much I would like it since I am picky with my translated fiction (the translator can make or break a book, trust me on this). But I shouldn’t have worried, this book sunk its teeth into me and didn’t let go, and though for some reason I didn’t review it at the time that I read it, it’s one of those that lives rent free in my head.

We follow Loran, a swordswoman who is desperate to avenge her family after it was killed by the Empire, so she does what anyone would do and climbs into a volcano to find an ancient dragon from legend and try to negotiate with it so she can get her revenge. She gets an interesting deal on this and comes out with a fancy shiny sword and a greater purpose to her life. But having this purpose still doesn’t solve everything and so Loran keeps trying to make her way towards making a difference and in turn finds a lot of interesting adventures and situations that kept me rooting for her and also engrossed into her side of the story.

The other side is from “inside” the Empire, given that Loran more or less is an outsider to the Empire. Arienne in contrast has magic and is pretty much resigned to having a life where she will become the battery of the Empire upon her death. She lives a relatively good life but she still has dreams and ponder son them. So when she starts hearing a voice inside her head from a powerful necromancer, she starts questioning things, particularly if she is truly meant to just be a battery and what living a life means.

You get a nice contrast between both of the points of view, first in the environment (inside and outside of the Empire), but also in personality and approaches. Loran can use strength more than brain (not that she doesn’t use her brain), whereas Arienne has to use her brain first before her strength. And yet, both of them have to learn how to wield their own power and what a life lived means, and what that implies for the Empire, because if they use what they have, they are enemies of the Empire and all they can truly do is find a way to make having a future a reality.

I enjoyed this so much, it was so interesting seeing both of them slowly become heroines and also work through their own preconceptions and ideals, try to fight not just the Empire but their own internal battles.

If you like epic fantasy with high stakes, magic, swordswomen, dragons, and necromancy, this is the book for you.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Firelight Apprentice

Posted on November 21, 2025

The Firelight Apprentice by Bree Paulsen

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

The Firelight Apprentice follows sisters Ada and Safi in a city that is powered by magic and recovering from a devastating war. Ada is the responsible sister making sure things work out and they are alive, but she can see Safi is developing powers of magic and knows that her sister could benefit from becoming an apprentice to a magician, but she also wants to keep her sister safe and near.

Still she decides to let her sister join a group a travelling magicians who offer to take her on as an apprentice as they see hSafi’s powers and what could be. Safi of course id delighted to be learning and developing her magic, but there are still forces of darkness lurking, particularly a lich that is power hungry and ready to steal it from those that have magic.

I’ve loved Bree’s other books and so had preordered this one, not sure why it took me forever to actually upload the review, but it was a good read. It wasn’t the same as the Garlic series, but it still had these interesting conflict of growth and what happens as you grow and who becomes your friends and allies, and how to make that work for you being yourself.

The magical world was super interesting as was the magic that exists, I feel a little like it is the same world where Garlic and the Vampire happen but maybe a different much civilised area since this is a city. Still, it was a nice addition to the collection and a good read.

Book Review

Moon Reads: A Grave Inheritance

Posted on November 18, 2025

A Grave Inheritance by Falicty Epps

Rating:

I can’t remember what made me choose this book, probably that it was about death, seances and it was purple.

It was a pretty funky and fun read where Dolores, our main character is convinced she’s dying since she doesn’t really know how to grieve the death of her older sister or the death of her father before that. Instead, she is now the sole inheritor of the family fortune and she mostly spends it indoors in mourning attire.

But she is suddenly seeing her sister’s ghost and her best friend has come back to stay, and there is a lotions and potions shop that has an interesting array of services. And suddenly Dolores finds herself investigating her sister’s death which appears to not have been due to illness and her wasting away, but a murder.

So Dolores and her best friend try to find someone who can talk to spirits so they can communicate with her sister’s ghost, and as they get closer and closer to finding the culprit of her sister’s (and maybe her father’s too), things start getting also deathly for Dolores and her life is in danger.

The drama and chaos was funny, with a lot of thought about how we handle grief, what love or lack of it is, and what we do to isolate ourselves and can miss because we’re wrapped in our thoughts and sadness. It was nice to see Dolores “come to life” as she interacts with more people and has a “purpose” to live for.

Overall, it was a fun spooky read with a nice cast of chaos and a very Victorian setting that makes for a good place to try mysteries with ghosts.