Book Review

Moon Reads: A Treason of Thorns

A Treason of Thorns by Laura Weymouth

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.


Between the fact that this was written by Laura Weymouth who has a way with nostalgic, emotion-heavy interesting books and the fact it was usually put in lists alongside Mexican Gothic due to the whole sentient houses vibe, I had to read this book.

The start sets us on the life events that will change Violet’s, also goes as Vi, life and take from the comfort of the life she thinks she will have to depending on the hopes that she can return to that life. And then we get to the return, why she is coming back and the conditions on which she is.

I will start by saying that I struggled a little with Vi through most of the book. She was a well-written character but she was also incredibly frustrating with her hyper-focus on the need to be a Caretaker, ignoring so many other things and at first not really providing good motives beyond “this is what I should be doing” and hanging on what ifs and hopes from the past, to slightly extreme points. This kept frustrating me because at times I just wanted her to sit down, realise how much she had achieved outside of Burleigh and just you know, do something with it.

However, as the story progresses, we do find out and understand her motives better, which meant that by the time we come close to the end I was not frustrated with her anymore. I still didn’t agree with some of her choices but I saw them in a better light. So, I do warn you that if you expect a perfectly polished character that will do what you want, this isn’t it.

However, this is definitely a dark and interesting book about grief, and about agency. It tackles in some ways the definition or idea of what one is destined to do and if our destiny really is what we think or not, and if we can reshape it or ignore it. But not only that, it works on trying to understand why we do things sometimes for that destiny or against it and what agency we have.

I liked the story, and think it could have had more lore, more of the story of Burleigh and the houses, of how Caretakers and magic worked a little more padded up because I wanted to know more about how this universe worked. And I did love the idea of how far Vi is willing to go and what that means for her.

Overall, I would say this is a gritty book, with a main character that has a lot of ideas of who she ought to be and what the perfect future is, and who then has to grapple with reality and challenges that she didn’t expect alongside a magical house and a minor cast of characters. I recommend it for the emotional background and interesting approach to grief and magic. Alongside some other items, I would rather not mention much because it would be spoilers but that became very interesting including the King and the bond on houses and that part of the lore.

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Knowledge is Power Illumicrate

Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Knowledge is Power, August 2022

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

Illumicrate is a book subscription box, it usually features fantasy and sci-fi but not exclusively young adult, sometimes it features adult too. It usually contains a new release, a pin and several bookish goodies.

We knew Babel was going to be part of this box, and gosh, it did not disappoint, plus a dark acamdeia or “academia” kind of box can be a hit or a miss, so let us see what this had for us:

  • Babel by R. F. Kuang. You can’t see it in the picture but it has stunning edges, the box to keep it is absolutely amazing and it blew me away as an edition. One of my favourites.
  • Reading Journal Planner, design is stunning, however I am not big on reading journals or planners at all, so this was a bit like a miss in functionality but win otherwise.
  • Split apart, but a bookmark set for Babel’s characters which is nice but I am not huge on bookmarks of characters.
  • A writing workshop enamel pin which is very bunny themed and wen tot my sister who loves rabbits.
  • The monthly leaflet with all the details on what was inside the box and vendors.
  • Dark Academia stamp set which is one of those that I find odd in how the set is created, win for those who love journalling but not so much for me.
  • And finally a pen holder with a dark design which is a good win. I like them when you can extend them so they can be a holder while you travel.

Overall it was a mixed box for me. The book was the absolute winner here, but a lot of the content was focused on journalling and therefore not as much for me, however I can appreciate it being cool and therefore enjoyed it.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Art of Prophecy

The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu

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.


Welcome to a late blog tour entry since the post delivered this a little too late for me to make it on the actual day I was scheduled to post it. But, fear not because I still set up a picture of it and started reading the book, which quickly became a devouring the book (no, I did not stay up until way past 2 am reading, absolutely not…)

Anyway, I shall say that I adore Taishi and the relationship with Jian is full of chaos and I totally loved it.

Now onto more coherent stuff. The book reads a little like a cinematic script, not in a way to say it isn’t fleshed out, but rather that it is written so you can almost see the shots, the way the camera pans in or out, the specific angles, you can hear the voices of the characters in your head. Which leads me to absolutely insist that Michelle Yeoh play Taishi because it is a perfect cast, and in my head a version of her is totally Taishi. This whole casting in my head led to me deciding to rewatch Everything, Everywhere, All At Once (if you haven’t seen this film, stop, and go watch it, mind-blowing, each rewatch just adds extra flavour to it).

In case you hadn’t noticed, I enjoyed this book a lot, it is a fun fantasy book, with a lot going on for it. I do admit there where two things I struggled a little with. One, the Sea Grass. My brain could not for the life of me comprehend it. I would read bits and pieces about it and the scenery and think I understood it, and then a few chapters later go “wait, I thought it worked like this”. I think some of it is because of the whole cinematic style of writing that was so into shots and stuff, that the descriptions and overall way of presenting it could have been a little more cohesive, but once it did click for me, which was about half way through the book, it starts making a lot more sense, and not fully grasping it isn’t the end of the world or takes away from experiencing the book.

The second thing I will admit is that because of how fascinating, funny and everything the whole Taishi and Jian parts of the plot were, the other subplots suffered for it. For example, Sali is super interesting, but by the time she’s introduced, and this isn’t too far into the book, pretty early on, I was wanting to go back to Taishi and Jian than learn about her. And this is not exactly that her story is boring or not good, it is just a very different dynamic and paled in comparison, which felt like treason to her because she is bad ass and doing a bunch of stuff which I do not want t spoil.

But overall the book was really fun to read, I kept wanting to go back to it and really visualising it happening. If you want to summarise it, a lot of it is about asking yourself about your beliefs and what you’ve been brought up to believe about yourself and the culture you are steeped in. Yes, there is a lot of badass fighting, martial arts and magic and interesting prophecies, shenanigans and the lot, but to me, at the core, it explored identity once it is stripped from you and what ends up defining who you are, or how the characters figure who they are when what they thought they knew isn’t truly who they are.

It reminded me of growing up and getting to a point where I had to ask myself what I truly wanted, and if those wants were my own, of what had been planted in my mind from childhood by my parents, culture and expectations from society. It is a crucial point in your life where you truly look inside yourself and have to confront the truth, unravel the you that makes your core from the things that have been said you would do, be or accomplish.

Anyway, I got a little philosophical just from reading a book, so my review is that if you like Michelle Yeoh, Jackie Chan (particularly some more obscure films rather than the super ultra mainstream ones) and similar, you should read this book, it is really fun, and might also hit your philosophical pondering a little.

I can’t wait for the second one and I am really curious what will happen to all of them.

Also go check all the other stops for this tour:

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Luminaries

Friday Crest design by Jessica Khoury, © 2022 by Susan Dennard

Welcome to The Luminaries blog tour, in which you discover all the clans and maybe a new book to entice you into this universe.

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard

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


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.

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 remember when Susan Dennard was tweeting the follow your own adventure tweets and so when The Luminaries was announced, I was very excited for it! I wondered if it would stick to the ending and the path we had “chosen” for our characters, or if things would change, what would be kept, what would go?

As I read The Luminaries I can say that overall, it retained the same feels of that choose your own adventure twitter thread. However, it lead to character development, and to pondering choices, maybe even lengthening the story or something, and you can see hints of that. The story is the same and yet it is also, very different. This difference was at first hard to adapt to, since I was expecting the same feel of the “snippet” I had read, but a thread on Twitter is very different than a proper book and novel.

However, Winnie and Jay still are the same in their own way, and the overall feel was kept through and I loved that. Once I got past the initial oh this is a little different, I started to fall in love with this story, with how much Winnie was trying and how circumstances just seemed to be and no spoilers, but wow.

The characters were fun to read, there is a big focus on relationships, belonging and peer pressure and in part also on that small town/village feel and that closeness or otherness and what makes one part of it or not.

The ending was quite interesting and leaves a lot to find out plus a lot tied in, at least on of the main plot points that the book starts with is resolved, and the overall running one that will tie the rest of the books is there but we get some more information on it. Believe me that it is hard not to squeal about everything that happens and so the best I can say is “you need to read it!”

Book Review

Moon Reads: Catboy

Catboy by Benji Nate

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

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


I bought this as it looked interesting and a catboy sounded like an interesting premise. Basically we follow Olive who is lonely and wishes her cat Henry would become her best friend. This turns Henry into a “human” catboy which is hilarious and oddly weird.

For the most part, Henry is very much a cat and this is hilarious, even if it is weird or frustrating for Olive, like he doesn’t care if he’s wearing girl clothes despite being a boy cat (gender norms? what are those?) but at times the interactions were a tiny bit creepy and I did not enjoy reading the, they felt like they had been written to be funny but read more cringey and a little bit too much, so I am taking some foxes away for that. I think the concept would have bene better without those as the overall story is about being more confident, what friendship and being yourself means and similar things, so slightly creepy things weren’t necessary and did not add to a light humour touch.

The art is ridiculously cute and works well with the story, so on that part it is a big win.

Overall a cute story that lost a little bit due to odd parts of it with very cute and fitting art.

Books

Moon Cover Reveals: The Sun and the Void

Look at the shiny beautiful cover that I can’t get over with and just swoon with me please because I cannot for the life of me stop staring!

And just wait until you read more about this book:

In a lush world inspired by the history and folklore of South America, a sweeping epic fantasy of colonialism, ancient magic, and two young women’s quest for belonging unfolds.
This stunning debut features Sapphic representation, and themes of race, heritage and colonialism, all wrapped up in a captivating magical system bestowed by warring ancient gods.

More you say?

Reina is desperate. Stuck living on the edges of society, her only salvation lies in an invitation from a grandmother she’s never known. But the journey is dangerous, and prayer can’t always avert disaster. Attacked by creatures that stalk the region, Reina is on the verge of death until her grandmother, a dark sorceress, intervenes. Now dependent on the Doña’s magic for her life, Reina will do anything to earn—and keep—her favour. Even the bidding of an ancient god who whispers to her at night.

Eva Kesare is unwanted. Illegitimate and of mixed heritage, Eva is her family’s shame. She tries her best to be perfect and to hide her oddities. But Eva is hiding a secret: magic calls to her. Eva knows she should fight the temptation. Magic is the sign of the dark god, and using it is punishable by death. Yet, it’s hard to deny power when it has always been denied to you. Eva is walking a dangerous path, one that gets stranger every day. And, in the end, she’ll become something she never imagined.

If you are as intrigued as me, please preorder here and delight yourself in this gorgeous book!

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Fight For Your Future Illumicrate

Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Fight For Your Future, June 2022

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

Illumicrate is a book subscription box, it usually features fantasy and sci-fi but not exclusively young adult, sometimes it features adult too. It usually contains a new release, a pin and several bookish goodies.

After a lot of delays (for the past few weeks WordPress keeps crashing my posts when I try to schedule or publish them so I had to resolve those issues first. But I am ready to get back into all the books and nice things I have been reading, doing and unboxing, so let us start from the top left and going clockwise:

  • We All Fall Down by Rose Szabo, which I still haven’t read.
  • Book Cover like a slip on jacket with a Library scene.
  • Author letter
  • Passport cover which is very very pretty and I like it a lot.
  • Leaftlet on contents and who made what.
  • A mug for Girls of Paper and Fire series which is so dainty and gorgeous art.
  • Jade Bookends which are so stunning and amazing.

Overall a lovely cohesive box, maybe not my favourite book but the items are pretty good and I love those book ends and the mug, followed by the passport cover and the book jacket. Not a bad box at all.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

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

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.

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.


Let’s start with the fact that I really enjoyed this book, way more than I thought I would. I was expecting a cosy cute read but nothing that would fully wow me, and yet as I read I couldn’t stop reading and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So much that I’ve been suggesting it to everyone I can as one of my favourite reads of the year so far.

Emily is a professor on everything faeries and expert on that topic, comfortable trekking nature and knowing how to interact with all kinds of creatures, except humans. Socual cues seem to escape her grasp and she is content with her own company. So when she goes on an adventure to complete the final chapter needed for her encyclopaedia (and in her own way what is her whole research and personal work put into one), she stumbles upon struggling with making friends with the people of Hrafnsvik (this gives me Iceland kinda vibes on where this is and what she is studying as the “Hidden Ones”).

She accidentally offends them and therefore is struggling to keep herself warm in the cottage she got and to fend for herself beyond the help of some faery folk and it isn’t until her rival and colleague, Wendell Bambleby, arrives to attach himself to her studies and “help” her that things start to work a little better on the social aspect.

Now the story covers partly the study of the Hidden Ones and I enjoyed the itneractions alongside the ways the Hidden Ones affect the village and the village people. I also adored the approach Emily has to studying and doing research and her no nonsense view of the world. It also helps that she isn’t perfect, she struggles, makes mistakes and despite being good at some things even then she is not the best ever. Instead she is a human being struggling with some parts, putting up with others, ignoring herself sometimes for her goals, and so on and so forth which was nice to read.

There is also the relationship and general “how to be with people” part of it. In some parts Emily cares a lot and in others she doesn’t, and of course, we have Bambleby, who she seems to enjoy in company but also finds slightly annoying. And yet he manages to interact with others quite well except maybe Emily herself.

Overall, this is a story full of cosy vibes with a little bit of faerie chaos included and some extra adventures but nothing too far off or too much that it is distressing, it is more about a way up and figuring yourself better, alongside learning about others (not just faerie folk). I enjoyed it a lot and it reminded me of the joy reading brings and that feeling after a good read that makes you want to not read any other book and yet read them all afterwards.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Life of Melody

Life Of Melody by Mari Costa

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.


When two very opposite magical beings, a fairy godfather and a beast both find a little girl in the woods and neither wants to back down, they decide to become the parents and share custody. Razzmatazz (the fairy godfather) is convinced that if he raises the baby human it will be easier to work with her when she turns into a fairy tale protagonist, and Bon (the beast) isn’t sure Razz can take care of her and thinks it is dangerous to leave her with him (and he has a point).

The main story is about them slowly learning to live together but not only that but adapting to a “human” life, where they have a job (which is a lot harder for Razz). Razz becomes a helper in a library and Bon starts helping with kids in a school. But it is not only about that but about them being parents and about slowly falling in love with each other gently and totally denying it initially until they slowly admit it and it is a very cute story.

The artwork fits the narrative and the little details of the story and the town they settle in, alongside some of the backstory of our characters. Melody (the little girl) is also a good part fo the story and helps move it along, but the main focus is this setup of almost “fake dating” but not fully that since they only do it for appearances and because they decided to co-parent her.

It made me laugh and feel all cute and lovely inside, and it is a good cosy book to read and enjoy.

Uncategorized

Year Wrap Ups and similar ideas

I don’t usually do a yearly wrap-up because by the time Christmas comes and goes, my head is all over the place. Also, who actually reads them?

But given that my blog ahs been a little quiet, I want to do a miniature post on where I am, and what the silence has meant.

I am home, with a tender ankle and in pain (this second item is not new, but you know, worth mentioning). Awaiting a formal diagnosis of a connective tissue disorder that was a journey I thought had been done and over but that somehow came back to haunt me in December.

In November, I slipped badly. And I don’t mean literally, but in a figurative sense. I was forgetting to eat due to overworking and wanting to achieve it all, keep a blog, keep a personality online, stream, art and you know, actually have a work life balance and on top of that with a chronic illness.

And that is when life hits you square on in the face and tells you some things have to give. In my case, I became quieter online, dropped a few streams. Took a week off work and drove around the country to try to actually disconnect and you know, do something else other than be anxious and worry.

And what I have been doing? Reading (there are new reviews to come, I found some cute new books, some interesting mangas, great novels I owe reviews to publishers for sending and also new novels I have discovered by just browsing in bookshops or online or through the recommendation of friends), watching TV (somehow made my way through Dark, Wednesday, several films, and two seasons of Food Wars) and causing chaos around me, but also, sleeping in, taking a lot of naps (chronic illness makes you tired, very tired), cooking food and trying to go out for walks.

It has been a slower season, one where I admit I don’t have everything figured out, but I am slowly trying to figure it out and to get used to things.

I didn’t make my 150 books read in 2022 challenge, I came short. I read between 120-130 books, which is not bad anyway, but it was not what I had challenged myself to do.

But I did build a new PC, became a British citizen and fgot myself a pretty new walking stick.

So today, I am here, writing this and hoping this year brings a lot more reading, a lot more books, and a lot more goods things, a better balance and a slower season, a pace that suits my body a little better, rather than pushing it too much.