The Constellation of Moon

Moon Reads: One Dark Window

Posted on May 13, 2025

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

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.

I realised that I had reviewed this on storygraph and raved about it on Instagram stories and to some friends, but had not actually put this up on the blog. And since The Knight and the Moth is publishing this month, why not make it a Rachel Gillig series of posts.

I had received this book free from the publisher when it first came out and at the time I was a little burnt out on similar stories so set it aside and forgot. And as I was clearing and packing books, this lovely one came up and I started reading.

I could not put it down. I read until stupid o’clock in the morning just to finish it. And as soon as I finished it was already ordering the next one. I could not wait (the wait was agony, I needed to know!). Honestly, the book had wrapped its beautifully crafted story around me, and I could (did) not want to leave.

So, I’ve raved about loving it but what is it about?

We follow Elspeth, a survivor of a mysterious “plague” that left her with some odd powers, particularly a monster she calls Nightmare that lives in her head (rent free). However, Nightmare can sometimes be very helpful (if he wants to) by protecting her, and keeping her (their) secrets.

But the kingdom of Blunder is a dangerous place for a survivor that shouldn’t have survived. And when she has an encounter with a highway man, suddenly her life seems to move from predictable to chaotic. And so an adventure to save the kingdom from a cruel king, and discover why magic is forbidden or limited to the twelve Providence Cards. The stakes rise as the time goes and as they try to survive, including her own Nightmare.

The overall world-building is crafted in a n intriguing way, it makes you feel like a fairy tale world. You feel the magic of it, the way the citizens live, how the cards influence life in such deep ways, and you discover the world Elspeth had been avoiding due to technically being a survivor that shouldn’t have survived.

It touches on faith, family, on magic, obviously it has a ormance story and some interesting swoony characters to tie everything nicely. There is a lot of sass and funny scenes too, and a lot of stakes, but it all ties in nicely to a point where you just want to find out what comes in the next book.

I enjoyed it a lot, and can recommend it for a gripping romantasy.

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Magic vs Science Illumicrate

Posted on May 9, 2025

Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Magic vs Science, April 2024

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.

I have no idea what March was and no pictures or any evidence of the box, so hi, welcome to April and this beautiful box, which was just very pretty overall! Let’s go from the top left and clockwise:

Pencil case, I love these as they are always so pretty and useful. The only thing that would make them better is if they were the ones that can fit two levels and have a little tray in between.
Eco friendly makeup cleaning pads. These are pretty and I haven’t used them for two reasons, one is that I don’t wear a lot of makeup, and the other is that every time I have used this type of pad, they end up not taking the makeup well off my face and they end up slightly modly or yucky even after a wash, or leaving them to dry, just bad experiences and I don’t want to ruin them so they exist happily in my makeup drawer waiting to be used.
Our regular leaflet letting us know what is inside and the photo challenge.
The featured book which is To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang, still on my list to be read.
Gardening gloves, this went as a gift to someone who actually gardens, but they were very pretty and very well liked by the person who received them.
A jigsaw, I love these so much! This time the science fiction bookcase which I have yet to do.

Overall as I had already said, a very nice box with very pretty items and for the most part all in use except the makeup pads but that’s me not the box itself. I did like this one quite a lot.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Hex Vets The River Guardian

Posted on May 6, 2025

Hex Vets The River Guardian by Sam Davies and Lisa Moore

Rating:

When the first Hex Vet came out I was in love with them, cute and short, and just nice. You can read my reviews here and here. They were a delight to be read.

And then there was no more, it just stopped, so I assumed it was another one of those series that are left incomplete. So when the third volume was suddenly suggested because apparently there is going to be a series for it, I was happy to see it come up and immediately ordered it.

I immediately felt the difference in approach. As much as it is the same comic for starters now it is Hex Vets rather than Hex Vet and has a new author/illustrator, and the story is less twee, it is more trying to hit the spots for drama, and a TV series, rather than the focus being on comic medium.

This is a very weird thing to say of a book, but you can tell when the direction it had is suddenly not the same. This one was made for Tv, the previous two were just fun and made to be books. It makes a difference, you lose a lot of the beauty when you try to force a comic of a story that you are now plotting as an animation, and the other way around.

So that was the main loss of stars, the change in focus and the plot showing this change. It lost its star. The story is still cute and we’re still having some chaos in trying to be good vets to magical creatures, and it was cute to see the main reason for the disruption to the river health and why the creatures suddenly didn’t go too well. That was interesting, I just wish this had been still like the previous two.

I will still give it a chance if new volumes are released and hope that this was simply a transition volume, because the first two were really fun and cute.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Goddess of the River

Posted on May 2, 2025

Goddess of the River by Baishnavi Patel

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

I own this and the Illumicrate version, but the copy I read was this one because it is easier to carry it around in a bag and if it gets damaged it is fine.

Goddess of the River reads like a wonderful saga, it is both a legend, a myth and a very personal story. And it was beautiful in so many ways, not just the plot but the prose.

Ganga is the goddess of the river, she loves her little godlings and to have her waters move around, to grow life. But then, she is cursed to become mortal when trying to save her godlings, until she fulfills her curse.

Being human feels foreign to her and yet she manages to wed the King and become a queen, while trying to break the curse and stop being in human form. And her timing is a tragedy, because she ends up leaving her infant son to her King as she is able to become a goddess again.

And none of them know that her son also carries in some ways her curse and therefore when he makes an oath that he will never claim the throne, he sets in motion a terrible and tragic war for his family.

And so, the book covers the story of them both, as they keep meeting again and again and as Ganga watches over her son and what is happening, but we also see the story from his side, from a human view, and how much there are consequences to the choices made and the responsibilities one takes.

It is an epic read, not just in it being incredible but it reads as an epic. It is a story to be told, to keep going, that goes through generations. It was never boring and it kept me wanting to know more (and at times, shake the prince, Ganga’s son because damn, why?!).

You end up being invested in all of them and wanting them to somehow avoid war, to do better, to make it out, to live. And so you feel a little like Ganga, like a goddess with a tie to the human world in a more personal way and yet removed, powerful and powerless.

Highly recommended, particularly if you enjoyed The Burning Kingdoms saga by Tasha Suri.

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Caged Hearts Illumicrate

Posted on April 29, 2025

Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Caged Hearts, February 2024

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

In which I discover that the tea towel I thought would be a super cute background ends up being a bad background, woops. But this was February’s box and let’s see what it had insidestarting from the leaflet and going clockwise:

Monthly Leaflet, detailing the contents and the photo challenge.
To Cage a God by Elizabeth May was the featured book, and I have actually read this one, go me, after so many unread ones.
Anohter fo the collectible daggers/swords. I always forget which one is which as I don’t really collect them.
A glass jar, these are meant to be user for drinking water or whatever or some storage, but I have only kept two since I only have so much space, sadly.
A fairytale keyring, very cute.
A plastic container bag thing. I assume it’s meant to be for like airport stuff or something, but I wasn’t too crazy about it.

Overall, not a bad box, with some cute items and some used less, but it was still nice.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Mission Impossib-hole

Posted on April 25, 2025

Agent Harrier: Mission Impossib-hole by Ben Sanders

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

I am absolutely loving Agent Harrier (you should read my review of the previous one: You Only Spy Twice). And in case this wasn’t clear this was a requested book from the list the publisher sends (I love Little Tiger Books, they are awesome!), which they kindly sent me, and I love their books, here is my review.

Agent Harrier is a chaotic secret agent who somehow is very good and bad at his job and yet he always saves the day. The art is hilarious and breaks the fourth wall in funny ways and makes terrific use of the full page spread to play with the story and add to it. This is part of what makes the series so good, the art is spot on to the story.

There seems to be a lot fo holes going on in this third book, and not just any kind of holes, but PLOT holes, which are not helping the story go too well! They keep transferring Agent Harrier through various stories and realms to try to find the culprit behind all the holes that are interrupting this mission.

As always, it made me laugh and giggle and I felt it was too short but thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend you read all three books if you haven’t yet!

Book Review

Moon Reads: She Drives Me Crazy

Posted on April 22, 2025

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

I have no memory of how I ended up deciding to buy this book, but I did at some point and while packing books and trying to reduce them, I thought this was a bit of an odd choice (I’m not really someone who reads books with sport involved in them) but decided to give it a chance.

I am glad I did.

She Drives Me Crazy was a fun read. It was easy, flowed well, and I finished it in a day (one bit read while having breakfast, then the rest in the afternoon after having to do the boring adult stuff of the day).

I admit I do enjoy some fake dating, and it was an interesting one.

Scottie is heartbroken, a little obsessed and upset about her ex, who moved schools and is now playing in a different basketball team. And luck just seems to not be giving her a break when she ends up having to give her nemesis, Irene, a ride to school each morning.

Irene is the perfect cheerleader and popular, but Scottie remembers her as mean, and therefore they seem to not be getting along despite their forced proximity. But then, Scottie sees an opportunity to make her ex jealous and for Irene to keep chasing her own cheerleading dreams.

Shenanigans ensue. However, one of the things I liked a lot about the book was how it tackled the emotions after a breakup, the stages of grief it can bring, and how people can change and not recognise it. Scottie has a long journey of recovering from a breakup that had a hit to her confidence, and that was handled incredibly well, and it was very interesting to read the conversations and interactions about it, alongside seeing parents and family of both Irene and Scottie being part of the story and not helpful plot movers.

Both Irene and Scottie having supportive and interesting groups of friends was also nice rather a mean girls vibe it was more interactive and you can see the mixing of their groups as they continue with their fake dating that slowly becomes less fake and brings them to confront why they are dating and if there are feelings in between them.

Overall, quick read about high school, a bit of basketball and cheerleading, a bit of fake dating and just a fun time.

Uncategorized

Moon Hauls: Murder Mystery Illumicrate

Posted on April 11, 2025

Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Murder Mystery, January 2024

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

A start of a new year of book boxes, so let’s see how well we do start a year. From the leaflet and going clockwise:

Murder Mystery leaflet
Voyage of the Damned is the featured read, and honestly this kinda escaped my radar at some point and it hasn’t really caught my attention much, so still unread and unsure of when it will be read.
The Best Stories fandom neutral reusable sticker book designed by Chatty Nora. Who doesn’t like a sticker book? I still have a Winnie the Pooh one I had as a kid, and a new one is never a bad thing.
Crescent City bookmarks. I know it is from this series, but generally do not care for character bookmarks.
Library stamp, which I did not keep since I have my own embosser.
Underneath it all, an apron with spooky tasty treats, also not keps since the sizing doesn’t work for me sadly.

In general, probably not the best box and not the best start (but then I am not comparing with other January boxes). I only really kept one item and the rest didn’t hit it with me, so it felt like a big miss overall, which is a shame.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Ghostly Things

Posted on April 8, 2025

Ghostly Things (Volumes 1, 2 & 3) by Ushio Shirotori

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Welcome to a full series review because sometimes trying to review a single manga volume feels like I am vaguely triyng to not spoil the plot or some volumes are just hard to describe without a lot of references to previous volumes.

Ghostly Things was a whim purchase and after reading the first volume I immediately had to go buy the other two (or initially as many as there were in the story). So that already tells you it was very enjoyable.

The premise is that we meet Yachiho who is moving into her new house on her own because her father is overseas, and the house comes with a few quirks and hauntings. But this does not discourage our lovely gentle heroine, and instead she decides to brave things and keep searching, because she has her own motives to have moved in alone.

The volumes cover a few plot lines, one is the mystery of the house and what it hides, then there is the search Yachiho is doing for a Book of the Dead, we also have our usual school and friends side story, though this adds flavour and some extra adventures, and some antagonists to the mix, and allows the town to show as part of where our story develops.

There is also a little spirit that helps her and is trying to guide her to do the right thing, but the spirit has its own motives and secrets.

The overall story was cute and the creatures, characters and environment were nicely drawn in lots of detail and very fun. The story flows, even though as times it feels a little too short, and I did wish it had one or two more volumes to expand on some parts, but it was still done well in three volumes.

If you like stories about yokai, the spirit world and a few mysteries thrown into the mix, I can recommend this one as a quick read since it is only three volumes and goes by really quickly for an afternoon read if like me, you can’t wait to read the next one.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Principle of Moments

Posted on March 21, 2025

The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson

Rating:

I actually can’t remember how I came to have a proof copy for this book, since I know it was not one I requested, so it either came freely from publisher or through BlackCrow (who are awesome with proofs).

As you may have seen from the previous post, I also have a hardcover copy of it but I read it on the proof copy.

Now, this si one of my lowest-rated book reviews in a while, and the main reason for it is that this book needed more editing and more work. It is a book written during school by the author and then reworked, and it shows as you read through it. The characters are wishy-washy and feel shoehorned into making the prophecy work (the prophecy parts were probably the most interesting). They just seem to be carried forever by the plot to make the plot happen while trying to figure themselves out, and not in a good way.

The format of it, with the prophecy, the time travel, and the trying to make reason of the side plots, was interesting and had a lot of potential, but for me, it falls flat. I did not care for most of the characters except George, who felt like he had just been dragged into this nonsense and had no choice (see? Everything is very much an “I have no choice but to do this” all over the book), so our two main characters in themselves are flat and boring, plot puppets overall to fulfil a prophecy and you could swap them for other characters and still get the same story.

The premise is that there is this prophecy about 3 parts of a story, and you are having that slowly told (the people talking of the prophecy talk about the person who made it, and make notes on it and therefore this was the most interesting part and you could read just the bits of the prophecy and get a decent story, skipping more than half the book, way more enjoyable) but you also get several points of view by a variety of characters on how they are going to save the world, or maybe just themselves because they are selfish and want to live and yet they are cowards and nothing like what they are supposed to be.

The overall summary is that this had potential, had an interesting idea, and formatting and the “prophecy” part was pretty decent, but the execution fell flat and steamrolled through the characters just to fit the prophecy and “plot”, and it could have been done better. They deserved better.