Tag: fantasy

Book Review

Moon Reads: Magical Girl Dandelion

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Magical Girl Dandelion by Kaeru Mizuho

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

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 am partial to a good magical game manga, and I grabbed this one on those 3 for 2 offers from Forbidden Planet. Good gamble since I enjoyed it quite a lot. 

In a world where magical girls are part of a force that fights against fiends, Tanpopo passes her life dreaming of being one magical girl, spending time with her grandfather after losing her parents when she was young and spending time with her best friend, Shade, who is a fiend. 

So when she discovers she has magic and has the ability to become a magical girl, Tanpopo has hard choices to make in particular in regards to her friendship. And Shade keeps secrets of his own, particularly in the fact that he protects Tanpopo from other fiends and assists her. 

But the stakes grow high when one of the victims to fiends is Tanpopo's grandfather. She will be willing to risk her place as a magical girl to save him. 

I liked Tanpopo and Shade's friendship and how they interact, with Shade being a bit sarcastic and protective but also secretive, whereas she's all sweet and wants more of her life but is reserved. And being a magical girl is both a dream and hard work, lots of rules and lots of learning for her how to use her magic.

In the first volume we see a little of how she becomes friends with Shade, some of the basic part of Shade's secrets, her becoming a magical girl and the small arc of her grandfather being victim to the fiends. It sounds both like a lot and very little and it was interesting, because it gives you a decent idea of where the story plans to go with the factions (humanity, magical girls and fiends).

The artwork was also really good (I am a sucker for CLAMP and manga with fancy clothes and lots of magic) and didn't leave me feeling like it didn't match the story, it is a bit of dark and light between Shade and Tanpopo and it feels a bit different than the majortiy of the magical girl works, so ti was nice to read. I am looking forward to collecting the series.
Book Review

Moon Reads: Mt Draco

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Mt. Draco by Momojiji

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. 

The premise of this book caught my eye so much I went and found how to order it and then waited forever for it to arrive. And it was a delight to devour when I got it. 

But, what was it that got me? Our story here follows Zooey who has done all kind of jobs and somehow finds herself at the base of the mountain, turned into the maid for the dragon Draco, deadliest of their kind. 

A maid to a dragon you say? That was what got me, a different take to the damsel in distress, Zooey instead spends the time polishing his treasure, dealing with the picky princesses and whatever mess happens from the knights trying to prove themselves, and maybe, just maybe the dragon may slowly find that he likes Zooey and her company. 

The artwork is very cute and fits well as you get small short comics that make an overall bigger plot of what being the maid of the deadliest dragon means and all the chaos that happens and also we get to know how Zooey came to be his maid. Plus, she has really good cleaning abilities, she just somehow can keep up with all the chaps that happens in a dragon's mountain and their hoard. 

I recommend reading this for a fun cute story and supporting an artist. It brought me a good bit of joy and fun and thinking about twists we can do to well known ideas and expectations of tales.
Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Stories Within Stories Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Stories Within Stories, December 2025

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 that usually features fantasy and sci-fi, and curates a wide range of books, including both young adult and adult fiction. It usually contains a new release and several bookish goodies. 

Last box for 2025, an inception of stories as theme, which I think a lot of the books for this year had something like that, smaller stories or tales in them as part of the story. 

Let's go over the contents, starting from the left and going towards the right:
  • A bookmark album, which I think works if you collect bookmarks to keep, I have been trying to live a “use the good china” life (slowly) and so most of ht time I use the bookmark I have at hand even if it is a fancy one. But the idea is cool
  • Stickers, which are adorable and all about various books.
  • Metal bookmark, funnily enough I think these are the ones I use the least purely because they are heavier and noisier to move around, but so pretty!
  • The featured book was The Bookshop Below, by Georgia Summers, and I will admit I have not read it yet but I’d like to. I haven’t been reading as much as I’d like, in part due to a lot of books I want to read being hardcover, therefore not easy to carry around nor to read in a cramped train or tube (which is when I do most of my reading).
  • And finally a reading journal, I normally gift these to friends since I don’t do a reading journal, but I appreciate them because they are utterly stunning always and great gifts to pass on to friends who do love to journal about what they read. 
I am not sure this suited much the Stories within stories theme. I am not getting a feel for having storiception, but more of a reminiscence what has been and the stories lived or read. It was an interesting end of the year being subtle but trying to end it on a memory type of idea, which I like I just don't think theme vs what it actually had are the same thing (I do think stories within stories would be hard to do, a jigsaw here would've done quite well with either scenes from the books of the year and then interlace them and entwine them). But still a nice box to wrap up 2025.
Book Review

Moon Reads: All Hail Chaos

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All Hail Chaos by Sarah Rees Brennan

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. 

All Hail Chaos was one of my most anticipated reads for this year, and if you're too impatient to read the review, the short thing is that it did not disappoint. You can read my review of Long Live Evil before this one if you're interested in it. 

I am going to try my best to avoid big spoilers for this book because I think getting to the last few chapters and making those discoveries is an experience you can only get once when you read it and it's not worth spoiling. This does mean I will be writing one of those insane reviews that are a bunch of nonsense. I mean the title is all about chaos, so we might as well embrace it. All Hail Chaos!

We left Rae engaged to her favourite character, the Emperor, whom is not whom she thought actually was. And she is afraid.  Being the villainess was fun when it you think that it's just characters and not people like you, but once you cross the line, it becomes harder to make villainous decisions and things are a lot deadlier. 

Rae is trying her best to survive and for that she needs to continue her villainess chaos and to continue trying to not be predictable, and to challenge things. And at the same time she wants to free the Emperor and to free herself from the mess that has become. 

She also has Cobra trying to discover secrets and preempt some of the plot that they know happens, trying to make changes. And there's also Emer and Lia, who have escaped simply to stay in the town and start stoking a revolution. 

There's indeed a lot of chaos going on here, but the main thing they all have to grapple with is that there are constants for this story, and this plot, and they can try to change things, but they will come to happen one way or another. And sometimes the bargains, the fake engagements, the bravery, they backfire into something you can't predict or that maybe you hoped would not be the case. 

That part of them all trying to understand what the plot wants, how much they can push and pull at it and bend it to their will, and where it just won't budge was super fun and really cleverly done.  This adds tot he twists and turns, and you know that there are going to be many, but they turn in on themselves as you hope something will happen and boom, something else ends up becoming the plot because it just won't bend that far and the bounce of trying to make it do things it just won't gets interesting. Navigating these many plot points and what the "original" plot was versus the many variations that slowly unravel, the butterfly effect of it all is a lesson in how to be a master in writing, and Sarah does it amazingly well. 

Another part of this was that as I read this, I kept thinking a lot about a phrase I live by, which is that you either become the person you needed most during a crisis or you become the villain and closer to those that caused you harm than the other way. And that at the end of the day, what you do, is a choice you make. 

All Hail Chaos is full of those moments where each character has to face the music and realise that the choice they are making will impact more than just this moment but also they only have a moment to decide. 

There is still a lot of sadness in this book, but whereas the first one was marked heavily by grief, here the grief has shifted more into vulnerability and pain. And in this book that pain makes some beautiful and beautifully ugly things. 

My recommendation is to definitely read this book and enjoy the ride, then despair because the third book is not out yet and you will need it immediately after you finish reading this.
Book Review

Moon Reads – A Home for Spark the Dragon

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A Home for Spark the Dragon by Michael Sheen and Jess Webb. Illustrated by Sarah Massini

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. 

I saw this book while I was browsing Waterstones and the first thing that got me was that it was by Michael Sheen and the second thing was that it was supporting Shelter, so I had to buy it.

Spark the Dragon loses his home to a storm and therefore is sad and trying to figure out what to do. So he finds a bear friend, who offers him to come and stay with them, but the cave where the bear lives is a bit too damp and dark for Spark's comfort and so he politely thanks his friend and moves on. 

Next he meets up a beaver, who again, offers his home and Spark helps in the building of it, but it is too noisy and not for him either. 

You can see where the story is going, right? Spark keeps searching and trying to share someone else's house for a bit, but it isn't right for him. 

He finally finds something that feels close to the right thing but it still isn't. But thankfully his friends show up and help him make a new home for him so that he has a house and a roof over his head. 

The art for this is adorable, it is soft and sweet and gentle. And the story is also cute and nicely written. I was looking forward to the next house and to what Spark would do, but also hoping he'd find his own home. 

I really liked that his friends help him make a house a home, because as someone who was homeless at some point in her life, if it hadn't been for my friends putting me up in their couches, I wouldn't be here. They made a huge difference and even helped me get out of that bad spot in life, and I am ever so grateful to them.

But I also know how it feels to have no place to call home and to feel lost and unsure. And it has made me appreciate home even more (and it also makes me more sensitive to not feeling at home at times). Plus I am glad it is to support Shelter, who is a wonderful charity. 

Worth reading, and worth reflecting on how lucky we are to have a home right now and that there is indeed a lot of luck involved in these type of things.
Book Review

Moon Reads: Blind Date with a Werewolf

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Blind Date with a Werewolf (A Novel in Stories) by Patricia Briggs

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. 

Probably not obvious but I am a big fan of Patricia Briggs, have been since I first read The Hob's Bargain (I should probably re-read it and review it properly here) back when I was a teenager. She was my introduction to urban fantasy (or paranormal or whatever you want to call it now, to me it will always be urban fantasy), and yes I am aware that the Hob's Bargain is not urban fantasy but that was the gateway and Mercy Thompson won my heart and I had a soft spot for her Alpha and Omega books too.

So when Orbit (a while back) said they were publishing the collection of short stories about Asil's blind dates, I jumped at the chance (and then kinda moved house and lost the book and had no pictures and didn't review it until now, my bad). 

Asil is a deadly old werewolf, he's lived a long time and lives a reclusive life since he lost his own mate. But his friends are challenging him to go on five blind dates in the span of three weeks. They even made it easy and chose the people, everything is organised and perfectly scheduled, all he has to do is show up and be a good date. 

Now, these are five short stories, one per date, that make up a bigger one, but you don't need to technically read them all to know what's going on, and for me it had been a while since I had read the Alpha and Omega books, so I had a vague memory of the characters but couldn't recall everything.

Despite having some blanks, this was pure fun. The dates are actually nicely planned with well meaning people and each one just gets more chaotic and more hilarious than the last, and yet they are also very serious and show you well that Asil is very true to himself through and through no matter the chaos. And there is a lot of chaos thrown at him. There's people feeling stood up or on a joke, and then there's big felines and other old magic flowing through and showing up at inconvenient times during the date. 

Honestly I breezed through this and it was such a joy to read, reminded me why I fell in love with urban fantasy and why I loved the Alpha & Omega series, but also why I enjoy Patricia Briggs' books so much. 

All I can say is that you should read them for a good time in chaos dates and an impeccable werewolf who is trying to do his best for this challenge of blind dates. There's a little bit of everything here for everyone. And if my books weren't packed, I would've just ignored everything and gone to binge read the Alpha and Omega series after finishing this book because it was a delightfully enjoyable read.
Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: In Every Life Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: In Every Life, October 2025

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 that usually features fantasy and sci-fi, and curates a wide range of books, including both young adult and adult fiction. It usually contains a new release and several bookish goodies. 

More knights, but now a story that goes across many reincarnations and lives, and of course I knew this one had this specific featured book so I was looking forward to it. 

But how well did it do? Let's go over the contents, starting from the left and going towards the right:
  • Packing cubes inspired by Our Infinite Fates, these are really cool even if they aren’t displayed much on the picture.
  • The featured book, which I have read and reviewed here before, The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri, which was awesome and I love the artwork for it.
  • A cross stitch kit inspired by Godly Heathens, which I have yet to make but I do enjoy when they send craft kits (I have yet to catch up, my current craft is a fox blanket).
  • A shaker keyring, I am not super crazy on this one to be fair as it a bit meh, they’ve done better keyrings.
  • A book ceramic pot for “A Soul’s Guide to Eternal Life” which I am keeping.
  • And the monthly leaflet.
Overall, a good set of items in the box with only the keyring not being one for me, and feeling less fitting to it, but I love the book, and the special edition, and I do love a craft kit because it is fun and something to get me to not be staring at a screen but rather focus differently and have a tangible result. So win on that overall.
Book Review

Moon Reads: Mort the Meek and the Raven’s Revenge

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Mort the Meek and the Ravens’ Revenge

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. 

Mort lives in Brutalia, where violence is the norm everywhere. People just love brawls and getting into fights and scrambles as part of their normal life, well, everyone except Mort. He would like to live his life peacefully, or as close as he can, which makes him seem meek and weak to the rest of the people in Brutalia. 

The problem happens when his uncle who is the lead executioner for the executions (a past time of the King and Queen) dies and therefore Mort inherits his position. To make it even more complicated, his first execution is to be his best friend. So Mort has a full week to try to find a way out of violence and to save his friend, while at the same time trying to ensure his peaceful ways. 

The overall artwork and illustrations are really funny, and the ravens add a bit of a conversation at the start of the chapters, which was fun even if they are ravenous ravens. We also have the author play a lot with the fourth wall and break it or playful try to pull the readers further into this world and what Mort is experiencing. 

I do have to highlight that one thing that made this lose part of its rating and be so low and it is that it does the whole "the villains are evil... and fat" which wasn't necessary at all. They were evil enough without having to comment on their body or make them be fat as if that was part of what added to them villainous. 

The rest of it was actually fun, with lots of clever and creative ways to change the viewpoints of violence into something different and finding ways to bend the rules and somehow still be as peaceful as he can.

The main thing I remember about it is that it was fun to read, quite an easy quick read and the art made it even better, so it's still a nice little book and while I was looking it up for this post, I realised there's a few sequels, so I am gonna go see if I can get a hold of them and add a review for them too in the future (not like I don't have a long list of books to read, but maybe the library might have them?)
Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Knightcore Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Knightcore, September 2025

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 that usually features fantasy and sci-fi, and curates a wide range of books, including both young adult and adult fiction. It usually contains a new release and several bookish goodies. 

I love the increase in knights and medieval themes so this sounded very much up my street as a theme, but did this do it justice or what do we think? 

Let's go through the contents starting from far left and going towards the right:
  • The main book, The Second Death of Locke by Tori Bovalino which I have had recommended to me a few times and is still high on my list to read.
  • A knight themed makeup (or similar) bag, whcih I like though it feels less knightcore and just knight themed, like it isn’t as knightly/medieval enough in itself, but the artwork is pretty knightcore and cute.
  • Underneath it is a garland of moths from the Knight and the Moth which was a good reference even if it doesn’t visually seem to fit as much with the theme.
  • Gideon the Ninth and Harrow bookmarks which are like modern futuristic knights? I am never big on paper items that are just prints of bookmarks, particularly of characters faces, so this is a miss in that it is not very knightlike and that it was not a good item for me even if I do love the series.
  • The theme leaflet.
  • And one of the collection replicas though I do not remember which sword this was but it is definitely cool. 
Overall I think this actually missed the mark on the theme a bit, I didn't feel particularly into knightcore and just like it was knight-ish, but the items where half and half on the wins and misses. The garland and makeup bag are cool, but not so keen on bookmarks (look I love cool bookmarks, funny bookmarks, pretty ones, but why does Illumicrate keep sending portraits of characters as bookmarks, it's so boring and meh, do something more interesting for the bookmarks that actually makes me go "oh this is fun, this is quirky, this is cute". Like their metal ones that are super cool!)And the replica daggers/swrods are cool but bulky and don't feel like real replicas so I am still a bit meh on them. But the book was stunning. So not a superb box but not the worst of the year.
Book Review

Moon Reads: Hopeless Necromantic

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Hopeless Necromantic by Shiloh Briar

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.

I read most of this while in the queue for a concert (to see Lights in case you cared), and let me tell you that almost everyone that was near me in the queue was interested and we had a really good chat about it (they were sad it wasn’t out yet, but pre-orders were made). And it was super fun. Plus it is out now!

Sikras is a tired exhausted thirty something necromancer just trying to make aliving by offering his necromancy services to the people who think Death came too soon and need their family member, partner, or what not brought back to life. He otherwise passes time with Benjamin, his living skeleton companion who was part of the royal army back when he was human.

Helspira is a hopeful demon, who escaped the demon world and is trying to prove demons aren’t that bad or at least not all demons. And the best way to prove this is to become a hero, so she is part of the royal army and ends up becoming the escort for Sikras and Ben.

Their mission is to reattempt (after a few failed attempts already) to defeat another necromancer who has been rising an undead army that threatens the kingdom.

No one, not even the Queen who requested them to go on the mission, has much hope for Sikras to succeed, but they have to try. And Helpsira has to believe they can actually succeed.

And so we follow their little adventure, where they all suddenly start showing more of who they are and their secrets, and some tough questions come to Sikras about his life choices. He has many to regret and many he needs to ponder or make, because even as a necromancer, there is a lot of life to live and to deal with, maybe even more than death.

The humour in this was a winner. Part of the reason a lot of people ended up interested in it was my facial expressions while reading and my giggles and laughs over it. It is also, incredibly emotional and heartfelt. IT is like the friend who comes and brings snacks, a blanket and some comedy films to cheer you up. It is a romance, and it is a lot of laughing, and it is a a D&D adventure type of thing (think a bit of a Baldur’s Gate 3 romp around).

It will also ask what is to be alive, and what living means. Some interesting questions. I wanted to hug all 3 main characters throughout the book, and I wanted just to have them win and go on with life, but also be best friends forever, and it was so wholesome (despite the necromancy and the dead and you know, the impending doom). Helpsira is a cinnamon roll and a ray of sunshine. Ben makes the best side kick and just a lot of snark and fun from him, and then Sikras with his doomed life and his sadness and you absolutely want to fix him (or for someone to fix him, *cough* Helpsira *cough*) and live a better life, because despte his chaos he deserves good.

There is a lot packed into a small book, and it is absolutely worth reading for the smiles it will put on your face and the lightness it will leave you with after you finish reading it.