Gifted – The Constellation of Moon

Moon Reads: The Isle in the Silver Sea

Posted on October 21, 2025

The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri

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.

If you are new here, let me start by saying that Tasha Suri is one of my absolute favourite authors, and therefore this book has been an anticipated read since I knew of it (back when Tasha was obsessed with The Green Knight film and all those posts of medieval books), so of course I asked Orbit for a review copy, I probably begged. And they kindly let my soul be happy and have it. This review is therefore fully about my love of Tasha’s writing and having a review copy doesn’t change my opinion of it (or make me rate it higher, go check all my reviews of her books from the past).

The Isle in the Silver Sea is a standalone fantasy book (I am surprised since Tasha likes trilogies and epic stories), which is still incredibly epic. It is like being wrapped in a medieval fairy tale, being transported to an old London and then to a set for Merlin or The Green Knight.

The story follows Simran and Vina, who are incarnates, reincarnations of characters from tales, that are destined to re-enact and live their tale to provide life to Britain. Fated to fall in love and then doom each other, over and over, through lifetimes.

But neither of them is ready to simply follow their tale, and even less to doom each other when they realise that an assassin is targeting tales and their incarnates, and they may be next. And so they need to find a way to survive, and ponder if fate can be changed, if tales can be rewritten.

As always, the cast of characters is a whole thing here, and we find a rich world for them to exist in, starting with our main tale for this story, “The Knight and the Witch”, which is a tale of doomed love. But as you read through the chapters (divided between the points of view of Simran and Vina), each one has a snippet of some writing that is related to the tales, so you get more of the world building (and honestly, I think on a second read they would be even more significant).

Tasha deftly builds a Britain and London that is rich in history and yet also completely different, wrapped in tales and lore. And yet, as you read, as you come closer to the end, the currents of what motivates some people here and makes them think they’re British or “English”, also run a current through the story here, parallels and yet, hope lives eternal.

This was my commute book, and oh how I regretted that, because I did not want to stop reading. I dreamt of Vina and Simran, of their world, their tale, their story. I yearned for them, fought with them, dreamt with them. This is a tale that is very much alive and absolutely worth reading. Tasha gets better with each new book, each new story is a craft honed even further.

I cried at it, I hoped, and desperately wanted things to be, for their tale to make it, for life to have a chance. And in the end, I absolutely loved it. I was speechless; I had no more to say or do because this book was perfect.

So all I can ask, is that you give this exquisite tale a chance to wrap itself around you.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Moonflow

Posted on October 3, 2025

Moonflow by Bitter Karella

Rating:

Welcome to the first creepy post of October. I don’t know how much content have of this kind, but this felt fitting to be the first post for the month.

This sounded interesting in many ways when Orbit sent the monthly list of interesting books. Mushrooms, eldritch horror, a cult, and a lot of chaos, why not?

I think the best way I can describe this is that it was a trip! The story follows Sarah who studied to be a mycologist but didn’t finish and now grows mushrooms for people to consume and have a bit of fun. But life isn’t going great so when friend asks her to go on a trip to find spores for a new mushroom that gives the best trips when consumed, she agrees despite misgivings because she wants to try it again and also, the money will help her a lot to get back on track with life.

We also follow a few women who are part of the cult of the Green Lady, which is a feminist cult that exists in the Pamogo woods, that are meant to be difficult to navigate, shuffling themselves and known to belong to the Lord of the Forest. The cult is all about the feminine Green Lady and power to feminity, with lots of sexual power in it but only between women because apparently male energy is bad and corrupts.

Sarah makes it to outside of the woods where she meets her guide and then they start the trek, and Sarah starts getting weird messages that seem to be calling her deep into the woods. And you know, if you are already kinda lost, why not follow this random glitch message.

There’s a lot of chaos, some god events, a lot of sex and drugs, a lot about mushrooms (loved how they’d go all nerdy about things every now and then, which was funky), and a lot about what defines a woman and well, also cult behaviours and brain washing. As I said, it is a trip. But I laughed a lot, was terrified and the ending was just so creepy.

So it was horror well done, and very creepy. There is a lot I am sure on content warnings and I recommend you look for a list (I know there’s body horror, gore, killing, drugs, sex, transphobia, police brutality in a way, guns) because there’s loads going on, but it was a quick read, it just flowed and the ending felt fitting to the chaos ongoing in the Pamogo Woods.

Book Review

Moons Reads: The Knight and the Moth

Posted on May 20, 2025

The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig

Rating:

As you may have gleaned from the two previous reviews, I like Rachel Gillig’s books, and as soon as I knew The Knight and the Moth would be in existence I have wanted it, so very amazingly, Orbit sent me an early review copy to read (I have read it twice already, and love it), and I can’t wait for my final copy to arrive (preordered).

As you can gather, I really enjoyed this one and can only say the writing gets better with each book.

The Knight and the Moth follows Six (Sybil Delling), one of six Diviners that live in a cathedral in the center of the kingdom of Traum. And she divines through dreams and visions she receives from six figures called the Omens and upon which the kingdom is built.

But then, a king and his knights, and one particularly “rude” one came into the cathedral for a divination. This triggers a sudden disappearance of the other Diviners, one by one until Six is the last one left. So she takes matters into her hand and decides to seek the rude knight Rodrick and try to find her missing Diviners.

She gets way more than she ever bargained for.

The characters are interesting, starting with Sybil, who is strong and big and not the perfectly dainty damsel in distress, which was refreshing to read. And we have Rodrick, our knight who is an unusual and unexpected knight. Of course, we all know there will be romance happening between them. But the rest of the main characters, the ones we keep seeing and that are a regular part are fascinating, including an older female knight and a gargoyle.

The gargoyle is my favourite character. I absolutely loved him to pieces, but I couldn’t get enough of him.

And of course, we have the Omens, all six of them, which each have their own powers, their own little piece of the kingdom that they govern and their region-specific lore to give you a varied world, with some odd customs, some charming ones and some horrid ones too because nothing is perfect. And of course, the overall world and how it treats Diviners as Six encounters more fo the world she had never seen until her “family” started disappearing.

The ending was deadly. I won’t say it surprised me (except that in my head I kinda thought this may be standalone and well, with that end it for sure isn’t) because I could see a lot of it coming and could put the pieces together, but the way it surprises some of the characters was well done and it made sense for them to not see it. I did hope it was going to be different, and I now will have to wait to read whatever comes next because I need it. That is the worst part, the needing to read the next book because why leave me on that ending like that.

If you like romantasy, magical worldbuilding that at times makes you ponder spirituality and be a little philosophical, knights and prophecies and magical objects, alongside a lot of lore and thoughts of gods (kinda like Trudi Canavan’s Age of Five trilogy, which is my favourite of her series), then this is the book for you, but beware because it will take over your mind and heart and you won’t want to put the book down.

Book Review

Moon Reads: One Dark Window

Posted on May 13, 2025

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

Rating:

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.

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: 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.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Greenteeth

Posted on February 25, 2025

Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill

Rating:

This is one of the books of this year for me (even if I read it last year).

If you like T. Kingfisher, or similar chaotic fantasy, then this is a great book.

Let’s start with the narrator, Jenny Greenteeth. She is your average swamp monster living in her lake with sharp teeth, a love for fish and a healthy lake. So when the villagers suddenly decide to throw in a witch instead of useful things that Jenny can enjoy, she does not expect to end up in a huge adventure.

Temperance knows the old ways and has been helpful to her village, until the new pastor starts poisoning the minds of the villagers against her and claiming she is a bad influence and a witch. So when she gets thrown in the lake, she can’t do much, except maybe convince the Jenny that rescued her to help her make things right.

Now, without spoiling this, I will say that in the first few chapters I thought “oh this is going to be x” and that guess was indeed true, even if, by the time you get to it, it doesn’t spoil or make it worse, it was actually satisfying to think “oh hell yeah, I was right”.

The story is well done, partly monstrous tale, partly a fairy tale, huge adventure and a lot of chaos with not the normal trope of characters. You get Jenny who is a lake monster, and you get Temperance who despite being thrown in the lake just wants to get back to how her village used to be and her husband and family, and you also get a few other monstrous creatures in the mix to aid in the adventure including even a bit of Fae in it.

It grabs all that myth and legend from Britain, from old school stories, from Fae and gives you a wonderful monster of an adventure that will leave you wanting more, and also, extremely satisfied with the ending and the overall adventure. It comes packed with interesting characters, a horrible evil that will be ending the world (or as close as possible), impossible quests that are yet somehow possible, a lot of fun and a heap of old magic just for good measure.

The perfect recipe (and maybe Jenny will share her fish recipe with you).

Highly recommended if you love old magic and chaos and a fresh new take on myths, legends and magic.

10/10 would happily join Jenny and Temperance in the lake and their adventure.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Last Hour Between Worlds

Posted on February 18, 2025

The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Just to add to the disclaimer above, I did get a free copy from Orbit, but I also had a purchased copy and one from Illumicrate, so apparently this was a book I just needed to read. The copy in the picture is the one from the publisher because it is the one I actually took everywhere (you can see it, woops) and read.

The review before today’s was for Diary of a Void, which is about faking a pregnancy, and well, this book is not about pregnancy in itself, but rather about a main character who has given birth recently and is just trying to enjoy herself rather than work on an end of year party. It felt to me like these two books had to be next to each other because they approach a part of life that isn’t always included in books beyond a side note, and in both, it is an important part of it.

I also want to highlight that our main character is not a young adult, which was refreshing as was seeing that she is trying to balance motherhood and her return to work post birth. I need more books that just include it in the plot and where it is relevant in how it colours the decisions and thoughts of the character but not as a “plot” point exclusively. It was done masterfully here.

Now, to the actual proper plot, which is a crazy multidimensional mystery and trying to stop people from dying and close to the end of the world for the people involved, but in reality is more of a power game between higher entities.

Kembral is trying to enjoy herself at the end of the year party but the party just won’t let her as people start dying and then time seems to “rewind” and it starts all over, but moving between dimensions. As to why she seems to be one of the only ones to notice this, part fo the overall mystery.

Thankfully, she ends up joining forces (reluctantly) with her personal and professional nemesis, Rika. As they try to work on their own personal/professional tangle and at the same time, survive and save the world(s), chaos ensues.

There is a lot going on in the book, which is normally overwhelming, but the various threads of plot and pieces do tie each other nicely as it progresses. We learn more about why Rika and Kembral have such a relationship and what each side thinks, plus what they are seeing or kept hidden from each other. We also get, as mentioned the impact of her motherhood into the story, and her own professional relationships and morals as she tries to resolve what is happening. Then we have the various dimensions and worlds, which is chaotic and wonderful worldbuilding. Then we have the rituals/murders that keep happening each time and in each dimension. And the question is how to make it stop and save everyone, how do you solve a game and ritual that is at the level of higher beings and not you?

I had to stay up reading this book and really wanted to keep going, it was incredibly well written, kept me hooked and I wanted to know more on all points. I can’t wait for the next book.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Artic Fox

Posted on December 24, 2024

The Artic Fox by Holly Webb Illustrated by David Dean

Rating:

I have enjoyed a few of Holly Webb’s books before and one about an Artic Fox sounded perfect (and is the perfect review to post this Christmas week).

This story follows Ellie, who is going on a winter surprise holiday with her family (parents and little brother) to Lapland just before Christmas. This is exciting, so she tries to find out more about where they are going and that it has artic foxes, even if they are rare (due to being an endangered species).

Still there is a tiny bit of hope in Ellie, and there is enough to do during the trip too, visiting Santa, going on a sleigh ride and trying to catch the Northern Lights, so it is not like she’ll be having a bad time. However, one night during her trip she wakes up and hears a strange whining noise that leads her to a little artic fox caught in a trap.

As usual with this series of stories, our character is almost transported into living the life of someone else in the past, and so this time she’s trying to view how the fox hunting was in some ways necessary, and killing animals is, for survival, but not to overdo it. The story is cute even though it wasn’t my favourite out of the ones I’ve read (I think Star was the best).

But it is a lovely story for this winter to be cosy with and to share our love for animals.

Book Review

Moon Reads: You Only Spy Twice

Posted on December 17, 2024

Agent Harrier: You Only Spy Twice by Ben Sanders

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Agent Harrier is a super fun and funny series of a wonderfully chaotic spy dog (he thinks he is the absolute best). There is in general a lot of fourth wall breaking and just chaos.

This is the second book in the series, and if you haven’t read the first, please do, it is hilarious.

But You Only Spy Twice finds Harrier somehow feeling like there is deja vu happening and things are repeating themselves in his current spy mission, what a very funny feeling indeed, specially when there seem to be two of him!

The book makes good use of negative space int he illustrations and lots of dramatic elements and overall the page. it is one of the best uses of the space in the pages to narrate and to give the reader an immersive experience, even when the characters break the fourth wall, it still feels interactive.

The story is funny, very Spy Kids but much younger type of chaos, and a perfect story for young readers or to read to them given the setup of the pages. Quick read too, very quick.

Can’t wait for the next one!