Gifted – The Constellation of Moon

Moon Reads: Spirits Abroad

Posted on August 22, 2023

Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho

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.

For some reason unknown to me, I haven’t reviewed any of Zen’s books, however I have read a few and really enjoyed them, so when Spirits Abroad came out it was a good idea. And sometimes you just are in the mood for some short stories rather than a more epic one, right?

And this book is full of them.

The one first thing I will say, if you come to it expecting perfectly manicured short stories with a happy enidng or a perfect end to them, this is not it. This is more like grabbing a book of lore, of stories told around a camp fire, or around the kitchen during a gathering/party. It is a book of voices and ideas and therefore, of stories. And to me that is what absolutely shines here.

The stories are short, some way more than others, and they have a variety of flavours with all of them having some kind fo spirit or interesting otherness to it, a glint of magic in the ordinary or a ghost of weirdness and spookiness. But they are all ndeed captivating and honestly for most fo them, particularly some of the shorter ones, I wanted to know more of the story.

My personal favourite one is probably one of the longer ones where we have our main character of the story living with a bunch of aunties and some paranormal going on, while trying to live a very normal life thank you very much! I liked the mix of the normality, of the mundane with the not so common and the interesting “ending” we had for it.

I did read through this book slowly, as I had set myself to read a story or two (and sometimes, when I got hooked on the vibe of them, a few more) before bed, trying to stick to only reading a little bit because they were meant to help me relax, and they did in their own way.

Now, they are very much not Western short stories, and if you haven’t read a book from Zen Cho, I do want to let new readers know that there is a lot of words you may have to infer, to learn and cultural expressions too. I had to check up a few of the more interesting ones, and dig and dust some up I ahdn’t really heard or read in a while, but it still had a lot of value, and honestly, it made it quite itneresting to go learn new things and deep dive and accidentally end up looking recipes for whatever was mentioned in teh story at the time.

I think everyone would enjoy this book and the many stories in it, there’s a bit for everyone and lots of flavours that make it a rich and wonderful read.

Don’t miss out on the rest of the tour!

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Sun and the Void

Posted on August 16, 2023

The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz

Rating:

I will review this the same way I sold it to a friend recently. As a Mexican Latina, I tend to be cautious about Latinx books because I have been disappointed by a few. But this one feels right there with the experience. I know the world is fantasy, but the undercurrents of history are there, and the ways of life. Plus it has a glossary, it has pages presenting you the characters and what they do and mean, and the names are explained as to how it works in most of Latin America. So in that respect, it is already high on my list.

The second thing is that it has a wonderfully grey palette of characters. No one is perfect, there is no hero and no villain, everyone is doing a little bit of everything and depending on the lens, it is how they are perceived. They do say that history is written by the winning side or by specific points of view and so this shows true here.

The story focuses mostly on two main characters Reina and Eva, who both have been mistreated and have a deep longing for belonging. So we get the story from both sides, one a nozariel and one valco, which are the two subspecies that were native to the country before being conquered, with valcos being seen as better and nozariels as scum. However, neither of them s being treated particularly well and they are both trying to change their destiny. And well, destiny has plans for them involving the gods, some interesting schemes and a lot of twists and turns which I don’t really want to spoil.

I do take points because this story is so long and there were parts that tried to describe the world in far too much detail, alongside having a cast that was vast and sometimes in some ways not necessary. Too many names, too many characters, and the setup to the main story took about a third of the book, which I think could have been done a little bit better. And we get a lot of exposition of scenery and similar but little in ways of understanding some other workings of magic better, it becomes a mix of giving too much information on some things and then backtracking and giving too little. So a better balance could have been achieved.

Still, Reina and Eva move through the world trying their best to live a life that is worth living, and they do make mistakes, big and small ones, and they get swayed, used and try to set up who they are all along, which was very interesting to see, and their growth as characters. Particularly for me, it was Reina who shone in her growth, as it is a bit more of a chaotic one, whereas Eva keeps going in a much more steady line.

Overall, I do recommend reading it, it has some good representation woven through the fantasy world and the magic that exists in it. Geomancia was fascinating as a concept and in how it was deployed in the world and story. And you get some brilliantly grey characters, a lot of female ones for the lot and some other interesting bits. Give it a try!

Book Review

Moon Reads: Bride of the Tornado

Posted on August 15, 2023

Bride of the Tornado by James Kennedy

Rating:

Bride of the Tornado surprised me. I started reading this book on a flight because I wanted to read through and I wasn’t sure how captive I would be to it. Let me tell you, I was caught hard!

The story follows our narrator, who tells of the day the “tornado” season started when things changed for her town. And in it, they are meant to wear funny clothes, meet a tornado boy who is meant to be saving them from the tornadoes building outside town. At first, it seems like a joke the adults are trying to play on everyone. But all of a sudden it becomes real, and slowly it is like they are in a cult where the tornados keep them captive and are somewhat sentient.

And then there is the boy, who for some reason fascinates our narrator. She cannot avoid him and stop trying to find out more about him, while the rest of the teenagers want to party, leave town or continue life without the weirdness of the tornadoes trapping them in this town. But not her, she needs to know more.

What comes next was fascinating, bizarre and mind-twisting for sure.

I think the reason I liked it, and that may have made others not like it as much, is that we have an unreliable narrator. Someone who is telling us the story through a very specific lens, so you question why she is doing it this way, and what the truth is. Will her truth and the real truth match? And why is everything happening?

You also get this weird mix of a cult, teenagers just wanting to be allowed to exist, our narrator who fits and doesn’t fit in and in some ways is trying to figure out where exactly does she fit and who she is. And then you have the adults who definitely have their own secrets.

It was a quick read, and I kept wanting to know more once I got hooked by all the odd action. The beginning chapters are a long setup to explain some of the things that will come next and partly because the narrator has to tell you about these things that marked her, that led her to where she goes.

Now it isn’t super scary in the gore side, but it does deal with some interesting proposals and some weirdness, so it is more uncanny and creepy than properly horrific and therefore was way more my type of read than I initially thought it would be. And it was worth giving it a chance, so I suggest you do too!

Also don’t forget to check out the other blog tour stops!

Book Review

Moon Reads: The life-changing magic of a little bit of mess

Posted on June 27, 2023

The life-changing magic of a little bit of Mess by Kerri Sackville

Rating:

As someone who is chaotic and embraces it, this book felt right for me. So when Harper360 offered it for a review, I accepted. It was intriguing. And I wasn’t sure what to expect, would it actually save my life telling me chaos is the one way? Or was it actually going to try to reduce my level of chaos?

Turns out that this was all about having a little bit of fun and also, about learning that sometimes the mess is just you know, inevitable and there are other important things in life to prioritise over cleaning.

If you come to this book expecting perfectly amazing cleaning guidance and detailed how-to guides to achieve a magnificent balance of mess and cleanliness, this is so much not the book for you. But if you are a bit confused about how influencers seem to be living their best life with minimalism and spotless houses when you barely can keep up with life, then this may be a bit of comic relief and validation that mess is not that bad.

The main reason I didn’t give it full stars is that it does a little repetitive the kind of humour and it sometimes feels overdone, or becomes a bit less funny and more “oh you again”, but there is some good advise in that maybe not keeping the perfect pristine house isn’t the end of the world and being ok with having a house you can live in,m and noticing that you are balancing, work and maybe a family, and trying to keep healthy and everything else one is meant to do, it is hard to also keep a house perfectly clean.

For me, who has days of bad body movement where I knock tea cups (normally over my desk or my hobby area, trust me it is not fun), or days where standing requires a lot of effort, so tasks are hard and I decide to rest instead of pressuring myself, it was validating, but it also reminded me that the little hacks I’ve done don’t make me less of a good person or homekeeper. There is no moral value to keeping a pristine home. So buying a robot hoover (Chaos Bot even has a personality) to cope with the dirt and mud downstairs, or a cordless hoover, and a handheld little one because that means you can tackle each of the tasks in small amounts isn’t a bad thing.

So overall, validating, interesting, not advise on how to keep the perfect house, but also, the humour can be a little bit much (do consider I don’t read a lot of humour or comedy, but this book felt like something I should read and it was good to read).

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Art of Prophecy

Posted on April 10, 2023

The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu

Rating:

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

Posted on March 3, 2023

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:

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: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Posted on January 25, 2023

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Rating:

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: Alone With You In The Ether

Posted on November 26, 2022

Alone With You In The Ether by Olivie Blake

Rating:

Read before: No

Ownership: Review copy provided upon request from the publisher

If you have read This is How You Lose the Time War, then you will find this book a close and similar read, but also a completely different read all in itself.

It is in itself a story full of stories, where two people, Regan and Aldo, meet up at the Art Institute in Chicago. Partly because both are trying to find answers, and they suddenly appear to find it here.

Without spoiling much, this book deals with big topics including mental heath and other issues, as both characters have their own quirks and challenges. Regan tries to find answers in chaos and being rash and impulsive, whereas Aldo goes into routine and other ways to cope. So their whole meet up is a collision course and also, like a supernova, creates something very interesting.

If you have read Olivie’s books before, then you will be familiar with her style, but if you are not, be aware this is a character driven book, with a lot of heavy “in my own head” chapter or monologue like conversations. There is a lot of thought processing and figuring things out, which is in itself fascinating, but may not be for everyone.

As for the love story part of it, it may not be your conventional love story, which is where it reminds me a lot of This is How You Lose the Time War, even though this is not a book about time travelling or such a complex setup, in this case the complexity comes from the characters and the conversations and interactions.

Overall, an interesting read that makes you think and reflect on things and ponder a lot and very enjoyable.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Atlas Paradox Blog Tour

Posted on November 9, 2022

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake

Rating:

Read before: No

Series: The Atlas

After that massive cliffhanger of a thing in The Atlas Six, we get finally the next one, The Atlas Paradox.

We pick up a little less into exactly the cliffhanger but more of a recap of things. I admit some of it was helpful to refresh but some of it was a little too much and I would have preferred more action and less living in the characters heads.

But then we start seeing how some alliances are being tested as we go into each of the minds of the six and how they perceive others. This was interesting as a first shot, particularly seeing Reina figure it out, but it was also slightly not as interesting as it progressed, probably because you already somewhat know what to expect. After that, we descend into chaos of a story where everyone has to decide if they are sticking with their current allies, if they are actually pro certain things, more secrets are revealed and unlikely or unexpected alliances are made.

Now I will admit I love Reina and have curiosity about Libby and Nico, the rest are not here nor there for me and I could do without, so I avidly read their chapters and less enthusiastically the others. And I will admit as much as aI like being in the mind of characters sometimes, this book had a little too much of that, very little action and very little dialogue, becoming an exposition by thought, which more or less killed some of the greatness of it. Let me see them do what they think and act on their fears and thoughts rather than psychoanalyst themselves first then act on it. The shock or surprise was sometimes lost to this. However there was still quite a bit of fun, some interesting twists and ideas, and it once again left on an interesting cliffhanger.

I am intrigued to know how it will end and how right or wrong Atlas actually is, so my curiosity is still alive. But I am also aware that the way it shows you all of this massive plot is unusual and may be too much exposition for some. However, if you liked some or all of the characters, this is worth reading and figuring out what happens next.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Wolfsong Blog Tour

Posted on September 24, 2022

Wolfsong by T J Klune

Read before: No

Ownership: Review copy provided by the publisher so I could be part of the blog tour.

Rating:

I like wolves. I like stories about werewolves though I am very picky about them because I am not huge on the whole Alpha Beta Omega dynamics and how it is used. But hell yeah for urban fantasy type of things, which to me this is very much one of those urban fantasy werewolf stories I like.

Ox has had a hard life and his dad leaves telling him he’ll get shit all the time, etc. But thankfully, in the small town, people are looking out for him and are fond of him, so he quickly finds a job to help pad the income his mum can bring in, even as an kid. But then the Bennetts move in and things get interesting, because they are quickly almost taking him and his mum as part of their family.

And well, there are a bunch of secrets and Ox accidentally finds them out and becomes part of them.

This book was an experience to read. First because as I read it, the mannerisms, and some of the phrases Ox says and uses reminded me of someone I love very much. But at times Ox also reminded me of myself. And the story is very tender and emotional, and very intense. There is a lot going on, and again, because it tugged at my heartstrings already, I couldn’t put it down and it just dug deep into my heart.

It was also really nice that the parental figures here are for the most part involved, or as much as a parent in real life normally is. This is not one of those stories where the parents and parental figures just kinda are nowhere to be seen. Here they are part of it throughout all of the story.

I don’t really want to spoil the plot because I enjoyed it very much and what happens was just a thing that if you talk much about it, it doesn’t have the same impact, but what I can say is that it is slightly spicier than I expected it to be, that it is very urban fantasy like. It also requires several content warnings, including various types of abuse and bodily parts and harm, violence, threats, and a few other things which I can’t remember off the top of my head.

If you enjoyed TJ Klune’s previous works, this is a lot spicier than his previous works. There is more confrontation and tugs and pulls than in other works and it is a lot less of a gentle cosy book, even if it is still an easy read and for me it was still a cosy read, but compared to The House in the Cerulean Sea, for example, it is a lot less. I still recommend it loads and I cannot wait for the next book.