Tag: magic

Book Review

Moon Reads: Wolfsong Blog Tour

Posted on

Wolfsong by T J Klune

Read before: No

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

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.

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

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.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Monsters We Defy

Posted on

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Copy provided by the publisher upon request

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.

The Monsters We Defy has it all as a book. Part magic, part heist, part finding your identity and your place in the world, part critique about life in the 1920s as a black person, what it is as a whole is an enthralling read.

Clara is doing her best to just live her life quietly and safely. She has her job, her annoying Trick and Zelda as a temporary roommate to contend with and that is more than enough. The problem is that this puts her as a spirit medium and people know she helps folks, which at some point was a gift, but nowadays to her feels like a curse.

But then she starts noticing people disappearing and some odd spirit world things happening, and she just can’t let it go, so she gets involved and suddenly there’s a heist to pull, trying to steal a powerful magical ring that may give her the freedom she craves from her Trick.

Honestly, the way the combination of Charm and Trick works is a delight to read and I found it fascinating once each character covers their back story and you suddenly understand why they wanted the Charm and thought they could cope with the Trick attached to it and make a deal with a spirit.

The whole cast is fascinating and Clara is a strong well developed main character. Zelda is a hoot and I love her dearly. Overall this book had me at the edge of my seat and at the same time laughing and worried. The heist itself is good, the historical setting wasn’t too much nor too far away from the truth of how things were back then the right balance, and there’s a lot going on and many characters to keep you entertained.

Overall really recommend it as there’s very little I can compare it to, but if you like stories of magic, identity, cahoots, and heists and historical background, this is an absolute blast to read.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Paranorthern and the Chaos Bunny A-hop-calypse

Posted on

Paranorthern and the Chaos Bunny A-hop-calypse by Stephanie Cooke and art by Mari Costa

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Bought it for myself.

Chaos bunnies? Did someone say chaos and bunnies? That was basically what sold me this book. And that it is a graphic novel. If that hasn’t sold it to you yet, let me try a bit more.

We start with our main heroine, Abby, who is helping her mum at a cafe and serving the magical community but then her sister gets bullied and portal is opened to this chaos bunny land. Abyy is sweet but her magic is a bit odd and she wants desperately to help fix everything a nd help everyone. Obviously having chaos bunnies come through a portal creates chaos so that’s basically the story, how to stop the chaos bunnies from causing the end of the world and all that chaos.

But one of the things I really liked about it is how it integrates diversity into a magical world. The concept of ghosts here was beautiful and I like that it had a hijabi character. Then each of Abbys friends has a specific background, issues and approaches and despite some clashes, they are friends and help each other out and want the best for each other and again that was super cute to read and very encouraging and uplifting.

I recommend this book because it is a cute cosy chaotic read and I even sold it to the booksellers from the publisher, because it is so good and fun. If you want a more chaotic Mooncakes vibes with less romance and more middle grade or lower vibes this is it!

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Atlas Six

Posted on

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Review copy provided kindly by publisher. This does not influence my review, it just means I can read and review before it is published.

If you like Dark Academia, The Atlas Six is definitely a good one to add to your list! I am not someone that hangs out much in TikTok or booktok so this had flown under my radar, however, once the synopsis showed up, it sounded quite a good book.

We meet six chosen ones, each with a specific magical ability that raises them above and beyond the usual magical beings. Making them exceptional, but the Alexandrian Society, offers them an invitation to join, and only five will make it in. The point, in general, is to pit them against each other and yet ask them to work together and at the same time, they are there to learn and study and become better. Sounds like a tall order of the day for all the candidates!

And honestly, some of the plot twists were quite epic and thankfully not as utterly predictable. Most of the characters are not nice people, which is understandable because if you had that much power, you don’t win by being nice or rather it is harder to stay nice. For me, this was both a strength and a weakness of the book. Why? Because some of the characters I genuinely stopped caring or even really wanting to read about them from the first few pages. The only reason I read more was that they had a point of view of certain things others didn’t since obviously they were the ones that hung together or at least had similar things to show. However, it was also a strength as it gave me characters to consider interesting without fully rooting for them, and then there were a few characters that were mysterious or intriguing and some I liked almost instantly despite their flaws and prickly parts.

Overall the book was quite interesting, I very much want to read the next one and know what happens next and there was a lot of interesting pacing going on alongside some interesting takes on powers and magic that was refreshing to see. Recommended because it is a good magical dark academia vibe and we are here for it.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Wizard and Me: More Misadventures of Bubbles the Guinea Pig

Posted on

The Wizard and Me: More Misadventures of Bubbles the Guinea Pig by Simon Farnaby and Claire Powell

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

Read before: No

Ownership: World Book Day buy

So I have a soft post for book switch magic and I had my eye on the original book from which this one is based, however I will say that as much as the artwork is adorable, this was not the book for me.

Why was it not? There is a lot of poop and that kind of humour that I just didn’t get behind, it isn’t my thing and I get why it is done but I don’t agree with it and prefer not to read about it. The guinea pig also has a particular type of being which is annoying and meant to be a bit of rubbing the wrong way and being too amazing to deserve to be treated that way etc when they are not, also a point lost there.

However, I did see how this book was focused on you know pet ownership and kids may be getting a guinea pig from a pet shop and potential adventures and misadventures that could happen which I thought was fun and cute and well done for the book. So it was not all bad, just unfortunately it didn’t amaze me or make it one I would like to keep

But if your little one enjoyed the main book, this is fun add on or if they are into this kind of humour then do take it, it is a quick read and good on pet ownership!

Book Review

Moon Reads: Nevermoor

Posted on

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Part of my library and had been there for ages

I read this in January because it was part of the bookclub from Wonder and honestly, I felt it was long overdue to read.

The story follows Morrigan as she expects to die on her birthday because she is a cursed child that brings bad luck. This is definitely an interesting premise but turns out she gets offered an opportunity to participate in some trials and show her magic, but she is sure her only magic is to curse people and bring bad luck, and that is definitely not special enough magic to pass trials. Unless the plan is to curse everyone with bad luck so she wins?

I enjoyed the humour of it, which is slightly dark but also quite funny and touches on harder topics. [Why is it that children’s books sometimes can touch on topics of death, bad luck and bad stuff in such a way that it leaves a mark and yet it feels light and not too bad?] And the place of Nevermoor is awesome, and her sponsor who is trying to get her to win the trials, and honestly, it is a cute interesting story, I think the main key thing is that it is about trusting yourself, and seeing yourself how others see you.

Morrigan was on top of it all,a good character to go along with, she isn’t perfect but then she isn’t obnoxious or trying too hard. she had accepted her fate in life and was doing her best and suddenly everything changes, and I understood in some level that,it was a fresh opportunity, like a breath of fresh air for her and it takes her a while to figure out what to do with this opportunity and change.

Overall, a recommended book about magic, friendship, self confidence, and making the most of life. You could give this you middle grade readers, read it aloud with your little ones or en joy it yourself as a teen or adult and it is basically a book that hopefully becomes a classic.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Under the Whispering Door

Posted on

Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune

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

Read Before: No

Ownership: Received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for a review but also preordered.

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

Welcome to my blog tour post, but also my review, but also where I say I wish I could rate something over 5 foxes.

Under the Whispering Door is my absolute kind of book. It is about death and dying and about what comes next, but it is also about grief which is something that attracts me to books a lot [if you have been reading my reviews for a while, books with any of the themes around death and grief are huge for me]. And it is a book about a tea shop, yes, about tea, and cakes. And there is also a cosy and soft gentle aspect, but there is also fierceness and a touch of weird and I love it.

Wallace Price dies after having lived a corporate job life to the point that his job consumed and defined his life. So when he realizes he is dead and needs to move on, he isn’t quite ready for that. The book focuses on him coming to terms with the fact that maybe his life wasn’t what he thought it was or that maybe there was more to life than a job. But this means he doesn’t have much motivation to move on as he arrives at a cute tea shop where Hugo, the ferryman is there to help him be ready to move on.

There was a lot of focus on the fact that Wallace gets an ultimatum of seven days to move on, but this only really comes later in the book, and therefore it kept me guessing which took a bit off my enjoyment. However, overall the book is a little bit about Wallace learning to see himself in a different light but also to consider the privilege and also the lack of things he had in his life. But I also thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the main cast of characters and the reasons why they’re there.

If grief, death and wholesome but also intense self-review and considering what kind of human you may be, with a point to self-reflecting is not for you, then this book will miss the mark, but if you are open to this type of emotions and reflections, it is a wonderful read and it might bring tears to some readers. Not me but I have a very unusual perspective on grief and death so this was a nice read and some of the views were interesting to read, particularly because it leaves a lot open to fit various beliefs on what comes next in the afterlife, and that was nice to see that it didn’t try to pigeon hole into a single one.

One of the things I want to highlight it that obviously it is centered on death and therefore it touches on a variety of deaths and what brings them on, alongside mental health and other circumstances that may cause anxiety in some readers, or be sensitive subjects to them, so read with care, but if you can dip your toes into this book I recommend doing so.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Okay Witch and the Hungry Shadow

Posted on

The Okay Witch and the Hungry Shadow by Emma Steinkellner

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Preordered

A while ago I reviewed The Okay Witch, which was a refreshing new graphic novel with a lovely story about family and coming into your magic powers. And then, when I saw there was a second one, I immediately preordered it.

In this sequel, Moth Hush already has magic powers, but as much as it has changed her life, in the same way it hasn’t changed her life much. She is still getting bullied at school, still a misfit and no one seems to even know she saved the day in summer because she saved it so well no one knew about it.

What is even worse is that she starts her first day to school matching with the dorkiest most ridiculous teacher, who then catches her mum’s attention and they start dating, making it even worse for poor Moth. She is so tired of magic being so awesome and yet being quite useless and not making her life better, why cant she have a better life?

So when a mysterious charm promises to help her become a new version of herself, more confident, cool and popular, Moth is attracted to it like a moth to the flame [yes, I couldn’t resist that, sorry for the bad pun use]. But is magic really the answer to her problems or is it maybe a little more complicated than that, and what could go wrong by this suddenly very well timed and placed charm making it to her life just then?

Avoiding spoilers I have to say that the book was lovely, it comes with a refresher of what happened previously and then gives you the story. The biggest thing for me was that there was a lot of tell in the first half of the book, adding lore and stories but most of it is spoken by the characters and therefore it felt a bit slow to read through it when it was just characters walking through a museum kind of thing.

However, it does pick up quite well and recover from this by the second half of the story and then it gets very interesting, and I liked the whole development of the charm and everything else, worth a read, and I recommend that if you haven’t read the first one yet, you should buy both and enjoy some witchy magical stories!

Book Review

Moon Reads: A Marvellous Light

Posted on

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Proof copy provided by publisher upon request

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.

A Marvellous Light has an intense start about the circumstances that place our pair of main characters into the plot. Robin has been given a new job and has to make the most of it, even if it appears to be the wrong job and he is way out of his depth. He seems to have a lot of family drama and the book in this sense feels like a very Downton Abbey kinda thing but make it gay.

Then we have Edwin Courcey who is the liaison for the magical world and therefore has to work with Robin. Edwin is prickly and a bit not amused by how little Robin knows but slowly warms up to him. He gives the impression that he has better things to do than his actual role and therefore is just doing it out of politeness.

The plot centres mostly on the romance developing between Edwin and robin, which is probably where I went wrong with this book. I was looking forward to a historical kinda fantasy with romance, whereas the best way to describe A Marvellous Light is that it is a romance with some historical fantasy happening around it.

The magic system and the world are interesting and being dropped in as Robin does was also quite a good way to learn. We also have Miss Morrisey and her sister who are probably the best characters in the book and are the most developed secondary characters of this book outside of the main characters, which again is a shame because, given the development of the characters, it could’ve been something I liked more.

Overall, if you want a sweeping romance with plot and magic happening around it, with a lot of angst and romance and things to force the characters to make quick decisions and maybe have to put their lives on the line, that may read a little like good Downtown Abbey fan fiction with magic and gay, this is the absolute book for you. If instead, you’d like a magical fantasy set in a historical world with some romance in it that is gay, then this may not be exactly for you. You end up getting less of the plot as the book goes and more romance, which I felt sad about because the magic sounded very interesting and I would’ve liked more of that.

Book Review

Moon Reads: For the Wolf

Posted on

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

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

Series: Wilderwood

Ownership: Proof provided by Orbit but also preordered since like last year.

Spoilers: No, however, may allude to some events in the book.

As per usual, disclaimer that a book provided by the publisher doesn’t influence my opinion or review of it, and normally I only ask for books I know I will read which is why the rating is usually high for those.

For the Wolf is a very interesting book, but it may not be for everyone. For starters, the premise was initially a little misleading to me, as it felt like it was aiming more for a Red Riding Hood vibe and overall the story is more about an empowering take on Beauty on the Beast with influences from other tales and folklore.

Once you come to it with the understanding of what tale it focuses more on, then you can immerse yourself in the world of the Wilderwood and enjoy the ride. It does have a good interesting start, then a bit of a slow post start where it tries hard to set the character of the twins and their lives, and particularly how Redarys is leaving things behind and Neve doesn’t want her to be sacrificed and she is her world. This is key long term to the story, but initially, it is a bit too full on your face and I think there would’ve been subtler ways to make it click.

The lore of the Wilderwood and why Red has to be sacrificed, alongside how the world functions and what each region provides and why the religion is predominant is fascinating and I enjoyed some of the magic systems and learning more about it all.

The romance is a very slow burn and this is definitely adult fantasy rather than a young adult, and therefore completely shows that side of itself with the development of plot and subplots and it is delightful in doing so.

Overall the curses, sentient woods, and everything in the Wilderwood were what won me.

The not so fun parts for me were the Neve chapters and the views into the religion and what was happening you could see what it was and wanted to stop it but knew it would not stop and it just was frustrating to know where things were going on Neve’s side. This almost made me stop reading a few times but I basically raced through those chapters and returned to the Wilderwood wanting to understand it better and know more about it.

The main cast of characters is relatively small for each twin sister and therefore it relies a lot on the characters and what they bring to the story and how they help move it forward, and definitely, my favourite character was the Wilderoowd, as it was seeing Red develop some agency in her own life. That was probably the best part, the change from “I am doomed to this” to more of a “I can do this and more”.

Recommending it to fans of fairytale retellings in the style of Naomi Novik or Robin McKinley, and for those that like botanical/forest curses and magic systems, as that was a huge win for me and part of what made me enjoy it a lot, alongside the mix fo a good slow-burn romance.