romantasy – The Constellation of Moon

Moon Reads: How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days

Posted on February 3, 2026

How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days by Jessie Sylva

Rating:

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

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

I have typed this review a few times trying to find the best way to tell you “hey, this was really fun to read, and I wish everyone else would read, please go read it. I want more fun cosy chaos books like this one”, and I don’t think I know how else to say it.

How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days is a cute chaos hug to a fantasy nerd. You have Pansy, a halfling in search of a little adventure and that feels a little out of place in her village because of being a little odd and not wanting pure comfort. And you have Ren a goblin who is trying their best to support their clan and also they have a green thumb like nobody else.

Now have Pansy inherit her grandma’s cottage and she feels like this is her chance to make her own life without feeling a bit out of place, she has found her place. But surprise, when she goes to claim her inheritance, Ren is already living there and growing all manners of things (including lots of moss inside the house, apparently moss inside the cottage is not a halfling thing but I think is a pretty cool idea).

To the surprise of both, they somehow end up making a deal on who gets to keep the house, whomever doesn’t leave and stays in it. There’s a few ground rules like not being destructive to each other’s things and stuff, and that you can’t “remove” but only add things (you can already see this backfiring, right?). And so it starts, a little back and forth between them trying to find ways to annoy each other of the home.

It is not to the reader’s surprise of course, that these all backfire in very amusing and funny ways, but also in making the home cosy for both of them. I will say, this was a proper cosy read, with lots of plants and cooking, and questions about belonging and family (or clan) and what it means to be part of them.

But there’s also a lot of little elements reminding you of other worlds, other stories, other classics and some newer works, and it was this also that was fun to read. It felt like a good hug and was about as complex a read as I could muster at a time when I had no voice and a fever. I still enjoyed it a lot and it made me laugh, then cough then regret my life choices, but 10/10 worth it for the story.

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.