Wilde Investigations – The Constellation of Moon

Moon Reads: The Wildest Hunger

Posted on October 14, 2022

The Wildest Hunger by Laura Laakso

Rating:

Read before: No

Series: Wilde Investigations

I have been loving Laura’s books since Fallible Justice, and each time I love each one more and more. The overall story follows Yannia, one of the Wild Folk, living in London and solving magical crimes/investigations. It has mental health, chronic illness EDS/Hypermobility), a bisexual main character and various other representations in it.

The Wildest Hunger is probably one of the hardest adventures for Yannia, as it is about confronting what makes a Wild Folk one of them, and also, more than anything she has to deal with Dearon. As she investigates if it is indeed a Wild Folk and things get harder and harder to resolve, the book gets deep into what living with pain and illness.

As I read it, I kept finding several parts of chapters that struck me deep. There is one where Dearon treats Yannia in a way that I wish I would be treated, and I felt both seen and unseen because I have not had that I felt for Yannia because she was so unaware of how lucky she was in having that response from Dearon.

Then there was a conversation with Lady Bergamon which once again, struck deep on how we have expectations of ourselves, how living with a body that doesn’t cooperate sometimes makes you hide this and you know, make do, and so on, but again, it was very interesting to see and read.

So the main review is that I want more books, because the ending left me wanting more and needing to understand more, but also I love the books because the representation, the way it is written is amazing.

Oh and last but not least, I am in the acknowledgements and I love it and I am so happy to have been part of fueling this story in some way.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Doves in the Dining Room

Posted on February 25, 2022

Doves in the Dining Room by Laura Laakso

Rating:

Read before: Not the finished version, and not complete.

Ownership: Preordered a copy because I cannot resist anything from Laura

Series: The Wilde Investigations

Am I reviewing the short story or just sharing a picture of Finn or maybe both?

What I do have to say is that if you want a murder mystery that is all wrapped up with a bow and feels like you are playing Clue but even more brilliant, alongside a good main character that has EDS, Ehler-Danlos Syndrom, is bisexual and a bad ass, then this book is for you. And if you have read any of the books in this series, this is a book with a lot of Wishearth in it and totally worth it.

When Yannia gets invited to a wedding and suddenly gruesome accidents start happening that seem like someone is trying to boycott, she comes to the rescue and to the investigation of it. But the question is who did it and why?

I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would, it is very self contained in that ti all happens at the wedding venue in a very small set of suspects and it slowly becomes more and more interesting, alongside a good cast and a lot of good times next to a fire, because otherwise it wouldn’t be the same story.

If you need something to fill the gap between Roots of Corruption and The Wildest Hunger which is coming out in October, then this is a good gem to do so, it will leave you hungry for more but also happy to have read it and enjoying a good mystery.

Book Review, Books

Roots of Corruption Review

Posted on March 20, 2020

Roots of Corruption by Laura Laakso

Rating:

I am a big fan of The Wilde Investigations series. You can find my review for Fallible Justice here and for the second book, Echo Murder, here. The general thing I like is how big the magical world is and how it mingles with the non magical world in the books. Another great thing si the amount of representation here of so many things (class divide, EDS, chronic illness, familiar pressures, duties, LGBTQ+, etc.) There’s a lot to explore and a lot to learn in each of the books.

Now specifically for Roots of Corruption, it is focused on Lady Bergamot (who despite the fact that it centers around her, is actually off page for a big part of the book) and it is a window into a little bit more about who she is, and the mystery of her garden.

When Lady Bergamot is attacked in her own garden, Wishearth reaches out to Yannia for help. What they find is not exactly what they expected, and Yannia starts having to do some quick decisions and trusting Wishearth a LOT. (And breaking some rules).

What seemed likean attack to Lady Bergamot becomes a race to try to find a serial killer with a purpose. Each kill brings the killer closer to something and they all seem to point at Lady Bergamot, but is she innocent or playing Yannia for a fiddle?

Karrion, Wishhearth and even Dearon make an appearance in the book, and we get to learn a little more about the politics of Old London, a little about the Fae Court, Selkies and Lady Bergamot. But Yannia is also trying to find who to trust and how far she does. It is hard to investigate objectively when it is a friend that has been ttacked and who may be the one behidn the crimes!

Of course, I had theories and theories about who it was and what was going on, and I still didn’t figure it out completely, but I enjoyed the whole story and it went by too fast. Partly because the way Laura writes is so immersive that you are instantly there in Yannia’s world and that’s it, you go along as part of the team, as if you were just strolling with them and riding in the car, beign a part of it. It isn’t just happening to them, you’re in it too.

Higly recommend this botanically focused book with murder, mystery and a heckload of magic!