MOONLOCKET energetically follows its predecessor in a fun, fast-paced adventure to stop a heist in steampunk Victorian London.

This is a fun, fast-paced, and energetic adventure through Victorian London. Robert and Lily both have tough times ahead – Robert is dealing with his father's death, and having no family to call his own, and Lily coming to grips with independence from her father's overprotectiveness. The themes of family, loss and friendship were lovely and well-explored, and even though the book deals with heavy topics it's still crammed between enough brevity to keep it light.

Once again Lily inadvertently embodies the dreaded Not Like Other Girls trope, but it's minor enough that you can move past it quickly. Funnily enough it was Malkin who actually ended up being rather annoying this time around. Every word out of his mouth was sarcastic or negative. He was a bit of a sourpuss, really.

Still, the quest is fun, as the gang, plus newcomer Tolly, wade through sewers and jump out of flying zeps and have their futures read by psychics. Jam-packed with vibrancy, MOONLOCKET is a solid sequel to COGHEART, and fans won't be disappointed.

WILL I READ ON? Yes.

I received an advanced review copy for free from NetGalley

This was my introduction to the Cogheart series, I have not yet read book one. But, I didn't feel lost, and felt like I got enough background information to get the characters without taking up too much of the story with past events. It's a fun steam-punk-esque kind of world, historical setting, some real historical people, but with a twist of robot servants and mechanimal pets, also an element of the fantastical as the mechanimals are brought to life by special diamond chips that have a life-force in them.
There are lots of good themes in the story for kids:
- overcoming obstacles
-dealing with life-altering health conditions
-having family with a checkered past
-adoption/family, the meaning of true family
- independence and confidence
Although I think Lily takes the independence thing a little far. Lily's Dad seems distant and a little out of touch, and no matter what he tells her Lily always believes she knows what's best for herself and does whatever she wants. In most kid's books and movies even for hero kids there's a moment where they realize their parents were right about something or they should've listened to their parents about something... not Lily. I don't have kids, so I don't know if that's something most parents would be concerned about. Just something to consider. If your kid has a healthy respect for adults and parents I wouldn't be concerned about them reading this book.
Overall it's a fun adventure story. I really enjoyed Robert's character and his journey to find out about his family and what to do with the information he found, how he would let it shape his life.

This middle-grade novel - Moonlocket - was fun and easy to read. First book I have read by this author and I'm hooked.

synopsis: It’s hard to escape the secrets from the past. Storm clouds gather over Lily and Robert’s summer when the criminal mastermind the Jack of Diamonds appears. Jack is searching for the mysterious Moonlocket—but that’s not the only thing he’s after. Suddenly, dark secrets from Robert’s past plunge him into danger. Jack is playing a cruel game that Robert is wrapped up in. Lily and Malkin, the mechanical fox, must stay one step ahead before Jack plays his final deadly card . . .

I didn’t connect to Moonlocket by Peter Bunzl at all sadly. I did quite enjoy the first in the series, Cogheart, when I read it a while ago, though maybe it did have the same issues I noticed with this and I’ve just glossed over in my memories. This is a middle grade fantasy series set in Victorian London, around a girl with a mechanical heart, her mechanimal pet, a fox called Malkin and her best friend. In this volume, they are trying to track down the best friend’s mum, who had abandoned him as a small child, and find themselves embroiled with a legendary criminal and the hunt for a priceless artifact belonging to Queen Victoria herself. While this sounds rather exciting by itself I felt that the writing wasn’t as good as the concept. The story lost tension in clunky phrasings and telling rather than showing, and personally, I felt that it would have needed another rigorous set of edits. And as there are quite a number of Victorian-set middle grade adventures, I don’t think this one stands out from other books in the space. I do have to say that I ultimately did get invested in the ending, and ended up giving it a rounded up three stars.

Lilly and Robert are back in action when a know jailed criminal, The Jack of Diamonds, breaks out of jail. Jack is determined to find the blood diamond that he originally stole from the Queen ending him in jail. Revelations abound for Robert when his mom comes back into the picture and he finds out he has more family than he knows of. Lilly and Robert are again in the thick of solving another crime before either one gets hurt. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC. I really enjoyed it. 4 stars

This one was as enjoyable as the first book. The only difference that I experienced was the pacing, I had the feeling that this one was more fast-paced and I liked that a lot. Furthermore, it kind of discusses the same topics as the previous book, that is friendship and loyalty. However, this one also discussed family dynamics and I think this story did well in showing that not every family is happy and perfect.

The Moonlocket is a charming book that follows The Cogheart (you must read The Cogheart first, otherwise this book won’t make any sense) and tells you more about the Lily’s and Robert’s adventures.

The good things about this book are: it’s easy to read and it has a good flow, it has a smart and strong lead female character, it happens in a very amusing world with little modern technology but full of mechanicals! I think it’s a little predictable, but I believe it’s perfect for young kids.

The not-so-great things about the book are not many, but (spoiler alert!!!) I’m not a fan of how the new kid gets included in the group and I feel it detracts from Lily’s strength and doesn’t match her behaviour in The Cogheart. If I have to choose, I like The Cogheart better, but I’ll be happy to read the next book in the series anyway.

In short: totally recommended for young readers!!!

This was an okay read, but not my cup of tea. I'm not the target audience so I'm not too upset about this.

Moonlocket is a charming read that will make your mechanical heart tick!

This sequel to Cogheart is not as good as the first. Moonlocket suffers slightly from second-book syndrome because it's a little slow, though that's not saying much because Cogheart was a five-star read for me. The protagonists go on a different adventure here than in the prequel, which threw me off a bit at first because I thought the series would flow a little better. But this installment has a mechanical elephant! And the Queen of England even makes a visit! And there's even more robots!!

The very ending got to me - no spoilers, but it was super sweet and strengthened the bond between our two main friends and the father.

Moonlocket was fun! I have to read Skycircus now!

This was okay but I had similar issues to Cogheart in that it was just a little too predicatable. I am sure younger children will enjoy though, it wasn't badly written or anything like that.

Moonlocket is the sequel to the adventurous Cogheart. A story where a young girl, Lily, discovers the accident that killed her mother should have killed her too but her father replaced her heart with that of a cogheart; a perpetual motion machine. This one focuses on her stalwart friend Robert. After the death of his father he was taken in by Lily, her father, and their peculiar family of mechanicals. Lily's father a brilliant and famous mechanist was friends with Robert's dad and promised Robert he would teach him everything. Still recovering from the death of his father Robert still occasionally visits his old home. His most recent late night visit he finds something of his mother's and he gets put on the path of family he never knew and just maybe a mother who isn't dead. Robert, Lily, and the mechanical fox Malkin set off on another adventure to find Robert's mom and out smart the criminal Jack of Diamonds.


Overall, this was a brilliant follow up to the first book. Lily and Robert make a new friend, Tolly, and we see old friends too like Anna and Inspector Fisk. I loved the story I love how it expanded on Robert's character and it brought him closer to Lily and her Father. This can be read as a stand alone.

I think I would have enjoyed this more had I read Cogheart first. I wasn't aware this was the second in a series, so I wasn't able to finish it.

I received a free copy of the ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


I enjoyed this second book in the Cogheart Adventures series. I am eager to continue reading books 3 and 4. It continues the steam punk vibe. Lily, Robert, and Malkin continue to find plenty of mischief and adventure. This one explores a little bit more emotionally, considering Robert's family, and charting the growing up territory from Lily's perspective. The characters are enchanting. I will definitely recommend this book to future middle grade seekers, and look forward to more mischief with Lily, Robert, and Malkin.

This is the sequel to Cogheart. We follow our loved characters Lily and Robert through London, but this time it is to catch a treacherous villain.

Although this is a children's book it doesn't read childish. It is fast paced with mystery and action surrounding all over it. The novel was engaging and pulled it's reader into this world. Characters from the previous novel make a cameo and som enew ones are introduced that will enchant you as well. It's a a story of friendship and family and dealing with obstacles. It was heartwarming and charming. My favorite aspect of the book was that the charcaters were flawed and really showed through their human side. When authors do this it makes the read that much more pleasurebale.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is into children's fantasy. The world building was exceptional.

thank you for this opportunity.

Moonlocket is the sequel of Cogheart and it's a great one! It's a fun read, full of adventures, friendship and family content. It's a book for children but you can perfectly read as a adult and enjoy as much because I sure did. Plus it's a easy and quick read. I read in one day the first and another day the second and can't wait to read the third one as soon as possible. The characters are a plus here, they are brave, real and flawed, but they get the job done. Lily is my new favorite and Robert is a precious little thing. And I need to say, that cover it's gorgeous!!! Anyway I definetely recommend this book. Just a warning the book has some graphic violence-gun related scenes that maybe is not for everyone. Overall is a great book!

This book was just as much fun as the first. A clean romp through a steampunk Victorian England. I enjoyed learning more about Robert’s family and their past. I recommend for grade school readers (and their adults!).

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily chose to review.

I realized quickly in to reading this that it was a sequel, and as much as I wanted to be able to follow without reading the first book, it just wasn't possible. I would like to give it a chance again in the future though, as the writing was good and the story showed promise!

Thank you to NetGalley and Flux Books for the gifted book and opportunity to read and review it prior to its publication date! This in no way affected my review, all opinions are my own.

As with Cogheart, I think this is a very accomplished middle grade read that should enthrall older readers and those who love adventure with a historical feel, but it didn't quite work for me.

I was lucky to get approved via netgalley Peter Bunzl latest book called Moonlocket which is the sequel to Cogheart. I read cogheart this year and thought that it could not be topped but Peter has managed to do this and then some. This time the story centers around Robert Townsend who finds out that his family were ex show people and that his grandad was a criminal called Jack Door. I find that peter can build amazing story lines that can pull the reader into the story and for the last 4 chapters I was riveted to my chair to see what the outcome was. I now can't wait to read the third installlment called sky circus which I already own in readiness for the 4th book Shadowsea which is out in the UK January 2020 and I would so love to read and review

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC of this wonderful mystery adventure! I had so much fun with this book and enjoyed the character development. The world building was also done well and I look forward to more from this author.