I love the idea of a modern Phantom-inspired book in theory; unfortunately, it didn't work for me in practice.

I feel bad for saying this, but as a story, The Moon and Stars is kind of soulless. It just lacks any kind of heart or emotion, and I felt disconnected and bored the whole time I was reading it. It's not particularly well-written, and the story definitely needs to be fleshed out more.

It certainly doesn't help that Matthew is the least compelling character I've read about in a long time. He's an "unattractive" (or at least unconventional) hero with a love for music and with an absolutely debilitating bout of stage fright. He should be interesting or, at the very least, sympathetic. Instead, he's incredibly dull, and his thoughts are about as interesting as watching paint dry. When I found out his self-esteem issues stemmed from teenage acne of all things, I have a full-body eyeroll. Which I immediately felt bad about because bullying and anxiety and childhood trauma are not things to take lightly, but seriously?! He is already a painfully frustrating narrator to begin with, and his whole complex about his appearance was just the last straw for me. I feel like he's supposed to have this unreliable narrator thing going for him, but he comes across as whiny, mopey, and kind of pathetic. It's not a good look.

The story itself is also a disappointment. There's this weird disconnect that made it hard for me to get into the story, and there's no real emotional pull to keep readers invested. Matthew obviously plays a big part of that, but the rest of the story isn't well-written either. The plot is underdeveloped, the pacing is painfully slow, and the writing is stilted and awkward.

The story just lacks depth and substance, which makes The Moon and Stars a tedious read. Events are just recounted in an almost robotic, detached manner, and nothing is really developed. We jump from one scene to another, but it's all told with the excitement of someone giving a book report. Warren never gives me a convincing reason for why I should care about any of it, so the emotional stakes are never really developed. I feel like I just had "but why should I care??" playing on loop in the back of my mind the whole time I was reading it.

The romance feels like it's an obligatory element that Warren just inserted into her story to be published. I actually normally kind of like unrequited love stories, but watching Matthew initially moon and mope over his old flame is seriously so cringe. There's no development. I can't even call it insta-love because the characters have zero chemistry together.

I really have to wrack my brain for something positive to say about The Moon and Stars. There are a few cute moments between Matthew and the band moments toward the end, but by then, it's too little too late. Even then, the heartwarming bits of banter aren't nearly enough to save this story. (Shattered Chandelier is a pretty cool band name, though.)

I briefly skimmed the acknowledgments at the end, and it seems like Jenna Warren put a lot of work into her debut. Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me. I don't think I've ever used the word "painful" so many times in a review, but truly, this was one the driest, most underwhelming stories I've ever had the misfortune of reading. Maybe it would've helped if I'd blasted the Phantom soundtrack of loop while reading, but I have a feeling even Andrew Lyod Webber couldn't have saved this one.

A very sweet story! I enjoyed all the Phantom of the Opera elements.

It wasn't quite retelling, but the story itself nods heavily towards its similarities to Phantom of the Opera.

I liked seeing Matthew's relationships with Angela, Ralph, and Lucy develop over the course of the story. It did feel like some of the final interactions were lacking a bit of an emotional punch, but despite this, it was still an enjoyable read.

3.5

DNF @ 23%. I can just tell this is not the book for me, even so shortly into its plot. I found I was struggling to pay attention to the story, even after rereading a few pages multiple times. I did not connect with the main character, Matthew, and I don't forsee that changing any time soon. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Read in one sitting …,, Matthew Capes, struggling with chronic stage fright, has not sung in front of an audience for ten years. A classical tenor with a magnificent voice, he only dares sing late at night on the empty stage of the Moon and Stars theatre.

When Matthew’s old singing partner Angela – who just so happens to be the woman of his dreams – gets back in touch and offers him the chance to perform in a nationwide tour, his low self-esteem and anxiety stand in the way. But Matthew has a plan: he will sing in the shadows while his handsome and charismatic friend Ralph takes to the stage with Angela. What could go wrong?

Thanks to NetGalley and Fairlight Books for the e-ARC of this book!

This book follows a story of Matthew Capes, the troubled young man and trained singer who has severe stage fright that goes back through his teenager and college times. He only can sing at night in the theatre he's working on, when the theatre already closed--thus, his coworker thought there's a singing ghost in the theatre. As his old duet partner, Angela, reconnect with him again and asked him to be featured in her album, how does Matthew would be able to settle his stage fright issues and will he finally belongs to the music?

I really like the interesting take from the author on describing how frightened and traumatize Matthew is because of "mindless' words from others. It shows how such words could hold a huge damage and affecting people's lives for god knows until when. The story was well written, and the characters have wonderful growth/development that's makes me feels good. I like how the way it's written to make us see and understand how troubled and blind Matthew is. But in the end, despite all the struggles to find himself, his strength, and his confidence again, I love how supportive friends and family are having a huge role on it.

Also, I love Lucy, James, Dan, and Charlotte character. Gosh I wish Shattered Chandelier band was real! the whole musical references are also make me giddy and giggling!

Overall, this has been an amazingly beautiful, admiring, honest, and fantastic read for me.

The Moon and Stars is a loose retelling of the Phantom of the Opera set in present day centering around Matthew Capes, a professionally trained singer with stage fright working in a run down theater.. I'm not a big Phantom of the Opera fan but I do love retellings and thought this would be a fun book for spooky season!

This book definitely has a fun premise, but it's just not for me. I went to a college with a conservatory with a lot of students studying classical music and had flashbacks to that time in my life where people only ever wanted to talk about music. I'm also just not into dark and brooding heartthrobs and found Matthew frustrating. The plot and characters felt pretty standard. I did like the goth neighbor Lucy and her perspective on music, success, and doing things for enjoyment. I liked the Phantom of the Opera Easter eggs a lot (the band name "Shattered Chandelier" took me way too long to get!)

Overall, I recommend this book if you're a huge Phantom of the Opera fan and want a fun retelling. This was just not my cup of tea. 2.25 stars. Thank you to Fairlight Books and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I did enjoy The Moon and Stars by Jenna Warren.
The reason I only gave it 3 stars is that i just found it quite unmemorable as well as it was quite slow at times that made me struggle reading.
The writing though was good and I did like most of the characters.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. The story of Matthew, whose chronic stage fright has prevented him from doing what he loves, drew me in from the start. The characters are believable and the plot well-paced and interesting. I could relate to the main character and enjoyed watching him change and develop as the story moved towards its conclusion.

Jenna Warren writes with an easy informality which endears the narrator/protagonist to the reader, allowing you to witness his hopes and fears first-hand. This keeps you reading, keen to find out his fate and how the interplay between the other characters affect it.

This is a book about how small triumphs can lead to large ones. It reminds us of the power of kindness and how friendship and community carry immense potential to transform us all. A moving and enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

This book had a good premise but it didn't keep me interested. I thought the story of Matthew-an incredible singer who suffers from stagefright-was really interesting but personally I prefer a fastermoving plot line. All in all 2.5 stars.
I received this book from Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.

A talented singer suffers from stage fright , halting his musical career. The story seemed aligned in parts with the tale of the phantom of the opera. I found it difficult to connect with the characters and for me, the storyline was a little light. 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

This is one of those book where the premise was better than execution. The story had everything going for it: anxiety rep, "unique/unattractive" hero, musical setting, phantom of the opera retelling,... What ultimately made me dislike this book was the hero. First of he gave me serious "nice guys" vibes, always going on about how unfair it is that women aren't interested in him, because of his looks, which is a bit of a risky premise for a heroe's character in my opinion. There is no indication that he himself doesn't also place a lot of weight on a woman's looks and his interactions with women that weren't the love interest really weren't all that convincing that he's a nice person. He actually tells a women "you wouldn't understand" in a situation that was already weird and about a concept he very easily could have explained.
The second issue with this book is the actual storytelling. I never really connected with any of the characters and it felt like watching the action through a screen instead of really being immersed. This also made it difficult to get a handle on Angela, because the book is written from Matthew's point of view and Angela doesn't feel fully fleshed out.
Overall just not the book for me and I think some of the issues mentioned above could have been fixed with a well done edit.


I received this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I really struggled with deciding on a rating for this book. I think the premise is incredibly interesting and marketing it as similar to the Phantom of the Opera is an apt comparison. Unfortunately, I felt really disconnected with the narrative voice of this, and as such, I didn't feel very invested in the plot or any of the characters whatsoever. In some ways, Matthew's voice felt a bit juvenile to me and I kept waiting to click and connect with him, but I never did. I think this book still has a lot of merit; for one thing, I really appreciate the representation for someone with such chronic anxiety. For another, I really enjoy the setting and musically centered theme. Ultimately, I just don't think it's for me because I read to connect with characters, and I didn't here.

Incredibly original and different, a poignant story about a lonely, troubled, shy hero, “The Moon and Stars”, by Jenna Warren (Fairlight Books), is told in his perspective and deals with psychological issues and the meanders of music and creativity in an interest way.
Matthew is such a troubled young man; his issues go back to adolescence and remain problematic. The author manages to display both the raw mental pain he experiences and the loving, supporting role of family and friends, often showing itself in indirect ways.
I loved the take on stage fright, anxiety, low-esteem issues and youth self-image, and how the author incorporated these themes into the story through the hero’s often painful life experiences.
It’s hard sometimes to witness such a naked, honest display of vulnerable masculinity; sometimes I felt I was almost violating his inner self…
I also loved that there was some distance and we, readers, could also see how Matthew’s perspectives were tainted and things often weren’t as bad or gloomy as they seemed to him.
I felt the love triangle was well written and really liked how Lucy’s character was developed. Understandably, Angela‘s character was more opaque, with less substance and depth.
It’s frustrating that Matthew is so clueless and blind so many times, but I suppose that’s part of his very low key, unassuming nature. You can also find him a bit naïve and innocent and appreciate that you have these dimensions in a male character.
I liked the way Jenna Warren wrote the attraction between Matthew and Lucy, and the way he is so unaware and even a bit obtuse about it.
The contrast between Angela and Lucy is nice, too.
I loved that this is also a story about the beauty of singing and the wonder of the human voice. And how us, common mortals, can be so enraptured by it.
The secondary characters are awesome and bring so much to the story. I especially liked the band members, the Moon and Stars team and Matthew’s family.

I thought this book had a really interetsing premise and it didn't disappoint me. It was well written with a fantastic storyline and well developed characters. I couldn't put it down.

This was a different kind of story and really loved it all. The premise and the outcome and the couple. Loved it all. I wanted more. yeah.

Matthew Capes, struggling with chronic stage fright, has not sung in front of an audience for ten years. A classical tenor with a magnificent voice, he only dares sing late at night on the empty stage of the Moon and Stars theatre.
When Matthew’s old singing partner Angela who just so happens to be the woman of his dreams gets back in touch and offers him the chance to perform in a nationwide tour, his low self-esteem and anxiety stand in the way. But Matthew has a plan: he will sing in the shadows while his handsome and charismatic friend Ralph takes to the stage with Angela. What could go wrong?
Really enjoyable read totally recommend
Thank You NetGalley and Fairlight Books
I just reviewed The Moon and Stars by Jenna Warren. #TheMoonandStars #NetGalley