As someone who grew up on P.C. Cast's books, I was really excited to dive into this book. The summary had me expecting a bit of forbidden romance setting against a backdrop of a magic school and a unique magic system. Unfortunately, I ended up DNF-ing the book at 15%. Draw Down the Moon clearly targets a lower YA audience. From the beginning, it came across as overly dramatic, which did. not sit well with me. I continued reading hoping that things would turn around, but the tone stayed the same. I also felt that the characters acted much younger than their age. They are supposed to be college kids, but they act like they are middle schoolers engaging in silly pranks. By the time, the main character discovered she had magic and we came to the explanation of this world's magic I was already losing interested. Said explanation, delivered in a high handed manner from the Dean of the Academie, made me realize that this was the same magic system I had encountered dozens of times in other fantasy books, just re-packaged with a set of quirky astrological names. I had no interest in continuing further after that point

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy!

My rating: 3 stars

Firstly...the cover is to die for. I'm a total sucker for magic schools as of late. Draw Down the Moon had such an interesting premise with an enchanting plot.
The read felt whimsical and alluring, but I felt read on the younger side of YA. With that being said, I think it would be great for a younger audience just starting out with Fantasy!

Angsty young young adult novel. Although the characters have all just graduated High School, this novel reads younger and the characters behave more like middle schoolers. Wren Nightingale is born without magic to a magical family and assumes she will live a mundane life until she turns 18 and magic starts surrounding her. She is thrilled to be joining her two best friends at a summer training camp for magical teenagers. Unfortunately, nothing is as it seems, and no one can be trusted. This is the first book in a duology (or perhaps more) and it ends practically in the middle of a confusing scene. The story is told from alternating viewpoints of Wren and her best friend/more than friends Lee. The "will she or won't she like me as more than a friend" takes a few weeks in the book and only a few pages in the telling, but there isn't much more to the romance than that. While I enjoy young adult novels and love magical elements, I am probably not the right audience for this book. It might be more enjoyable for a much younger crowd. The magic is based on the moon and the zodiac but it doesn't all come together. Perhaps it will become clearer in the next book.

My thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy. My opinion is my own.

I had to double check what category this book fell in because I felt like it was geared more toward middle schoolers. I liked the story but it just read younger than I thought it would.

I gave up reading this book. The writing style felt like it was better suited to middle school than YA and it was meant to be upper YA (characters are 18 year olds)

A girl who suddenly awakens her magical powers finds herself being sent to a magic school on her 18th birthday with the one boy who has been secretly in love with her for as long as he can remember. Magical school, romance, and mysteries to unpack. In a world where there are zodiac/moon magic and the difference between Magical vs Mundanes, Wren Nightingale always thought she was going to be a Mundane... until her 18th birthday where she begins to glow and her magic awakens. Now she has to go to the magic school called Academia de la Luna, where she'll learn to train her powers. Lee Young is her best friend who has secretly been in love with her for as long as he can remember. He has magic and was going to the school, but now that Wren is coming with him, everything is going to change. The school they'll be attending has its own grueling trials and dangers, and they'll have to navigate deadly secrets within the school and murder! Lee will have to decide whether to follow his family's path or follow the girl he is in love with. Wren will have to find a way to understand her new magic and who she is now. This book felt like it was about 13-14 year olds rather than actual 18 year olds, it read as very young and juvenile and honestly, I found myself wanting to DNF this book so many times but kept pushing myself to finish just to finish the book. This book hits all the classic 2010s YA tropes: magic school, chosen one girl, Hunger-Games esque trials, She's so quirky and not like other girls, and unfortunately the found family trope in this one did not work for me at all. I really did not care for the romance and the actual "cliffhanger ending" just had me going "ughh". I will not be reading the next book and honestly this one just felt like a complete miss. The cover is the most stunning thing ever however the actual plot and characters just did not live up to what I was hoping it would be. I think if you are on the younger end of YA I feel like this would be perfect for you, as for me, it just didn't work out. I feel like younger YA readers would enjoy this one.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Four houses aligned with four "moons" or astrology signs at a magical school for students to hone their skills. The world in this book reminds me of Harry Potter without being so well-defined. The "chosen one" is even an orphan who lives with her uncles. Wren finds out too obviously for my tastes that she's destined to save the Moonstruck people and set things right, but being told pointblank is no different than being marked as a baby. Sam feels like Hermione, and I would have loved more of a glimpse into her character. Lee is dedicated to the Moonstruck way of life but also to Wren, which makes me very curious how he can reconcile everything.

The story progresses quickly with the trials pushing Wren along to learn about her magic. I like how the romance seems to have a natural progression and friendships evolve smoothly. The one issue that I found with the writing is the behavior of the characters. They are all set to be 18-year-olds, but their behavior and attitudes seem more fitting for much younger teenagers. Clues to a key element for Wren's answers felt obvious to me, and as intelligent as Sam is portrayed to be, I am awestruck at her taking so long to crack the code. The ending drops at a huge cliffhanger, but it works for a good setup leading into the second book in the duology. Hopefully, in the conclusion gaps from this story are filled in satisfyingly.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books and Netgalley for a chance to read this early.

I wanted to love this--magic schools that are always so interesting to me. I ended up not loving this. I didn't hate it, mind you, but I feel like this just wasn't tonally where it needed to be for a YA magic school story. The writing and narrative voice were both pretty young, which juxtaposed against the age of the characters (18 year-olds) was just sort of uncomfortable. I would probably have had less of an internal rub if the characters were genuinely like 12-15 years old. As it stands, their choices and attitudes were just *so* juvenile. Because of the writing and way the characters made me feel, I never really connected to this story or felt compelled to keep reading. I got through this in the end, but it was not a great read. Dated tropey writing, strangely juvenilely written characters, and a magic school that didn't give what it was supposed to have gave--this was not a memorable or favorite read for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced copy!

Wren was born to macgickal parents, but she was not born under a full moon so has no magickal powers of her own--she is a Mundane. But her best friend, Lee Young, manifested powers years ago, and knows he is bound to attend the Academie the summer after he graduates. They are sad to be going their separate ways, but then Wren suddenly starts to manifest magick the day before Lee is to leave for the Academie. Contrary to her plans, Wren is thrust into the magickal world and is able to attend the Academie with Lee. But when they get to the Academie, something seems off. There is something sinister going on, and Wren and Lee want to find out what.

This was a really intriguing concept! I was pulled in by the idea of powers given by the moon, and the cover is beautiful. The beginning part of the book hooked my interest, but, sadly, it went downhill from there. I loved the magic school, but the characters acted immature and were not interesting to me. Like I said, the concept was good, but the execution wasn't the best. It wasn't my thing, but it was still an interesting read!

I wanted to love this so much! The cover is beautiful the plot sounded so interesting! I’m a sucker for a good magic school story. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t for me. The writing felt a bit too juvenile for YA, yet the characters were 18. Don’t get me wrong, I love when authors write teens at the appropriate maturity level for their age, however, from the get go the characters behavior felt very immature for their age….and that really had me struggling to want to keep going with the story. So, sadly I did DNF this.l and it bums me out.

DNF @ 15%

Draw Down the Moon shows how YA is not created equally. The writing is juvenile and the characters, who are supposed to be 18, act more like 13/14. I think I would have given them more slack if that's the case.

It felt more like a middle grade novel cosplaying as a YA fantasy. Just not for me.


Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books & MacMillan Audio for the ARC & ALC of Draw Down the Moon.

DNF at 15%. I really struggled to get into this story. I think it was a little too predictable, with the girl gets magical powers out of no where, must go to this magical school, may have a special power like no one else kind of plot. I also didn't love the main characters so it was hard to care enough to start reading. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me

(I don't review books I DNF, so I will not be posting this review on social media accounts)

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy. You can pick up Draw Down the Moon on April 2, 2024.

What a book. I won't lie to you -- I'm glad I stuck with it purely because of the number of times I cackled while reading this. Would I recommend it to anyone??? Loaded question. Depends on what you're looking for in a YA fantasy.

If you're looking for an interesting premise with zodiac signs and moon magic, you've come to the right place. If you're looking for quality writing, actual character arcs, and a plot that's more interesting than just "the chosen one," I'd look elsewhere.

I wish I were joking, but my Goodreads updates about this book said it all. Not only was "chosen one" but in Spanish an actual plot point, so was the concept of virginal magic, Hunger Games-esque Trials, and the MCs saying "I love you" on page 157.

I've also NEVER encountered a book where I didn't like the found family. AND YET, this found family grated on me so much because it felt forced? Not found? Is forced family a thing? It felt less like things happened in the book to make me enjoy these characters together, and more like I was being TOLD I would like these characters together.

I felt no attachment to any single character, despite the dual POVs giving me a look inside both love interests' heads. The friends-to-lovers trope was as poorly done as I've ever seen it, and neither character felt different from the beginning of the story to the end of the story.

Don't even get me started on the ending. Maybe I rushed through reading it, but the final "battle," made no sense, the MMC made weird decisions that confused me AND the FMC, and we have zero explanation for any of what happened all in the name of leaving things off with a "cliffhanger." Safe to say we've plunged fully over the cliff at this point and need a rescue crew to help us figure out what the fuck is going on.

I'll end this rant/review by touching on the writing style and why it wasn't for me, personally. Now, I was a YA girlie in the 2010s. I know the deep lore. And while some books try to touch on the nostalgia from that day and age (cough Fourth Wing cough), other books completely transport us back a decade to some truly heinous writing choices.

Tell me this character with "aquamarine eyes" and "porcelain skin" who smells like "sugar cookies" isn't the epitome of a 2010s pick me. She's so quirky, she pours dish soap in public fountains for fun on her birthday! And she's so small! I could pull out a dozen other examples to show why this writing definitely seems to cater to a younger YA crowd.

But the cover's pretty! And the premise has potential, even if it was poorly executed, in my opinion. Pick it up if you feel like seeing all this for yourself!

I absolutely love this writing duo of Mom/Daughter. I devoured their House of Night series and want to continue to read everything they publish.

I was a bit put off on how the story was structured, the pacing and even some of the dialogue. I felt like there were parts that were way too drawn out or didn't quite make sense where other parts we pretty much zipped right over.

I will be purchasing a physical copy of this beautiful book because I enjoyed it enough to add it to my library!

Unfortunately, I had to give up on this one. I had high hopes for it because of the gorgeous cover, premise, and because I've heard great things about the authors. I know I'm not the key demographic for this one, but I read and enjoy lots of YA. Having said that, the story wasn't really anything new and felt very similar to Harry Potter (especially with the Magicks/Mundanes). I also believe it teetered closer to middle grade instead of the mature end of YA.

The friendship between Wren and Lee was very odd and also part of the reason to why the story wasn't working for me. (I didn't get far enough into the book to find out if it grew to more than that.) Wren seemed very reckless and carefree while Lee seemed fairly serious, a bit depressed, and conflicted. In what I read, it almost seemed as if she didn't take into consideration how her actions would impact him even when he warned her that things would be different for him. The friendship just felt a bit uneven or even one sided.

Overall, I hope this book finds it's people, and I hate that it didn't work out for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for a change to be an early reader. All opinions are my own.

Draw Down the Moon, the first in a new duology, was an ok read for me. I thought the premise was really interesting, and I love the magical school setting where the majority of the story takes place. Wren and Lee, the two main characters, have to compete in trials while there, and there's a lot of mystery and danger involved. The world is fascinating, and I was really intrigued by the magic and the history.

The story switches between Lee and Wren's perspectives, so you get to see all of the trials and tribulations each goes through. Though often together, Wren and Lee are both dealing with different pressures as well as their complicated feelings for each other. Lee feels so much guilt and pressure to live up to his family name, and Wren has newly gained powers she knows nothing about. They both have compelling stories, however, I felt like they were a little underdeveloped, and I wanted more.

I love a good romance, and I was totally rooting for Wren and Lee. Lee is so smitten with Wren, and she's so clueless. lol There's definitely some lack of and miscommunication between these friends, which frustrated me at times. I had to remind myself that they were eighteen because sometimes they acted much younger.

Overall, this was a fun read, and I think it would appeal people who enjoy younger YA fantasy. Special thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing m e with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful, one of the best I've seen this year. Unfortunately, the story itself was just fine, and not much more. I understand that this is YA but I feel like the main characters felt so young, and I didn't enjoy them a ton.

Draw Down the Moon by PC Cast and Kristin Cast brings us to a new world that has been created for us, set primarily at a magical school hidden on an island. The way the authors create this world, filled with magic and whimsy. The magic is based on the moon and impacts everyone differently, specifically our two main characters, Wren and Lee. This book was definitely one where it was undoubtedly YA, which is fine, but I definitely felt a little old reading it. Overall, I enjoyed the story very much and would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

DNF @ 15%. Would give the reason why but until publishers under Saint Martins Press address the racism, islamophobia, and zionism they have enabled and perpetuated, i will not be reviewing. Please do better, your silence speaks volumes.

An interesting read about power, a magical school, lunar gifts, and more for a fantasy read. While I like to read middle grade and young adult books, this one seemed in between the two genres. Maybe we need new age group genre for in between? Either way, this author duo always has fun magical ideas in their stories and keep things interesting.