The first book to a brand new fantasy duology called Moonstruck by author duo P. C Cast and Kristin Cast that is set in a dark magical school setting. I love this cover, I think it’s very eye catching but I do love me a good illustrative cover so I’m biased. We follow Nightingale who has parents with magical powers but she unfortunately was born without powers herself until on her 18th birthday, she starts glowing! and her entire life changes after being away to some magical academy. Tons of stuff to love here!

I just lost interest in this one that while the plot is interesting, I felt like two main characters should have been a little younger like 14 or 16 instead of 18. The whole premise of going to a school of magic in the summer when you turn 18 when you become moonstruck with Elemental magic sounds cool for the most part. It’s just the fact the school felt so middle/ elementary school instead of feeling like a college campus that it should have felt like since they are 18 year olds about to go to college. One scene in particular felt like they were lining them up like they were elementary students instead of freshly graduated seniors about to be freshmen in college.

3.5ish stars

Not bad, but also not amazing. I’ve really enjoyed the adult fiction that one of the authors writes on her own, so it may be that something about this particular YA style just isn’t as compelling to me now as it once would have been. That being said, the book is apparently the first in a duology; I probably wouldn’t have committed to a longer series, but for one more book, I’d like to see how the story ends. (And to be honest, reading this one was made me more curious to revisit the House of Night series that I previously enjoyed!)

1 💫

This book fell a bit flat for me which was unusual as I love the genre and I usually love the authors.

It felt a bit immature for the age range provided and I just couldn’t seem to sync with any of the vast array of characters.

It felt like hunger games, but for astrological signs and more immature.

Unfortunately, would not recommend.

The parents of Wren Nightingale were magical. They died and Wren.goes to live with her two mundane uncles. Unfortunately, Wren is not magical — she is considered a mundane. She has come to terms with it. It is hard on her as her best friends are magical and will be going to Academia de la Luna, a school for magical youth where students will be sorted into four houses. The four houses are Taurus, Scorpio, Leo and Aquarius. On her eighteenth birthday she is Moonstruck giving her magic but doesn’t really know what magic she has. Lee Young is her best friend since childhood. Wren is glad that Lee is going to Academia de la Luna as she has confused feelings about being magical. When she arrives to the island the school is on, she feels uneasy. As she gets to choose the house to live in, she can’t decide until the last moment. The friends of Wren must investigate a prophecy that threatens everything they know about their magic, their world, and their place within it. Will they be able to resolve the prophecy?

The authors have written a duology in a magical world that is also dark. There is danger, death and secrets. The characters are well described and what their role was in this novel. It was a compelling read for me as love the twists and prophecies in the novel. It was so mysterious at times with not knowing why some things were happening. With the ending of the book, I wanted the next book immediately as much as I love the ending — I didn’t want to have to wait.

I’d like to start off by saying thank you to NetGalley & the St. Martins Press/Wednesday Books for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My review is solely based off of how I actually felt about the book, not how I hypothesize kids would feel while reading the book. If I was 11 I probably would have been like “omg yes sameeeeeee” but alas, I am no longer a teeny bopper. There were some pretty cringey teenage moments that would probably make a teenager feel seen or laugh, but wasn’t my vibe as someone in my late twenties that loathes the miscommunication trope. Overall, this felt more juvenile fiction vs YA.

It took a long time to get to the meat of the story. By the 40% mark you know that people born under the different moon signs have magick, but we don’t really know what that magick entails.

Would I recommend this to my friends kids? Maybe, depending on the kid, their age, and what their parents were okay with them reading about. I think the magick is super simple to grasp and overall this would be an easy read for a kid. Would I recommend this book to my friends as a YA novel? Sadly, no.

Firstly I want to thank Net Galley, St. Martin’s Press, and both P.C. and Kristin Cast for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book wasn’t for me. It read very young and I struggled with the age/supposed maturity of the characters vs. the dialogue and actions. I cringed through a lot of this book feeling like the characters were cliche. The dialogue was clunky and honestly it felt like they were trying to make the characters super relatable and missed the target. What I read actually made me super uncomfortable because all I could think is who talks like this? I think if the characters were 14-16 I could believe it more and it wouldn’t feel so weird. I wanted to push through this since I’ve DNFed more books than I’d like lately but after a month of trying I decided to give up. Life is too short to read books that aren’t for you.

The magic system was very unique and I love a book with a deadly trial so I really wanted to love this. I have loved previous books written by P.C. And Kristin Cast so this won’t stop me from reading their works in the future.

I have to admit, the amount of low reviews about Draw Down the Moon has me puzzled. It was an easy read, simple world building, the mystery of Wren's powers to figure out and uncover, and a large amount of magic. I loved the simplicity and the ease with which a young adult or middle grade student could pick up this fantasy and immediately devour it.

Don't believe I was the right audience for this novel, as it read incredibly young. The characters have graduated high school, but read an immature teenagers, with a poor sense of humor. This is not a new story in the fantasy genre, "chosen one."

Thank you, Wednesday Books

So when I first started I was really confused by the low ratings.

I was entranced by the magic system and them going through the trials.
I enjoyed Ween figuring out her power and solving some mysteries.

However, by the end…I understood the rating. Wren and Lee for all that they proclaim to be they best of friends…don’t really communicate. It’s a lot of not giving each other grace or trust. It was exhausting to read by the end.

Loved the magic system. Disliked the relationship.

I was very interested in this book by the synopsis and cover. Sadly, it wasn’t the book for me. I had trouble getting use to the writing style, the characters felt extremely middle grade which confused me once I was told they’re practically 18, and the magic system wasn’t interesting enough for me to stay and read the rest of the book. I believe a younger audience would perhaps enjoy this.

Wren who was not born under a moon sign, ends up getting moon kissed and sent out to a school that teaches other kids that are moon kiss d how to harness their powers.

DNF@ 25%
Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for the E-Arc and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I just lost interest in this one that while the plot is interesting, I felt like two main characters should have been a little younger like 14 or 16 instead of 18. The whole premise of going to a school of magic in the summer when you turn 18 when you become moonstruck with Elemental magic sounds cool for the most part. It’s just the fact the school felt so middle/ elementary school instead of feeling like a college campus that it should have felt like since they are 18 year olds about to go to college. One scene in particular felt like they were lining them up like they were elementary students instead of freshly graduated seniors about to be freshmen in college.

I need to go back and finish this book but The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith did something almost similar with the MC finding out she has magic at the age of 17 and thus going to a boarding school of magic but it felt like High School/College and elementary school on how they treated the students.

Another reason why I dnfed because I don’t really like the main character, Wren Nightingale. I am more interested in the secondary main character and potential love interest, Lee Young. The problem is the book dual first person but since Wren is new to this world since she just finding out she has magic while Lee already knew he had magic, we as readers going to be in her head more than in Lee’s head. I really don’t feel like being in a person's head that I partially don’t like so I'm are going to head out.

Also it felt so much like Harry Potter with how Wren and her family found out about the school (just think if Dumbledore come to Harry and the Durleys instead of Hargid) and it supposed to be a “Tournament of Skill” during the course of them staying at the school.
The problem with this book is that if it came out in the early 2000’s around the time of Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games and the other early 2000’s YA Books, then it would fit right at home with those types of books. It has that early 2000’s YA feel to it since the P.C and Kristin Cast Books were very popular at that time.

So if you want that younger YA feel for nostalgia, this would be the book for you.

Thanks to Wednesday Books for gifted access via Netgalley. All opinions below are my own.

Wren is an orphan of magickal parents who was not blessed with powers of her own. She is spending her 18th birthday with her best friend who does have magick and is soon headed off to an exclusive school to learn how to harness them. Suddenly she is Moonstruck and swept away to school with him. When they get there, they are immersed in the nuances of the magickal world. Quickly they learn that there is more than they are being told and that their lives may be at risk.

This one definitely skews on the younger side of YA. I would say it's a good starter fantasy as there are magickal elements but they are quite easy to comprehend. I would liken it to Harry Potter but without the goofy named spells. There are some interesting types of magick, unique magickal spirits and magickal trials they must pass. While a lot of these are common tropes in fantasy, I did find the plot to be original in many ways. I could have done without the angsty love story, I don't think the story needed it but I get that some readers might. The ending is not complete. I wouldn't say it's entirely a heart wrenching cliffhanger but it does leave plenty of questions to be answered in the next book. I'm interested to see where the story goes!

A fun and interesting YA fantasy read. This one felt rather broad in who can enjoy, ranging from the younger end of YA all the way to NA.

A magical school system based on the zodiac, secrets, lies, mystery, found family- there's a lot packed into this one and while it feels rather plot forward and carried versus character based, it was still a fun and quick read. I think a deeper dive and continuation could really turn this into something incredible but as a single stand-alone it scratches a good itch for some magic and YA.

Draw down the Moon is a new book by PC and Kristin Cast.
I have read other books by this author and enjoyed them very much.
In this book, there is a lot of world-building, and it is a true fantasy book.

It was partly reminiscent of Harry Potter to me in that there are "Mundanes" and "moonstruck"
The moonstruck have various talents, like healing or helping others to focus, and the mundane are unaware of the existence of this magic.
The main characters are all young people who are in the process of entering college level training on Moon Isle, which is hidden from mundanes.

Lots of adventure and some nice LGBTQ relationships.
I enjoyed the book, and would recommend it to fantasy fans.

I really wanted to like this one more! It had such a good premise, and I love the idea of a magical school. I just unfortunately felt like not much happened throughout the story, and it read a bit too young for me. I'm a YA reader, but this felt more middle grade level and was hard to relate (which is most likely a me problem, and why I'm still rating it 3 stars). I do think many people will love this one, and the characters were a lot of fun.

I enjoyed this book. The writing was pretty good. And the world building was nicely done. I enjoyed the characters quite a bit.

I can't believe I waited so long to read this. I really enjoyed it. Shades of Harry Potter. The book ends on a cliff hanger and with some unanswered questions. Loved the side characters Sam, Ruby, and Lilly. Looking forward to seeing how Wren fts into the grand puzzle.

Interesting premise and I overall enjoyed this one. I loved the fantasy magical elements and the suspense, mystery, and dark setting. It kept me on my toes while reading and I wanted to know what would happen next...couldn't put it down. I did feel like however that it pulled too many influences from older more popular book series like divergent or the hunger games. I loved both of those but just wanted a vibe that was it's own for this one. Still would recommend though. Thanks for letting me read the arc.