5 Stars – Page 5 – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: 5/5 Stars

Title: How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe

Author: Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 432

Publication Date: 8/10/21

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Coming of Age, Social Media, Body Image, Self Love, Family, Romance, Mental Health

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Hating Game meets I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter in this irresistible romance starring a Mexican American teen who discovers love and profound truths about the universe when she spends her summer on a road trip across the country.

When her twin sister reaches social media stardom, Moon Fuentez accepts her fate as the ugly, unwanted sister hidden in the background, destined to be nothing more than her sister’s camerawoman. But this summer, Moon also takes a job as the “merch girl” on a tour bus full of beautiful influencers and her fate begins to shift in the best way possible.

Most notable is her bunkmate and new nemesis, Santiago Phillips, who is grumpy, combative, and also the hottest guy Moon has ever seen.

Moon is certain she hates Santiago and that he hates her back. But as chance and destiny (and maybe, probably, close proximity) bring the two of them in each other’s perpetual paths, Moon starts to wonder if that’s really true. She even starts to question her destiny as the unnoticed, unloved wallflower she always thought she was.

Could this summer change Moon’s life as she knows it?

I am in LOVE with this book. Where do I begin? First the title intrigued me, and the character’s name being Moon. Because I love all moon things. Then the cover with a curvy girl, the moon above her and all that pink and purple tones. That’s where my love for it starts – but then the story takes me on an emotional journey and that’s when I fell hard.
Moon Fuentez is so relatable. She’s an artist and calls to the artist in me. I want to follow her Fotogram account, I want to buy her tarot cards, I wanted to know this girl and we definitely get to know her in this story. Her twin is Star Fuentez and her opposite from their body size and beliefs about lifestyle. Moon honors the old ways, honoring the Earth, delving in the mystical – and Star is a religious model (I didn’t even know those existed!). Moon has a lot of family secrets that are revealed little by little as she gets to know Santiago, a boy on the tour. I love how Moon grows on this tour. She’s there to basically be her sister’s assistant but she learns that she has a light around her too and embraces it in the end.
Speaking of Moon and Santiago – theirs is an enemies to lovers romance which so much spark. They are enemies, then sort of friends, which was fun to watch because Santiago really is such a grump and likes to anger Moon haha, and Moon makes him laugh. I mean, Santiago already had me with his kitchen skills. They are the cutest couple.
This story takes sensitive issues that Moon is dealing with and weaves them into the mystical and natural fabric of our world and universe. I thought it was beautifully done. I felt embraced in Moon’s experiences with La Raiz. I love how Moon learned divination with her Tia, the only person who has shown her real love (besides her dad). It’s a heartbreaking story at its core, a girl just wanting the love of a parent. But Moon is strong in the end to make decisions that are healthier for her heart, soul and mind, even if it hurts a lot.

Triggers: suicide, child abuse, depression

This story is sex positive but Moon struggles with her mom’s views on sex and body image. It reminded me of my own Catholic upbringing but obviously Moon’s mom took it to the next level by slut shaming her, blaming her – her own child, for how miserable she felt inside. Her mother needed help and never got it but it conditioned Star and Moon from childhood that sex was an evil act. Moon has other people in her life explain to her why it wasn’t how her mom portrayed it to be, which is great.
Depression is mentioned because some characters in the book go through it. Moon has her own coping mechanisms, ones that she realizes she has to work through.

Is Moon Fuentez real? Because I want her to be – I want to buy her beautiful tarot cards and pick flowers with her. I want to check out her artwork in a museum, I want to see the images she captured on her beloved camera. I fell in love with Moon and Moon with Santiago and this whole story about nature’s magic, how even in this amazing, big universe, we are all connected, even in our pain. This is a book I connected with wholeheartedly, it really touched my heart, and I can’t wait to have it in my hands as a physical book.

🌙 ~ Yolanda

My Rating: 5/5 Stars

Title: Six Crimson Cranes

Author: Elizabeth Lim

Format: ebook (NetGalley)

Pages: 464

Publication Date: 7/6/21

Publisher: Knopf

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fairytale, Family, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Knopf for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Shiori, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted, but it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother.

Raikama has dark magic of her own, and she banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes, and warning Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.

Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and, on her journey, uncovers a conspiracy to overtake the throne—a conspiracy more twisted and deceitful, more cunning and complex, than even Raikama’s betrayal. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she’s been taught all her life to contain—no matter what it costs her.

I was hooked from the first chapter and never let go. This is the second series I’ve read from Elizabeth Lim and I will say it again, she writes beautifully. I love how her stories read like fairytales. The story is beautifully written and flows so nicely. As the author states, this is a reimagined story of “The Wild Swans” by Hans Christian Anderson but she wove other Asian folklore into the story which makes it so rich and such a fantastic adventure.

Shiori is the youngest of seven children and being the only girl, she’s been protected and indulged. She loves her family, her six brothers, her doting dad and once upon a time she even loved her stepmother. It’s this tense relationship with her stepmother that sets Shiori on an unexpected and challenging journey. Shiori really grows from being cursed – she sees how she took a lot of things for granted, and how much she loves her family. Now it’s her turn to do her part in saving her brothers. She realizes too late though the person who has betrayed her is the very one protecting her.

There is magic in this book and dragons, especially a dragon named Seryu who has a lot of personality. This is a story about family and the bond they share through thick and thin. There is betrayal. There is also an evil enchanter who wants to free the demons trapped in a mountain and events that take place to ensure it from not happening but the plan goes haywire. And of course there is romance which made my heart melt a little. This book really had everything and I could not put the book down once I started.

Remember how the Spin the Dawn series had demons? This is set in the same world as Spin the Dawn! I loved Spin the Dawn but I didn’t love Unravel the Dusk so I am hoping so hard that the sequel for Six Crimson Cranes doesn’t disappoint me. The ending sets up another amazing adventure for Shiori and I can’t wait to see who the dragon pearl really belongs to!

This is the kind of fantasy I’ve been craving to read lately and it checked all my boxes! An asian retelling of a western fairytale but with dragons, demons, brothers that change into cranes, family love, betrayal, a girl who has magic but is cursed, and a girl who is falling in love with the boy she had been avoiding all her life. I couldn’t put down the book and I already need the second one.

📚 ~ Yolanda