Grace Ellis

There were some enjoyable aspects to this, like the diverse cast, the array of magical beings, and the coffee shop setting. A couple of the minor characters, like Cass, were also fun to read on page.

But unfortunately, I just didn’t really click with much else. The storytelling is sloppy- the plot is slower at the start, has a strange mix of middle sections, and then gives a THREE PAGE CLIMAX. The buildup to the climax is also very stilted and wastes time introducing a rando side character who doesn’t add anything. Also, interspersed in the novel are pages from a book within the Moonstruck universe; these pages semi-reflect the plot but honestly did nothing to make the story more engaging.

There’s also the fact that a romantic couple starts to have issues, and never actually resolve them, but just kind of look at each other in the 11th hour and say “Welp, I guess we’ll go to therapy together lol!” Obviously therapy is a great resource, but using it here made for a completely unsatisfying ending, among other things. Maybe this gets wrapped up in another volume, but I just wish this was addressed better.

Finally, I found the background/atmospheric/everything but the character artwork to be utterly bland. Moonstruck somehow has taken a story with all these mythical creatures and magic and set it in the most basic-ass looking city I’ve ever seen. There is no charm in the surroundings and it makes this story just about as visually boring as possible.

I wouldn’t necessarily not recommend this...but there are also WAY BETTER graphic novels out there, so I’d say skip this one and try something else.… (altro)