The Restricted Section

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett
Published by Simon Pulse on April 16, 2019
Pages: 432
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After an awkward first encounter, Birdie and Daniel are forced to work together in a Seattle hotel where a famous author leads a mysterious and secluded life in this romantic contemporary novel from the author of Alex, Approximately.

Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she’s cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel.

In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. The hotel’s charismatic young van driver shares the same nocturnal shift and patronizes the waterfront Moonlight Diner where she waits for the early morning ferry after work. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he’s stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel.

To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel.

Serious Moonlight is probably going to be enjoyed by lots and lots of folks, but for me, it was a case of teenagers not only feeling like another (DISTANT) generation, but a completely different species. Even as an optimist, there are times when I feel very old and very cynical. This book was hitting all those grumbly bits in me – coupled with my general meh-ness of contempo right now – and I’m calling it a day. I really wanted to like this story of a girl detective and a crushy boy magician doing stuff and falling in lurve. I’m starting to realize more often that just not the “right” me for this kind of book any longer.

*****

Star-Crossed by Minnie Darke
Published by Crown Publishing Group on May 21, 2019
Pages: 368
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Sometimes even destiny needs a little bit of help.

When childhood sweethearts Justine (Sagittarius and serious skeptic) and Nick (Aquarius and true believer) bump into each other as adults, a life-changing love affair seems inevitable. To Justine, anyway. Especially when she learns Nick is an astrological devotee, whose decisions are guided by the stars, and more specifically, by the horoscopes in his favorite magazine. The same magazine Justine happens to write for. As Nick continues to not fall headlong in love with her, Justine decides to take Nick's horoscope, and Fate itself, into her own hands. But, of course, Nick is not the only Aquarius making important life choices according to what is written in the stars.

Charting the ripple effects of Justine's astrological meddling, STAR-CROSSED is a delicious, intelligent, and affecting love story about friendship, chance, and how we all navigate the kinds of choices that are hard to face alone.

I’m a “read my horoscope nearly every day” kind of gal, and this was too Zodiac-centric for even me to get into. I really liked the premise set up by the blurb that I read, but could not for the life of me jive with the story. I feel like this book is really similar to a Wes Andersen movie. They’re amazing and funny and quirky – but you 100% have to be in the exact same amazing and funny and quirky kind of mood to get any kind of enjoyment out of it. Sadly, after multiple attempts at starting this, I never found myself in the proper mood.