• About Me
    • Privacy Policy
    • Review Policy
  • Reviews
    • Review by Author
    • Review by Rating
    • Review by Title
  • Features
    • 30 Books to Change Your Life

The Restricted Section

Review / Short and Sweet

DNF Round-up: Serious Moonlight & Star-Crossed

May 20, 2019
DNF Round-up: Serious Moonlight & Star-CrossedSerious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett
Published by Simon Pulse on April 16, 2019
Pages: 432
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
two-stars

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.

*****

DNF Round-up: Serious Moonlight & Star-CrossedStar-Crossed by Minnie Darke
Published by Crown Publishing Group on May 21, 2019
Pages: 368
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
two-stars

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.

2 Comments
Share

Leave a Comment Cancel Comment

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

The Comments

  • Angela
    May 20, 2019

    Both of these are on my TBR, but the points you mention about Serious Moonlight are now giving me pause. I’ve read a lot of YA this year, but teenage characters bug me more and more with every book.

    Reply
  • Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits
    May 20, 2019

    I don’t blame you for DNF’ing these, since they weren’t working for you. Sometimes it really does just take figuring out what kind of book is for the “current you”. I know I have to re-evaluate that with YA books especially every so often. (You might swing back the other direction eventually, though, and like stuff that you want to now just just don’t. I know I do.)
    Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits recently posted…BookWyrm’s Alphabeticals ~ HMy Profile

    Reply

You May Also Like

October 19, 2020

The Bromance Book Club & Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

December 4, 2018

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren

August 25, 2020

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

Hi, I’m Dani
Hi, I’m Dani

Hi, I’m Dani

Welcome to The Restricted Section! I love love - in my books anyway. Follow along for reviews, anticipated releases, sneak peeks for all things romance, and other bookish content.

Follow Me

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

What I’m Reading

Love Letters

Hiya! Want my posts delivered right to your inbox? Just add your email below.

Categories

Archives

Affiliate Links

This site uses affliate links. If you click a link and then make a purchase, The Restricted Section may earn a small monetary award, which we’ll use to pay for blog fees or giveaways.

@dani_dewdrop

Copyright © 2021 The Restricted Section. All Rights Reserved.Site Powered by Pix & Hue.