Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett (ARC)

Hey Happy Bookworms!

I got the opportunity to review this early & I was super excited! Alex, Approximately has been on my TBR for AGES so I was super stoked when this came up (FYI: they’re both written by Jenn Bennett).

This’ll be a spoiler-free review unless otherwise specified for specific bits 🙂

Anyway – all the usual stuff – all opinions are my own & I was kindly given this copy by Lovereading4kids & Simon & Schuster!

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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 the most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel.

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Characters

To be honest, this book has SO MANY cute characters!
I loved both Birdie’s & Daniel’s crazy families! Mona (Birdie’s ‘aunt’) is so crazy and wacky! Her thing is making different costumes for herself (wigs and all!) and her friendship with Birdie is so sweet and supportive. Birdie’s granddad is really nice too & we don’t get to know too much about him (which is kinda a shame as it would’ve been cool to explore more on how the death of his wife effected him) but he’s there for Birdie when she needs him.
Then Daniel’s grandparents are pretty darn adorable! His mum & grandmother have such a funny moment over the cooking of food when Birdie visits them 😂

I liked how Birdie was portrayed – she was ‘innocent’ but not ignorant or stupid to anything going on around her & I appreciated the mid-ground. The only thing that was sometimes a bit inconsistent was how she viewed Daniel – they were obviously more than friends but then she’d say something like ‘How was I going to be his friend now?’ And it’s like whuuut? Where’s this ‘friend’ coming from?
Then, Daniel – super sweet and he & Birdie had some really cute, funny banter. But, (And nobody’s going to get this reference) he’s got long hair & is called Daniel Aoki & ALL I COULD THINK OF WAS STEVE AOKI! If any of y’all read this book, you have to google Steve Aoki and tell me you can’t not picture him as Daniel! 😂

Anyway…overall, super cute family relationships & nice to see a healthy, normal teen relationship.

And for Octavia – This is the book with the Octopus called Octavia where I couldn’t stop thinking of you! 🐙😂

Plot

Anyone drawn in by the mystery aspect – be wary! The mystery plot plays 2nd place to the romance plot (which is fine, I read this as a contemporary novel, not as a mystery one) but just don’t expect too much from it. Well, it’s handled pretty well, not to mention realistically (AKA: You can’t just ask people random questions, they get suspicious!) and I was actually enjoying it before it was hurriedly summed up in 2 pages. Now, I get the whole ‘action’ part of it but the way Birdie works it all out is just unrealistic and disappointed me after a pretty good mystery sub-plot. 😦

Anyway, the actual romance plot was good. Looking back, they went back & forth like a seesaw trying to make up their minds but while I was reading it, it didn’t feel repetitive at all. And I liked how other bits were made into mysteries, it just kinda brought the two genres together & fused them a bit more.

Overall

I really enjoyed this! The ending was a little disappointing but the rest of the book was super cute (Count how many times I’ve said ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ in this review!) and I think it’s definitely worth a read if you think you’d enjoy it!
Bonus enjoyment ~ It’s based in Seattle & has lots of detail on streets and stuff so if you’re familiar with the area that could be fun to match up! Also, if you love classic mystery books, programs & films then there’s so many references (most I didn’t get 😂) and each chapter starts with a quote 🙂

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Thank you so much for reading – It’s been ages since I wrote a review!

Did you like my review? Are you planning on reading Serious Moonlight? Have I convinced you to get a copy?

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett will be published 16th of May in the UK, it was published on the 16th April in the US (I think 😬)

Bye!

El xox