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Book: “Draw Down the Moon” by P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast
Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, April 2024
Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Wren Nightingale isn’t supposed to have any powers. Born of magickal parents but not under a moon sign, she was destined for life as a Mundane—right up until she starts glowing on her eighteenth birthday. In a heartbeat, Wren’s life is turned upside down, and she’s suddenly leaving her home for the mystical Academia de la Luna—a secret magickal school on a hidden island off the Seattle coast.
Lee Young has always known about his future at the Academia. He has one goal: pass the trials, impress the Moon Council, and uphold his family’s reputation. But he wasn’t expecting to be attending alongside the girl he’s been secretly in love with for as long as he can remember.
As Wren and Lee are thrown into the Academie’s gruelling trials, they quickly learn there’s something different–and dangerous–about the school this year. Wren will have to navigate a web of secrets, prophecies–and murder. And Lee will have to decide who to protect–his family’s legacy, or the girl he loves.
Review: I’ll be honest, I was drawn into this one mostly because of its whimsical cover! And then I read the description which focuses on a magical school and academia, and I knew this was one I’d like to check out. I haven’t read anything by either of these authors before either, so I went in with very few expectations. Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite work for me.
But let’s start with some of the pros first, as always. I really enjoyed the magical school and the fantasy components of this world. The idea of characters gaining certain powers based on the lunar cycle is very intriguing and not something I’d come across before. I also liked that the concept, while new feeling, wasn’t overly complicated, but felt approachable, especially for younger readers. And this is where part of my problems come in, I believe. When stepping back from my reading experience, I would say much of the reason I didn’t enjoy this one was because it seems to be the type of book best suited towards one fairly specific audience: middle school to young teen readers who are fairly unfamiliar to the fantasy genre and its conventions. For these readers, much of what is being done here may hold more interest, but for older readers, or those who read a lot of fantasy, much of it feels standard to the point of banality.
Further, this book is a perfect example of the YA “genre” being a bit to broad, or perhaps the marketers/publishers getting it wrong when promoting this book. The characters are meant to be 18, but throughout the entire story they read much, much younger. This shows itself in the dialogue, but even more so in the rather simplistic approaches to life that they incorporate, as well as some of the more ridiculous decisions they make. I believe even older teenagers would struggle to really connect to these characters without growing quickly frustrated by their storylines, let alone the many adult readers of YA fantasy fiction.
As far as fantasy concepts go, the story also follows a fairly tried and true “chosen one” plot line, very rarely veering into any territory that truly feels original. And, again, while I think the simplicity of the magic system can also be a pro, it can work against the story as well, coming across as overly basic at times, with very little room for growth, depth, or context. The romance, too, struggles in much the same way. There is nothing overtly wrong with this aspect of the story, but it never felt like it was ever taking any risks or swerving in any way that might surprise readers.
Ultimately, this book could be a success for younger readers looking for an entry point into fantasy fiction. But older readers, even just older teens, and those well-versed in fantasy stories will likely find themselves bored for much of this read and would do better to look elsewhere. For these readers, I’d likely rate this a 6, but I’ll bump it up since so much of this rating comes down to this disconnect between reader and book, more so than any distinct failures on the book’s part.
Rating 7: Perhaps a story that will work for middle grade readers looking to first dip their toes into fantasy fiction, but there’s not enough in this book to truly appeal to general fantasy readers.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Draw Down the Moon” can be found on this Goodreads list: Cover Illustrated by Afterblossom (Kelly Chong)
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