Moonstruck

by Onley James

Well. I didn't like this as much as I liked the first two books. It wasn't bad - just different and not quite what I was expecting.

I liked Atticus but I didn't love him. He started off interesting - the mimic who was teaching himself - but it kind of just went nowhere. And he didn't really make sense either. He just seemed to be contradictory. He hates blood and gore but only when it's what - on him? Not just around him? So he can eat? I mean it just seemed unrealistic. And he relates best to Calliope and Lucas and Noah? I thought the idea that he maybe had feelings and empathy and compassion and whatever would've been interesting to explore but it never went any further into that either. I would've liked to see his friendship with Calliope explored further too. And I wanted to know more about what he remembers of his mother. It was mentioned and then just never mentioned again. So I had conflicting feelings about Atticus. He could've been really interesting but he was just average.

Jericho had his own problems. A killer that's not a psychopath. Fine I can get on board with that. A killer with a heart of gold. Sure. But I didn't really feel like he was differentiated from the psychopaths. He supposedly has feelings but has no issues with torture? I didn't see it. Not without having a personal stake or needing the information to justify it. So he didn't quite ring true.

I did more or less like the relationship between them. But my issues with each meant I didn't love them. As far as Jericho's family...I'm not sure how I felt about that. In some ways sure, great. In other ways it felt like just another family of psychopaths. That said, the chemistry between Avi and Felix was off the charts and I'm feeling pretty confident I'm going to love their book, so I don't know what I think about Jericho's family.

I'm also pretty curious about the whole Thomas/Aiden thing. So it wasn't my favourite but it's not a low rating either. 3.5 stars, rounded to 4.