Goddess of the Night by Lynne Ewing

 

I first started reading this series back in middle school and was completely engulfed in the witchy world of the characters. I was lucky enough to find books 1-9 at Goodwill several months ago, and now I’ve decided to reread them to see how I like them now.

The first book of the Daughters of the Moon series was a really fun and quick read. I read it mostly at night, which emphasized the slight creepiness of when Vanessa, the main character, was being followed. The writing was pretty juvenile, including a lot of short, simple sentences. However, when there was description, it was more enjoyable, especially when the girl’s powers were being explained.

The overall storyline was extremely predictable. It is easy to see from the beginning who the bad guy is going to be. The characters were definitely underdeveloped. Vanessa, despite being popular and cool, is a regular, boring girl, with no back story and hardly any personality. The others, though they had a bit more personality, still did not seem very believable. Each character just seemed to be contained of a different cliche high school group.

The way the characters meet was unrealistic. Vanessa acts like Serena is her friend almost instantly, when all she did was go over her house for a psychic reading. They become friends without ever really being friends. Also, the relationship between Vanessa and Michael is very forced. Despite Vanessa telling the reader that she has always liked Michael and that they apparently had something going before the start of the book, it still seemed to develop unnaturally, and there is no concrete reason given as to why Vanessa even likes Michael. Also I like how the character of Stanton developed throughout the story, even though he rarely appeared.

So there were a lot of things wrong with this book, but fortunately, those faults didn’t stop me from liking it. I am a sucker for girls with magic powers, and the lore behind them, especially moon driven powers. Though it is only touched upon in this book, through the character Maggie, I love the Greek mythology aspect of their magic, as well.

I also really liked how Vanessa didn’t take any sexist shit. That’s something I did not notice the first time reading this, but finding them this second time made me appreciate this book even more.

There was definitely a bit of nostalgia going on for me while I was reading this book, which is perhaps why I liked it more than I should have. Regardless, if you are willing to overlook this book’s flaws, it’s worth a read. I definitely recommend it for a younger audience, like middle schoolers. With it’s subtle basis in Greek mythology, and slight feminist undertone, I think this is a great book for young girls. I will be continuing the series, and I’m excited to see if there is any character development.

The Exraordinary Secrets of April, May & June by Robin Benway

To be honest, I only picked this book up because of its gorgeous cover and clever title. However, based on those two things, along with the short summary on the back, I expected it to be filled with puke-worthy dialogue and cheesy relationships. Instead, I found the dialogue to be its strong point, and overall, for it to be a decent read.

This was a pretty light YA read, something I wouldn’t normally pick up. Though it clearly was no literary masterpiece, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I guess it was what I needed in between reading much heavier books. Also, it reminded me a bit of the show H2O, in which 3 different girls discover they are mermaids, which was nice.

Following three sisters, April, May and June, this story is about how they rediscover the magic powers that they have, and how they deal with them, including the consequences of using them. Even more so, it is about the sisterly bond between the three girls, which, although put to the test, proved to be strong. The three sisters’ personalities varied greatly. They were very stereotypical, but held more depth than I expected. The dialogue between them was quite realistic. Their constant arguing was, at times, annoying, and at others, entertaining. I especially appreciated May’s extensive use of sarcasm.

The overall plot was also very enjoyable. Although it was just the everyday life of teenagers, it felt real and whole, with a strong climax and resolution. The relationships were not instantaneous, but they were pretty predictable. Luckily, the story was not solely about the relationships between May and Henry, and April and Julian. It focused mainly on the relationship between the three girls and how each of them dealt with their powers, as well as the drama in their lives.

While I liked how they rediscovered their powers, instead of just randomly obtaining them, I wished there had been more of an explanation. Their grandmother is mentioned once in regards to it, but there is never any solid evidence given as to why the girls have their powers. The story lacked depth in that way. It could have been a lot deeper and more interesting if they had tried to find the reasoning behind their powers or something. Likewise, the character of Avery confused me greatly. I wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be some sort of ghost or a real person or something else completely. The girls briefly discuss her, but no real answer is given as to who she is.

The biggest downfall of this book was its predictability. Nearly the entire thing was predictable, from the relationships to the climax. It was easy to figure out what would happen next, but at least it was enjoyable finding out how the characters would get to that point.

For those reasons, I can’t give it more than 3 stars. I really enjoyed this book, and I will likely read it again. However, its predictability and the holes in the explanation to the girls powers left me feeling like the story was unresolved.