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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The Alchemy of Moonlight is a perfect combination of regency gothic setting with fantasy. Ferraro details a rich setting of inheritances and dangerous gardens. In order to gain his inheritance and be free of his aunt's homophobia, Emile goes undercover as a servant hoping to wait out the six months until his birthday. The foundation of the story is Emile's desire to be seen and loved for who he is. To live a life where he's free to choose and not forced to marry in name only.
From the beginning, I loved Emile's character as he struggles to be a proficient servant all while fighting for the hope for love. Emile's situation is incredibly precarious and dangerous risking losing his fortune, but also institutionalization. My heart was in my chest for Emile. The Alchemy of Moonlight is a story which creeps up on you. Ferraro sprinkles in elements of the supernatural, clues, and disbelief. With love triangle vibes - albeit with some pretty complicated mistakes - Emile's story forces him to find people who can see him.
The Alchemy of Moonlight is a perfect combination of regency gothic setting with fantasy. Ferraro details a rich setting of inheritances and dangerous gardens. In order to gain his inheritance and be free of his aunt's homophobia, Emile goes undercover as a servant hoping to wait out the six months until his birthday. The foundation of the story is Emile's desire to be seen and loved for who he is. To live a life where he's free to choose and not forced to marry in name only.
From the beginning, I loved Emile's character as he struggles to be a proficient servant all while fighting for the hope for love. Emile's situation is incredibly precarious and dangerous risking losing his fortune, but also institutionalization. My heart was in my chest for Emile. The Alchemy of Moonlight is a story which creeps up on you. Ferraro sprinkles in elements of the supernatural, clues, and disbelief. With love triangle vibes - albeit with some pretty complicated mistakes - Emile's story forces him to find people who can see him.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Domestic abuse
mysterious
A physical ARC was provided to me by the author to review for the MuggleNet Book Trolley.
CW
đ Death on Page
đ Mentions of Blood
đ Abuse on Page
The Alchemy of Moonlight follows Emile, a seventeen-year-old trying to get by until he can rightfully claim his inheritance. When he runs away to pose as a servant to evade his aunt, things go awry and nothing is quite what it seems in this queer gothic romance. Emile is faced with trying to discover the secret behind Count Montoni and his niece and nephew, and why people keep disappearing from the property.
This book always surprised me. From the direction the plot took to the decisions Emile made, I never really knew what was coming next, which was a nice surprise. There is a paranormal subplot. It was pretty enjoyable and my favorite part of the story. I havenât read a lot of the genre, but the lore presented wasnât something Iâd seen in other books. So many seem to reuse the same characteristics or tells based on what I have read, but there was a clear effort to be different, which I appreciate.
As for the romantic side of the plot, I never knew which side of the love triangle to root for. Each made sense in its own way, and all the individuals involved had their strengths and flaws. That said, the way the love triangle turned out in the end was a pleasant surprise, as I havenât read a book with an ending like it before.
CW
đ Death on Page
đ Mentions of Blood
đ Abuse on Page
The Alchemy of Moonlight follows Emile, a seventeen-year-old trying to get by until he can rightfully claim his inheritance. When he runs away to pose as a servant to evade his aunt, things go awry and nothing is quite what it seems in this queer gothic romance. Emile is faced with trying to discover the secret behind Count Montoni and his niece and nephew, and why people keep disappearing from the property.
This book always surprised me. From the direction the plot took to the decisions Emile made, I never really knew what was coming next, which was a nice surprise. There is a paranormal subplot. It was pretty enjoyable and my favorite part of the story. I havenât read a lot of the genre, but the lore presented wasnât something Iâd seen in other books. So many seem to reuse the same characteristics or tells based on what I have read, but there was a clear effort to be different, which I appreciate.
As for the romantic side of the plot, I never knew which side of the love triangle to root for. Each made sense in its own way, and all the individuals involved had their strengths and flaws. That said, the way the love triangle turned out in the end was a pleasant surprise, as I havenât read a book with an ending like it before.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Alchemy of Moonlight is a YA queer fantasy romance about Emile, a runaway marquis hiding from his not-so-nice aunt by working on a countâs house staff. Through his position, Emile learns that the count might be hiding some secrets that may be good blackmail fodder, and drama and action inevitably ensues.
This book was a 3.5 âïž for me, rounded up to a 4 based on vibes and enjoyment, especially in the second half. The first half of the book was a little slower and slightly predictable - you were just kind of waiting for the inevitable reveal that you knew was coming, but Emile was apparently too blind to work out đ Around the halfway point, though, there were a couple of twists I wasnât expecting and the action really picked up! From there, I really enjoyed all the secrets uncovered and the progression of the story.
Character-wise, I will admit Emile was not my favorite. I had to keep reminding myself of his age as his occasional naivety rubbed against me. I really enjoyed both Bram and Henri - Bram is kind and genuine and we get to see a lot of Henriâs complexity. That said, I did feel the romance between them and Emile was a little insta-love-y and didnât have a super strong basis BUT it was super cute đ„ș. Blanche was by far my favorite though - she was both complex and genuine and just an enjoyable person to get to know through the story. She has a similar background to Henri, but it drove her a completely different direction than it drove him.
Overall, I would recommend this book for a fun, quick, semi-spooky fantasy romance!
Thanks to @dreamscape_media for the audio arc via @netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
This book was a 3.5 âïž for me, rounded up to a 4 based on vibes and enjoyment, especially in the second half. The first half of the book was a little slower and slightly predictable - you were just kind of waiting for the inevitable reveal that you knew was coming, but Emile was apparently too blind to work out đ Around the halfway point, though, there were a couple of twists I wasnât expecting and the action really picked up! From there, I really enjoyed all the secrets uncovered and the progression of the story.
Character-wise, I will admit Emile was not my favorite. I had to keep reminding myself of his age as his occasional naivety rubbed against me. I really enjoyed both Bram and Henri - Bram is kind and genuine and we get to see a lot of Henriâs complexity. That said, I did feel the romance between them and Emile was a little insta-love-y and didnât have a super strong basis BUT it was super cute đ„ș. Blanche was by far my favorite though - she was both complex and genuine and just an enjoyable person to get to know through the story. She has a similar background to Henri, but it drove her a completely different direction than it drove him.
Overall, I would recommend this book for a fun, quick, semi-spooky fantasy romance!
Thanks to @dreamscape_media for the audio arc via @netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
I received an audio ARC from Netgalley for an honest review
I did enjoy the story, but there were a couple things that I thought brought the railing down
The âbig secretâ to the Montoni family is not revealed to our main character until basically the end even though as the reader, we kinda already know whatâs going on. This made me kinda lose interest to the point that when it was revealed I thought âfinally!â It was way to much lead up for a âsecretâ we already knew.
I also felt like that where there were a few different things going on, there was not much time spent on each plot point (His romances, The âsecretâ, the aunt plot that kinda is a forced marriage, the other forced marriage plot) it felt like we went from point A directly to point B and there was just no in between.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I truly think if you go into this expecting a YA version of a typical period piece romance novel, youâre going to have a great time. I do think thereâs some pacing issues around the 75% mark BUT overall I had so much fun with this! Fun atmospheric romance, many fun nods to gothic lit tropes, and ofc, itâs gay! I just truly had a great time reading this start to finish and would loooooove to have in my classroom library đ€
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
*Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing and e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review*
DNF at 71% This book takes waaaaaaayyyyy too long for anything to happen. At over 2/3s of the book nothing has happened yet. The description includes that there are werewolves in the story and as of now, they have not even been revealed yet. It's a lot of romantic drama/scandal without anything actually happening. I liked the setting and the fact that the characters are more diverse but the actual pacing of the story and plot line leave a lot to be desired. It could have been very good but unfortunately was not. As someone who LOVES fantasy and magic, there has been no magical elements at the 71% mark.
DNF at 71% This book takes waaaaaaayyyyy too long for anything to happen. At over 2/3s of the book nothing has happened yet. The description includes that there are werewolves in the story and as of now, they have not even been revealed yet. It's a lot of romantic drama/scandal without anything actually happening. I liked the setting and the fact that the characters are more diverse but the actual pacing of the story and plot line leave a lot to be desired. It could have been very good but unfortunately was not. As someone who LOVES fantasy and magic, there has been no magical elements at the 71% mark.
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Gothic queer paranormal romance. The vibes were dark. The book was a super quick, easy read.
That being said, it read like young YA down to the super annoying and toxic romance.
The plot was messsssy and was there even alchemy?
Read it for the vibes and if you enjoy angsty love triangles.
Dont read it if you require character development or well established lore.
That being said, it read like young YA down to the super annoying and toxic romance.
The plot was messsssy and was there even alchemy?
Read it for the vibes and if you enjoy angsty love triangles.
Dont read it if you require character development or well established lore.
This was a great atmospheric read. This slow burn story was beautifully written and I loved how it felt historical yet fresh and modern at the same time. This book was full of complex, likable characters and I really enjoyed getting to know them. I appreciated the storyline surrounding the romance and how it ended up wrapping up in the end.
My only criticism is that the pacing seemed to waver from time to time, going from feeling a bit rushed to a little slow. There were a few sections that I felt didnât serve much of a purpose.
Overall this was a really good read and fans of supernatural, gothic, historical stories will really enjoy this one.