3.47 AVERAGE

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

It was actually really good. I hated Henri but he grew on me a little. Still not my favorite but he was redeemed. Anyway I’m also glad with how it ended. I loved the twist. And I loved Blanches end as well. Pretty well written as well

2 stars .... I wanted to like this book SOOOOOO bad. So badly. I think the lack of werewolves for 90% of the book really made me sad. The 10% is them trying to cure it. And I HATED RHE ENDing. THIS IS A WHY CHOOSE BOOK AND THE AUTHOR NEEDS TO MAKE THAT CLEARER and not just on the cover! Blindsided! Nowhere in the book does it feel like a why choose/poly?. I hate this ending because it just felt like the author themselves could not choose between their characters and just picked poor writing and it did not feel like this ending was well flushed out. The beginning of this book I loved! It just went downhill and the middle was boring and drawnout. I'm sad. The cover is so pretty too.
dark emotional funny mysterious
adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous tense slow-paced
dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No

Plot: Emile, a marquis hiding from his aunt who wants to put him in an asylum, pretends to be a servant for Count Montoni. While it's never really clear why the blackmail is so important, its hilarious how Emile is a complete failure at being secretive.
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Characters: Emile is terrible at secrets and has a confusing amount of bravery. We're introduced to him picking up a severed human hand with a napkin, and at the end of the book, he's freaking out about a decrepid-looking body. He's also got a thing for releasing spiders outside and giving makeovers and making fashion statements.

Bram is the Montoni's family doctor. He and Emile fall in love the moment they touch a severed hand together. So romantic Bram is patient and selfless, the perfect man.
And then there's Henri, a red flag that fades into a pink softie who thinks picnics are the solution to all fights.

In the romance, Emile's got a heart of gold, but it's only plated (A little inside joke, if I might add). He "doesn't want to break any hearts" so he refuses to choose between Bram and Henri and string them along. I rooted for Bram the entire time, until I realized how much of a dick Emile could be. Bram deserved so much better than Emile. But at the end, Henri slightly redeemed himself. I guess.
I mean, he needed a redemption arc.
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Side Characters: Blanche, Henri's sister, is the best thing about Henri and Emile. Sort of like Felicity from Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue.
description
Annette is Blanche's attendant. At first, she's rude but caring. Over the story, like most women written in Ferrarro's novel, are witty and amazing.

The writing peaked with horrific details. Ferrarro is not for arachnophobes and necrophobes. Sometimes I forgot I was reading a romance because the images were described so well. His expansion on the werewolf lore is a refreshing addition as well. That ending was nothing but a rollercoaster of emotions. It went from "You f-ing didn't" in one scene I hated to "You f-ing did it!" in an ending that was perfect.

Overall: Thank you to #NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook ARC of #TheAlchemyofMoonlight in exchange for an honest review. 4/5 Audiobook was approximately 9 hours.
Would totally recommend if you want a werewolf horror version of Gentleman's Guide and a bit of a love triangle. Smut readers be warned, there is nothing beyond kissing and cuddling.

The Alchemy of Moonlight was exactly what I was looking for this spooky season. There was love, lust and werewolves! Emile was a great MC and his love triangle of sorts with Bram and Henri was interesting. I loved the interactions and cozy scenes with Brahm and went from loathing Henri to understanding and liking him. Henri’s sister stole the show during her scenes as well. There was just the right amount of horror with this story and it kept my attention the entire time. I listened to the audiobook and the voice acting was great; I definitely plan on buying the physical copy for my collection.

This was my first book from David Ferraro and am looking to checking out more from him.
adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced