Hello Bookies! We have finished our latest novel, Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett, and we absolutely loved it. Her stories and characters are so relatable, it feels like a story that could actually happen (which isn’t normal in contemporary novels). Her characters are real people with real life problems, they are unconventional contemporary romance characters. You know that at the end they will end up together but their path along the way is a mystery. Her stories don’t follow the typical romance formula.
If you have yet to read this book, we highly encourage you to do so along with her previous novels (which are equally amazing). We are about to debut some huge spoilers so this is your one and only warning….
Jennifer: I absolutely loved this book! Birdie is such a unique character and I loved her story. From the start you know that Birdie is not your average heroine, one look at her name and you know that she is going to be unique. I love how she approaches every situation with detective goggles, and tries to profile people into cases to be solved. One of her biggest mysteries starts at the beginning of the novel when she has a secret rendezvous with a stranger in his backseat. This act of rebellion (her late grandmother was her own personal warden) was so out of character and yet it led her to someone extraordinary: Daniel.
Sarah: I have to admit that I called Daniel being the secret guy who she slept with! I just knew from the beginning that that would be her luck. Well I say luck but in reality it was fate. Fate kept pulling them together and I normally don’t believe in fate but this book definitely changed my mind. They were truly meant to be together, they both had obstacles in their lives that shaped who they were. Birdie had two parental figures who died (her mother and grandmother), she had lived an isolated life because her grandmother was too overprotective, and she suffered from narcolepsy. Daniel had lost the hearing in one of his ears from a magic trick accident and he suffered from depression which at one time in his life caused him to try to commit suicide. I think they were perfect for each other because they were so unperfect. They were able to be there for each other.
Jennifer: Yes that is exactly right! They are equally damaged, each having their own struggles /doubts. For both of them, they struggled with telling each other the truth about their inner demons. Birdie didn’t want to discuss her narcolepsy because she didn’t want to seem like a fragile flower, and Daniel did not want the pity that is often associated with depression/suicide. One of the most pivotal moments in this novel, regarding their relationship, was the night Daniel laid himself bare and told her everything. I truly felt sorry for her because she was afraid to love him. Afraid that she would never be what he needed, never be enough, and never be the one to keep him from falling into another black hole. Most of all she was afraid of what was to come if she admitted that she did love him, because in her mind everyone she has ever loved has died. “I could lose him like I’ve lost everyone else in my life. That terrified me” (257). How devastating it would be for her to not only lose Daniel, but to be the cause of it. I think that is why she was so shaken after Cherry (Daniel’s mom) confronted them after they fell asleep together. “‘I’m trying to keep him steady so that he doesn’t plummet into another depression. Do you really want to be responsible for that?’ “(301). Daniel is her first quote on quote relationship and she doesn’t know how to even be in a relationship. How unnerving it must be to love someone, but at the same time being afraid of that love.
Sarah: This relationship is a really big step for both of them, for completely different reasons. I like the fact that Daniel isn’t afraid to share his feelings. He admits to her that he is a “commitment kind of guy” (142) and he is the first to say I love you. A lot of the time in movies and romance books, the guys are really masculine and don’t easily share their feelings. I like that Jenn Bennett went the opposite way with Daniel. He is this adorkable, cute and nerdy guy who really cares for a girl and isn’t afraid to show it. He goes above and beyond for Birdie. One of my favorite moments was when he took her to a live action Clue dinner murder mystery party. It was the cutest thing and it is now on my bucket list!
Jennifer: That was one of my favorite moments too. That and the scavenger hunt he orchestrated at the end of the book to apologize for the Raymond Darke incident. Speaking of, did you see that coming Sarah? There were a lot of things that I called in this book…1) Daniel being the guy she slept with..2) the “stupid thing” that Daniel did was trying to commit suicide…3) Aunt Mona being preggers with the Snodgrass guy ( or is it Snotgrass? Doesn’t matter). However I was truly surprised to find out that Darke was Daniel’s father!
Sarah: yea I didn’t call any of those things! You were way more intuitive in this book than I was! But for sure the biggest surprise for me was that Raymond Darke (aka Bill Waddle) was Daniel’s dad. Also a huge shock that his secret meetings at the hotel were for adoption purposes! It all seemed too shady for such a simple revelation.
Jennifer: I agree! I was with Daniel that this was something far more nefarious like a drug ring, sex ring, some kind of illegal ring. What I also found interesting was that Daniel knew the entire time that Darke was his father. He created the “mystery” to get to know Birdie, and I think that just again speaks to the lengths this man will go in order to be with her.
Sarah: True, although that one did blow up in his face! He took that one a bit too far but at the same time I understand his reasoning. He believed that Birdie would run away if she knew he truth because she had a tendency to run when things got to tough for her to handle. This obviously made her mad and she ended up “going boneless,” which was caused by her narcolepsy. This whole incident finally caused Aunt Mona to reveal that her mother’s death could have been prevented if she had only gone to the hospital. She had had an eptopic pregnancy and Birdie had always believed that her mother had no idea. Mona revealed to her that her mother had known but thought she would wait it out and see. This revelation caused Birdie to face her problem and realize that she needed medical attention. This also in turn led to her realizing that she really did love Daniel and didn’t want to run away this time.
Jennifer: I think that Mona’s revelation altered Birdie’s point of view in several ways. Birdie, like all young girls, idolized her mother and that became even more pronounced when her mother died when she young. So this revelation that her mother ignored a serious medical condition, and the fact that her mother was somewhat missing most of her childhood, caused her to realize that Mona was more of a mother to her than her actual biological mother. So much so that she says that she “doesn’t want to be like” her mother…this is what causes her to seek medical treatment. I love the fact that Mona simply says to just be herself. I think that Mona is going to be a great mother!
Sarah: The ending was the cutest and I really like how it hinted at the next step in their lives. Birdie wanting to be a detective and Daniel going to carpentry school. I think it was the perfect way to end their story!
Keep a look out for our next blog on The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab. Until then, keep on reading! – S&J
(Disclaimer: All pictures were found on Google and do not belong to us)
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