Review: Serious Moonlight

I’m always a Jenn Bennett fan, but even a favorite author doesn’t always write books that click with me. Read my review of Serious Moonlight below!

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett

To be published on April 16, 2019 by Simon Pulse

Thanks to Simon Pulse for the ARC in exchange for a review

Synopsis adapted from Goodreads: After an awkward first encounter, Birdie and Daniel are forced to work together in a Seattle hotel where a famous author leads a mysterious and secluded life. Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he’s stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel. To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel.

Review: Serious Moonlight

I never dislike a Jenn Bennett book – her wonderful writing, thoughtful characterization, and wonderfully immersive settings are always something I look forward to.

However, I am sad to say that Serious Moonlight wasn’t my favorite of her books. All the components were interesting and well-done in and of themselves, but as a whole – at least for me – they just didn’t gel as I wanted them to. There was a lot going on – too much for me to really sit with the characters and their story and feel something for them.

It took me a long time to finish this, and I think that’s because most of the book made me really sad. The book starts with the main character just having lost her virginity in a car with a complete stranger. While that in and of itself wouldn’t be an issue for me and I do think women should absolutely have as much sexual freedom as men, this act happens so soon in the book that it’s completely without context. As I got to know the characters more, it seemed like something that completely different characters would do. But not these characters. I could never really understand why it happened, or feel that it belonged in this particular story.

I liked Daniel a lot. Birdie was a harder character for me to relate to – which is weird since we have a lot in common, being bookish and mystery-obsessed. But Birdie’s entire situation was depressing to me in a way that I found hard to get past and that the book didn’t acknowledge in a way that I wanted. Birdie’s mom died years before and she’s recently lost her grandmother. She lives with family members who really don’t seem to care about her at all. She has an aunt who seems far more invested in creating elaborate outfits and high-fiving Birdie for her sex life than being concerned that a lonely, socially awkward girl has done something that to me was more a cry for help and attention and human connection than anything else. She also has a grandfather who seemed completely distant and disconnected – he’s grieving too, but he’s pretty aloof. Plus, Birdie has obvious medical issues that the family just ignores. This all bothered me.

Then there was a mystery plot that should have been fun and diverting, but given the sad emotional undercurrent (Daniel also has a complicated backstory) of the story, I couldn’t really enjoy. Each individual element of the story (the sex, Birdie’s awkwardness, Daniel’s backstory, Birdie’s family, Birdie’s medical issued, the mystery) was fine, but put together they seemed discordant and just … too much. On the plus side: Daniel. I really loved him as a character. The Seattle setting (with the hotel and the coffee shop) was also really fun – Jenn Bennett always has settings that are unique and completely immersive.

So, though I remain a huge fan of Bennett’s, this book was not really for me. I have seen other people on Goodreads love it, so don’t let me deter you from giving it a try!

Have you read this? Let me know your thoughts in comments!