Review: Moon Spell by Samantha Young

Book:  Moon Spell by Samantha Young

Stand-Alone or Series: Series, The Tale of Lunarmorte #1
Pages: 222

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy
Purchase A Copy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords
Publication Date: March 1st, 2011

Description:  Existing in the shadows of our world are supernatural races; children blessed by the ancient Greek gods with unimaginable gifts, and at present they are fighting a two thousand year old war with one another.

The Midnight Coven, an alliance of dark magiks, faeries, and daemons born of black magik, believe that vampyres and lykans are lesser supernaturals and a threat to mankind.
The Daylight Coven, a confederate of light magiks, faeries, vampyres and lykans, believe in the equality of the races.

Into this war, seventeen year old Caia Ribeiro is born, a lykan with a heritage unlike any other. A heritage that, whether she wants it to or not, will put her into the ver heart of battle.

 

Moon Spell is a remarkable young adult fantasy that is propelled by lies, deceit and love. The writing style is quite unique; though it is targeted to teenagers, it reads more like an adult urban fantasy than a young adult novel. I would imagine this is due the age difference between the two main characters. Caia is a seventeen year old who has recently been reunited with her lykan pack. Lucien, who is ten years her senior is the pack alpha and her primary love interest. I will be honest, the age difference does bother me a bit. I wish Caia could atleast have been 18 - but I guess it's no different than a vampire creeping on a teenage girl. And Young does go through great pains to emphasize how different the pack is from normal humans, so it cushions the shock a bit. Anyways, I think this range of age contributes to the unusually tone of the book because it has to properly capture a teenage girl and a 27 year old man. 

Caia is a marvelous character with a huge independent streak that doesn’t bode well with the pack, who obviously, are more “group” people. She wasn’t raised with a pack and therefore has always kept to herself. The heartthrob of the book, Lucien (the pack alpha) is very thing you’ve come to expect from alphas; he is completely swoon-worthy and incredibly overprotective. He is drawn to Caia more than anyone before and at first it scares him. He doesn’t really know how to react to her. Together they are the perfect match – she is the yin to his yang. She balances him out; where he is quick to act on his emotions, she is usually calm, quiet and collected.

The rest of the pack is incredibly colorful and unique.  Some Caia counts as friends, but unfortunately there are those who are dead set against her.  They are weary of her presence – with her slight build and calm demeanor she is obviously different. Despite the tension Caia manages to make a few strong connections with a few of her teenage peers – mainly Sebastian and Jaeden.  These two characters do a great job of defusing the tension of the novel.  

The plotline chugs along at a respectable pace and there are more plot twists than I care to count. Every time I thought I had things figured out, the story took an unexpected turn.  Young also is somehow able to bring something new to the ‘werewolf’ table – she connects them to Greek Mythology.  This places a fun spin onto the traditional take of werewolves and allows for some surprises to take place. 

I am eager to dive into the sequel, River Cast to see what becomes of my new favorite lykans. If you are looking for an exciting fantasy read that will keep you on your toes, then give Moon Spell a try!

 Favorite Quotes

"She held herself far more coolly than the rest of them. She was like water to their fire."

"Lykans were an emotional lot, he was used to women crying and shouting over nothing. But the sight of Caia curled up on the bathroom floor with true pain behind her eyes had done something to his insides. He never wanted to see her like that again."

"Just as he pulled his t-shirt back on, he looked back up at her window to see her standing looking down at him. She wore  a small smile, her eyes really soft on his for the first time. She gave a slight wave, and moved away from the window into the darkness of her room. Something inside Lucien split open."

"She had never wanted to feel anything for anyone and now her heart was breaking for two lykans."

"She lay panting underneath him, her eyes wide on his as he gazed back at her with such tenderness and lust she thought she would shatter."

"She closed her eyes and slumped in her chair, refusing to look at the big oaf."

"Holy Artemis, how could she still want him after that he-man display of outrageousness?"

"Oh, please," he scoffed, "Enough with the threats you pint-sized harpy."