I really enjoyed this book - I liked the development of the relationship between Birdie and Daniel - each with their hang ups and secrets. The mix of their relationship and their investigation of the elusive author worked well. I also liked the minor characters particularly Mona.

A quirky fun read - definitely one for my library!

3.75/5

I did enjoy this overall, I loved Birdie and Daniel and their journey through the book, and I'm loving characters that are into detectives/ crime mysteries atm too!
However, I just didn't enjoy this as much as i've enjoyed Jenn's other books, and kind of didn't like how some of the mental health stuff was approached and handled in the book too

trigger warnings for talk of suicide attempts, depression

I am a huge fan of Jenn Bennett’s books and this story, which has such beautiful main characters in Birdie and Daniel has been a wonderful journey. After just one evening spent together following a chance meeting at the Moonlight Diner, Birdie thought she was unlikely to ever see Daniel again. Little did she know that on her first night of a summer job working at the Cascadia Hotel in Seattle, Daniel would be working there too. As their time together increases and their friendship develops, they discover that a famous reclusive writer, never before seen in public has been secretly meeting someone at the hotel. And together, they set out on a journey to discover just who is behind the alias Raymond Darke.

I really loved the pace of this story and how it was told in the first person from Birdie’s perspective. Her love of reading and solving mysteries just like her favourite fictional characters was so refreshing to see in a main character and the profiling she did in her head of key people throughout the story was a great unique touch! I thought the one of herself right at the beginning that gave lots of background information about her family and upbringing in a really succinct way was particularly clever. I also really fell in love with Daniel, who is sensitive and caring with a talent for magic and misdirection which was subtly incorporated. It has been really enjoyable seeing the development in their relationship together and I definitely didn’t see the twist coming with regards to the mystery they were solving.

I found it really interesting too learning about the condition of narcolepsy and the additional symptom of cataplexy whereby the person has sudden muscle weakness which can lead to total collapse, yet they are still conscious with their hearing and awareness remaining undisturbed. The story also sensitively incorporates how someone is dealing with events following their own attempted death by suicide.

Finally, I have loved reflecting on the idea of things occurring due to fate and this is something that is really cleverly interwoven throughout the story. I definitely believe that if something is meant to be, it will find a way to happen no matter what.

Wow. Just WOW! I had never read a Jenn Bennett book before but I'm going to track down the rest of her work now for certain. I don't really like YA contemporary that much but Bennett has that special glitter to her writing that makes you feel you're reading fantasy even when you're not. Her prose is clean and clear, and very accessible. Her characters are well drawn and believable - you just can't help rooting for them. So many YA authors close the book when two characters get together and never actually explore a relationship or how hard it can be. Not so Jenn Bennett. This was really well done. Colour me impressed.

Serious Moonlight struggled to find its feet, for me. The relationship between the characters was good to begin with, and you could tell they were really well matched, but they let the fact that they started off on the wrong foot get in the way for too long, and were never truly open with each other until the end. Also, for some reason, Birdie was making Daniel's problems all about her and that was not cute.

I really liked the adults in the book. Birdie's pseudo-aunt was great and feisty, and her youth deserves its own novel. The hotel setting was also what initially drew me in (along with the detective mystery thing, because, hello, 'Goldie Vance' vibes, anyone?) But, this element was really underplayed, so I ended up disappointed.

I'm sorry to say this is not my favourite of hers, but the more meandering style for plot and characters meant that it was an easy read that still delivered the warm and fuzzies by the final page,

This book has quickly become my favourite Jenn Bennett book.

It was absolutely incredible, I read this after a lot of heavy fantasy books and it was just what I needed. I loved the characters and I read it so quickly.

I definitely recommend if you’re looking for a easy but incredible contemporary.

ARC provided from the publisher( Simon and Schuster UK Children's ) via Netgalley+ in exchange for an honest review (Thank you, Publisher!!)
I Just had to say that I absolutely loved Alex Approximately and I had so many high hopes from this one. Andddd YASS!!! I just loved the book, it was a awesome combination of Light Romance and Detective Skills.

This book was an absolutely perfect read and it was everything I could ever ask for. There's a mystery to solve which isn't an intense one that might involve in murder or anything bad, the romance between Bridie and Daniel and basically I just love everything about this book!!!

There were so many momentum in this story and it kept the story going through forward without making me lose my interest. There was never a time throughout it all where I wasn't bored yet I wanted so much to relish my time with these characters and the setting of the story and prolong it as much as I could just so that I can spend more time with it.

Both Birdie and Daniel has gone through a lot in their lives and it further proves that they need to be both strong mentally and physically in going through their lives together. I find that they just complete each other and so perfect. Especiall when they just get the other and go through their Nick and Nora moments.

The mystery that they're investigating has a surprised ending to it—one that I didn't expect to happen. I kept on wondering of what would turn to for this aspect of the story and I was blatantly surprised by the outcome. It was emotional and profounding.

I cannot recommend you this book enough. It's just so utterly good that I wish I could speak with someone about it but alas here is the downfall of reading a book before its published because just as excited I am as to be given the chance to read, its sad that I couldn't fangirl someone about how sweet and cute this couple is. As soon as April 16 comes around, you should get your hands on this book and read it!

4.25/5 stars

This was my second book by Jenn Bennett and I really loved it. It had a lot of great elements that I enjoyed very much. First of all, there was a cute romance between the two main characters, Birdie and Daniel. After an unusual beginning the two of them reconnected and started dating. I liked their relationship and how it developed. The fact that they solved mysteries together just made my heart melt. It was so cute. And don’t get me started on their first official date at that live-action Clue game, it was such a thoughtful idea. The main mystery was all about the inscrutable persona that is the famous author Raymond Drake. I was very interested in the mystery even though it was not the main aspect of the novel and I must say that I did not see that plot twist coming at all, it didn’t even cross my mind until they were there talking about it.
I appreciated the author including some representation and diversity. Daniel, one of the main characters, is Japanese and he’s unable to hear from one of his ears because of an accident he had. He also suffers from depression and has attempted suicide when he was in high school. Birdie, the other main character, has a narcolepsy disorder just like her grandpa. I think that all of these aspects were dealt with a lot of care and I really appreciated the characters talking freely about mental health and about going to the doctor and taking care of themselves.
Another remarkable thing these characters did was talk about safe sex which is something that often gets glossed over in most YAs. There was talk about teen pregnancy and Birdie and Daniel talked about using protection.
Also props to Jenn Bennett for creating such multilayered characters with interests, background stories and hopes for their future. Birdie had a lot of grief from her past to deal with it and I was happy to see that she had her grandpa and aunt Mona to lean on to. Family was also an important aspect of Daniel’s life and I very much liked the little moments we got to see of his mom and grandparents.
This book might just seem a cute romance filled with mystery but it’s so much more! The characters are amazing and they drive the story forward. I highly recommend this novel.

I absolutely adore Jenn Bennett's books. Her characters, her writing and her sex positivity makes this book another whopper for me. Birdie and Dan are a totally believable couple to me and I enjoyed that their relationship had bumps and hurdles along the way. The two of them have both been through so much and reading their dialogue and laughing out loud at times gave me hope. There were so many David Bowie references (especially to the notorious Labyrinth bulge which MADE MY LIFE!) and old school mystery references which for me were fabulous but I do thing could possibly be lost on some people.
The Birdie and Dan begin to solve the mystery of finding out who is behind the pen name of a famous author is. While I didn't see the twist coming I also wasn't too shocked overall to be honest. I think what kept it interesting for me was how the characters dealt with the revelation afterwards.
One thing I keep thinking about is how often Birdie and Dan discuss their sex life, although often it came out during arguments, it was still nice to see them actually discussing it and not skirting around the edges.
Overall this isn't my favourite of Bennett's books but I still throroughly enjoyed it.
Thank you to Netgalley for this e-ARC

4/5 Stars

If you're looking for a sweet book which will make you cry, but that will make you fall in love with the cutest characters then this is it. It was so wonderfully diverse and heartfelt and I felt for everyone's struggles.

Although it was a cute and entertaining read, I didn't fall completely in love with the book. I'll definitely be checking more of the author though.

Great read. You will not be disappointed. Even though it’s a YA book it’s a fab read for everyone.
Thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

The love interest, Daniel, was a bit cliche manic pixie dream boy with a secret. I did, however, like the introverted but trying to live a little protagonist Birdie. I don't think I've ever read a book with a character with possible narcolepsy so that was educational.

Good writing. I own other books by this author and have definitely mentally bumped them up my to-read pile because the writing style was so good.

An interesting mystery with the thriller writer that we unfortunately kept getting massively distracted from in order to have feelings and miscommunication with Daniel. The author does write feelings very well and detailed though.

There was a lot of description of Seattle, which was nice. It was almost a character in the book, even though I'm sure I missed a lot of the references by not knowing the first thing about Seattle.

Aunt Mona was definitely the best character in this. I was always fully on board with everything Mona did.

The ending was a little too neat and tidy especially with how the mystery was handled.

Another small niggle for me was that there was very little mention of Birdie's grandmother other than her being overwhelmingly controlling and yet towards the end of the book Birdie says she's been grieving and has gained some closure - there is no evidence of this on the pages that I remember.

I received an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Five stars for the realistically sex positive romance .
Three stars for the gratuitous mystery.
Not her best but still cute enough

SOMEBODY PINCH ME, IS THIS BOOK REAL? I'll count my fingers to make sure this wasn't some dream...

I loved this. Before I would've said oh thats unsurprising, as I loved both Night Owls and Alex, Approximately. But after reading Starry Eyes with my book group, A Book Nirvana a few months ago, I had apprehensions about this. (I've also been debating if I'd have liked Starry Eyes if I wasn't fast to a) lead a discussion and b) avoid awkward spoilers!! Sometimes people make mistakes. It happens).

Ultimately, everything Starry Eyes got wrong, Serious Moonlight got right. The parents in this aren't always present - there's a mixture of different family structures. Single parents, to being raised by grandparents and 'aunt's'. And it was beautiful. Where as in Starry Eyes it all felt very cheap and eh, in this it felt real. Authentic. Seeing that people aren't always there but forming new connections with others and learn working to build bonds. Honestly, I cried.

THIS BOOK MADE ME CRY A LOT.
(Also I'm reviewing this as an ARC so I can't use quotations BUT WOOW!).
So yes. The parental/family aspect was great. It showed blended families and how people work to build their bonds and dealing with guilt and grief and anxiety and it was wonderful and felt real and JUST GREAT.

Also the mental health aspect was very well done. I cried (again). The way they made it clear that this was a process, and that they don't believe in the 'love heals all' mantra, but that it certainly can't hurt, I liked it. I did. It was just two people coming to terms and understanding themselves. They were getting better for them. And they encouraged and supported each other and it was honestly beautiful.

THEY WERE JUST GREAT COMPLEX CHARACTERS. With Daniel's partial deafness and other life issues, and Birdies sleep issues and life issues, there was some greatly done representation. The characters weren't always PC in their thoughts but it was done in an inoffensive way that just showed an ingrained bias that people have and how to healthily challenge those thoughts and overcome a prejudice in a calm, respectable manner. I loved it.

As always, this is something Bennett seems to always do well in her books, is the positive representation of sex.

Anyways this book is great for so many reasons and I really liked it. It was cute, while a bit out there, but it managed to stay grounded in an authentic representation of reality - not just for those who are teens, but for everyone. While it embarked on 'heavy' subject manner, it did not patronise the reader or feel like it was pushing an agenda on you, but it was able to communicate the importance of listening and it demythologised the stigma and addressed many modern day fears we have surrounding public image/mental health/invisible diseases. These kids weren't made out to be special snowflakes because of their illnesses, but at the same time it didn't dismiss them in the fact that the way they experience some things in life are different from the 'normal' person & how they work around these obstacles.

The plot was well done. Usually in YA'S I can predict the plot twists etc but I DID NOT. I audibly gasped and was like NO. And then I immediately messaged Emer whose also read this, and promptly was like !!!! SHOOK. (She was too)

Also. WE NEED TO FREE OCTAVIA AND THE GOLDFISH.

I am just very happy with this book.
It doesn't quite reach the four stars because sometimes I got fed up with the stalker-y aspects of it, and sometimes it felt a bit disjoined on where exactly this book was aiming to go and the point of it.

Anyways this is not an eloquent review at all but basically I have the FEEEEEELS for this and therefore !!!!! READ IT. It's great.

I became a fan of Jenn Bennett when I read Alex, Approximately and absolutely fell in love with her writing. The way Bennett writes romance and handles various different issues from mental health to familial conflict with a gentle touch, I can never get sick of her writing and that remained true with Serious Moonlight.

At first I was worried I wouldn’t be able to fall into this book like I had with her other books because I wasn’t connecting with the main character, Birdie, but that changed pretty quickly. The novel begins with Birdie getting ready for her first day—night, actually—of work at a hotel. This is Birdie’s first real job, because her grandmother, who recently passed away, was incredibly strict. Birdie has lived a pretty sheltered life since her mother died when she was 10 and she went to live with her grandparents on an island near Seattle. However, Birdie is ready to put herself out there…kind of.

She may have gotten a little excited the first time she discovered freedom when she was looking for a job a little while before where the novel begins. It was then that she met Daniel Aoki at the Moonlight Diner. Instantly attracted to him and feeling daring, she ended up losing her virginity to him in the back of his car. Naturally, as soon as it was over Birdie freaked out and she ran, determined to never see him again. That was until she realized the guy driving the van during her shift at the hotel was Daniel himself. Awkward.

Though Birdie wanted to do everything but talk about that night or even interact with Daniel at all, Daniel had different plans. Knowing that Birdie was obsessed with mysteries he enlists her to help him solve a mystery at the hotel. Unable to resist, Birdie agreed to be partners with Daniel and sleuthing ensued. Together, they looked for clues about a mysterious guest at the hotel and along the way Birdie was forced to confront her feelings for Daniel and what they did in the back of his car.

Thankfully, Birdie had the help of her Aunt Mona, who wasn’t really her aunt but her mom’s best friend, and her Grandpa to help her figure out the mystery as well as her relationship, or lack thereof, with Daniel. Still, figuring out what she wanted was one thing, but actually doing something about it was something totally different.

Besides the adorable romance in this novel and the mystery, I was fascinated by Birdie’s struggles with undiagnosed narcolepsy. I can’t remember ever reading a book about someone, particularly a teen, struggling with narcolepsy and I thought Bennett handled it perfectly. In addition, Bennett also discussed mental health issues in a way that I would love to see more of. I won’t go into it because spoilers, but I really liked how everything was discussed between the characters.

All in all, this was another win for Bennett in my book. She has yet to disappoint me and at this point I doubt she ever will. Make sure to pick this book up when it’s released.

Whilst it was definitely interesting and unique that Bennett dealt with such heavy topics, the novel was not my cup of tea; the characters felt juvenile and the romance went over my head.

After enjoying Jenn Bennet’s YA contemporaries Night Owls and Alex, Approximately in recent years, I was so excited to hear about Serious Moonlight and then to get accepted for an ARC on Netgalley was just the cherry on top. Serious Moonlight is my first read of 2019 and I am so happy about that.

Serious Moonlight is about Birdie, a girl who dreams of becoming a private detective and fears the moment she might come face to face with Daniel, the boy who loves magic with whom she shared a rather embrassing encounter the first time they met, again. Birdie has lived a sheltered life with her grandparents and Aunt Mona (not really her Aunt, but her mother’s best friend) on an island town, and spends her free time dreaming up mysterious to solve and spending hours at Moonlight Diner in the big city across the river. When she gets her first job at a big hotel in the city and ends up working alongside Daniel, she has to figure out what she wants and how to find the courage to face her desires. Daniel suggests they work together to solve a mystery, but it turns out Birdie has a lot more to solve in her own life and that is the harder than she ever expected.

I really enjoyed this book as it felt quite different to other YA contemporaries I’ve read, while still having familiar and relatable content relating to first love/identity stories. The relationship that builds between Birdie and Daniel throughout the book is compelling and exciting, especially as it allows for Birdie to explore her sexulity, her love of mysteries and the complications that come with not completely knowing yourself or understanding your connection to another person. Birdie is often confused by her relationship with Daniel and finds it difficult to understand or know what she wants. I really enjoyed Jenn Bennet’s portrayal of self-esteem discovery in her depiction of Birdie. This book is very much about Birdie finding herself as well as it’s about her finding the courage to love. She has lost so much in the past so figuring out Daniel’s place in her world is a struggle and until the very end of the novel I was enthralled by the way Birdie dealt with her personal issues and grew to understand herself and the people she loves.

While I didn’t always engage with the mystery Daniel and Birdie spend their time trying to solve, the storyline concluded in such a way that excited me and by the end I was impressed by how each event came together. The mystery plot is a really interesting device for exploring the many layers of both Birdie and Daniel’s individual identities and their relationship as a whole.

The characters are memorable and unique, which was definitely a highlight for me as I enjoy stories that are character driven. While Birdie’s love of mysteries is used as a backdrop, Jenn Bennet’s exploration of the characters and their relationships is the most prominent aspect of the novel, and certainly the highlight. Birdie is a fantastic main character who readers will relate to in many ways and Daniel is an intricate character who I loved learning more about as Birdie did. Not to mention, Aunt Mona is a colourful character, Birdie’s Grandad brings in his own flair and as does Daniel’s family. Each character has an integral role in the story and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how all their pieces added to the whole picture.

Overall, I thought Serious Moonlight was an exciting and clever novel about love, family and having the courage to know and understand yourself. It was a breath of wisdom and adventure, and I think it will be a story I will remember for a long time. I definitely recommend picking up a copy when it’s released in April. Follow Birdie and Daniel and get to know their dreams and thoughts. If you’re like me, you’ll find something to relate to in both of them.

Jenn Bennett is very quickly becoming one of my favourite contemporary authors! Birdie was such a lovable character, (and a fitting 21st century Nora Charles!) But each character shone under their own spotlight, making them vivid, interesting people I wanted to know more about.

Enough blathering, let’s talk about what I loved:

The Vintage References
It was so refreshing to read a YA book that contained so many references to books and movies from the 1920’s - 1950’s! The author’s love for vintage eras poured through the pages. Some references were obvious, some were there for the die hard geeklings among us (“Wuv, twue wuv”)

The Relationship
Having read Alex Approximately last year, the first thing that stood out to me as being different to other contemporary books, is that Bennett shows characters ‘in’ relationships, not just skirting the edges of them. Most authors finish a story once the guy and girl get together, but Bennett shows how hard relationships can be. There’s awkwardness and arguments and head games you can play with yourself, but Bennett masterfully projects the truth into her stories: If you want the relationship to work, you gotta work for the relationship. Birdie and Daniel were a perfect example of a couple who fought past their insecurities to get that bond with each other.

Nick and Nora Charles
The first reference to The Thin Man had me squealing, so you can imagine my full blown fangirl screaming when the characters started referring to each other as Nick and Nora! Thank you, Jenn, for making my little heart so happy and for introducing a new generation to the world’s greatest detectives!

My thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly I think I am the wrong age to read and enjoy this book. It felt too teenage for me.
But I admire the fact that it dealt with some quite serious problems, mental health, disability and even narcolepsy.
Thank you NetGalley for a review copy.