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.

Jenn Bennett is a must-read author and always will be and Serious Moonlight has all the charm, swoons and heartache I come to expect from her. Serious Moonlight was a clever and loose retelling of Sleepless in Seattle and I love how she works in little nods to vintage pop culture. Her characters never fail to charm and her sex positive approach is always tactful and deftly written. I gobbled this up on a day and eagerly await an announcement for her next book.

Jenn Bennett has been on of my favorite contemporary writers. Her books are either a hit or a miss of me. But the ones i do love are like biiiiiiiiiig hits. So this one brings the count to 2 loved and added to all time fav... 2 are just tolerable, in the middle. This one fell in the latter category.

One of the things I love about Jenn B's books are that they are so darn atmospheric and they build up the environment around the story so much, that's one of the things I love about night owls. And this one was no different. I loved show she portrayed Seattle, the water front, the city and the houses. The night time scenes, the ferry rides, the diner. It just add so much to the story, and makes it so much more fun for me. So yeah it gets a lot of points for that.

The story had Nancy Drew-esque sleuth-y vibes to it. Centered around a mystery and a girl who loves playing detective, added another atmospheric charm to the story; filled with suspense and intrigue.

Birdie was a flawed character and something really hard to agree with. But she loved books (ding ding) and was so awkward (again ding ding). Love these two facts, she is struggling through out the story and I love that her arc progresses and she does deal with her life and issues in a positive way so yay her!

This book is incredibly diverse and deal with mental health and disabled people issue. And that was done really well. Also its sex positive and deal with it in a normal way. And I like how it's spoken about in Jenn's books, and talked about other than being treated like a taboo.

My problems came with the pacing. Sometimes it got a little too slow and boring. I can't decide if it was the book or the fact that publishers decide to provide PDF earc that makes the process 100% excruciating, because PDF are so rigid in their formats and they don't adhere to any of my read apps on the phone or my laptop. Ugh. But I think the books does become too long at some point for a contemporary, it's 400+ pages longs and takes a while to build up and the pace goes up and down a lot.

Also sadly I didn't feel the romance at all too.

But all in all it was an enjoyable read for me. The mystery, sleuthing, world building, food talk, quirky characters and cats kept me going.