Lynne Ewing

I'm coming up on the end of this series and this book is the very satisfying end to Jimena's story. As the only brown character in this series, Jimena's story has always been the most realistically dark story in the series. And this conclusion is a super dark and fast-paced ending that doesn't disappoint. Jimena is dropped into enemy gang territory and she must reckon with her past, save the future, and decide on whether she wants to live as a normal girl or go through a mysterious show more transformation that will keep her in this fantasy world. When your childhood has been pretty fucking nightmarish, the prospect of living a normal life feels like paradise. I really love the choice that Jimena makes and I love that she gets her happy ending. show less

Serena was my favorite character from this series as a kid because I loved her duality and forbidden love story. As a reread, this book was even slower than the first one though. Things really didn't pick up until around page 100, but after that we were off to the races and the ending was so satisfying that I couldn't give it anything less than five stars.

I just really love this series and how all of the relationships are written. Even though there's sort of a love triangle plot at the show more center of this installment, the romantic plot line isn't written as a traditional romance arc. It's as if the author thought that falling for a boy was the least interesting thing that could happen to a girl and thusly refused to dedicate a significant amount of pages to it. This book deals so much more with female friendships, brother-sister relationships, frenemies, and aspirations for the future.

This series of books will probably always be my gold standard for teen romance, for how little importance Ewing gives them. It's realistic and refreshing. And the teens sound like the teens of my generation. Their deepest convos still sound very teenage, a little clumsy, and maybe referential. show less

This was a reread of the first book in my favorite series of books as a child. I thought there was no way I could still love it so much and was ready to donate these beloved books so some other child could fall in love with them. But, wow, do I still love this series. The first 50 pages or so of this book are a little slow, but once the mystery of who's following Vanessa picks up, it becomes a quick read. I read it in three sittings.

What I love most about this book is how relatable Vanessa show more is. She's a confident girl with a loving parent. She's a good student, but she'll skip school for a good time. She's into a guy, but she'll forget that guy in a heartbeat for her friends. She's not overly brave or foolish, she's not trying to be the best at anything. She's just a good kid. As someone who has a hard time readying a lot of YA because of characterization issues, Vanessa will always be a refreshing character to follow.

Despite her feeling like a freak because of her invisibility, she has a quiet confidence and self-assurance that shines through. When people tell her rumors, she listens but keeps an open mind and discovers the truth for herself. When boys touch her inappropriately, she addresses it in the moment. When her friends pressure her to do things, she's comfortable refusing...unless it's something she secretly wants to do herself. She's just cool and normal and nice. I love her.

There's so much to say about the world Ewing created and set this in and all of the other beautiful characters, but I'll save that for another review as I work my way through the series again. show less

This was such a turnaround from the last two books in the series, which I ended up not finishing and skim reading. In Moon Demon, we're back to Vanessa who started out the series. When I was a young reader, Vanessa was my second favorite character. But during this reread, she's become my favorite. In Moon Demon, Vanessa is feeling neglected by her friends and stifled by her good-girl reputation. She meets an alluring young man, Hector, at a place where girls can make a few bucks by dancing show more with men. And it kicks off this whole drama. The romance between Vanessa and Hector is hot and exciting, even though you know how it's going to end. Michael is still in the picture, so there's a bit of a triangle. Stanton shows up as a dark aide. And basically we're just waiting to find out how bad Vanessa is finally gonna let herself be. The book is super page-turny, though the ending let me down a bit. The villain in this book was a refreshing opponent in that all of the goddesses skills were useless against him. He was a formidable opponent. But the way he was defeated was really anticlimactic. Also, out of all the romantic leads in this book and the series, Michael is the most boring and he's been presented as Vanessa's endgame from the start. So the romantic conclusion to this book was definitely meh. Overall though, this book was a very pleasant return to form and has me looking forward to continuing the series. show less