Moonstone Review

Moonstone by Marilee Brothers

Publisher: Belle Bridge Books

Release date: August 1, 2008

Source: Publisher

Other books in the series: Moon Rise, Moon Spun

A sickly mom. A tiny house trailer. High school bullies and snarky drama queens. Bad-guy dudes with charming smiles. Allie has problems. And then there's that whole thing about fulfilling a magical prophecy and saving the world from evil. Geez. Welcome to the sad, funny, sometimes-scary world of fifteen-year-old Allie Emerson, who's struggling to keep her and her mom's act together in the small-town world of Peacock Flats, Washington. An electrical zap from a TV antenna sets off Allie's weird psychic powers. The next thing she knows she's being visited by a hippy-dippy guardian angel, and then her mysterious neighbor, the town "witch," gives her an incredible moonstone pendant that has powers only a good-hearted "Star Seeker" is meant to command. "Who, me?" is Allie's first reaction. But as sinister events begin to unfold, Allie realizes she's got a destiny to live up to. If she can just survive everyday life, in the meantime.

Review:

Moonstone was a really fun and exciting book. The plot was original and by the middle of the book there was a lot of excitement. Mystery and suspense on every page, you never knew who to trust. At first I couldn't really get into it, but pretty soon I couldn't put the book down, I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. There were a lot of sub-plots as well that really kept the book interesting. I was wondering how all the points would work out in the end, but they did. Moonstone definitely left room for a sequel, which I'm really excited to read. The ending was perfect, but there was still some things that left you wondering what was going to happen. This was a fun read for fans of mysteries because there were a lot of twists and turns in the plot that kept you guessing. And don't forget the romance. Allie, the main character, definitely had her share of romances. All in all this was a fun book, that might take you a little while to get into, but it's definitely worth it at the end.

Allie was a really cool main character. She lived with her mother in a trailer on their Uncle's property. She never complained about her way of living and didn't ever think of using her powers to get them more than they needed. Kizzy was also a great character. I loved how she lived in a big house and had tons of money, but never once overused it or acted like she was rich. Known as the town witch, from the beginning I knew something was going to happen with Kizzy. She was the one who gave Allie the moonstone necklace and told her about the prophecy. Allie has to figure out most of her powers and the facts about the prophecy by herself, but she does have a caring mom, and great friends to help her out, but I was glad Allie was mostly independent and didn't need everyone helping her all the time. She was brave and could take care of herself.

Another great aspect of the novel, was that no one was what they seemed. Every character was under suspicion at least once in the book. There were a lot of characters, but it was easy to keep up with who was who. I was surprised many times during the book, and was glad the ending surprised me. Moon Rise, the sequel, looks like it will be just as good, so I'm really looking forward to reading this. If you like mysteries, books about magic, or just a fun read, Moonstone is for you. Definitely give it a read.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars