Moonstone – Laura Purcell

Published By: Magpie
Pages: 400
Released On: 23/05/2024

Don’t misbehave. Beware the moon. And never go out after dark . . .

Following a scandal at the Vauxhall pleasure gardens, Camille is sent to the woods to live with her reclusive godmother and her strange daughter, Lucy. Cast out from polite society, she must learn to live by her godmother’s strict rules.

Camille has never met anyone quite like Lucy before, and as they grow closer and cross forbidden boundaries, strange things begin to happen. Mysterious deaths, claw marks raking the doors, and the nights are pierced by the howls of a creature that sounds almost . . . otherworldly.

Should Camille be more afraid of what’s hiding in the woods – or her own heart?

*****

Thanks to NetGalley and Magpie for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

I am obsessed with Laura’s work, and was very intrigued (and a bit worried) to see how her first foray into the world of Young Adult fiction would compare to her adult gothic thrillers that I love so much. But I needn’t have worried. She’s a master storyteller, no matter the genre or form.

Initially I felt there was something about it similar to T.J Klune’s Wolfsong, which is weird as, as much as I adore Klune’s work, I didn’t get on with that particular novel. But I suppose the themes are vaguely similar…I don’t know, I just had this feeling and I’m sure if you’ve read both novels, you’ll get what I’m talking about.

This may be her first foray into the YA world, which means it’s very different to what I’ve read before of hers, but she has still managed to work in what I love most about her gothic abilities. The setting, the buildings, the smells and sounds and thick forests, mysterious individuals, frightening rumours – they all blend together to make for an intriguing, dark, and uncomfortable story.

There’s not too many characters in it, so I will mention the main players. I felt Camile was a little naïve at first. She’d been brought up in a world of luxury and suddenly she has to fend for herself, almost. I liked her and I felt she was treated incredibly harshly for what she did, but I suppose we wouldn’t have had a story if not. She’s used to the finer things in life and she’s had that world turned upside down for one mistake. Her Godmother Rowena is mysterious and poses lots of questions: is she rich and hiding it? Why does she live like she does? What is she hiding? What is she running from? What secrets does she hold? And then you have her daughter Lucy who is unwell, a bit off, clearly suffering from something not necessarily of this world. I thought she was a bit rude to begin with, btu I actually felt sorry for her. She’s clearly ill and overwhelmed and doesn’t know how to cope with it around new people, and she is just trying to keep everyone safe. And then we have Bridget, a sort of maid or helper in the house. She seems kind and wants to help everyone out, but there was a darkness to her just under the surface. And then we have Colin, the man who put Camille into this mess to begin with. He’s a bit slimy, a bit too charming for my liking, what is it he really wants?

I know Rowena and Bridget are hiding something to protect Lucy, that much is obvious. And so it means they can be quite rude, abrupt, and sneaky. This means at times, I didn’t like them. They’re not badly written at all, no no, what I mean is, they’ve been written this way and it really irked me at times. They’re full of depth though with so many layers. I think the four women work well off each other really well: Rowena and Bridget, Rowena and Lucy, Rowena and Camille, Lucy and Camille, Lucy and Bridget, Camille and Bridget. It’s the perfect quartet that offers a lot of conflict.

I mean, this shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the title of the book, the synopsis, and the cover of the book but if you really don’t want to know what kind of creature features in this book, then look away now!!

This obviously features werewolves. There are many books on werewolves and you think they would become a bit too samey. But this has everything we know and love about werewolf stories and except from them, but with an added Purcell-ness about it. I hope she continues down this path alongside her gothic writings.

I had just finished reading an absolutely fantastic book that I couldn’t stop thinking about, and so I was worried I wouldn’t have room in my brain when I started this, but it was fine. I absolutely zoomed through it, it was so addictive.