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Review: Moonglow by Kristen Callihan (Darkest London #2)

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Moonglow by Kristen Callihan (Darkest London #2)Moonglow (Darkest London #2)
Kristen Callihan
Published: July 31, 2012 (Forever)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon

Reviewed by: Jo

Rating (out of 5): 5 stars

Note: This review assumes you’ve read the first Darkest London book, Firelight. If you haven’t, please check out Jo’s review of book one.

It’s no secret that I loved Firelight. In fact it’s one of my favorite reads of 2012 so far. So I was excited to see where this series would go. I’m thrilled to say that Moonglow was just as good.

All of the things I loved from the previous book were there: the spooky setting of Victorian London, the witty and period-appropriate writing style, a plot filled with action and mystery.

Picking up a year or so after Firelight, Moonglow follows Daisy, one of Miranda’s older sisters. Now widowed from her considerably older and vile husband, Daisy is determined to live life to the fullest. But when a trip to a party turns into a bloodbath, she finds herself in the center of the latest murder spree in London.

Daisy is a strong and independent character, who wears her sharp wit and risqué mannerisms like armor, but after all she has been through she has some understandable self esteem issues. She makes some life-altering discoveries, and I loved watching as her confidence and self-confidence grew.

Unlike Archer in Firelight, Ian’s paranormal nature is shown almost immediately. After rescuing Daisy and looking closer into the rogue wolf killings, Ian is forced to reconsider his reasons for breaking away from the pack and shunning his Lycan side. He came across as a pretty unlikeable character after his interference with Miranda and Archer, but as things are shown from his perspective and his backstory is revealed, it’s hard not to fall for his teasing charm (or his skills in a carriage *fans self*).

Daisy and Ian are both experts at taking flirtation right up to the brink of no return, playing carefree and promiscuous without ever giving their damaged hearts away. This just makes it all the more satisfying (and at times frustrating) to see them dance around that line with each other. As they investigate and unravel the reasons behind the savage attacks they begin to challenge each other, forcing them question who they really are and what they truly want, despite their pasts and fears.

While this is primarily a werewolf tale, other really interesting mythologies were introduced. There are those with power to control the elements and others able to alter their appearance at will. My favorite new addition was the Ghost in the Machine: ghostly immortality seekers, who steal the bodies of a fresh corpses and uses them via a clockwork heart.

Moonglow takes the fantastic world building and characters laid out in Firelight and expands on them, keeping the world exciting and fresh. Mixing a steamy and, at times, heartbreaking romance and a few great plot twists, Moonglow is a winner. With a variety of new paranormal elements involved and a taste of what’s to come, I can’t wait to read Poppy’s book Winterblaze in February 2013.

Sexual content: Sex

3 Responses to “Review: Moonglow by Kristen Callihan (Darkest London #2)”

  1. Maya says:

    I loved Firelight, it was swoon worth ;P but Moonglow was not was good. It was still a good read but not 5 stars. 4 stars maybe.

  2. Wow! This is a very interesting book. I honestly haven’t heard of it until now. Guess this will be a great book after the Twilight series. These kinds of books excite me and make me want to jump off my bed, go to the nearest bookstore and buy the whole series if it’s already available. Thanks for this.

  3. Sara says:

    I actually liked this one much more than Firelight. While the relationship in Firelight felt a little forced, this one was very felt more natural. You could feel the tension between the characters and I love how they both knew there was a physical attraction early on, but fought anything deeper. I wasn’t going to continue the series based just on Firelight, but decided to give it another chance with Moonglow and now Winterblaze(the 3rd book) is one of my most eagerly awaited coming-soon books.

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