Review: Moonbeam - Adrienne Woods

Moonbeam by Adrienne Woods
Series: Beam #1
My rating: {★★★☆☆}

YA Fantasy
Published November 8th 2016 by Fire Quill Publishing

Source: Purchased

Moonbeam takes place 10 years after last novel, Starlight.

What if your 'what if' becomes an option. Would you change the past?

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I read this book with the fantastic Darque Dreamer of Darque Dreamer Reads! Since we both loved the original Dragonian series we couldn't wait to dive into this book together and we've done our reviews in a bit of an interview style. You should check out her answers here

What did you think of the original Dragonian series overall?

I absolutely adored the original Dragonian series! It is actually one of my most favourite YA dragon fantasies ever! The downfall was editing for me and even that didn't completely detract from my reading experience, which is really saying something for me!

What are your thoughts on the plot and do you think it can be read as a standalone without having read the original series?

To be honest I thought that the plot on this one was a little lazy and the original series far outstripped it. It basically relied on the premise of the original series a lot and basically offered an alternate timeline while retelling the stories, however I don't think that a new reader coming into this world would understand anything or get much enjoyment out if this book.

How did the writing style compare to the original books?

As far as writing style goes, I think Woods has evolved while keeping the ease of reading and she still manages to draw me in and keep me reading despite myself! Even though I wasn't loving a lot about this book I still found myself deeply involved and wanting to read more.

Was there anything in particular that you disliked about this book?

This is not really a spoiler so fear not! I really disliked how Blake had to cheat on Elena in this one. We saw his dark side and all his worst faults in the Dragonian series and I didn't need them to be re-emphasised here. He could have gone 'dark' and yet not cheated.

Would you still categorize this one as ya or would you place it in adult genre?

Definitely YA. It actually felt more YA than the original series since I felt like there was more teen angst and bickering.

Do you feel that this one had nice world building?

No. I felt this one relied heavily upon the world Woods had already built and simply played off our original knowledge while adding some descriptions of the world before the Creepers.

How did you feel about character development?

Unfortunately this book was a big step back for me since it takes you back in time so the main characters felt pretty young and underdeveloped all over again. Some of the new characters also felt too immature for me, especially for the age that they were supposed to be! (Catharine!). As I said this one had a lot more teen angst. I also felt that the characters, like the word building, relied a lot on what we knew of the previous books. I loved Lucian immediately upon seeing him again in this series but there was nothing truly special about him in this book - I only really loved him because of what I previously knew.

Do you think you would have enjoyed this one more if you had read it immediately after the first series?

Hmmmm, I'm not sure. In a way definitely, since I wouldn't have forgotten some of the small details but then at the same time I might have been even more disappointed in this one had I read it straight off the back of the series that I really loved!

What was your expectation of the plot from the Goodreads synopsis?

Okay, so I hadn't actually read the synopsis properly - I saw 10 years after the original series and then after chapter one I was thinking there was some sort of serious mistake! However... Then it all made sense.

The synopsis that I did read later really wasn't all that descriptive! But if you had asked me before I read the book and I DID read the synopsis, it wouldn't be anything like I actually read!

How did the book make you feel in comparison to the first series?

In a word? Underwhelmed. Unfortunately it just wasn't the same gripping and entertaining sort of book that I had come to expect from this author and this world, although I do admit the editing was far superior! It was good enough and entertaining enough that I am still giving it three stars, but honestly I'm not sure if it's just because I already knew and loved the characters?