Serious Moonlight by Jean Bennett
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book):
After an awkward first encounter, Birdie and Daniel are forced to work together in a Seattle hotel where a famous author leads a mysterious and secluded life in this romantic contemporary novel from the author of Alex, Approximately.
Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she’s cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel.
In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. The hotel’s charismatic young van driver shares the same nocturnal shift and patronizes the waterfront Moonlight Diner where she waits for the early morning ferry after work. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he’s stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel.
To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that the most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel.
MY OPINION: ****
It's been a while since I've read a book that I genuinely enjoyed from an author that I love. To be completely honest, I didn't have very high hopes for this book after reading the first third of so. I didn't like how it began but as I kept going, I found that it was actually a really good piece of writing.
Birdie is a mystery-lover. She was raised by her strict grandparents after her mother fatally passed away when she was young. She was also homeschooled, which I found interesting, as I was also a homeschooled kid (though I now go to public school). I would have liked if there had been more elaboration on that aspect of Birdie because it's often touched upon as being confining and isolating, but with no concrete reasoning.
Birdie takes a graveyard shift at a hotel. She's always had sleep problems, and her grandfather has narcolepsy. She is afraid to face that it might run in her genes as well. It's a recurring theme that she is afraid to face things that are too hard or too scary, as seen throughout the book. She ends up taking the night shift and meets (or re-meets) the boy that she hooked up with and then ran away from.
I know, awkward.
Daniel is a charming, sweet boy who is the hotel's van driver. The only thing I didn't like about him was his long hair (no offense to anybody, but I don't like guys with long hair, especially when they pull it up into a topknot, sorry not sorry). Other than that, he was perfect. Due to a mistake in his past, he ended up deaf in one ear, leading to a downward spiral that truly made me sad to think about. I liked how the author handled this problem in the book, but I think it could have been an opportunity to truly raise awareness for depression.
Birdie is afraid to face what happened in the backseat of his car and they agree not to talk about it. They start to become friends by investigating a mystery at the hotel involving an incognito writer that comes to the hotel every week.
The chemistry between Daniel and Birdie felt real to me. I know some may disagree, but I really like the overall evolvement of their characters as they started to fall in love. Yes, there were many bumps along the way, but I think it only made their relationship stronger. I truly enjoyed reading about their story, and I couldn't stop smiling as they started to realize that they were falling for each other.
I really enjoyed the plot line of this story. I don't know why I didn't enjoy the beginning as much as I loved the ending. The writing was beautiful and I could very easily picture the setting and what was going on. I also loved the quirks that each character had. Daniel is a magician. Birdie is a detective. Aunt Mona is a costume designer.
The ending was quite shocking, to say the least. I never see these things coming, and although it may have been obvious for somebody else, I was not expecting anything that ended up happening. The pieces all fit together so perfectly.
I would have really liked to see what happened to Aunt Mona and her painting.
There were a quite a few scenes that made me laugh out loud. I would recommend this book to readers looking for a sweet, unique, and cute love story.
Main Character: Birdie
Sidekick(s): Daniel, Aunt Mona, etc
Villain(s): Death, depression, misunderstandings, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.
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