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"A fun, fast pace adventure story with a lot of magic that will have younger readers entranced."
Though set in contemporary London, Newbury artfully pulls off a Victorian feel to The Moonlighters which is a very fun adventure with a lot of magic and a nice cast of very interesting characters.
Our narrator is Theo, who finds himself on a boring class trip to the National History Museum. Museums aren’t Theo’s idea of a good time. So when he’s dared by a kid Keegan to drop a piece of fossilised dinosaur poop into the hood of Hayley Pritchard, he can’t resist.
Theo’s new to his school, and he hates it, so going through with this dare is, in his mind, a way to become cool and respected. Theo sees it as revenge in a strange way, revenge against his parents for moving, revenge against his father for losing his job and forcing them to be in a new place and Theo in a new school.
After running from his troubles at the museum, Theo decides to go to his Nan’s house and hide from punishment. But his Nan’s not home. This where he meets Alistair Goodfellow, a mysterious and flamboyant young person who sets the gears in motion for an adventure that Theo won’t ever forget.
He ends up in the Casablanca Lily, a strange hotel that is seedy and dark in the day, but a beautiful palace full of magic by night. Like the Artful Dodger and his band of miscreants, Theo and his new friends are sent out at night by Goodfellow to collect magic artefacts and get powers in exchange.
I really loved how magic is used (and not overused) in this novel and there is a lot of character development on the part of Theo as he learns what true friendship really is. It’s a fun, fast pace adventure story that will have younger readers entranced throughout, I really enjoyed it!
