Title: Light of the Moon.Series: Legend of the Dreamer, #1.
Author: David James.
Publication Date: November 6th, 2012.
Publisher: Create Space.
Genres: Sci-Fi,
Fantasy,
Young Adult.Format: .pdf eBook, 373 pages.
Source: eARC Provided By Author.
My Rating: 
Stars. Fire. Blood. Magic.
One night long ago, a constellation disappeared and fell from the sky in the form of a boy.
Secrets are being kept in the sleepy town of Lakewood Hollow, Colorado. Nothing but pools of blood and dripping words are left where bodies once were, and no one but Calum Wade seems to be worried. Life unfolds in shades of red for Calum, until a mysterious girl named Kate Black enrolls at his school and everything changes. Suddenly a dangerous world of dream demons, elemental enchanters, and blood witches unfurls before Calum. He learns that the stars have forever held his destiny, and that the constellations above are much more than what they seem.
As Kate and Calum sink deep into a paranormal war, they realize that an ancient prophecy might hold the answers they seek. But life is not so easy for Calum, and he can feel his heart beat faster whenever Kate is close. Worse, Kate's blood holds a dark secret even more dangerous than the war between the demons and enchanters. Soon the two find that there are worse things than loving someone you shouldn't. For Calum and Kate, even love and the fiery power of stars may not be enough to break a curse as dark as the blood that binds their destiny.
Review
Don’t you see that tears, feelings, make you stronger? Loving and losing and hating and caring: Feelings give you reason to fight. They destroy you and build you up again. They can kill you and then give you life.”
Calum’s family life fell apart when his dad left years ago. Ever since then, his mum broke into pieces and can barely look at him – so Calum has to try and deal with the burning emotion inside him alone. All across the country, people are going missing, being murdered and words are being written across their walls in their own blood. The News crews are calling this person the Bloodletter – and the Bloodletter is getting dangerously close to Calum’s quiet town. One day a mysterious girl named Kate Black enrols at his school and everything changes.
Suddenly a dangerous world of dream demons and blood witches unfurls before Calum. He learns that the stars hold his destiny, and that the constellations that he sits and watches at night are much more than he ever knew. Calum and Kate find themselves caught right in the middle of a paranormal war where they find out they’re more than just basic players in the game. They realize that an ancient prophecy might hold the answers they seek. For Calum and Kate, even love and the fiery power of stars may not be enough to break a curse as dark as the blood that binds their destiny.
I wanted to like Light of the Moon, I really did. This book was a frustration in itself for me and personally, it wasn’t my cup of tea. It was not because the novel wasn’t well written, it was written beautifully. However, there were too many things that irritated me and the storyline was a bit confusing and hard to follow a lot of the time. It took me quite a while to finish reading Light of the Moon, mainly because I kept getting frustrated at the book and putting it down after a few pages – but I was determined to finish it.
I want to start off with talking about Calum’s character, although it’s hard to know where to start. I really didn’t like Calum at all; I didn’t think he was actually a very strong male protagonist. To be perfectly honest, I thought he acted and spoke a bit like a girl at times – which isn’t bad – but when you’re trying to create a strong male lead with a destiny to fulfil, I think the character needs to be more headstrong. He just didn’t seem to fit the character profile I had in my mind before reading this book. I’m not saying all male characters should be like this, and Calum did have his good points; he was sweet, kind and cared a lot about his friends. These characteristics are a must for me, and even though I didn’t really like Calum, he definitely fulfilled them.
As for Kate’s character; I didn’t mind her – although she’s definitely not winning my ‘favourite character of the year’ award. Kate is definitely determined, smart, and generally a strong-willed person. I didn’t think she had a whole lot of personality other than that really, and the only times she showed some genuine characteristics were when she was acting snappy and blunt. However, you can also tell how much she cares for her younger sisters and wants them back. It was pretty incredible to see the lengths she would go through to get them back to her safe and sound. Kate was definitely a dark character with an intense past and it was interesting to find out more and more about her damaged past throughout the book.
Light of the Moon is written in the two perspectives of Calum and Kate, swopping between the two every time a chapter ended. I love multiple perspectives in books, because it’s always amazing to read what the other character is thinking and feeling – rather than trying to guess. There were some pretty amazing quotes throughout this book, it’s a shame I can’t list them all. This may not be that interesting to some people, but I do love reading quotes that make me shiver and feel the emotion put into the words.
I didn’t completely hate this book; it had its up points at times and it made me feel connected to the characters on a few rare occasions. Would I recommend this book to other people? Possibly – It’ll depend on the people’s preferences – it’s quite a heavy read in my opinion. However, over all I believe the 3/5 star rating I gave it fits it perfectly – although I am quite disappointed I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. I did love David’s writing, even if I didn’t particularly like the story – in the future I’ll definitely want to read more from him.
Quotes
The truth was that I could see the good things in my life, but they were all singed with dark, burnt edges that would never fade. All the good seemed to burn away before I had a chance to keep it. Good and gone.
Fall.
I closed my eyes-
Fall there.
Opened them, and pretended the leaves were stars.
Fall.
And then it did.
A heart-shaped leaf of brilliant red, brighter than all the rest, dropped from the sky like a star through the night, and landed in the exact spot my eyes watched. It was violently red, like blood on the green grass, except for edges that were turned up, brown and curled and dying. - Page 71, 19%.
Beyond the Doors of Judgment was cold darkness, and the icy air of reality made me realize one thing: No matter what, I was a Warrior to the bone. My blood was hot with angry strength. My soul filled with courage. I would not be weak in front of the Elders. I threw Calum’s hand off mine. I couldn’t let myself be close to him, not now. The Order thought strength and courage could not be found in love. - Page 249, 66%.
I shook my head. “This person you are right now, this is who a Warrior should be. Not that girl you were before, the one that was cold as ice and afraid to show me anything. You, Kate, crying right now for someone you just lost? Someone you loved? You look like you could take on the world. Don’t you see that tears, feelings, make you stronger? Loving and losing and hating and caring: Feelings give you reason to fight. They destroy you and build you up again. They can kill you and then give you life. That’s not weakness, Kate. It’s strength.” - Page 276, 73%.
