Skip to main content

Lunamare (Luna Duet #1) by Pepper Winters

One heart. One body. One life.


I'm no novice when it comes to Pepper Winter’s marvellous mind and the worlds she creates, but this is the first book for me that’s not ‘exclusively’ dark.



Firstly, I want to take a moment to mention the dedication in this book. When I first tapped my kindle screen and started to read it (I do not understand people who DON’T read the dedications at all!) I actually got goosebumps. It is the best dedication I have ever read—pure, beautiful, heartfelt, unapologetic love and I absolutely adored it!

Now on to what thought about LUNAMARE.

I’m not sure how to start this review if I’m honest, because I adore Pepper’s writing and consider her one of the best dark authors there is and because of that, I really wanted to love every aspect of this story … but I can’t say I did wholeheartedly did.

There were aspects within this story that I loved a lot—the fact that Nerida’s world was so filled with water (I love the water and it’s where I’m happiest, most alive and free too) I really liked the relationship between Nerida and her dad and I enjoyed the marine biology that fills the pages of this book.

I really enjoyed the way the story is told, that it’s not your basic duel POV story. That was actually one of my favourite parts because you had the beauty of Nerida having lived the story while she was telling it and that comes with knowledge and hindsight which adds another layer to the storytelling which creates more depth was superb.

There’s no doubt that this book is a feast of deep feeling, angst and lust. The connection between Nerida and Aslan is not up for dispute—it’s all consuming and brutal at times. But I may be in the minority when I say this but I didn’t fall head-over-heels for Aslan. I didn’t find myself full of grief for him (and I’m a really emotional reader) I didn’t find him particularly charming or loveable. I didn’t really feel much for him at all, which is not what I’m used to with Pepper’s leading men.

I still don’t know what I expected. I went in fully aware that this story was different. I knew it wasn’t dark and I was excited to read a Pepper story that wasn’t knowing full well she can weave a complex tapestry with her words, which of course she did, but for me, it’s also a book that even given all the complexity and angst, I didn’t completely feel it delivered on what it promised.


Pepper’s talent is that even with a story I didn’t fall head-over-heels for, I still read the book super quickly (in a little over 48 hours) because I was still completely invested in knowing where it went, what the secrets were and what the ending was going to be which just goes to show, not every book has to be five stars for you for enjoy it.

I want to make it clear, I didn’t hate it but I didn’t absolutely love it either. I’m still excited for book two so I can learn the answers to the many questions I have and find out how this story ends.

I’m giving Lunamare 4 stars.

*I was lucky enough to receive an ARC for this review and my review is 100% honest and true

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Driven (book one) by K. Bromberg

  You know when you discover something so fantastic you wish you'd known about it your whole life? This is one of those books. I discovered K.Bromberg early into her writing career and haven’t looked back since.   At first when I started reading I thought I knew what kind of book this was going to be. You meet Rylee and you learn pretty quickly she’s a force to be reckoned with. She’s fierce brave and strong and I love that. You get introduced to Colton very early and he appears to be like so many other alpha males in romance books. Oh, how wrong I was. As the story unfolds, you realise that for all his bluster and dirty talk, Colton is a damaged and deeply feeling guy who doesn’t know how to let anyone in. Their chemistry is insane and the push-pull of their relationship will have you longing for more. It’s a deeply emotional story and one that I have read a number of times and fall more in love with each time I read it. It is without a doubt one of the best trilogies out th...

Gabriel's Inferno (Gabriel's Inferno #1) by Sylvain Reynard

“If I have a soul, it's yours.” This is another re-read for me and one that I have absolutely loved. My love for The Professor started way back in 2013 when I read Gabriel’s Inferno for the first time, I’ve reread him many times since then, but as has happened with a lot of my rereads recently, I’ve rediscovered just how much I love them and have found I appreciate them on a much deeper level—perhaps it’s age? Perhaps it’s therapy? I don’t know but I adore it. It’s like discovering them for the first time again in a lot of ways and truly feels like a gift. There are so many reasons I love this series and it’s going to be really difficult to sufficiently put into words just how much this book means to me. You see, when a series has been with you through a really difficult time, for me anyway, it attaches itself to your soul. It becomes a part of you and this series is most definitely a part of me. Gabriel has, since the first time I met him, been one of my top five (possibly top t...

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling

As a ten year old girl in desperate need of escape, I first discovered the world of Harry Potter.   At the time, it was to my ten year old brain, exciting and very much a world I wanted to be a part of. It was packed full of everything I craved—friends, mischief and magic. As an adult, it’s remained   that but with a much more complex understanding of what all those things mean. When we meet Harry he doesn’t have a place. He’s bullied by his cousin, ignored by his aunt and uncle and desperate for someone to see him, to really see him and to listen. When strange letters begin to arrive his world gets turned upside down and finally, after a giant of a man named Hagrid, tells him he's a wizard, his life begins to fall into place. He heads off to Hogwarts and embarks on a journey of not only magical discovery, but a personal one too. There is layer upon layer of heartbreaking discovery for Harry. He learns not only about this new, exciting world but he also learns about himself an...