To the Moon: The 8th Wonder, Book 1

I loved it. Beautifully written. Storyline kept my attention. Will read the next. It’s not over.

I jumped into this one after seeing it all over booksta, and luckily Hoopla had the audiobook ready to go. The narration was great — super engaging and instantly pulled me into the story, but she did mix up some names here and there. I knew going in it would be a “started from the bottom” type of journey, following teens trying to break free from the hand life dealt them. And at first, it delivered. But somewhere along the way…the story lost me. I finished it, but it wasn’t the experience I was hoping for. For starters, there was way too much sex. Then we had two main characters — Javen and Luna — plus a bunch of side characters. We follow them from their teens into adulthood, but several storylines wrapped up in a single chapter instead of being fully developed. The time jumps didn’t always blend well either. French’s story had so much potential and deserved more depth — he felt like he was meant to be a major player but just faded to the background. Same with Stephanie; her arc jumped from Point A to Point B without showing how she actually got there. A lot of things were resolved quickly, neatly, and without the buildup they needed. It somehow felt too long, repetitive, and incomplete. What I did love was the cast. The author made it easy to care about them, and the found-family aspect was my favorite part. This messy, loyal group of misfits had each other’s backs through everything, and that really shined. I wish I could’ve been a Beta reader for this one; I would’ve had a 5 page list of questions that needed answers. If I had read this in my teens, it probably would’ve hit like The Coldest Winter Ever. But reading it as an adult? It just landed very differently. 🌘