Customer Reviews

Moon Rise

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Moon Rise is the second in the Unbidden Magic series. I really was impressed with the first in this series. I happened across and immediately was drawn into this new world. I was tired of the usual witch, vampire, werewolf sagas that seemed to be overflowing everywhere and this was a perfect escape. This follows a few months where the last one left off. The main characters were back: Allie, Kizzy, Faye, the Trimarks; with the one exception of Junior..which made me sad. I really liked Junior in the first one and was sad for his absence. So, we find Allie is dealing with some major stress over her recent attack and the consequential death of a man who wanted to kill her. She is drowning in it and has lost her powers on top of it. Plus, she now knows her father but he's still basically absent unless he's talking to her about the moonstone. Slowly Allie learns to trust Beck and his sister Nikki who are half demon children. It's touch and go at first and I wasn't sure I was happy with the Junior replacement, but in the end I really liked them as additions to the story.

This addition to the series adds tremendously to the plot. You get to keep watching the current characters develop and meet some new ones. I couldn't put it down. You are kept guessing like a good mystery as to who the Trimarks are in this book and the suspense is addictive. A great read and I can't wait to read the third in the series. I am trying to pace myself since the author is still writing the 4th in the series and there is supposed to be 5 total. Hopefully, it won't be too long for it to be ready too.

The sequel to Moonstone opens with Allie still without her powers. Allie is the chosen one, the girl who is the Star Seeker of an old gypsy prophecy. Her boyfriend Junior Martinez went on a trip to Mexico and still isn't back, and to beat it all, she has to attend school counseling sessions because of the big T (trauma) she had a while back. Then there is her dad, Mike Purdy, who still hadn't told his wife and kids about her. He is the one who is educating Allie about the prophecy and her new powers. He takes her to the Star Seeker meetings, where everyone there has the star on their palm.

Then there's the new boy at school, Beck Bradford. He's hot, he can heal Allie, and he's half demon. He and Allie become close, and he wants to fight all her battles. He helps her regain her powers and try to keep the moonstone safe. That's the pendant Allie wears and the Trimark, the darker polar opposite of the Star Seekers, wants it badly and they will do anything to get it, even kill.

The second book in the Unbidden Magic Series is absolutely wonderful! Allie's world is extended with the addition of more information about the prophecy and the addition of some unique and versatile characters. The action is page-turning and their are some gasp out loud surprises. I'm looking forward to the next in the series to see what happens in Allie's world next! Her supernatural world is expanding and she is learning how to find her place in it. Magically delicious!

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As someone who writes YA fiction, I seem to gravitate towards reading it as well. In June as I left for the beach, I tossed Moonstone into my bag, hoping to get a few pages in while soaking in the rays. Yeah, a few pages didn't happen. I devoured the entire book...much to the aggravation of my beach companions. I LOVED it. Allie's voice is dead on as a teenager, and her humor is dead pan. The world Ms. Brothers creates feels so real(trailer life, high school hell) that you forget you're even reading fantasy.

So, I was thrilled to not have to wait long for the sequel. Once again, I planned a few pages before bed. I have to blame Ms. Brothers for a poor performance at school the next day because I stayed up TOO late reading.

Like Moonstone, Moon Rise sucks you in. How can you not be sucked in when the first page reveals there's a serial ass pincher on the loose? Will the criminal go free, or will his ass pinching days come to an end? This is just one of the many questions the reader faces. First, I was devastated to learn the hunky hearthrob and protector, Junior Martinez, had gone away to Mexico. But the eye candy isn't missing. Enter Beck, a half demon and whole hottie! Yeah, his twin sister can be a pain, but she's got some redeeming qualities as well.

What makes Moon Rise and the Unbiden Magic series so wonderful is the fact that the magic is woven into the real life experiences. Allie doesn't feel worthy to be "the one" to save the world from the evil Trimarks, nor does she feel worthy in the pressence of her once absent father. Like all teens, she struggles with her mother, Faye, especially with Faye's choice of men. And the school bully's are more than just your average bully; they're packing some supernatural punch.

As a writer and someone who spends time with teens on a regular basis, I feel Marilee Brothers and her Unbiden series is literary gem. And you're doing yourself a diservice if you don't pick it up and enter Allie's world.

The second book of Unbiddden Magic made this series "unputdownable", while I resent Faye for being an immature mom dating losers and being all patheic and sadly irresponsible it gave me a clue on why, she possess a secret that her daughter our refreshingly optomistic protagonist, Allie. But that detail will have to wait until book 3, which sadly is not due until February of 2010, and I have no information on the title yet. ( I will find out I promise)

Book two starts with Allie on her way to conjugate with the member of her world called the Star Seekers, where she was a guest of honor due to her previous adventures with the evil driven organization called Trimark, whose main purpose in life was to take the magical Moonstone from her by eliminating her out of their way and rule the world with their malevolent plans. He previous used of her Telekinetic power resulted in killing a Trimark memeber which in turn unleased the power of three. The main result was she lost her juice. Coincidently, some one new was there to help her. Beck Bradford, easy on the eyes and born with special powers too. Beck and her twin sister Nicole are half-demon. (Their mother was raped by an incubus). How did Beck helped her? He is a healer or a Shaman, and did some chanting and ritual that helped her loose the nightmares and the feeling of guilt. Not only did he helped Allie got her juice back, he now also held Allie's heart at present. Junior, Allie's supposedly boyfriend went to Mexico, possibly not returning anytime soon or ever.

Book two also revealed that there are two prophecies, one we already knew was about her and the other one involves something about the Trimark themselves. There were three villains this time. The one was obvious but the two others snaked their way in to get close to her. They did some pretty interesting magic on their end too. We also met Allie's estranged grandfather Claude, who gave Allie something to think about. "Ask you mother why is she so unhappy", "Ask her about her mother Melia" oh and he knows Allie's powers...now the plot thickens.

This was a marked improvement over the first in the series. In fact, I would probably read the first just to get to this one (only because I don't think you can really skip the first). I think all of what the first was lacking was made up in this one.

The beginning was a little choppy. For a little bit it was almost like the personalities of the characters changed, but then the story settled down. I was happy to see that Junior wasn't in this one. I just didn't feel the connection there. I almost thought it was a little cliche that the new guy in the story was supernatural. But, it worked. Beck just had the extra something that Junior was missing. Add in his twin sister Nichole who seems to hate Allie and you have an interesting twist to the story.

The action is spread out through the story and involved different things. I liked how Beck helps Allie get her powers back. It adds to the tension. It also helps Allie realize that there are people who she can turn to that understand the supernatural part of this world. I also liked how the Tri-marks are still out to get her. I thought how that all played out in the end was intense. It seems to have a lot more magic involved that I originally thought.

The characters are growing on me (yes even Faye). I'll be reading the next in the series. I want to know what else is in store for Allie!

Moon Rise is a really great book. It is the second book in the series featuring Allie, who is a teenager with telekinetic powers.

Book 2, new characters siblings Beck and Nicole arrive. Beck becomes Allie's boyfriend. The original characters continue to play a role in book 2. The plot is really well developed, and all the characters are awesome. I enjoyed the ending as well since there was no cliff hanger. Can't wait for book 3- Moon Spun in July 2010.

If you enjoyed the Twilight series, or the Sookie Stackhouse novels prior to book 10. lol. You will enjoy this series as well. Great series for young teens (no foul language, no sexual explicit scenes; very innocent series).

Allie is in another quarrel with the trimarks (see book 1) to get to the moonstone, and this time she finds out more about the trimarks and that REALLY helps her figure out why they they want the moonstone so badly. She also learns more about the moonstone and how shes supposed to use it. Allie gets a new love interest in this book too, since Junior dissapears to mexico for a little bit longer than he said he was. So read Moon Rise to find out all about Allie in her quest against the trimarks.

- Greenwave girl

This book was wonderful as an example of the modern fantasy and young adult genre book. Granted, there were a few typos and once I got the impression a character was misnamed because Miss Yeager seemed to be calling herself at one point on the telephone. That's not a huge problem. Also, either in this one or Moonstone, a few times it looked like Allie was calling the Trimarks "Tridents", but that could have been Allie playing dumb when talking to a Trimark or a typo left over from an edit. I don't know, but it was ok. The one thing, other than the identity of the Trimarks in this book, that only 75 percent surprised me really, is what happened to Junior Martinez. I mean, that was totally unexpected for me in this genre of book. Ms. Brothers does a bang up job of just the right amount of suspense filled with what I would say is a very accurate portrayal of a group of hormonal teenagers dealing with very extraordinary circumstances. The big question for me is this, "Will they ever catch a Trimark to interrogate?". I hope so. I'm gladly awaiting, although I wish it would be faster, the release of book 3.

I loved it! The author really shows that Allie, even though she is the Chosen one, she is not the prettiest, richest, or the most powerful. Again, she portrays that that we all have to learn to work with what we have, and yes, bad things happen. It is often the choices we make in how we handle them.

Love the friendship of Beck and Nicole--these two definitly add to the series. I look forward to seeing more of them in future installments. I hope the author stays with this series for a long, long time!

World saving is just too much to put on the plate of a high school girl. "Moon Rise" is the second book of Marilee Brothers' Unbidden Magic series, following Allie Emerson, a girl prophesied to save the world. But the mundane pressures of high school life seem over rule it all, and the few breaks she does seem to get aren't breaks at all. "Moon Rise" is a fun fantasy for younger readers, especially those who enjoyed the first book.