Triple Moon Tour: Review + Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for TRIPLE MOON! Today I have my review of the book to share with you - and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post!

Triple Moon
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: November 10, 2015
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons BYR

Description:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Blue Bloods and Witches of East End

After they cause a terrible accident at their old high school, twin witches Mardi and Molly Overbrook are sent to live with their “Aunt” Ingrid Beauchamp in North Hampton, on Long Island’s mist-shrouded East End. Because the twins cannot control their powers, their father begs Ingrid to tame them over the summer, before the White Council exiles the girls to Limbo.

Trouble continues to bubble and boil when the girls meet the younger Gardiner boys, who are just as handsome and sexy as their older kin. But all is not as it seems. As Ingrid helps the girls learn to control their magical impulses, Mardi and Molly have just this summer to figure out how to grow up, how to love, and how to be a family. 

Triple Moon is the exciting young adult spin-off novel from the author's Witches of East End series. I absolutely loved the entire Witches of East End trilogy, and really enjoyed the Lifetime show based off the books while it was on the air. The author created such a vivid world full of magic, romance, and mythology in the series - I never wanted the books to end. When I saw that there was going to be a YA spin-off that takes readers back to East End, I basically freaked out at the thought of slipping back inside that world and even getting to read about one of my favorite characters - Ingrid Beauchamp - from the original series. I'll admit that I had high hopes and expectations for this book due to my previous experience with the author's writing. I'm so happy to say that this novel didn't disappoint in the least. 

The main characters in the book - Mardi and Molly - are teen witches who are having issues controlling their magic and are sent to stay with their "Aunt" Ingrid on East End, so she can teach them how to harness and use their powers. If the girls can't get things under control soon, they're going to be sent to Limbo by the White Council. Both of the girls were great female leads for the book - they're smart, determined, loving daughters and sisters with awesome magical abilities. They definitely personify a certain type of teenage girl - sassy attitudes, lots of complaints and whining, a fantastic wardrobe, beautiful (and they know it), and loads of confidence. I was a bit hesitant about them at first - I wasn't sure how (or even if) their characters were going to grow and change throughout the book, but I got tired of the whole "Mean Girl" stereotype fast. Luckily, both girls undergo a lot of change and growth during the story, including growing up and gaining maturity. By the end of the novel, I loved their characters almost as much as the sisters from the original series. 

The plot wasn't completely original, but the author's writing style along with the complex characters and fascinating story line made it stand out from others like it in the genre. There were a few cliches throughout the book - like the stereotypical teenage female image that the girls have at the beginning, along with a few other points - but these things are bound to happen at least once in every book, so it didn't really bother me. The romantic aspect of the book was a great addition, especially because guys are Gardiner brothers (another throwback to the original series). With the book being set at East End with the Beauchamps and the Gardiners - and all of the magic and romance brewing - I felt like I was back inside the original world the author created, and that nothing had really changed that much except for the characters names and the different time frame. All of these attributes made it incredibly easy for me to slip right back into East End and it felt as if I had never really left. The story moves at a pretty decent pace - which picks up speed as the book continues - and I found myself completely absorbed in its pages until I finished the final page. I really enjoyed this book and loved learning about all of the new characters, Limbo and the White Council, along with any kind of history or information I could get about everything and anything related to the story. I'm really hoping that the author decides to turn this into a new series - one book just isn't enough! Now that I've revisited East End, the Beauchamps, and the magic - I want to keep going back for more adventures. I highly recommend this novel to fans of the genre as well as those who enjoyed the original series and readers who like magic, witches, and romance.

Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh off the Boat.

Her books for adults include the novel Cat’s Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch heels and Faux-Pas.

She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.

Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!).

She now divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter.

Author Links:
http://www.melissa-delacruz.com/ 
http://www.twitter.com/MelissadelaCruz 
https://www.facebook.com/authorMelissadelaCruz?fref=ts 
http://authormelissadelacruz.tumblr.com/ 

Giveaway: (1) Finished copy of Triple Moon - Open to US only!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 * A huge thanks to the awesome people at Penguin Teen for providing a copy of the book for review and allowing me to host a giveaway! *