TITLE The Mayfair Moon (The Darkwoods Trilogy #1)AUTHOR J.A. Redmerski
PUBLICATION February 6, 2012
READ July 2 - 3, 2012
After a nightmarish encounter with a werewolf, seventeen-year-old Adria Dawson loses her sister, but gains the love of a mysterious young man and his legendary family.The Mayfair Moon follows a formula that has become quite popular lately. We have our Mary Sue who moves to a new town and falls for the dark brooding hottie who comes from a really large family that lives off in the woods. Mary falls in love with Mr. Broody and he then starts to realize that, for Mary Sue's well-being, he needs to stay away from her. Angst ensues. So why did I like it? Probably because of everything I just said. I was a huge Twilight fan and I'm not going back on that, I LOVED it and I really did enjoy this one. Though the plot was by no means fresh and new I was totally engrossed in the story and really enjoyed the love story.
Strange and tragic things begin to happen in the small town of Hallowell, Maine: residents come down with an unexplainable ‘illness’ and some disappear. In the midst of everything, Isaac Mayfair is adamant about keeping Adria safe, even from her sister whom he has warned her to stay away from.
As unspeakable secrets unfold all around Adria, impossible choices become hers to bear. Ultimately, no matter what path she takes, her life and the lives of those she loves will be in peril. As she learns about the werewolf world she also learns why her place in it will change the destinies of many.
Adria was a good MC, she started off really strong and showed a lot of empathy for the people around her, so I did connect with her. She loved her mom very much and wanted to protect her rather than run away from the unstable environment she provided. Adria also had a great connection with her sister Alex, I really enjoyed the layers of their relationship. The most prominent relationship in the novel is, of course, that of Adria and Isaac (Mary & Mr. Broody.) While I did feel that at first it got off to an awkwardly fast start, with Adria getting mad at Isaac for being with other girls when they hadn't had more than a simple conversation. But once they made up from their little tiff I did feel that the progression of their relationship was rather good, and I did get those butterflies in my tummy that tells me the romance is good. Isaac was a strong alpha male but I didn't feel that he was overbearing toward Adria at all (if anything it was the other way around at times.) He was a good listener and very supportive.
There are some very unique aspects and twists in this tale. The idea of the Blood Bond was quite fascinating. The bounding story between Trajan and Aramei was awesome and unique and I really want to find out more about their history and the history of the werewolves and their war in general. While The Mayfair Moon does follow a rather formulaic plot line there is so much back story that is new and makes it stand out. There is so much potential for where The Darkwoods Trilogy could go in the next two books and I am very excited to see what direction J.A. Redmerski chooses.
J.A. Redmerski is a Contemporary Fantasy and YA writer - author of THE MAYFAIR MOON and DIRTY EDEN. She’s a mother, werewolf & zombie fanatic, book addict and a happy hermit obsessed with the Universe. Oh, and AMC's "The Walking Dead".
Jessica started her first novel at the age of thirteen and has been writing something ever since. Generally, she loves characters in life and on paper. She pays attention to people, especially those whose personalities make them different from the rest of us: the drug addict roaming the Laundromat that talks to himself, the young, inattentive mother in the park with the meanest kid on the playground - (the entire cast of 'Swamp People') - characters fascinate Jessica and she hopes that it shows in her literary work.
Some authors that inspire Jessica are Neil Gaiman, Cormac McCarthy, Max Brooks, Anne Rice, J.K. Rowling, Richard Matheson, William R. Forstchen, Carrie Ryan, Stephenie Meyer and Lisa Smedman.
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