Daisy’s starting a new job and stylish city life in Moonshine, but mage-hunters out for her dark magic threaten to destroy her vogue image.

In the flourishing metropolis of Soot City (a warped version of 1920s Chicago), progressive ideals reign and the old ways of magic and liquid mana are forbidden. Daisy Dell is a Modern Girl – stylish, educated and independent – keen to establish herself in the city but reluctant to give up the taboo magic inherited from her grandmother.

Her new job takes her to unexpected places, and she gets more attention than she had hoped for. When bounty hunters start combing the city for magicians, Daisy must decide whether to stay with her new employer – even if it means revealing the grim source of her occult powers. (via Goodreads)

I received an eARC from the publisher, Angry Robot Books, in exchange for an honest review. 

I sat down to read a single chapter of this book in December, and ended up reading the entire thing in two sittings. I’m not exaggerating a bit. This book pulled me in and refused to let me go.

I had never read any of Gower’s work before, but after this, I’m probably gonna hunt down her novellas. Moonshine was a ride from start to finish.

It needs trigger warnings for: alcohol use, drug addiction, racial antagonism against fictional races, death of minor characters, and gun violence

It has an ownvoices allosexual aromantic secondary main character who is also physically disabled. He has chronic pain from a childhood accident, and it’s just taken in stride by all the other characters. Like anything else, the gang just works around it.

I loved the inclusion of ogres and faeries, though I wished that there had been a little more discussion of why ogres were treated poorly in Ashland. I hope this gets explored more in future stories.

I also hope we get to learn more about the history of Ashland – why they’re there, where they came from, etc. I think between Daisy’s education and Andre’s scholarly interests, it would be easy to explore.

I would gladly read an entire encyclopedia if Gower wrote it. I’m recommending this for fans of Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver and City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault (Review), as well as fans of Destiny Soria’s Iron Cast (Review) because I think they would fit well together.

I highly recommend this book. You can pick up a copy on Amazon or Indiebound.

Disclaimer: All links to Indiebound and Amazon are affiliate links, which means that if you buy through those links, I will make a small amount of money off of it.