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MOONLIGHT Book I: Dusk
Ilragorn’s history never lies.
The obedient ones live.
The traitors always perish.
In daylight, Indigo Sarte is the perfect daughter, a future student of the Healing Arts. In the shadows, he is a master of forbidden alchemy, ruthless and cunning, all in the name of fulfilling his wish for true freedom.
Indigo’s sights are set on The Academy—a prestigious establishment where aspiring alchemists are taught to master gifts inherited from their birthrights. But Indigo is recognized as a woman amongst his peers, and The Academy’s rules are clear: Women heal. Men fight. Disobey—die.
The obedient ones live.
The traitors always perish.
In daylight, Indigo Sarte is the perfect daughter, a future student of the Healing Arts. In the shadows, he is a master of forbidden alchemy, ruthless and cunning, all in the name of fulfilling his wish for true freedom.
Indigo’s sights are set on The Academy—a prestigious establishment where aspiring alchemists are taught to master gifts inherited from their birthrights. But Indigo is recognized as a woman amongst his peers, and The Academy’s rules are clear: Women heal. Men fight. Disobey—die.
448 pages, Paperback
First published April 28, 2021
14 people are currently reading
585 people want to read
About the author
Beau Van Dalen
35 books342 followersBeau Van Dalen is a best-selling author of adult speculative fiction. Wattpad Stars Alumnus and Winner of Tapas Media’s 2018 Summer Writing Competition—Beau’s stories have amassed over two million reads online. Whether it be through books, poetry, comics or games, Beau is always enchanting words and creating worlds; he is currently on a journey to write one-hundred novels.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 27, 2023
Where to begin with this... I'll give the short version first: The story is not super interesting, and the writing is kind of abysmal.
To elaborate, I had higher expectations getting into this book at first. The premise sounded really cool: a trans man Fendriak (humanoid beings with pointed ears and an affinity for magic) who's been secretly teaching himself dark alchemy because he doesn't want to learn the healing arts (a woman's education path) and instead wants to attend an alchemist's school simply titled "The Academy." There's also an ongoing war conflict going on between humans and Fendriaks, causing further tension and complications within the story. This all sounds good on the outside, but in execution turned out to be kind of a clusterfuck.
Our protagonist, Indigo, ends up saving his village from a human invasion, only to be turned on and outcasted for secretly practicing the dark arts. Trying to defend himself, he ends up accidentally turning the entire village to stone, including his family. This is actually super tragic and compelling, or at least it would have been if Indigo were to have reflected on it more than a few times during his escapade to the Academy. We do get several points in which he feels guilt and shame due to his actions, but rarely is there another mention specifically of his family and we barely see him in mourning for them. Instead things progress quickly as he runs off to go to school, undercover as a cis man with the help of a dangerous potion.
Every introduction of a new character is extremely flat and forgettable. In fact I would argue there wasn't a single truly compelling, three-dimensional character in this whole story, including the MC. Everyone's interactions are super stiff and weird, and with the structure of the narrative it honestly reads as fanfiction rather than an original work. The chemistry between Indigo and Aart, Indigo's rival/friend, feels forced and included just for the sake of having a romance between the two. The main villain, Leuthar, a student and the son of the headmaster, is so stereotypically evil I was cringing at almost every line he had.
At this point I must finally mention the formatting. This book is written in present-tense third person, a really bizarre choice honestly. There are certain pieces of media that can execute this style well, the video game Hades for example, but in this case it just makes for a very confusing reading experience. There are also several points near the end where the tense abruptly changes to past-tense for a few sentences. I'm not sure if this author had any beta readers or outside editors during their editing process, but if they did I don't understand how this slipped through to the final version. We also get multiple POVs, for which third-person is usually good for, but instead the chapters are so short and tend to jump around so sporadically (in terms of character and setting) that it gave me whiplash. Furthermore, the entire book is broken up into "parts," which wouldn't be weird if not for the fact that some of these parts are extremely short clusters of chapters, which don't really warrant an entire separated dedication. There was at least one or two parts that were composed of just one single chapter.
One last anecdote, since I was particularly disappointed with this, comes in the middle of the story when Indigo and Aart win a school competition and get to accompany the headmaster and co. to a supposedly super exclusive restaurant. The whole time leading up to going, the adults are hyping up this place talking about how much of a privilege it is to be a guest at this place. They also make it a point to say some suspicious things, like they might hear screaming from behind doors. What I thought was going to happen, based on the human/Fendriak war, was that it was going to be a restaurant where human meat was served. This would have been a huge moral conflict for Indigo, who at this point had made friends with a girl who is half human half Fendriak. Indigo would have had to either make a scene about not eating the meat (and risk being labeled as a traitor to his race) or protect himself and consume the flesh of the human, then feeling guilty about it around his friend. Instead, what happens is, well, nothing. They go to the restaurant, they eat, the adults don't really explain what the deal is with the place even though Indigo directly asks, and no screaming or weirdness is observed. The only out of place thing that happens is the headmaster and co. having to leave early to deal with a completely unrelated incident. Aart and Indigo have a little heart-to-heart, but it's not ver compelling. Overall, a massive disappointment and missed opportunity in my opinion.
In conclusion, this whole story feels like it wasn't planned out in advance and the writing is just not good. It took me ages to finish (and I almost didn't) because I straight up did not want to read it anymore. That being said, I want to believe that the author put effort into this and has the potential to get better if they did more editing and perhaps found some more beta readers to get feedback before releasing this to the general public. The transgender themes were also not too bad, and I would argue the portrayal of Indigo's dysphoria was the most authentic and genuine part of the book, even if it wasn't always the main focus.
To elaborate, I had higher expectations getting into this book at first. The premise sounded really cool: a trans man Fendriak (humanoid beings with pointed ears and an affinity for magic) who's been secretly teaching himself dark alchemy because he doesn't want to learn the healing arts (a woman's education path) and instead wants to attend an alchemist's school simply titled "The Academy." There's also an ongoing war conflict going on between humans and Fendriaks, causing further tension and complications within the story. This all sounds good on the outside, but in execution turned out to be kind of a clusterfuck.
Our protagonist, Indigo, ends up saving his village from a human invasion, only to be turned on and outcasted for secretly practicing the dark arts. Trying to defend himself, he ends up accidentally turning the entire village to stone, including his family. This is actually super tragic and compelling, or at least it would have been if Indigo were to have reflected on it more than a few times during his escapade to the Academy. We do get several points in which he feels guilt and shame due to his actions, but rarely is there another mention specifically of his family and we barely see him in mourning for them. Instead things progress quickly as he runs off to go to school, undercover as a cis man with the help of a dangerous potion.
Every introduction of a new character is extremely flat and forgettable. In fact I would argue there wasn't a single truly compelling, three-dimensional character in this whole story, including the MC. Everyone's interactions are super stiff and weird, and with the structure of the narrative it honestly reads as fanfiction rather than an original work. The chemistry between Indigo and Aart, Indigo's rival/friend, feels forced and included just for the sake of having a romance between the two. The main villain, Leuthar, a student and the son of the headmaster, is so stereotypically evil I was cringing at almost every line he had.
At this point I must finally mention the formatting. This book is written in present-tense third person, a really bizarre choice honestly. There are certain pieces of media that can execute this style well, the video game Hades for example, but in this case it just makes for a very confusing reading experience. There are also several points near the end where the tense abruptly changes to past-tense for a few sentences. I'm not sure if this author had any beta readers or outside editors during their editing process, but if they did I don't understand how this slipped through to the final version. We also get multiple POVs, for which third-person is usually good for, but instead the chapters are so short and tend to jump around so sporadically (in terms of character and setting) that it gave me whiplash. Furthermore, the entire book is broken up into "parts," which wouldn't be weird if not for the fact that some of these parts are extremely short clusters of chapters, which don't really warrant an entire separated dedication. There was at least one or two parts that were composed of just one single chapter.
One last anecdote, since I was particularly disappointed with this, comes in the middle of the story when Indigo and Aart win a school competition and get to accompany the headmaster and co. to a supposedly super exclusive restaurant. The whole time leading up to going, the adults are hyping up this place talking about how much of a privilege it is to be a guest at this place. They also make it a point to say some suspicious things, like they might hear screaming from behind doors. What I thought was going to happen, based on the human/Fendriak war, was that it was going to be a restaurant where human meat was served. This would have been a huge moral conflict for Indigo, who at this point had made friends with a girl who is half human half Fendriak. Indigo would have had to either make a scene about not eating the meat (and risk being labeled as a traitor to his race) or protect himself and consume the flesh of the human, then feeling guilty about it around his friend. Instead, what happens is, well, nothing. They go to the restaurant, they eat, the adults don't really explain what the deal is with the place even though Indigo directly asks, and no screaming or weirdness is observed. The only out of place thing that happens is the headmaster and co. having to leave early to deal with a completely unrelated incident. Aart and Indigo have a little heart-to-heart, but it's not ver compelling. Overall, a massive disappointment and missed opportunity in my opinion.
In conclusion, this whole story feels like it wasn't planned out in advance and the writing is just not good. It took me ages to finish (and I almost didn't) because I straight up did not want to read it anymore. That being said, I want to believe that the author put effort into this and has the potential to get better if they did more editing and perhaps found some more beta readers to get feedback before releasing this to the general public. The transgender themes were also not too bad, and I would argue the portrayal of Indigo's dysphoria was the most authentic and genuine part of the book, even if it wasn't always the main focus.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 5, 2021
Indigo is determined to fulfill his dreams and he’ll try even if he has to go against the rules or risk everything to get there. Along the way he will deal with tragedy, misunderstandings, betrayal, hate, and love.
This is a story about the old refusing to let go, about the fear of the other and the awful things that are done fueled by it. And about the desire to belong and being accepted without conditions.
I definitely enjoyed reading this book, the main characters are well written and it was easy to understand their motivations even if you didn’t necessarily agree with their actions.
The story had a good pace on the first half, even if it started to rush just a bit towards the end leaving us with an angst inducing cliffhanger. So let’s hope that the next book will come soon ;-) (fingers crossed).
This is a story about the old refusing to let go, about the fear of the other and the awful things that are done fueled by it. And about the desire to belong and being accepted without conditions.
I definitely enjoyed reading this book, the main characters are well written and it was easy to understand their motivations even if you didn’t necessarily agree with their actions.
The story had a good pace on the first half, even if it started to rush just a bit towards the end leaving us with an angst inducing cliffhanger. So let’s hope that the next book will come soon ;-) (fingers crossed).
May 15, 2023
If you're looking for a book where Shit hits every single fan known to mankind from the jump, this is perfect for you. I was under so much stress almost constantly throughout the book and i loved that. I loved feeling such agressive stakes the entire time. The writing was fantastic and completely sucked me in. I loved Indigo so much (Even though there were times where I wanted to knock some self love into him. If you've seen that "Do you feel bonita" tiktok meme, you know what I mean). I also am so excited for the second book. I'm in this place where, it's obvious from the end of the story that things are gonna happen and they're gonna be big, but I have no idea where the story's gonna go from here and I am completely ready to be knocked on my ass by this next story.
dnf
August 2, 2025If i were to describe this book in one word, it would be amateur.
There was not one sentence I considered well crafted. Every line dragged out unnecessarily. Every bit of dialog was clunky.
I'm not sure if this author had beta readers, but they desperately need them as this read more like a first draft.
On a positive note, the cover is beautiful
There was not one sentence I considered well crafted. Every line dragged out unnecessarily. Every bit of dialog was clunky.
I'm not sure if this author had beta readers, but they desperately need them as this read more like a first draft.
On a positive note, the cover is beautiful
August 8, 2024
I had high expectations for this book and was sadly disappointed. The premise sounded interesting and cool, and it was something I normally would enjoy reading. Unfortunately, the story just wasn't interesting and just seemed to drag on. The synopsis is more interesting than the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2023
So, Dusk is a book that is very fast-paced, doesn't lose you in the action, and is very easy to follow. You could absolutely read through this book and possibly forget about it for a while and pick it back up and have no issues with understanding the stakes, character interactions, or what is currently happening. The characters are likable and I found none of them grating at all. They weren't making decisions that would make the reader groan and be annoyed if characters are acting illogically is a pet peeve to the reader (that reader being me in all honesty). I liked the romance between Indigo and Aart and found them to be very sweet and cute.
However, I found there to be major pacing issues. The story is a constant quick pace chapter by chapter and doesn't let the reader explore the world more by taking in more of the setting, understanding how The Academy feels as a setting compared to the main character's starting point. Since the chapters are so short, there are character introductions that don't allow the reader to properly familiarize themselves with new characters that come in and there are a lot of characters.
One example I want to point out is Fay. She gets really quickly introduced and she instantly is partnered with Indigo yet we don't get to fully see how Indigo acts around Fay and how Fay interacts with Indigo. They sort of jumped a lot of checkpoints of getting familiar with each other's work styles and there could've been more room to build trust between them and then leave hints of foreshadowing and distrust so when Fay's reveal happened, it didn't impact as hard as I would've liked. I really would've liked to be on the edge of my seat anticipating the reveal of what she was hiding from Indigo and the reader. I think if the perspective of the other characters were cut out and it was purely Indigo's perspective and all of these plot points came as a surprise, it would've made for a much more fun read.
I also notice Alice has a similar issue. She is quickly introduced and then quickly gotten rid of. We don't have enough time to familiarize ourselves with her and get attached to her. When she is revealed to not actually be dead the reaction is more like "yeah, that tracks" rather than "OH MY GOD, SHE'S ALIVE!"
The book division is also really peculiar probably because of the webserial origins of this story which I understand. The Part division honestly should've been cut down since I couldn't find major themes or character turnaround for most of these divisions and many of the chapters could've been combined to be longer chapters. Because the chapters were so short, I felt like I was flying through the book faster than I should've which is great if you want to feel that way but I felt like I was missing a lot of information and was double-checking if I read things right and didn't miss small details that are probably important.
Overall, the story was a very fun quick read and I'll continue reading the series to see how everything progresses.
#indigoemployee
However, I found there to be major pacing issues. The story is a constant quick pace chapter by chapter and doesn't let the reader explore the world more by taking in more of the setting, understanding how The Academy feels as a setting compared to the main character's starting point. Since the chapters are so short, there are character introductions that don't allow the reader to properly familiarize themselves with new characters that come in and there are a lot of characters.
One example I want to point out is Fay. She gets really quickly introduced and she instantly is partnered with Indigo yet we don't get to fully see how Indigo acts around Fay and how Fay interacts with Indigo. They sort of jumped a lot of checkpoints of getting familiar with each other's work styles and there could've been more room to build trust between them and then leave hints of foreshadowing and distrust so when Fay's reveal happened, it didn't impact as hard as I would've liked. I really would've liked to be on the edge of my seat anticipating the reveal of what she was hiding from Indigo and the reader. I think if the perspective of the other characters were cut out and it was purely Indigo's perspective and all of these plot points came as a surprise, it would've made for a much more fun read.
I also notice Alice has a similar issue. She is quickly introduced and then quickly gotten rid of. We don't have enough time to familiarize ourselves with her and get attached to her. When she is revealed to not actually be dead the reaction is more like "yeah, that tracks" rather than "OH MY GOD, SHE'S ALIVE!"
The book division is also really peculiar probably because of the webserial origins of this story which I understand. The Part division honestly should've been cut down since I couldn't find major themes or character turnaround for most of these divisions and many of the chapters could've been combined to be longer chapters. Because the chapters were so short, I felt like I was flying through the book faster than I should've which is great if you want to feel that way but I felt like I was missing a lot of information and was double-checking if I read things right and didn't miss small details that are probably important.
Overall, the story was a very fun quick read and I'll continue reading the series to see how everything progresses.
#indigoemployee
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2023
This book is gripping and exciting! Highly recommended for people who love morally grey characters.
Note: while it is important for people to feel shame over bad things they've done, I wasn't thrown off by Indigo feeling less shame than he should because the author makes it clear that Indigo is morally grey. Characters aren't required to be morally perfect.
Just because an author writes morally grey characters doesn't mean they endorse this behaviour in real life.
I don't agree with the morally grey actions the characters make in this story but I can understand why they acted that way.
Indigo not thinking much about his sister seemed strange because they always seemed close. But Indigo not thinking about his other relatives made more sense because they were adults who kept misgendering him.
Those relatives liked him but were forcing him into submission and subservient roles because they saw him as a woman. I agree with the author that no one should be forced into submission or restrictive gender roles because of their gender.
The rival romance is believable and really enjoyable. But if you're reading it for the romance, there's not much romance. And that's OK, because this book isn't marketed as a romance.
World building is detailed and really excellent. I really enjoyed reading about how magic works in this world, it's well thought out.
All characters are realistically written with believable motivations. The author writes with a lot of sincerity and emotion, and I don't expect Indigo to be perfect or nice because he's dealing with transphobes and fighting for his life in survival mode. He's dealing with people who want to kill him.
Indigo being stressed out by a transphobic person hunting him down and seeking to out him as transgender at his school was believable and well written.
Content warning: the scenes of the villain getting abused by a father figure are really upsetting, so don't read those scenes if you're distressed by abusive characters. And there's a lot of people misgendering Indigo in the beginning of the book, so don't read those parts unless you're emotionally ready and in a good headspace.
Note: The ending is a cliffhanger. So only read this if you like cliffhanger endings. The ending is powerful and totally unexpected but mostly makes sense. I was shocked and sad that a character I liked turned out to be horrible, but I'm sure the author will explain that character's motivations well in the next book.
Note: while it is important for people to feel shame over bad things they've done, I wasn't thrown off by Indigo feeling less shame than he should because the author makes it clear that Indigo is morally grey. Characters aren't required to be morally perfect.
Just because an author writes morally grey characters doesn't mean they endorse this behaviour in real life.
I don't agree with the morally grey actions the characters make in this story but I can understand why they acted that way.
Indigo not thinking much about his sister seemed strange because they always seemed close. But Indigo not thinking about his other relatives made more sense because they were adults who kept misgendering him.
Those relatives liked him but were forcing him into submission and subservient roles because they saw him as a woman. I agree with the author that no one should be forced into submission or restrictive gender roles because of their gender.
The rival romance is believable and really enjoyable. But if you're reading it for the romance, there's not much romance. And that's OK, because this book isn't marketed as a romance.
World building is detailed and really excellent. I really enjoyed reading about how magic works in this world, it's well thought out.
All characters are realistically written with believable motivations. The author writes with a lot of sincerity and emotion, and I don't expect Indigo to be perfect or nice because he's dealing with transphobes and fighting for his life in survival mode. He's dealing with people who want to kill him.
Indigo being stressed out by a transphobic person hunting him down and seeking to out him as transgender at his school was believable and well written.
Content warning: the scenes of the villain getting abused by a father figure are really upsetting, so don't read those scenes if you're distressed by abusive characters. And there's a lot of people misgendering Indigo in the beginning of the book, so don't read those parts unless you're emotionally ready and in a good headspace.
Note: The ending is a cliffhanger. So only read this if you like cliffhanger endings. The ending is powerful and totally unexpected but mostly makes sense. I was shocked and sad that a character I liked turned out to be horrible, but I'm sure the author will explain that character's motivations well in the next book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2023
Although I thought the pacing of this book could have been better, I really enjoyed it!
April 3, 2024
This book definitelly need more readers!
It really was awesom!
It really was awesom!
January 13, 2025
Another fantastic read!!! Beautifully written
Thank you Beau Van Dalen 😊😊
Thank you Beau Van Dalen 😊😊
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews