Clearly, if you are not already invested in the Worldshapers series, stop reading, as things could be spoiled for you from past books in this review.
As Karl and Shawna attempt to locate the Shaper of this strange world, Karl realizes that he can't sense the Shaper, nor can he sense the Portal, which hasn't happened to him before. Since the denizens include werewolves and vampires and they don't seem particularly friendly, it's going to be a bumpy ride. When they are chased by a pack of vampires, Karl gets nabbed by one and flown off to the vampire castle, ruled by Queen Patricia. Meanwhile, Shawna escapes only because Karl pushes her off a cliff to a ledge of safety, only for her to be attacked by a werewolf, who is then killed by a local priest and his protege.
When Shawna follows the priest, Father Thomas, and the boy, Eric, back to their village of Zarozje, she learns that there once was a Pact that governed this world whereby vampires, werewolves, and humans lived peacefully, however some years back, the Pact was shattered. Now a few villages survive, but there are vast areas of wasteland and "rogues" who roam the land, strange werewolf/ vampire hybrids who serve neither Queen Patricia or Queen Stephanie (of the werewolves) and they have no problem murdering humans. They also serve someone called The Protector. What could go wrong?
Eventually, Shawna's manipulation of Eric finds her in the palace of Queen Stephanie, while Karl is in Queen Patricia's palace. Both queens think the other has sent these two interlopers as a spy who claims to either be a Shaper or have intricate knowledge of Shaping, and this puts both in a perilous spot. Fortunately, Shawna develops an ally in werewolf Prince Piotr, who longs to get out of his small world.
Once Shawna and Karl finally figure out who the Shaper of this world is, they'll have a few surprises in store, and just when they think they have everything figured out, you guessed it, another potentially deadly surprise. The Moonlit World will find Shawna and Karl dealing with horrors they never could have imagined, some even coming from themselves.
If you are a fan of the Worldshapers series, you'll want to see where it goes. The Adversary is barely touched upon, but he is lurking in the background waiting to strike. Shawna grows more powerful in this book, but leaves Karl wondering if that's a good thing. This one ended interestingly and it will be fun to see if they reunite with a friend in the next world.
