The Moonlight Dreamers
Amber
Amber is witty, androgynous and not afraid to state an opinion if she has one. She starts the Moonlight Dreamers as a desperate attempt to connect with like-minded teenagers.
- Ambiguously Gay: She's not sure about her sexuality, and while she doesn't necessarily suspect otherwise, she's in no rush to affirm her straightness. In Tell It To The Moon, she suspects she might be asexual, as opposed to either straight or gay.
- Badass Bookworm: She loves reading almost as much as she loves a good comeback, and her literary hero Oscar Wilde somehow manages to bring the two together.
- Berserk Button: Shallow teasing from her peers at school always appears to get the best of her. In fact, it was the isolation she felt from her less intellectual peers that motivated her to start the Moonlight Dreamers in the first place.
- Deadpan Snarker: Considering she's a longtime Oscar Wilde, it's no surprise that she falls into this Trope.
- Everyone Hates Mathematics: To the point where she's genuinely insulted that some math uses letters for it's twisted ways.
- Four-Girl Ensemble: She's the Tomboy of the Moonlight Dreamers (an androgynous Deadpan Snarker who doesn't care about boys or romance).
- I Am Not My Father: Their relationship is strained to the point where Amber refused to see the parts of her personality she shares with her biological father, Gerald.
- Innocently Insensitive: Though she's quite progressive, she does assume that Maali is Muslim upon meeting her. She's actually Hindu.
- The Lad-ette: It's downplayed, but it's there. She's a sardonic, androgynous girl who often feels disconnected to her female peers.
- Most Writers Are Writers: She's a classic literature enthusiast and runs a semi-popular Tumblr blog, where she often shares her musings in the form of prose.
- Picked Last: Always in PE class - when she's picked first, she's genuinely suspicious.
- Popular Is Dumb: Seems to believe this. Justified because it seems to be true in the context of her school.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: She has an extensive vocabulary and her favourite word seems to be "slangwhanger".
- Smart Gal: Oh, yes, especially when it comes to anything feminist or bookish.
Maali
Maali is a sweet Indian girl who struggles with overcoming her awkwardness and gathering the courage to talk to boys. She's earnestly supportive and a good friend.
- Asian and Nerdy: She's Indian and rather shy and quiet.
- The Baby of the Bunch: She's fifteen years old and pretty small, while the rest of the Moonlight Dreamers are sixteen.
- Break the Cutie: In the second book, her father is diagnosed with cancer, which causes her to become more serious and less naïve about the darker side of life.
- Celibate Hero: She's a hopeless romantic, but she's never kissed a boy and isn't looking to do anything beyond that with anyone due to her faith.
- Chocolate of Romance: When she gathers up the courage to talk to Ash, they drink hot chocolate and talk about their favourite books.
- Cool Big Sis: To her little brother, Namir. She's often willing to do things she finds downright unpleasant to make him smile.
- Creepy Loner Girl: She's worried that Ash sees her as this.
- The Cutie: Her shy, nervous antics are often charming and make her fall into this.
- Daddy's Girl: She's shown to be this in the second book when she stresses frantically about her father's illness.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Though she doesn't find Ash particularly sexy (at least not enough to mention it), she's very romantically attracted to him, and often finds herself unable to have proper conversations due to this fact.
- Everyone Looks Sexier if French: Develops a small crush on a French boy when the Moonlight Dreamers take their trip to Paris.
- First Love: Ash.
- Four-Girl Ensemble: She's the naïve one out of the Moonlight Dreamers - she's sweet, earnest and clueless when it comes to boys.
- Girl Next Door: She's loveable, shy, and contrasts the bold personalities of the other main girls.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: Maali's dream is that she longs for a soulmate, but she often worries that she'll be too shy to talk to him.
- The Ingenue: She shows shades of this, but it's not fetishised like many portrayals of this Trope.
- Insecure Love Interest: She worries about whether she comes across as childish and naïve to Ash, particularly in comparison to his girlfriend, Sage.
- Lovable Nerd: She's every bit as charming as she is shy.
- Motor Mouth: Particularly when she's lying or talking to Ash.
- Nice Girl: Maali is awkward, sweet and loveable.
- Smitten Teenage Girl: With Ash.
- Stereotype Flip: She's delighted when Rose comes out as a lesbian, despite being deeply religious. She's just proud that her friend managed to learn something about herself.
- Thinks Like a Romance Novel: She does this, but it actually works out well for her, because it helps her with getting over Ash's rejection. She's sad about it, but also feels more cool and mature because of how "beautifully doomed" their relationship is.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: She's kind and loving, and always sees the best in people even if they wouldn't do the same for her.
Sky
Sky is an offbeat, artistic poet with an unique sense of humour and a hipster style. She's also a poet who wants to be able to compete in a local poetry slam without nerves getting the best of her.
- Artists Are Attractive: Before she starts being attracted to him, Leon's poetic talent grabs her attention. Based on his appreciation of her writing skills, the sentiment is likely returned.
- Book Dumb: She struggles in school, but she's definitely not stupid in any sense of the word.
- Constantly Curious: Thanks to her counterculture upbringing.
- Fish out of Water: Sky seems to be this at her first poetry reading, as she's never read a poem out loud to anyone, let alone performed it in front of a crowd.
- Four-Girl Ensemble: In the Moonlight Dreamers, she's the admirable one (an introspective poet who doesn't have many friends and hates speaking in front of a public).
- Go-Getter Girl: She's surprisingly forward when it comes to furthering her poetry, occasional blips of anxiety aside.
- Hipster: She loves poetry and has an odd sense of style. Lampshaded by Rose, snarkily at first but affectionately later.
- Naïve Newcomer: She starts school in the second book after being homeschooled her entire life, and thinks none of the rules set in place make sense.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: An introverted, emotional Blue to Rose's outgoing and temperamental Red.
Rose
Rose is a pretty, sociable girl who loves New York City and making pastries and cakes at the bakery. She struggles with pressure from her supermodel mother.
- Amicable Exes: Matt tries to be this after their break-up. Considering how terribly he acted to her, she's not thrilled.
- Berserk Button: Older men catcalling her on the street rightfully ticks her off.
- Big Applesauce: She comes from New York City and misses it every day. In the second book, she returns, but she has to come back eventually.
- Big Sister Instinct: Feels this way about Maali, who's one year younger than her and significantly less experienced.
- Boyish Short Hair: She chopped her hair off on a whim, but ended up loving it. She keeps it throughout all of the second book.
- Broken Ace: Rose was popular and in a perpetual state of semi-fame, but all of that fell apart when a topless photo of her was leaked. Her friends help her recover.
- Does Not Like Men: Rose's attitude to boys seems to be negative or downright aggressive, but it makes more sense when we find out that she was repressing her sexuality at the time.
- Ethical Slut: She's easily the most promiscuous character out of the main for, but she's a good person and isn't shamed for her sexual behaviour by her friends.
- The Fashionista: As should be expected for the daughter of a model. But while her mother dresses in strictly conventional fashion, Rose takes on an edgier, more masculine style.
- Fille Fatale: Averted. Though she's only sixteen, older men tend to stare at her on the street, and the media wants to paint her as a sly young seductress. Both Rose and the narrative see this as wrong.
- Four-Girl Ensemble: She's a downplayed version of the Sexy one, as a strikingly beautiful and sophisticated girl with a rebellious attitude.
- Friends Are Chosen, Family Aren't: She has a complicated relationship with her mother and barely sees her dad, so the Moonlight Dreamers are the closest she has to a family.
- Girls Love Chocolate: She loves going to cafes and ordering hot chocolate and a choice of cake.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She's beautiful, popular and charming, but she sports a buzzcut and dreams about riding a motorbike.
- Inconvenient Attraction: Her attraction to Francesca qualifies as this.
- I'm a Man; I Can't Help It: Her boyfriend uses this as an excuse after attempting to rape her. It doesn't go well for him.
- Incompatible Orientation: With Francesca, who is straight.
- Minor with Fake I.D.: She has one, but hardly needs to use it due to looking older than her age.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Though her classmates always thought she was "lucky" to grow up with such a wealthy and hard-partying mother, she often feels like her life is lacking in love and genuine familial connection.
- Plucky Girl: When she knows what she wants, she goes and gets it.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: She acts as a more extroverted Red to Sky's Blue.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: With Sky, though she's technically her step-sister. Sky is a poetic hipster while Rose is popular and fashionable.
- Silk Hiding Steel: She has delicate and feminine features to contrast her tough-as-nails personality.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: She's obviously beautiful, but she hates male attention because she's a lesbian and men don't treat her kindly in her everyday life.
Other Characters
Ash
The charming, funny boy from the farm that Maali can't help but be drawn to.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Subverted. Ash is sweet and rather nerdy, from what we see, which only seems to attract Maali further.
Savannah
Savannah is a beautiful, magnetic woman with a downright spiteful side. She's a famous model as well as Rose's mother.
- The Alcoholic: She's shown drinking, smoking and going on ridiculous diets when she gets even a smidge of bad news.
- Always Someone Better: She's famous, rich and downright stunning, but gossip magazines still resort to taunting her for her age.
- Beneath the Mask: Her image is that of a fun-loving, partying supermodel who lives each day as if it is her last. The reality of her life is a lot more grim.
- Drowning My Sorrows: In tough times, she resorts to drinking heavily and eating very little.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Rose drily notes that she often has parties that go on until late hours of the night, and that she doesn't exactly act appropriately at those times.
- Femininity Failure: Implies that she thinks of her daughter at this when she decides to quit modelling.
- Stage Mom: She forces her daughter to go into show business.
Liam
Sky's eccentric father who works as a yoga coach for celebrity clients.
- Beware the Nice Ones: His impassioned rant at Savannah's manager who tried to exploit Rose for the press.
- Hippie Parents: He's a young, foreign personal trainer who lives on a houseboat. Rose in particular sees him as this, in contrast to Sky who's a hipster by her own merits.
- The Mourning After: He didn't have a serious girlfriend for five years after his wife died.
- Nice Guy: Though him and Sky disagree on a lot, he's a mellow-tempered man who always comes through for his daughter in the end.
- Odd Couple: With shallow, glamorous Savannah. Sky lampshades this, saying that Liam would generally be too smart to go for a girl like that.
Gerald
Gerald is a ridiculously talented artist, but he's often self-centered and can be prone to dramatics. He is the older of Amber's two fathers.
- Drama Queen: He resorts to these tactics when things don't go his way.
Daniel
A peaceful, nurturing man who doesn't like to cause trouble, even when it's for the greater good. One of Amber's fathers.
- Happily Married: With Gerald, much to Amber's dismay.
- Likes Older Men: He's married to a men twenty years his senior. Whether this is a preference or just coincidence is unknown.
Matt
The most popular guy in school and Rose's ex-boyfriend.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: He uses slang and fakes an accent to induce this Trope, but if anything Rose is disturbed by it.
- Domestic Abuser: Treats Rose rather poorly, and in the middle of the first book he leaks the topless photo she sent him to her Instagram.
Francesca
A vivacious young French woman with a passion for making pastries. She works with Rose, who often worries about impressing her.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Rose has a crush on her.
