Literature / Daughters of the Moon

"You are a goddess, a daughter of the moon..."

"O mater Luna, regina nocia, adiuvo me nunc."
"O Mother Moon, Queen of the Night, help me now!"

Daughters of the Moon is a series of early 2000's novels by Lynne Ewing. It's about four girls — later five — who find out they're Goddesses. Or, more specifically, daughters of the moon goddess Selene who are destined to fight an ancient evil called the Atrox and its followers, who aim to devour all hope from the world. Each girl has her own Goddess powers as well: Vanessa, invisibility; Catty, time travel; Serena, telepathy; Jimena, premonition, and later Tianna, telekinesis. They must choose when they turn 17 whether to disappear and become a guardian spirit or stay on Earth and lose their powers and memories of everything that happened. With a group of teenage girls with magical power going through relationship drama while also fighting powerful villains, the novels have a lot in common with Magical Girl Warrior shows, lacking only transformation sequences.

There are 13 books in the series and each trades point of view between the girls and their friends:

Books #1- 13

1. Goddess of the Night (2000): All Vanessa Cleveland has ever wanted is to be like everyone else and be able to do normal things — like kiss gorgeous Michael Saratoga without disappearing right in front of him. But Vanessa is different, and having to hide her secret makes leading a normal life impossible. Now Vanessa is being followed. She doesn’t know who is doing it. But she knows why. Her secret has finally been discovered.
2. Into the Cold Fire (2000): Serena is being targeted by the dark forces of the Atrox. Her power to read minds is the key they need in order to turn the Daughters of the Moon into Followers. Jimena had a premonition that Serena is going to betray the girls. And she has never been wrong before...
3. Night Shade (2001): Jimena was once the toughest chola in East L.A. No longer in a gang, she is still feared by many. Nothing scares Jimena. Nothing, that is, except the reappearance of Veto, who was once the love of her life. That terrifies her, because Veto was killed a year ago by a rival gang. Or was he? Jimena discovers that he has made a devil's bargain, which could cost both of them their lives.
4. The Secret Scroll (2001): Catty has always wanted to find out who her birth mother was, and amazingly enough, she has the power to allow herself to do that. When Catty goes back in time, she not only manages to meet her mother, but she also inherits a secret scroll that is the key to destroying the Atrox once and for all. Catty will have to go head-to-head with the most ancient evil of all time-if she can live that long.
5. The Sacrifice (2001): Stanton is in love with Serena. But it is a relationship that can never be. Stanton is committed to the Atrox, an ancient evil that has been around since the beginning of time. And Serena is a Daughter of the Moon, a force of good whose mission is to stop Stanton and his kind. Stanton has been trying to stay away from Serena, but now their secret is out. He will have to choose between the life he has always known and a love that could end up destroying the person he cares about most.
6. The Lost One (2001): When Tianna wakes up one day, she doesn’t know where she is. And more important, she doesn’t know who she is. All she has is a note she found in her handwriting, warning the police that someone is trying to kill her. Soon Tianna realizes that she is not like other people. She has the power to move things with her mind. Then she notices Vanessa, Serena, and Jimena watching her. What is her connection to the Daughters of the Moon?
7. Moon Demon (2002): Vanessa's sixteenth birthday is coming up. While most girls would be thrilled at the prospect, Vanessa dreads being one year closer to making the most important decision of her life. Now she is beginning to doubt everything she holds true—her friends, her relationship with Michael, and even her identity. Then she meets Hector, who is more exciting and dangerous than anyone else she knows. Through him, she learns about a side of herself that she never knew existed...
8. Possession (2002): Serena hasn't been herself lately. She has been having sudden lapses of memory and acting like a completely different person — one she doesn't like very much. To add to her confusion, she knows that someone has been following her. It all started the night an elderly woman helped her. Now Serena is beginning to wonder, who was that woman? And what has she done to Serena?
9. The Choice (2003): In a reckless attempt to change the future, Catty drops Jimena into her troubled past — and into dangerous territory for the ex-gang member. As Jimena runs for her life, she is caught by the police and put in jail. There she is further threatened by a new type of Follower with a shape-changing power she is unable to resist. Her only choice is to break out of jail and hide out with a most unlikely ally—her old gang rival, Payasa. Together they have to save the other Daughters of the Moon before Jimena’s most terrifying premonition comes true.?
10. The Talisman (2003): Maggie is running out of time on this earth. And before she can name her successor, she reflects on the incredible, age-old journey that brought her to where she is. As a girl in ancient Athens, her father was a great warrior and leader of men. However, it was Maggie, known then as Penelope, who chose to battle the greatest enemy of all-the Atrox. After seeing an innocent man succumb to the Atrox and his shadowy followers, she takes a vow to help cleanse the world of its evil. But in doing so, she may have to forego the love of the great soldier, Hector, and lose her sister to the dark side.
11. The Prophecy (2004): Catty almost has her hands on the Scroll and its power to destroy the Atrox, but time is running out. Anyone who sets foot near the cursed parchment will die, and it's about to go on display at the local art museum. Before Catty can steal it, the Scroll is hand delivered to her by a surprising messenger ...but this gift has strings. In return she must travel to the dark world of Nefandus to finally meet her father, a member of the Atrox's inner circle. There, he awaits her with a tempting proposal. Will Catty succumb to her dark heritage?
12. The Becoming (2004): Lately, Tianna has been feeling unsettled, and she can't understand why — she has a great boyfriend, good friends, and, for once, a loving foster home. But still, she can't shake the thought that something, or someone, is after her. At a skateboarding competition she runs into two of her most feared enemies, Justin and Mason. Only now, they claim they've come to help Tianna — to warn her of her becoming. She has no idea what they mean, but deep down, Tianna senses herself changing. She knows that every Daughter has a dark side, but is hers threatening to overtake?
13. The Final Eclipse (2007): Vanessa and Serena are prisoners in Nefandus, where the Atrox plans to capture their souls and make them Followers. Vanessa escapes just in time, but without Serena. Back in L.A., Jimena recalls an ancient prophecy that could spell disaster for Vanessa on her seventeenth birthday. Now Vanessa is faced with a crucial choice: save herself, or save Serena. In the thrilling conclusion to the Daughters of the Moon series, Vanessa, Catty, Serena, and Jimena face their final battle against the evil Atrox. But in protecting the world will the Daughters end up losing one another?

---

This series provides examples of:

• Achilles' Heel: The followers dislike looking at or being around clocks or timepieces, as they remind them of their eternal bond to evil. Surprisingly, this seems to only apply to analog timepieces as they don't seem too bothered by digital ones.
• Action Girl: All the daughters qualify.
• A Day in the Limelight: The Sacrifice is from Stanton's POV, while The Talisman is from Maggie's.
• Age Without Youth: When the Atrox grants Maggie's wish for immortality, it tricks her by not giving her eternal youth. Thankfully, Selene gives her a potion that can temporarily reverse the aging process.
  • Somewhat averted with Aura as only her spirit is immortal, but justified whenever she steals a body. The bodies she lives in age normally, so she has to scout out a new victim whenever her current one gets too old and frail.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: When Serena falls for Stanton, who is a follower of the Atrox and later becomes Prince of Darkness.
• Alpha Bitch: Morgan. Corrine later on.
  • Cassandra on the followers' side.
• And I Must Scream: Hector's plan for him and Vanessa would be the two of them dissolving and forming a single cloud of molecules that would forever travel around the vast loneliness of outer space.
• Anti Anti Christ: Tianna was created to serve the Atrox and bear his child. She decides she'd rather not.
• Another Dimension: The dark realm of Nefandus, where some of the Atrox's followers live, and other people are held prisoner by them.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When Tianna asks Ethan why he would want love if he can't feel it himself, he doesn't answer. She wonders if it is because he wants to be able to but can't.
• Artifact of Doom: The Secret Scroll. It puts a curse on whomever holds it, except for its destined wielder. It's also the only thing that can permanently destroy the Atrox, if the spell on it is recited by said destined wielder.
• Ascended Extra: Arguably Catty in Goddess of the Night. She starts out as Vanessa's friend with time-traveling powers and ends up as a fellow daughter by the end of the book.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: When the daughters turn seventeen, they either give up their memories and powers, or vanish, possibly becoming guardian spirits. Catty's birth mother delayed the process for herself by turning to the Atrox because she was afraid of what would happen, but finally became a guardian spirit in book 4.
• Awesomeness-Induced Amnesia: Basically the result if the Daughters choose to stay on Earth, but lose their memories and powers.
• Badass Boast: Night Shade's opening lines:
  "Jimena Castillo walked down the rain-drenched street as if she owned the night. And she did."
• Bait-and-Switch: There's a subplot in Moon Demon with Vanessa trying to work up the nerve to tell Michael what she wants for her birthday and getting embarrassed just thinking about it, with it being heavily implied that she wants to ask him if they can have sex. It turns out she just wanted to ask if she could sing in his band.
• Batman Grabs a Gun: In Night Shade Jimena holds Karyl at gunpoint, planning to shoot him in revenge for causing Veto's death. Averted when she instead shoots the ground beside him as a distraction and instead hits him with a bolt of energy, understanding that using a destructive tool would only increase the followers' power.
• Battle Ballgown: The girls tend to throw down while dolled up.
• Beauty Equals Goodness:
  • Played straight with the Daughters.
    • Averted on the rare occasion they turn evil.
  • Zig-zagged with Tianna. Because they were created by the Atrox, they were supposed to be evil, and even remember having trouble feeling any sort of emotion to tragic situations when they were very young. However, since they were rescued by Selene as an infant, raised by a former daughter, and fed moon nectar to gain a soul, they have become a good person due to their upbringing.
  • Downplayed with the Followers. Most of them are described as being inhumanly attractive, but their features have a harshness to them.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Maggie and Catty's mother both wish for immortality, but they forgot to ask to be perpetually young.
• Because Destiny Says So: Maggie dies due to attempting to destroy the Atrox herself, as that's not her destiny. Destiny is rather touchy that way.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: It's established that followers cannot harm someone who has done an act of genuine kindness towards them.
• Beast and Beauty: Serena, a Goddess, being with Stanton, a messenger of evil.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Jimena and Collin until the third book.
• Big Good: Selene. Although mentioned throughout the series, she finally appears once during the last book.
• Big Brother Worship: Collin, Serena's older brother. Justified as they've been close since their mother left them.
• Bittersweet Ending: The Atrox is defeated, Vanessa lives to make her final decision, and Jimena will go on to lead the next generation of Daughters of the Moon. On the other hand, Tianna dies at the end of book twelve when she destroys the Atrox's human form, Catty is killed destroying the Atrox, Serena decides to stay with Stanton in Nefandus after the portal shuts permanently without any way to return back, Vanessa no longer remembers her time as a daughter due to her decision, and Adamantis's spirit is now loose on earth.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Morgan pulls this off just enough to get Collin interested in her.
  • MARY, who pretends to be a loving mother but is really a servant of the Atrox and trying to steer Tianna towards becoming its bride.
• Bittersweet 17: The Daughters' seventeenth birthday is when they must make their choice.
• Blessed with Suck / Cursed with Awesome: The main cast does get magical powers, which is awesome. On the other hand, there's that whole ultimate evil thing that won't leave them alone...
• Bodyguard Crush: How Lambert and Aura's relationship began when they were still humans. It ended badly for both of them.
• Body Surf: Possession features Aura, a woman who promised herself to the Atrox, but betrayed it for her bodyguard Lambert. Consequently, her body was consumed by the Cold Fire and she became an immortal spirit, who subsequently possessed another woman and has been jumping from host to host ever since, taking over the body of a young beautiful woman while transferring their spirit into her previous aged body (though it takes time for her to trade places with their spirit, and she also needs them to drink a potion for her to do so).
• Breaking Out the Boss: The Infidi's plan during Possession. An interesting play on the trope seeing as Lambert is imprisoned in Stanton's mind.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu:
  • Tianna is able to destroy the Atrox's human form, but dies immediately after.
  • Catty destroys the Atrox once and for all, but is killed doing so.
• Brought Down to Normal: Sometimes a Daughter will have her powers removed due to an attack from the followers. It's usually gained back somehow by the end of the book.
• Can't Stay Normal: Even though Jimena gives up her memories and powers, she turns out to be the reincarnation of Maggie's old mentor, and gets dragged right back in.
• Card-Carrying Villain: While most of the followers are like this in mannerisms, it's mentioned how certain groups of followers go out of their way to show off their allegiance to the Atrox with their physical appearance, tattoos, etc.
• Childhood Friend: Vanessa and Catty, who became friends in elementary school when they noticed they each had identical moon charm necklaces.
• The Chosen One: Catty is this in regards to the Secret Scroll.
• Claimed by the Supernatural: After touching a mysterious flame in her house, Vanessa wakes up to find that the burn has become a delicate floral design that starts on her finger and then gradually spreads down her arm. Hector later explains that he sent the flame to test if she really was a Daughter of Pandora. If she wasn't, it would have remained a tormenting burn.
• Cock Fight: Almost happens in The Secret Scroll between Michael and Vanessa's then-boyfriend Toby. Thankfully, Jimena shuts it down.
• Coolest Club Ever: Planet Bang is the girl's go-to spot throughout the series. The followers tend to hang out at another club called The Dungeon.
• Cool Old Lady: Maggie is this, whenever she's not in her younger form.
• Costume Porn: There's plenty of great early 2000's fashion and clubbing outfits on display, but the real shoutout goes to the goddess outfits that the daughters dress into and wear during the climax of each book. The series takes what would be slightly over-the-top party wear and makeup and turns them into something otherworldly and magical.
• Daddy's Little Villain: Catty plays this up while living with Adamantis in Nefandus, although she hates every moment of it.
• Dangerous Seventeenth Birthday: Actually, either completely takes away a normal life, or leaves the person with nothing but a normal life. In theory.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: The reason why Maryann from The Sacrifice becomes attracted to Stanton.
• Den of Iniquity: Heaven's Ballroom from Moon Demon. It's where Hector had been finding and kidnapping his victims in order to lure the daughters to him.
• Dark Action Girl: Serena and Catty have both been this at different times.
• Darker and Edgier: From the end of The Choice onward, the books take a more serious turn. Jimena gives up her memories and powers, the girls lose Maggie, there's a more rushed attitude towards solving the secret scroll, there's more sexual innuendo, Tianna's death and the coming of the final eclipse.
• Dating Catwoman: Serena and Stanton are this from Into the Cold Fire to The Sacrifice. Averted once they get back together again in Possession, since Stanton is firmly on the side of good by this point.
• Deal with the Devil: Any deal made with the Atrox is this.
• Disappeared Dad: Quite common for most of the Daughters:
  • Vanessa's father was a stuntman who was killed in a helicopter crash when she was five.
  • Jimena's father is never even mentioned, even though her mother's backstory is explained briefly.
  • In Catty's case, Kendra was already single when she adopted her and decided to not date in order to keep Catty's supposed alien origins a secret. Her birth father on the other hand turns out to be quite alive...
• Drives Like Crazy: Vanessa is this once she gets her license.
  • Jimena has her moments.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: People who have had their hope stolen by followers have this afterwards.
• Early-Bird Cameo: A couple throughout the series:
  • The party during The Secret Scroll is mentioned to be at Jerome's house.
  • Kyle appears during Possession, as a guy who catches Serena during a panic attack and asks if she's alright.
  • Veto is mentioned briefly during Into the Cold Fire, before he is properly introduced in the next book.
  • Although she was unnamed in The Sacrifice, the Sons Of The Dark book Escape implies that Maddie was the girl Stanton encountered in the graveyard.
• Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Justified with Serena's crush on Zahi. She usually avoids romantic relationships because she sometimes starts mentally responding to their thoughts whenever she gets too happy or excited. One of the reasons she likes Zahi is because all his thoughts are in French or Arabic so she can't understand them.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: The reason given as to why Followers can't harm someone who performed an act of kindness towards them.
• Evil Former Friend: Morgan had been one of Vanessa's closest friends (though Catty was never fond of her), but becomes this trope once she becomes a Follower.
• Fake Defector: In the third Sons of the Dark book, Kyle is told that of the Daughters, Tianna is dead, Vanessa and Serena are being held captive and Catty has joined the Atrox. In book 13 of this series, Catty reveals to Vanessa that she was only pretending to be on the villains' side, having agreed to join her father with the intention of getting close enough to the Atrox to fulfill her destiny and destroy it once and for all. Up until the moment of the reveal, she couldn't tell Vanessa or Serena the truth because the Followers would learn it from their minds if she did.
• Forbidden Love:
  • Serena and Stanton's relationship is this at first, since they're under threat of regulators coming after them if they are caught. This is no longer the case after Stanton becomes the Prince of the Night and they get back together in Possession, since he now outranks all who would oppose their relationship.
  • Aura and Lambert, since he was a knight assigned to guard her while she traveled to her engagement with the Atrox. The two fell in love, but where separated when the Atrox discovered their treachery.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Whenever Tianna's looks are discussed, it's usually noted how impossibly beautiful she is or how she's the daughter who most resembles a goddess. This helps her realize that she was created by the Atrox to be his bride.
  • In Into the Cold Fire, Jimena mentions that she wants a guy like Collin, which shocks Serena. When reminded that she hates him, Jimena clarifies that she wants someone who has a straightforward path with no big swerves ahead because all she ever sees in his future is him surfing. The two get together in the next book.
• Foregone Conclusion: In The Talisman Maggie and Hector fall in love with each other. Since we've already seen Hector as the villain of Moon Demon, we already know that things will end poorly.
• For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: In The Sacrifice, Stanton is approached by a dying regulator who needs to be escorted somewhere safe. Thankfully, it happens to be Halloween night so everyone thinks that it's a really elaborate costume.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Once someone becomes a follower, their eye shine phosphorescent in moonlight.
• Gratuitous Spanish: Jimena constantly peppers her lines with Spanish words.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Vanessa feels this way towards Tianna and Catty's blossoming friendship in Moon Demon, which is amplified when the rest of the girls start to avoid her too. Turns out that they were all busy planning a surprise party for her.
• Halloween Episode: The Sacrifice opens on Halloween night, followed by Dia de los Muertos celebrations the next day.
• Happily Adopted: Late in The Becoming, Catty expresses a desire for Shannon (Tianna's foster sister) to become this by Kendra (Catty's adoptive mother). However, it's never shown if it actually happened.
• Heel–Face Turn: Stanton is firmly this, post The Sacrifice.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Tianna dies destroying the Atrox's human form. The Sons of the Dark let themselves be absorbed by the Regulators so as to make Catty's supposed Face–Heel Turn appear believable. Finally, Catty dies destroying the Atrox permanently.
• Hippie Parents: Kendra is this to Catty.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: In mythology, the Fates are more or less neutral characters, whose jobs are to weave the thread of life for each person. However, in The Final Eclipse, they're allied with the Atrox, along with actively gloating about all misfortunes and tragedies into the lives they weave.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: The Atrox created Tianna to serve him. She partially seals him/it instead.
• I Choose to Stay: Serena remains with Stanton in the alternate dimension after defeating the Atrox.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: In Goddess of the Night, during a rare moment of vulnerability, Morgan admits to Vanessa that her life feels empty if she's not dating anyone and that she didn't think Vanessa would understand since everyone likes her.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Before the series and in the first book, Vanessa would rather not have her invisibility powers. She grows to appreciate them.
• Immortality Seeker: Brought up by Jimena, when Maggie tells the Daughters about the Cold Fire and its ability to bestow immortality:
  "You'd think people would have heard about the fire and all tried to jump in," Jimena mused. "I mean, damn, to live forever."
• In-Series Nickname: There's a couple:
  • "The Queen of Weird" for Serena, although this could just be Morgan trying to make her look bad in front of Collin.
  • "Risky" for Jimena, her old gang nickname.
  • Payasa herself (It means clown). Her real name is Graciela.
• Interspecies Adoption: What Kendra thought she was originally doing with Catty. She found her as a child walking alone in the desert and unable to remember anything except for a crash and an explosion. Kendra assumed that Catty was an alien child who crashed into earth and adopted her to protect her from government officials.
• Intimate Marks: When Vanessa finishes the purification ritual in Moon Demon, she then discovers that the interconnecting heart pattern she drew on the ground with chalk has now become a protective tattoo located over her heart. It stays on her until the last book, when it is removed by The Fates.
• It's All About Me: One of Serena's poems, about a girl and her demon lover, is based on her relationship with Stanton and the feelings that went along with it. After hearing it in class, Jerome instantly assumes that it's about him.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In Night Shade when Veto's soul finally does die, he tells Jimena to go and be with Collin and that he'll be a good boyfriend to her.
• Jerk Jock: Jerome has shades of this.
• Killed Offscreen: Kyle and the rest of the Sons Of The Dark main cast, who sacrificed themselves in The Final Eclipse by allowing the Regulators to absorb each of them in turn, so that Catty (who had claimed to have captured them) could infiltrate the Inner Circle and destroy the Atrox.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Tianna is introduced with this, unable to remember anything about herself. She even states that she knows what coffee tastes like, but doesn't know if she likes it or not.
• Lethal Chef: Tianna avoids Mary's cooking since it's described as tasting like either rotten fish or cat food. Turns out that it was a smart decision to not eat any of it...
• Lipstick-and-Load Montage: At least in the first two books, the heroines have a detailed sequence of putting on beautiful clothes and makeup before going to the showdown with the Atrox. Justified, as it works like battle paint — the psychological preparation is very important in a battle.
• Little Miss Badass: Shannon when she and Tianna escape from Mary. She even has everything packed to leave and a hideout in the attic!
• Love Makes You Crazy: Jerome after Serena keeps rejecting him, which leads him to become a follower to get her.
• Love Redeems: Stanton, whose love for Serena keeps him from being totally evil when he's promoted to Prince of Darkness.
• Love Triangle:
  • Goddess of the Night: There's an implied one between Vanessa, Michael and Stanton. Michael wins since the Vanessa-Stanton pairing never appears again after this book.
  • Into the Cold Fire: Between Serena, Stanton and Zahi. Stanton wins.
  • Night Shade: Jimena's supposedly dead boyfriend Veto has returned to her, but Collin is suddenly starting to show interest in her as well. Collin wins since Veto turns out to have been only reanimated by the followers in order to trick Jimena into giving Cassandra her powers. He finally fades away after Jimena saves his soul from the Atrox, and tells her to go be with Collin.
  • The Secret Scroll: It's seen from Catty's POV, but there's one going on between Vanessa, Michael and Toby. Vanessa wanted to take a break with Michael and began dating Toby, even tough she seems very distant whenever she's with him. Michael wins since Toby is secretly a regulator in disguise who clouded over Vanessa's mind to get close to her, so he could figure out who the Secret Scroll's keeper was and where it was currently located. He's lost forever when the daughters manage to trap him in the time tunnel.
• Loyal Phlebotinum: Only those who have been invited by the Atrox can step into the Cold Fire. Those that haven't will suffer a horrible death.
• Magical Accessory: Somewhat averted with the moon necklaces as it's often stressed that it's only a symbol of the power within each daughter. However, it can be used to channel light from energy attacks and the charm will burn any followers who touch them.
  • Serena also gains Hekate's orb later and Jimena gets the Medusa stone to replace her amulet after her 17th birthday.
  • Serena has Hekate's Key in Into the Cold Fire, which is used to bring Jimena back to life after she touches the cold fire.
• Magical Incantation: "O mater Luna, regina nocia, adiuvo me nunc." is the most common one, but there's usually a phrase in each book and is meaningful to the conflict:
  • Id quod factum est, infectum esse potest — What has been done can be undone (Into the Cold Fire)
  • Quae tibi nocere possunt, etiam te adiuvare possunt — What can harm you, can also help you (Night Shade)
  • Demere peronam tuam atque ad dominum tuum se referre — Take off your mask and return to your master (The Secret Scroll)
  • Protegas et Deleas — Protect and Destroy (The Sacrifice)
  • Leva velamen — Lift the Veil (The Possession)
  • Si sine misercordia oppugnabis, tenebrae fies — If I attack without compassion, I’ll become the darkness (The Choice)
  • Cum oculus daemonis coniveat, ini in terram vetitam — When the demon eye blinks, enter the forbidden land (The Prophecy)
• Make Way for the Princess: happens in Into the Cold Fire when Morgan walks down the hallway, interrupting a moment between Serena and Zahi.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Vanessa's father's death. He was a stuntman who died in a helicopter crash, but there are subtle hints that imply that it may have been caused by the Atrox
• Meaningful Rename: Penelope renames herself Maggie, in order to fit into the new world and as a shortened version of Magna Mater.
  • Similarly to Maggie's first reason, Chryssipus becomes Chris.
• Memento MacGuffin: The Secret Scroll opens with Catty receiving one from her recently-deceased birth mother. It's a school test of hers, but dated a week from then, which leads her to realize that something isn't right.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Sorry Maggie... She tries to use the incantation from the Secret Scroll to destroy the Atrox; however, as it was not her destiny to do so, the spell backfires and destroys her body instead.
• Missing Mom: Serena and Colin's mom abandoned the family when they were young and hasn't been seen since.
  • It's mentioned by Jimena that her mother left her due to drug addictions, which is why she lives with her abuela. Her father is never mentioned.
  • Catty at first, although she finally meets her for a brief time in book four.
• Morality Chain and Morality Pet: Serena and Vanessa to Stanton.
• Muggle Best Friend: Payasa is this to Jimena, and sort of becomes the token human to the team in The Choice.
• Muggle Foster Parents:
  • Catty was raised by a normal woman. Her mother was a Daughter and her father was in the enemy's inner circle.
  • Mary, Tianna's foster mother, is a human who is aware but supportive of the girls' activities. Subverted as she turns out to be a higher-up follower who was assigned to secretly guide Tianna into the role of the Becoming.
• Must Not Die a Virgin: Vanessa goes through this in the last book, between the end of the world and her possible ascension.
• Naïve Everygirl: Vanessa in Goddess of the Night. Serena and Jimena have been dealing with this goddess business for awhile and are happy to show her the ropes.
• New-Age Retro Hippie: Kendra, Catty's foster mother.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • In The Sacrifice the daughters manage to free Stanton from the Atrox and turn him into a normal human again. So when Lambert arrives in search of Serena, Stanton is powerless to stop him.
  • In The Choice Catty sends Jimena back in time to save the rest of the Daughters, but ends up dropping her into enemy gang territory. This begins a chain of events that leads to Jimena getting arrested and thrown in jail.
    • What kicks off the whole story is Tianna attempting to use the Secret Scroll to defeat the Atrox, which ends with everyone but Jimena being captured.
  • In Goddess of the Night, Vanessa tries to rescue a young Stanton from the Atrox, when he traps her in his memories. This later comes back to bite her in the ass in The Final Eclipse, when the Atrox reveals that it was so impressed by bravery during the rescue attempt that it asked the fates to allow it to be her soul's guardian so that she would eventually become a dark goddess..
• No Eye in Magic: Looking into a follower's eyes is usually what allows them to enter someone's mind.
• No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Adamantis does this several times with Catty during The Prophecy, such as greeting her kindly when they first meet or chatting with her while he prepares tea. Catty realizes that it's all a ruse, as the longer she is in Nefandus with him, the more difficult it is for her to deny her evil side.
• Non-Indicative Name: The girls aren't actually Selene's biological daughters, that's just what they are called.
• Not Quite Flight: Vanessa can fly as a result of her invisibility; expanding her molecules so she can become a weightless cloud.
• Not-So-Forgotten Birthday: Throughout Moon Demon, Vanessa's worried about her upcoming birthday (which only her mother seems to care about, as none of her friends are saying anything about it) and jealous of Tianna, the newest member of the group — she's spending all her time with Catty, who'd been Vanessa's best friend (and reassures Vanessa that she still is at one point), and whenever Vanessa tries to join the pair or any of the other girls in things, they come up with some excuse to not have her with them. In the climax, it turns out the girls were actually planning a surprise birthday party for her all along, and the lame excuses were because it wouldn't have been a surprise if she'd come along when they were making preparations.
• Offscreen Breakup: Vanessa and Michael in book 4. It's resolved by the end.
• Origins Episode: The Talisman explains how Maggie (back when she was known as Penelope) learned of the Atrox, subsequently becoming immortal and learning of her purpose as a mentor to the Daughters of the Moon. It also shows the origins of Chris (the Keeper of the Secret Scroll, introduced in book 4) and Hector (introduced in Moon Demon).
• Our Nymphs Are Different: Azera, Zonda, and Lizelle can disguise themselves as humans, but their true forms have reptilian wings, talon-like claws, forked tongues, golden scales covering their skin, and black snakes for hair.
• Out-of-Clothes Experience: In Goddess of the Night, Vanessa's lack of skills with her separating molecules means that she sometimes would lose a pierce of clothing or jacket when going invisible.
• Parental Abandonment: Catty's raised by a foster mother. Turns out both her parents are alive, but serve the bad guy, though her mother came to regret it.
• Past-Life Memories: Jimena starts gaining these in The Prophecy, which help her learn that she's Pandia's reincarnation.
• Physical God: Essentially what the main cast is.
• Power Crystal: There are rumors of a "Black Diamond" that has the ability to defeat the Atrox. Then Catty discovers that her birth name 'Atertra' means "Black Diamond"....
• Power Incontinence:
  • Early on in the series, Vanessa would start going invisible whenever her emotions were running high.
  • When she was younger, Serena would sometimes start talking to peoples' thoughts without realizing that she was doing so.
• The Power of Love: Where the Daughters get their powers from.
• Pyrrhic Victory: In The Final Eclipse, Vanessa's in absolutely no mood for Jimena's cheery congratulations after the Atrox is defeated, considering what it cost her.
• Really 700 Years Old: Maggie was mortal back in Athens a couple millennia ago.
  • Stanton was born in late 13th century Europe when he was turned against his will.
  • Aura was born in 1223 and had her spirit but not her body cursed with immortality.
  • Chris's origin is revealed in The Talisman where he was originally a disgraced Spartan Soldier who teams up with Maggie to fight the Atrox.
  • A smaller example is Murray, a follower introduced in The Sacrifice. He was turned during the 1950s, and still dresses like a greaser in the present day.
• Recruit Teenagers with Attitude: The Daughters are the only ones who can defeat the Atrox, but only have their powers until their seventeenth birthday.
  • The Atrox does this too, with most of the followers shown in-series being physically teens as well.
• The Reveal:
  • The Secret Scroll: Chris is the keeper of the Secret Scroll and Toby is actually a regulator.
  • The Lost One: Tianna is the fifth Daughter.
  • Moon Demon: Hector is the demon.
  • The Choice: Tianna has the scroll and Jimena is actually turning 17 instead of 16.
  • The Becoming: Tianna was created by the Atrox in order to birth his child.
• Rotating Protagonist: Each of the thirteen books follow the POV of one of the daughters, which changes in each book:
  • Books 1, 7 and 13: Goddess of the Night, Moon Demon and The Final Eclipse follow Vanessa.
  • Books 2 and 8: Into the Cold Fire and Possession follow Serena.
  • Books 3 and 9: Night Shade and The Choice follow Jimena.
  • Books 4 and 11: The Secret Scroll and The Prophecy follow Catty.
  • Books 6 and 12: The Lost One and The Becoming follow Tiana.
  • Book 5: The Sacrifice follows Stanton.
  • Book 10: The Talisman follows Maggie, and doubles as an Origins Episode for her.
• Rule of Symbolism: When Vanessa tells Hector that she will take and wear the shackles that bind him to the Atrox, he gets down on one knee to offer them to her, as if he were proposing.
• Rummage Sale Reject: Morgan negatively describes Serena's fashion style as this. Catty and Vanessa like it.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: Catty often uses her powers for skipping school or giving herself more time for homework. Averted with Vanessa, who feels that doing so is wrong.
  • Stanton uses his powers a few times in The Sacrifice to get free food out of people.
• Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: Inverted. The Atrox is actually stronger in a physical form and weaker as pure shadow.
• Secret-Keeper: Collin and Derek discover that the girls are goddesses at separate points, but both promise to never tell anyone.
• Secret Legacy: Every member of the group with the exception of Vanessa has this besides being Daughters of the Moon.
• Secret Test of Character: When Stanton offers to take Vanessa to where the followers are holding Catty prisoner, Maggie refuses the offer and tells Vanessa not to go, as it will be the dark of the moon then and her powers will be weakened. Vanessa defies her and manages to rescue Catty, along with Serena and Jimena's help. It turns out that doing this was a test from Maggie to see if Vanessa was willing to risk everything to do what was right.
• Semi-Divine: The Talisman reveals that Maggie is actually the daughter of Zeus and a mortal woman.
• Sequel Hook: The series ends with Jimena about to lead the next generation of Daughters and a heavy implication that Adamantis' spirit is there and planning his next move.
• Sixth Ranger: With the group having assembled in book 1, Tianna serves as a Fifth Ranger after she joins the group in book 6.
• Skipping School: Done occasionally by the girls but it's usually done because of something Atrox related.
• Smart People Know Latin: The girls instinctively understand Latin due to their Daughter powers. They also understand Greek as well.
• Stalker with a Crush: Stanton to Serena during Into the Cold Fire and The Sacrifice, and to Vanessa in Goddess of the Night.
  • Cassandra was this to Stanton in The Sacrifice.
  • Jerome is this a couple of times to Serena in Possession.
• Sue Donym: Maggie named herself that after Magna Mater, for "Guardian Mother".
• Surfer Dude: Serena's brother Collin, who spends most of his time on the water and is pretty mellow.
• Take a Third Option: Serena can give up her memories and powers, become a guardian spirit, or become a goddess of the night. She takes the third one.
• The Not-Love Interest: Chris comes off as this to Maggie in The Talisman.
• Through Her Stomach: The picnic Michael prepares for Vanessa in Goddess of the Night contains bread, Kasseri cheese, sparkling cider, and a homemade tomato salad with garlic, olive oil, and basil.
  • Serena does something similar in Into the Cold Fire, when she makes chocolate chip cookies in preparation for Zahi's visit.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Corinne. In book six she is introduced when she meets Tianna, shows her around school and is seen as a generally nice person. When we meet her again in book twelve, she's rude and insults Tianna whenever they meet, with the excuse that she stole Derek from her.
• Tomato in the Mirror: For a few of the Daughters:
  • Serena in The Possession when she begins having memory lapses and phases where acts completely out of character but is unable to control herself.
  • Catty, when she learns that she is the one destined to destroy the Atrox.
  • Tianna, when she learns that she was created by the Atrox to bear his child.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Maggie loves her tea and almost always serves it to the Daughters during their meetings.
• True Companions: The daughters aren't related, but often risk their lives for one another.
• Uncanny Valley Girl: Azera, Zonda, and Lizelle from The Choice.
• Unfazed Everyman: Payasa takes the news about the Daughters and the Atrox pretty well.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Will Morgan finally thank the Daughters after they save her from Aura? Of course not.
• Urban Fantasy: The series is largely set in Los Angeles, but with mystical powers present.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Vanessa and Stanton in Goddess of the Night, though it's over by the next book, Into the Cold Fire, where Serena and Stanton now become this trope. It's resolved by the end.
• Villainous Crush:
  • Stanton to Vanessa in Goddess of the Night.
  • Cassandra to Stanton in The Sacrifice, although it's a bit downplayed compared to the other examples.
  • Hector turns out to be this to Vanessa in Moon Demon.
  • Jerome to Serena in Possession, especially once he becomes a follower.
  • Ethan to Tianna in The Becoming. Or at least he's pretending to have one, since he's really the Atrox in its human form and can't actually feel love.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Aura at the end of Possession.
  • It's really common for the followers to do this when actual law enforcement shows up.
• We Are Not Going Through That Again:
  "Wow, what an adventure," Catty said. "Let's go back and do it again."
  "No!" Vanessa grabbed Catty's arm. She looked at her watch. The hands were gratefully still.
• Weirdness Censor: Often used to explain why the normal world can't recognize the evil around them. Maggie explains that it's easier for a person to think of a passerby's glowing eyes as a trick of the light rather than noticing that said passerby's eyes are fluorescent.
  • When Vanessa first hears about the daughters and witnesses Maggie de-aging, she theorizes that Maggie must have spiked her tea with something.
  • When Morgan becomes a follower later on, her parents think that she's becoming delusional and put her in a hospital for troubled teens.
  • Into the Cold Fire: While Catty time travels solo to the previous night, Vanessa, Serena, and Jimena wait at a crowded, outdoor restaurant for her. All of a sudden Catty appears by falling above them, soaking wet and covered with seaweed. She's able to pass this off to everyone around them by claiming to be a promotion for an upcoming film called Ocean Deep.
• We Used to Be Friends: Jimena and Payasa used to be close until joining rival gangs drove them apart.
  • Morgan may qualify but as Catty says, this is really just Vanessa's viewpoint.
• Wham Line: From Todd in The Becoming:
  "I think Mary is trying to poison you."
• Whole Episode Flashback: The Talisman, save for the epilogue (which is set in the present day), is one big flashback to ancient Athens, serving as an Origins Episode for Maggie (back when she was known as Penelope) and for Chris, the Keeper of the Secret Scroll.
• Will They or Won't They?: Serena and Stanton were this for the longest time:
  • In Into the Cold Fire, Stanton tries to tell Serena that they've been starting to get involved romantically, but Zahi has been removing her memories of their time together. He's still firmly on the side of the Atrox at this time, so she doesn't believe him. He turns out to be telling the truth and they begin dating at the end, despite their relationship being forbidden.
  • Next, in The Sacrifice, the two are clearly in love with each other but Stanton wants the two of them to break up since they are under constant threat of regulators, he feels a continuous urge to turn her into a follower and doesn't want to hurt her. Serena refuses this, saying that their relationship is stronger than that but she does leave him after witnessing him attempting to turn an innocent girl to the Atrox, since she had come to believe he had stopped doing that. They get back together once the Daughters manage to shed Stanton of his bond to evil and he becomes human again, but he willingly turns to the Atrox in order to gain back his powers to protect Serena when she is almost fatally attacked by Lambert. The book ends with them broken up since Serena doesn't know that he turned to the Atrox to save her and is disgusted with him for becoming a follower again, but Stanton hopes that they will get back together someday since his new ranking now means their relationship would no longer be forbidden.
  • Finally, in Possession, Serena still claims to hate Stanton, despite the fact that she clearly misses him. She finally comes to realize why he turned back when he saves her from her cliff fall and is horrified when he is captured by the Infidi. She and the Daughters save him and the two unite their powers to fight off the Infidi. They are back together by the end of the book, and stay that way for the rest of the series.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Todd and Shannon figure out that there's something wrong with Mary long before Tianna does.
• Year Outside, Hour Inside: Time works this way in Nefandus. In one instance, the daughters are there for what feels like a few hours. When they exit, they learn that nine days have passed.
• You Have Failed Me: When Cassandra's plan in Night Shade fails, the Atrox punishes her taking away her status as a Follower and turning her into a normal human.

---

"No one starts the party without us."

"Yeah. 'Cause we are the party!"

---