Moonlands by Steven Savile Published by Self-Published on March 15, 2013
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 484
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Ashley Hawthorne thinks of herself as the Cuckoo Girl. No matter where she is it feels like she doesn’t quite belong.
Everything changes when her eccentric aunt, Elspeth Grimm, leaves her the key to a safety deposit box in a bank that was destroyed during the Blitz. That box contains the first part of her true inheritance: an umbrella, a battered old notebook, a pair of aviator’s goggles and a locket. Each of these gifts is a unique part of who she really is.
Elspeth is a Grimm, a descendent of the brothers who purged this world of monsters by trapping them within the Concord. She is the Oracle. A keeper of all the knowledge we have amassed about the creatures of the Fae and other worlds. And someone intent on destroying the Concord has murdered her!
When Ashley looks through the goggles that night she sees curious creatures on the roof of the house across the street watching her. To the naked eye they look like crows but they are not. It is the first glimpse of the other place—the place where she will finally belong.
The journal is crammed full of things, but there’s no actual writing in it. Ash decides she’s going to use the book as a journal, and begins the first entry: My name is Ashley Hawthorne. The ink fades so she writes it again. My name is Ashley Hawthorne. Again the ink fades. She tries again and again until the ink scratches out an entirely different first line: That is not who you are!
This is another instance where the cover and summary pulled us in, only to be disappointing. We don’t have much to say except this wasn’t for us. And that maybe we should avoid books with summaries that contain exclamation marks.
What We Loved:
The beginning starts off good and strong. It has mystery and intrigue, and it’s all in the prologue. After that, it was pretty much downhill from there. We loved how the book started out, with the main character, Ashley, being aware of her fate. We love books that explore this aspect.
Um...Not So Much:
From the strong prologue, the story was disjointed and overly verbose. Throw in the fact that it just got (we hate to say it) boring, and we decided that there are way more books out there that will hold our attention far better than this one. #flounce
Bottom Line:
We might go back and give Moonlands another try, but we doubt it.
Verdict:
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