O Despertar da Lua Caída

Moonfall #1

by Sarah A. Parker, Carolina Candido (Translator), Gabriela Araújo (Translator)

Nesse mundo corrompido, as luas brilham com a memória daqueles que se foram. E é com o despertar de uma delas que a mudança começará.

Como uma assassina de um grupo opositor ao reinado do Grado, o trabalho de Raeve é cumprir ordens e nunca ser pega. Mas, quando um caçador de recompensas demonstra um interesse particular nela, sangue é derramado, corações são partidos e Raeve é levada pela Guilda dos Nobres: um grupo de feéricos poderosos que decidem fazer de sua execução um exemplo.

Cem anos atrás, Kaan Vaegor cortou a cabeça de um rei e vestiu sua coroa ainda quente, desolado pela perda de seu grande amor. Agora, em uma jornada interminável, ele acaba se infiltrando na prisão de alta segurança do Grado, onde dá de cara com uma Raeve aprisionada.

Ecos de um passado ressoam entre eles. E logo vão perceber que escapar desta prisão é só o primeiro de muitos desafios que esta conexão irá trazer.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Dragons, Fantasy Romance, Audiobook, Fae

560 pages, Paperback

First published November 24, 2024

About the author

Sarah is an international bestselling autho​r who​ grew up on a farm in New Zealand, where she spent her days getting lost amongst the rolling pasture, building forts in the hedge, climbing trees, and exploring the forest pathways—making up elaborate stories that never lost their grip on her.

​She now lives in Australia with her husband​, dog, three children, and countless plants, and spends her days pouring her stories onto paper rather than throwing them to the wind.

Her genre of choice is epic fantasy romance, and she thrives off dreaming up​ real, ​​complex characters​​ and immersive worlds to get lost amongst.

Reviews

[ageless · Rating 1 out of 5]

-♾️/5⭐️🤭☺️✨

OMG GUYS IS THIS THE FANTASY OF 2024??!!😍😍

It’s got everything!! 🥰✨

- glorified Uber rides I mean DRAGONS🐉 that add pretty much nothing to the plot even though they’re so important to the world🐉
- a copycat celaena sardothien that’s somehow more annoying???! a snarky, sassy, stabby assassin 🗡️🩸that doesn’t actually do any assassinating despite the fact that apparently she is the bestest most greatest assassin in all of the rebel organization that she works for!!✨✨
- an ambiguously tan and large warrior prince king who everyone thinks is violent and evil but is secretly good a super hot🥵 and LARGE love interest that definitely loves the main character and doesn’t just want to fuck the main character with his huge dick!!🤭✨✨
- the most insta-lust filled “romance” I’ve ever seen definitely a slow burn!! Absolutely not a romance that is less interesting than watching paint dry!!🥵😍😝
- super hot fae🧚🏻‍♀️ who are totally not just people with pointed ears that are overly horny for no reason and don’t worry it totally never gets annoying hearing every one described as male and female over and over again🧚🏻‍♀️💫
- a confusing world that barely ever gets explained super in depth world building that is for sure interesting and not boring or forces you to go look at a TWENTY PAGE GLOSSARY that is given to you BEFORE YOU EVEN GET TO THE PROLOGUE🌕🌎
- literally just the four elements from avatar a really unique magic system the rarest and most unique elements ever!! There’s 🌬️wind💨 🌋fire🔥🗿earth🪨 and 🌊water💧 magic😍😍✨ I’ve never seen such creative powers before!! Have you??
- ambiguously tan warrior clans that see women as objects and as baby machines that only exist for the female protagonist to bring feminism to before she is rescued by the MMC who was raised by that tribe but obviously doesn’t think like that because he drinks respect women juice😎
- a hypersexual alcoholic bisexual side character!!🤩
- really creative mystical creatures such as the fate herder!! Who does not just exist to push the FMC to where she needs to go!🪄🐈
- and the PLOT🫣😵‍💫🤯 there’s so many twists!! You’ll never see any of them coming!!

(Very sarcastic spoilers ahead☺️)

Seriously!! I mean who could ever predict that our super snarky and murderous assassin with a heart of pure gold💛 who never hurts children or oppressed people or poor people or animals and only murders rapists and child abusers (nevermind those 25??!random guards that were literally just doing their jobs they’re totally evil and probably like kicked a puppy or something) was actually the lost super special princess named Aelin Elluin that everyone loves??! 👑 👸🏻💫
And I mean who possibly could have predicted the ambiguously tan warrior king that smells so good and is so hot and has such glorious shining rippling muscles and such a big dick that our FMC believes murders his people for fun and is a tyrant like his brothers is actually really good and loving and a great ruler🤯🤯✨
And also actually he has a cabin that was his mom’s that’s really nice and has a great city where all the people are super happy and a friend group consisting of more ambiguously tan men that are not-cassian and not-azriel because they don’t have wings and his hot sister who is “the most beautiful” but she’s not Mor because she has brown hair not blonde🥰✨
(I actually don’t know how to communicate to you that literally the whole second half of this 718 kindle page book is largely ripping off ACoMaF?? Like listen I don’t like SJM at all but I don’t condone blatant plagiarism either😭)

Oh but plot twist!! The tan warrior king calls the snarky cold, callous hearted assassin girlie ✨moonbeam🌕✨ because they used to be in love before she lost all her memories and he continues to be in love with her even though she’s clearly pretty much a different person!! Also she has a daughter that no one tells her about and she doesn’t even learn about in this book!! 😯😦

But hey plot isn’t everything right??! maybe the characters are like so good and really well developed!!😆
Like our main character!! Have you ever wanted to read more about the most annoying and entitled assassin in existence: Celaena Sardothien??
Well here’s her clone newest competition on the block!! 🪩Raeve🪩✨😍✨ she’s the most special special girl!!! She’s the heir to the super powerful and strong family that all got murdered while she was sleeping!! Also that family was tasked with keeping the god of aether locked away in his obsidian gem diadem thingy. 🥳
Raeve used to be named Elluin but she lost all her memories after she died after giving birth or something and was turned into a moon with her super special biggest fiercest dead moonplume dragon that may or may not occasionally posses her as an entity called “the other”!
Raeve is really scared of loving people because some two random girls that she cared about died. You will be reminded over and over and over and over and over and over again how cold and dark and calloused Raeve heart is. She loves to remind you just how broken and traumatized she is because for some reason authors think that if they continually tell you how traumatized😩 and broken😢 characters are that you’ll like them more. 🥺🥺
Also Raeve is the avatar💧🔥💨🪨 and can use literally all of the elements (but she was tortured with fire so she can’t use it right now that’s for book two)
She’s also really small😣🐁 and hot🥵 and good at singing🎤

And our male lead!! Kaan! Who has big muscles and an even bigger dick and is really good at fucking Raeve and is really big and I think I forgot to mention it but he’s really large.😜😩He used to be king of the warrior tribe before he ripped off his dad’s head and became king of the whole desert kingdom. He loves the main character even though she’s constantly threatening to kill him and she has about zero redeeming qualities as a person.
we get told their first love story through some of Elluin’s old diary entries and he did so many beautiful romantic gestures like: give her soup, sing her a song, and give her a hug!! Wow romance of the century😍
he also collected all the piece of her dead dragon-moon thing after she died because he loved her so much or something. Idk it was weird.

And omg the prose!🥹 I have to hand it to Miss Sarah!!☺️ I’ve never seen a woman string so many words together and say absolutely nothing of value with them!!! She tries so hard to be poetic with her descriptions that she forgets what she’s describing halfway through and continues to just say words that don’t make any sense!! Absolutely gorgeous 😫 I’m soooo jealous of her inability to string a coherent sentence together!!😩
I also love how we get told how to feel every time a character speaks!! I love being told that every time a character says something mildly hurtful to Raeve it “impales her just beneath the ribs” or “thrusts straight through to her heart”! Thank you Sarah!! How else would I have known with my silly stupid woman brain that the character meant those words as an insult?!!😣 You’re so thoughtful!!☺️
And I love how modern the dialogue is!!😆 I love hearing the words like kitchenette, icebox, and especially microcock in my medieval fantasy!!! Also the excessive swearing really definitely adds the emphasis you were looking for and it continues to keep working even after the 143th time you’ve used the word “fucking”!!

Seriously!! 😁 Sarah A. Parker is incredible!!😍😍 718 kindle pages of a plot that doesn’t move, useless descriptions, uninteresting and stupid characters, and a world that requires a 20 page glossary to even halfway begin to understand is really a feat!! 🤩

The only reason anyone is calling this book a slow burn despite the fact the FMC wants to fuck the MMC the second she smells him is because this book is 500 pages too long.

Also this book is multi pov but we don’t fully get other povs until we are like 65 chapters into a 89 chapter book. And by that point I’m sorry I don’t care what not-Mor is doing on her fetch quest especially when her voice sounds literally exactly the same as Raeve’s. And I know Kaan wants to fuck Raeve. Thanks for the confirmation.

To the girl that said this was the Fourth Wing of 2024 you are so right babe!! I don’t think you meant it the same way I do but I agree nonetheless!!🥰

And to the girl that said you could take away either the fantasy or the romance and the other would still stand on its own?? You are a lying liar that lies neither the fantasy nor the romance can stand on their own! They can’t even stand together😭😭

This whole book flopped and floundered more than a dying fish and it was a woeful disappointment from start to finish. 😐

[Clace · Rating 4 out of 5]

REREAD #1! ✅

This was fun!! I'll write a new review most probs

____
It's not even been a year but I miss this world so much that I have to read it now that we have a release date for Oct 25th 🤭 SO EXCITED FOR THIS!!

∆•___•∆

4.45!

“He’s fire and brimstone. I’m shattered ice. Our collision is steam and destruction, destined to dissipate, but I’ll gladly burn beneath him until the world comes crumbling down.”

I cannot stress how much love I have for this book, reading this was a whole new experience and one that I loved so much that I will gladly reread it again and again in the following months. Now this was my first book by Sarah since 2021 and I was pleasantly surprised at how much her writing improved. It was so good and not only that I loved how she handled certain aspects of this book.
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Giving us the whole guide at the start which was like i think 30+ pages helped a lot and it also saved Sarah from info dumping in between major scenes, she literally threw it at us and said im not explaining anything after this LMAO. I also saw how much effort and hard work she put into this work with all the art and the dairy entries. It really worked out in the end and her writing style oh my god it was so accessible and easy to read.
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What surprised me the most was how she was able to give life not only to the main characters but also the world and the dragons, her words were nothing short of exceptional and magical. I loved her storytelling and her ability to let the readers dwell on the emotions that they face as they read the heartbreaking story of the characters and what they go through.

“Sadness is like stones that stack inside you, making it harder to move. Ignorance is my self-preservation tonic, and I’ll swear by it until I die.”

Raeve, our FMC was witty, verbal and short tempered but also sly, manipulative and strong. I loved her so much. The story follows mostly her perspective and it was so fun to read because her tendency to include humor in the most unlikely situations was amazing. She's also an assassin and if you dont know how much i love Assassins please head over to my review of the assassins blade. What I liked the most about Raeve's story was her undiscovered past and the way it slowly unraveled in front of us and how much my heart ached for her, for everything she went through and lost. Parker outdid herself here.

“It most certainly will, but what she doesn’t see is that her love bolsters me. Strengthens me. When she shines that light my way, nothing can hurt me.”

Kaan, our MMC was broody, grumpy and strong but on the inside he was caring, loving and well...basically a cinnamon roll who was madly in love with Raeve. I was confused at times at how the story around him and Raeve we unfolding but it actually fit into place quite well. Kaan put up with Raeve a lot and was very patient with him. His grief was neglected at all in this book and that is another thing that i salute Sarah for, she highlighted how much his impacted him and how they still influenced his decisions and why he loved and wanted to protect Raeve. It was done really well.

“Chase death, Moonbeam. And I pray your bloodlust brings you the same sense of peace I feel just knowing you exist.”

The plot was handled really well and the thing that i liked the most was that its categorized as a fantasy and it is a fantasy yes there is romance but it does not overshadow the plot or even come near the plot. Even if you take out the romance the story would still be able to stand on its own. The story starts with Raeve an assassin of a rebel group whose told to listen and not question who has her own personal problems to deal with gets entangled with Kaan a king who basically stalks Raeve but there are so many twists and flashbacks and they are so well maintained that you dont have to think much and can easily enjoy the series.

“Your hands know me,” she whispers. “Yes,” I murmur against her hair. “Know you, crave you, worship you.”

The romance was probably one of the best things about this book. I am all for slow burns and this book did deliver on that, i also love the hate to love trope which was pretty prominent and no one can convince me that Raeve and Kaan are not star crossed lovers because they are. They were so god together. There was so much tension eluding off them. Every interaction with close proximity between them was so hot. Sarah aced the angst part.

“but I’d die knowing I left something bright behind in this beautiful world sketched in so many shades of ugly.

Most fantasies fail to follow a structure when it comes to their worldbuilding and Lore but that definitely was not the case here because Sarah really blew everything out of the water with how well organized everything was, how her lore fell into place weaved its way around the worldbuilding and constructed a foundation for the series. Even the dragons had their own stories here.

“Then he asked me what I wanted, and I told him my truth. One three-letter word that weighed too much, being promised to his kin. You.”

As much as I love this book and appreciate it there were one or two things that bothered me:
The pacing was very weird, it was fast paced at times and often felt very slow so that really impacted my mood as i read and the length? 715 was a little to much like 50 to 100 pages too much i felt there was a small patch where i had to drag through and the start felt so overwhelming but overall it was very good and i will definitely recommend!

Okayyy so i got some tropes:
. Who hurt you?
. He falls first
. Forbidden love
. One dragon ;)
. Starcrossed lovers
. Angst and tension
. Dragons
. Multi-POV
. Banter

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

The girlies declared this was the next BIG romantasy book, so my curious ass went and downloaded it. First of all, holy shit, no one mentioned it was 730 pages. It reads quickly though, because each paragraph is like 1-3 sentences with multiple one-liners following in succession for the MC to show off her snark and sass. This book has a lot of cool things going for it: dragons, moons falling from the sky, a badass female main character hell-bent on getting revenge, and a gigantic penis disguised as a man who immediately falls in love with her.

Except that for a romantasy, this author sure knows how to kill a sex scene. The characters are about to have sex, and the main character thinks, Can’t he see my heartstrings are stubby and frayed?

…stubby?
STUBBY?
STUBBY.

I could NOT get past the prose. I see a lot of people praising the writing for its lyricism, but to me, it was clunky and distracting. For example, the main character is crying in the rain. Instead of describing this like a normal person, we get raindrops described as:

- another wailing bead plunges
- an agonized splat
- weeping corpse
- achingly aware she’ll never be whole again
- heavy droplets wail as they plunge
- singing foreign words I don’t understand
- Howling from the shock of their savage deconstruction
- begging the stone to absorb them

(examples start on or around pg 464)

This continues in the same overwritten and overwrought manner for a few more pages, all to describe the way she’s crying in the rain. This is why the book is 730 pages.

Stylistically, this didn’t work for me. It was a lot of alliteration and fluff in order to paint a scene. The author felt the need to use the maximum amount of words at any given time. For example, instead of saying ‘heart,’ she would say, ‘the organ in my chest’ (pgs. 234, 276, 435, 543, 544, 610). She used the word “masticate” twice, both times causing me stop reading because it is such a clunky, awkward word in sentences kind of like:

- …and I’m holding on to that promise of hope until I’m masticated by a dragon’s maw or sliced from throat to navel. (on or around pg. 193)
- Fear finally masticates me into oblivion. (on or around pg. 246)

Further, she very heavily relied on a thesaurus, much to her detriment. It became painfully obvious that she didn’t know the meaning of some of the words and phrases she was using. Here are two of my favorite examples:

- “ I can’t smell the infection he boasts carnal knowledge of.”
- “My gut and chest continue to convulse in staggered synchrony…”

‘Carnal knowledge’ means to know something sexually, which…lol in that sentence. And ‘staggered synchrony’ is an oxymoron.

This book suffers from very, very poor word choice and editing. It was brain-meltingly painful wading through the extraneous words in order to get glimpses of plot here and there. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I DNF’ed this at 69% (lol).

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[edit: Goodreads has informed me that my review was reported for “excessive quotes”, but the review guidelines are vague so I guess check out my book highlights if you want to see samples of the writing style]

[also if you are reporting my review because you can’t believe someone didn’t like this book, please reflect upon your own insecurities]

[Allison E · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am so sorry…this book was really really bad. It was a dnf and skim for me. :( I don’t have many nice things to say and I know this is the viral romantasy of the moment so if you’re loving this book I would look away now.

When the Moon Hatched was completely insufferable to me. The writing was insufferable the FMC was insufferable the romance was insufferable.

The writing:
I should have known the prose wasn’t going to work for me when I read this line from our FMC (she gets a whiff of someone mysterious who is obviously her love interest):

“So close I’m struck with a smoky musk pinched with the smell of freshly split stone, softened with notes of something buttery.”

What does that even mean? What does stone smell like? Why is it buttery?

The writing would also use fantasy wording like “discreet swell of her babe-laden abdomen” and then next paragraph go “I see you, asshole”. I didn’t think I was a snob about modern lingo but some level of consistency would have been nice.

In general there was just constant insertion of nonsensical similes and metaphors: “her eyes hardening like molten ore dropped in a bed of snow.” ???

The FMC:
Raeve is a copy paste snarky badass angry assassin who just wants to stab things and emotionally repress her feelings. I can not emphasize enough how much I disliked being in her head. She was not funny or interesting to me. I gagged constantly at her “clever quips”. The only insult in Raeve’s entire arsenal was telling people they had a micropenis. She is oh so mysterious and miserable and rage filled and no one understands her and blah blah blah. Such a tired song for Romantasy heroines and yet we keep doing it without adding any nuance?

“Companionship is something I work hard to avoid. And mostly succeed. The harder you care, the more fragile everything seems.
Easier to just… 
Not.”

….I think I rolled my eyes so hard they flew out of my sockets. And this kind of incessant “woe is me I don’t want to connect with people!!” does. not. stop. Again I typically LIKE a troubled FMC with emotional baggage, but this one was just not it.

“Survival’s funny. Some wear it like a whisper, others like a scream. Mine’s a scorched skeleton of flame-forged rage that keeps me upright. Keeps me moving forward.” -_-

The romance:
Cridngy, trite, melodramatic, not a single freshly executed concept. Even the banter was bad. At least he was a consent king though.

The world building:
There was a ton of world building in this book and it was clear the author put a lot of thought into it, but it was really awkwardly done in my opinion. Some clunky info dumps especially considering there’s like a 20 page glossary at the beginning of the book. I’d include some quotes but I’m tired of being mean.

Actually, I leave you with one last quote: “You can reshape a turd an infinite number of times, but it’s still a turd.  It still stinks.”

That’s a real line and it honestly perfectly captures my overall sentiment towards this book: A stinky turd that could not be reshaped into anything I wanted to read.

[SK · Rating 5 out of 5]

"He's fire and brimstone. I'm shattered ice. Our collision is steam and destruction, destined to dissipate, but I'll gladly burn beneath him until the world comes crumbling down."

✔️ High fantasy
✔️ Fae + dragons
✔️ Multi pov
✔️ Star crossed lovers
✔️ Forbidden romance
✔️ Angst + slow burn
✔️ Only one horse dragon

The book caught my attention when it started being compared to ACOTAR and was labelled as one of the best romantasy of the year. While this is nothing like ACOTAR and am genuinely happy about that as it brought in a new magic system and a completely mesmerizing world and characters but I would say it's similar to ToG when it comes to the vibe. That's only if I have to compare tho. It might also be in my top 5 reads of the year, potentially one of the best romantasy books I read this year 👀

From the beginning everything went right with this book for me. The world building, the pacing, the character introductions and the intrigue was exactly what I wanted yet nothing could have prepared me for how it will all turn out. I would warn people that this could be perceived as a confusing world, consider reading it when you are in the mood for high fantasy and complex world in terms of story telling. The whole concept of creators, dragons and other creatures is just so fascinating. I was truly mesmerized. I also found it to be decently paced.

"Your hands know me."
"Know you, crave you, worship you."

Raeve is such a badass fmc. I loved her from the start. She has such witty comebacks and her sassy yet self protective demeanour comes across as easy to like. Her backstory is surely traumatizing and there's a lot of depth to her character. I can't wait to see her grow into something even more, emotionally in particular. Kaan is my new book boyfriend. The man loves her so much, even I was lost in yearning. I would trust him with my life. He's charming and the man radiates protective and "would die for her," "would kill for her," "would burn for her" vibes and I ate it all up 😌😌

The romance is so angsty and the slow burn so delicious. The way it was built was also interesting and their chemistry is perfect. The banter was chef's kiss. One will find themselves rooting for them. The tension and the spice?? Oof. Simply off the charts 🥵🥵 The push and pull was killing me I swear 😩😩

Some of the plot twists were really good and I couldn't have guessed them at all. The action sequences were so brutal yet beautiful as the way it was described was so vivid I could picture it all, but that also goes for the whole book lol 😅 The ending has me wanting for more. I need answers 😩😩 I didn't want it to end 😭

Highly recommended
I believe fans of ToG in particular would like this quite a lot.


~•~•~
I hear this is being compared to ACOTAR and is apparently one of the best books and romantasy of the year.. Let's put it to test 😉

[Ayman · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book brought something primal out of me. this is what i mean when i say i want the perfect blend of fantasy and romance. the fantasy stands on its own. the romance stands on its own. this one gave me 50 lashings yall im not even joking 😭🧍🏻‍♀️

long story short: notorious assassin gets imprisoned. king (with the help of his dragon) breaks her out. there’s a invisible sting pull between them. someone’s holding information back.🤨 (actually they both are.) you find out why they are so important to each other. there’s some huffs and puffs and heated exchanges. you find out even more information about the two and now you’re smacking the book against your head continuously so aggressively that you should probably be admitted into the psych ward. all of that being wrapped up in a whopping 700 pages 😃

Kaan Vaegor, the man you are. sitting on his lap would fix me. he is the definition of “for however long it takes, even if it kills me.” cuz this man was aching and riddled with love let me tell you!!! “I’d spend eternity looking up at her if she’d only fucking let me” Kaan, tattoo your name across my heart will you? not only does this man protect and support his vicious and powerful girlfriend every second but he describes her as his salvation, more beautiful than the moon. he said he would mulch her enemies with his bare hands for her or pave a bloody path for her to slaughter them herself. like ok sir whatever you say gorgeous 😝

“your hands know me”
“yes, know you, crave you, worship you.”
it’s so tiring that this mf isn’t mine and isn’t real.

Raeve, female rage incarnate, angry, sad, strong, and always threatening to kill her man, oh how i love you! she makes me wanna bow down at her feet. she gets in the way of herself in this book and that’s so real tbh. she deserves all the love Kaan openly gives. the edging scene made me believe all that was happening to me and i guess that says something idk. 🤷‍♀️ i hope Raeve kills a lot of people in the next book and Kaan is just proudly looking at her on the side. this man knows her wholeheartedly without words🥹

“I’m going to cut out your tongue with that blade in your boot.”
“I prefer you use your teeth, but beggars can’t be choosers” you can tell that they are really in love here 🫠🫠🫠

“He’s watching me with a haunting intensity that threatens to peel off one of the many calluses crusting my heart. a look that presses against my chest. my soul.” this man would commit terrorism for you babes.

tbh this book could’ve been a hundred pages less. i feel like a lot was said yet nothing at all. the plot moves as a snail’s pace but the poetic aspect of this story makes up for it. im deadly itching for the sequel. crimes will be committed.

[Marianna Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know. I know. I know. I’m just as shocked as you are. GIMME A SECOND TO FORM THOUGHTS BECAUSE IM CURRENTLY CRASHING OUT !!!! This is your sign to reread this damn masterpiece of a book if you didn’t like it the first time around. This is why much a firm believer in right book wrong time. The first time I read this I was in the worst slump and couldn’t get into it and everything was pissing me off… second time, it is now one of my favorite books of all time. Oh. My. God. My heart is ACHINGGGGGGG

I’m just so in love with Sarah’s lyrical writing and the emotion she etches into every page. This book is truly unique and special but requires time and attention and patience but it is so worth it.

The ENDING??????? Once it all started to come together no I feel physically ill. I’m losing my damn mind.

THE YEARNINGGGGGGGGGGGG in this book is some of the best I have ever read. Kaan Vaegor is my husband. His sheer devotion to Raeve has my chest hurting.

Oh and Raeve, don’t even get me started on how I deeply owed her an apology. It’s really rare but sometimes FMCs that force me to address my own flaws because of the similarities I share with them, I can be resistant to allowing myself to love them at first because I literally feel like I’m being called out. So again why I say right book wrong time for so many reasons. Raeve is me I am her, and my goodness her pain runs so deep I feel it in my bones. I need her and Kaan happy so bad but I just know I’m in for an emotional roller coaster before we can ever get there oh my god .

I have so many thoughts I need to collect them better 😭😭😭

“She’s probably picturing me on my knees, and perhaps that should bother me. It doesn’t. I’d spend eternity looking up at her if she’d only fucking let me.”

“I’ve hunted your spirit for one hundred and twenty-three phases, Raeve. Forgive me if I’m a bit jaded.”

“Chase death, Moonbeam. And I pray your bloodlust brings you the same sense of peace I feel just knowing you exist.”

“Either way, there’s no one else I’d willingly serve my heart on a platter to—over and over and over again—like a hopeless, lovesick stray begging for a treat.”

“Raeve, you could flay me down the middle and I’d still fucking love you.”

[Phuong ✯ · Rating 2 out of 5]

- 1.5 stars

god this was the book with the most pretentious writing that i've read in a very long time. how come the author has no problem describing how the sunbeam reflects off a ceiling or the lake or whatever across several chapters by adding fancy adjectives and adverbs only merriam-webster knows. here is an example:

It oscillates between an argent haze of barely-there shape and strong, sturdy feline with a tufted tail and flowing mane that tangles with the win. Like the tendrils are dancing with Clode.

or

Something bumps against my cheek, ripping me from the fiery clutches of a dream that was melting flesh from my bones in slow, sizzling sweeps.

??? like what? thank you for saying nothing with so many words, that's a talent for sure. but then words like "Faunycaw", "Fate Herder", "Moltenmaws", "Moonplumes" and "Sabersythes" are thrown into the room without any further explanation what that thing even is or what is does, because i was suppose to read the 503950 page glossary at the beginning where each of these creatures and their mommy (all of the mentioned creatures are dragons btw) are explained.

then we have our dear beloved "badass" heroine Raeve or Elluin whatever she goes by who talks about getting revenge on this guy who killed her friend this whole book and doesn't even do shit, because she is busy getting in unfortunate situation where she has to be rescued by the hero. assassin .. lmao can you hear my laughter. and to the people who said this series was the new Throne of Glass and Raeve is like Aelin .. I'M OFFENDED ON BEHALF OF THE WHOLE TOG FANDOM because Raeve wishes she had an ounce of talent, brain and beauty that Aelin has and i'm saying this even though i'm not the biggest TOG or Aelin fan myself, but jesus that comparison is not it.

[Ali L · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young, smart-mouthed woman smirks her way to success as an assassin. Everyone she loves dies so she guards her heart fiercely and refuses to become attached to anybody. Her name is Celaena Sardothien and… wait, sorry, wrong book. Her name is Raeve and she totally isn’t Celaena, she’s someone else. Violet Sorrengail — shit, sorry again! I mean Raeve — meets a nice vampire named Raihn errrrr I mean guy named Kaan, the owner of a pet dragon who was named after the Australian Olympian breakdancer. What is this book about? Who knows. Stuff undeniably happens, but that doesn’t mean I cared about it. Will Raeve get her revenge? Will Kaan ever stop looking at her like this 🥺? Will this book finally reveal itself as The King of Battle and Blood fanfiction? Hard to say. But if you enjoy people rumbling, growling, and referencing animal feces constantly, you might enjoy yourself.

Editor’s note: no other author may employ italics ever again, as Sarah A. Parker used all of them and now there are no more.

[chan ☆]

i love myself and loving yourself means not reading bad books

[Emms-hiatus(ish) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is difficult to rate. I liked the story but not the book.

It was longer than it needed to be. The prose is awkward but trying ever so hard to be lyrical. The word choices are weird and often times uncomfortable. Like, put the thesaurus down because that word doesn’t mean what you think it means in context with the sentence. Italics and ellipses are overused to the degree it took me out of the story every single time. Which was a lot and why it took me so so long to finish it.

It’s unfortunate because underneath all that, the story was good. I’m not sure I’ll come back to finish this series because of the writing style.

[Monte Price · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok, and flat out deceived.

This was so far from anything even resembling good I am awestruck that there was a period of time where it felt like I could not escape this book. By that there was a group of people I knew that were doing a buddy read and somehow I was the last to join and the only one to finish? Tell me how that makes sense? I'm stubborn that's how.

We live in an age where any book that sneezes too close to a plot found in another is called out for copying, and I don't want to do that. But this is flat out Throne of Glass fanfiction. Now I will give Ms. Sarah some credit, she has some ideas of her own she threw in the pot. In the spirit of good fanfiction being transformed into original work there's a lot of new ideas thrown out there, attempted to incorporate. She didn't copy Sister Sarah's homework exactly. Though I do fear in order to do that Ms Sarah would have actually needed to write a book instead of whatever this was.

It's my understanding this was indie published first and in the great arms race that is publishing in the Fantasy Romance space it was snatched up by a traditional publisher. Which is a shame because this book was very clearly written and edited with the idea they were getting paid by the page. And poorly so at that. It wasn't edited with the intention that every page would grip the reader, but the idea that if they just packed as many words as possible into every sentence then the reader would hope and pray that if they read enough of them all of their suffering would eventually be worth it. That those words would add up to something that was worth their time and effort required to get through all of them, and if they couldn't then maybe they'll still have read at least half the book. In the case of my buddy read most of them did get nearly three hundred or so pages in before they ultimately called it quits.

The first third of this book establishes a sense of place. We have our main character we see them do an assassination, they're almost caught out and then they are asked to lie low for a bit. While they're lying low their best friend is murdered in a bid to draw them out and even though we'd had a couple hundred pages telling us how big and bad a bitch Raeve is she is immediately overpowered. There's some torture because there's some vague talk about an underground resistance movement before she's eventually put on trial for all the killings she done. I say trial, but that's a formality before she's sentenced to death by dragon. Bad way to go out if you ask me. After this point in the book Parker really was just typing to see herself type.

Obviously our main character doesn't die but through a series of contrivances finds herself in the middle of even further contrivances and plot twists that would be comical if they weren't so mind-numbingly dull to read about. The second half of the book is home to more chapters from different characters perspectives than the first, but all are told from the first person and are incredibly hard to tell apart from one another.

As this was sold to me as a fantasy romance I did expect the romance to be something. Maybe swoon worthy, maybe a focus, maybe even something to balance out whatever was happening in the main focus of the book. Instead I got none of those things. For as wordy as the book was, the dialogue was just downright bad. These characters had no chemistry because nothing that was meant to bring them together happened on the page.

A lot of the story started to meander around the sixty percent mark and didn't really get back on track until close to eighty-five percent. Suddenly the book remembered that Raeve was seeking vegeance for getting her ass kicked earlier in the book and was trying to get back to that and away from all the superfluous perspectives we'd been stuck in. Even that though didn't really provide any real sense of closure or accomplishment. If anything it just read like Parker remembering that there was something she could do to give the book purpose because otherwise we'll have really spent all these pages not doing a damn thing.

Where this series could go or what these characters mean to each other is really anyone's guess. I really wasn't engage with the narrative for most of the run time of the book and if I weren't so stubborn and had known that everyone I was reading this with had already dnf'd I probably would have joined then. At no point did I find enjoyment within these pages and find it really hard to believe that anyone could when it's as long as it is, goes for hundred of pages with nothing at all happening at a character level or a plot level. Life is short and no one should spend any amount of their time suffering with this book.

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (Semi-Hiatus-attempting return) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I... I'm damn near speechless...

4 Stars!

'For those who feel small and quiet, spread those wings and roar.'

First, this is told in not just alternating POV's but also from a character in the past, told in 'diary excerpts' and we don't know who the character in the past is until the end. I will admit that I got a little confused going through the story and not knowing for sure who the character was even though I had my suspicions. About 70ish% of the story is told from the FMC POV - Raeve, though.

So for that, I would recommend tagging those chapters so that you can go back after finishing and have a whole ass ah ha moment when it's revealed who the character is. I actually plan on doing it myself on a reread.

╰┈➤ ✨ The worldbuilding is spectacular and intricate. ✨

Apart from that, we have a beautiful and unique magic system, kingdoms on the brick of war, a "trial battle" (love tournaments, competitions, trials, tests and such) a slow-burn romance AND dragons.

╰┈➤ Raeve is a moody, loner FMC who has clearly been traumatized. She is using her bloodlust and need for justice as an assassin for the rebel group Fíur du Ath. While she appears quite aggressive, cold and harsh, she would protect any child, women or person in need. To say I love her, is a major understatement. She is life.

╰┈➤ Kaan, on one hand, is teased as a horrible ruler who only brings death. Ultimately we learn that he is fierce, loyal, protective and would do anything for Raeve.

The romance is refreshing and authentic - not the typical 'touch her and die' 'fated mates' etc. This is not your typical run of the mill, cookie cutter romantasy. The slow burn is sizzling and the banter is top-notch.

There is so much that I can't say because I don't want to put a spoiler tag on the whole review but I will say that this is well worth taking a chance on and I'm one picky mf.

Some say pretentious writing, some say beautiful flowery prose -either way, it's my jam.

I love the pretentious, the overly descriptive, the purple, all the flowery-ness. 💜

╰┈➤ 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓒𝓪𝓷 𝓔𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽 ✰⋆⁺

✨ Slow Burn
✨ Found Family
✨ Violence, Brutality, Blood
✨ Stabby, Fiesty, Sassy FMC
✨Protective and Loyal MMC
✨ Revenge

╰┈➤ 𝓠𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼 ✰⋆⁺

'He's fire and brimstone. I'm shattered ice. Our collision is steam and destruction, destined to dissipate, but I'll gladly burn beneath him until the world comes crumbling down.'

“Chase death, Moonbeam. And I pray your bloodlust brings you the same sense of peace I feel just knowing you exist.”

[Bailee · Rating 5 out of 5]

EASY 5 stars.

I’m not kidding when I say I inhaled this book.
Let me start by saying this is a FANTASY romance. Not romantasy. It’s very fantasy forward and heavy. I highly recommend if you want to read this, skipping the glossary and just looking back when you read something you need more clarity on, otherwise it will overwhelm you. This is an entirely different world, with different ways to tell time, different creatures, different everything.

I. Loved. This. Book. Raeve is an assassin (against her will) and catches the attention of a bounty hunter who works for one of the 3 kings, and one of the worst ones at that. A vile man who is trying to take down the rebel group that Raeve works for. He stops at nothing to get to her, and her whole world changes overnight. Taken prisoner, everything she knew is gone. But she vows to get revenge against those who have wronged her.

All of that beginning storyline aside, let’s talk about the characters. Kaan Vaegor, the MANNNNN that you are. And people say romance is dead!!!!!! He was such a masculine man with not a DROP of toxic masculinity. The romance had me giggling and kicking my feet even with just a small gesture being made. Raeve is now one of my favorites FMCs. I get that she’s avoidant of emotions, but I mean come on can you really blame her after all she’s been through?? She was HILARIOUS and sarcastic and took shit from absolutely no one. A force to be reckoned with!!!

This was amazing. If others not liking this book is making you put it off, don’t let it stop you! I loved everything about it. The dragons were a huge part of the story, the world was so unique, the romance will tear your heart out and build you back up, the plot just kept getting better, and I need book 2 NOW.

[✩ Yaz ✩ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reread and I fell even more in love with this story. Sarah A. Parker is truly a masterful storyteller and I'm in awe of every detail, clue, and emotion she brilliantly weaves into the story.

Book 1 is no doubt only the tip of the iceberg. Just as Parker seamlessly enriched the story with a tragic backstory and a dark journey leading up to two broken souls finding each other—she is setting the stage for future events I am both dreading and excited for.

----

Thank you to the lovely Sarah A. Parker for gifting me with an eARC of the first installment in her Moonfall series.

Disclaimer: receiving advanced reader's copies do not influence my rating of a book, I prioritize reading ARCs I know I will enjoy.

Parker won me over as a loyal reader through her Crystal Bloom series, so I was thrilled when she announced that she wove a new story and knew it would be nothing short of spectacular.

It comes at no surprise to say that Parker penned another incredible fantasy romance and When the Moon Hatched sets up an original fantastical world with a doomed romance that felt reminiscent to the tale of Tristan and Isolde.

“Chase death, Moonbeam. And I pray your bloodlust brings you the same sense of peace I feel just knowing you exist.”

While at the beginning I was a tad overwhelmed by the world-building, but it is so intricate I was very impressed and Sarah, bless her heart,included a detailed guide at the beginning of the book. It took a while to digest but once I got the gist of it I really devoured the story.

This book is a vibrant mosaic of the most beloved fantasy and romance elements but it still manages to set itself apart even from Parker's beloved Crystal Bloom series.

The lore and the magic is cleverly constructed and especially when it comes to the Dragons, they are not just creatures of warfare but they have their own lore and tales as well and it is beautifully tragic.

The story is narrated by multiple POVs and only one POV is told from the past but it's very crucial to the plot. The book consists of 70% of Raeve's chapters but you'll gradually get new POVs as the story progresses.

Raeve is a wildcat with a sharp tongue and a sharper wit. She's an assassin known as the Elding blade of the rebellion group Fíur du Ath. Raeve's job is to kill. To complete orders and never get caught.

She also carries a heart full of sorrow and grapples with a dark past and the brutal loss of loved ones. The bloody road she's on eventually brings her to Kaan Vaegor, a male who lurks around her like a shadow and unravels her like no other.

But even as Kaan grapples with his own tragic past and a grieving heart, would Raeve find a kindred spirit in a this broken male? or a sworn enemy of he who wears a bloodtstained crown of the King he killed.

You can expect Parker's signature angst generously garnished all over the book, character-driven plots, and a slowburn romance that is more than what it seems.

This is a very solid beginning of the series and I cannot wait to get my hands on the second book!

Tropes:
— Star-crossed/doomed love
— Forbidden Romance
— Fae
— He Falls First
— Heavy on the Banter
— Strong and Sharp FMC
— Forced Proximity
— Dragons
— Gods and Goddesses
— Unique Lore and Magic
— Spice (2.5/5)

Content warnings are listed at the beginning of the book and keep in mind there are graphic and mature scenes

[✨Julie✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

✩ 2 stars ✩

“He’s fire and brimstone. I’m shattered ice. Our collision is steam and destruction, destined to dissipate, but I’ll gladly burn beneath him until the world comes crumbling down.” - And the award for trying too hard goes to…. how can people claim this as “beautiful writing” 🤢🤢🤢

What to Expect:
➼ Slow Burn
➼ Enemies-to-Lovers
➼ Forced Proximity
➼ Amnesia
➼ Stabby FMC
➼ Overly Complex/Poorly Explained World Building
➼ A Glossary Long Enough To Give You A Migraine
➼ A Sprinkle of Dragons
➼ Alternating Timelines
➼ Unnecessarily Flowery Word Choices
➼ Multiple POV

Welp, it seems I am in the minority again… Hanging out over here on misfit island trying to understand how this has received so many five star reviews. 🤔 I’m very glad to be reading “The Serpent & The Wings Of Night” in tandem with this so I can say definitively that it’s THIS book I don’t like, not all popular books in general. (Even if it sometimes seems that way 🙃).

Let’s start with the heavy hitting issues… Moonbeam is a terrible nickname. Honestly, I’m struggling to think of a nickname I’ve hated more. I did just read a book where he kept calling the FMC “buddy”… that was pretty bad… “pet?” Anyways… please stahpp.

Secondly, Raeve is the worst kind of FMC. She is bullheaded and selfish and the type of person to stab first and ask questions later. Why are we glorifying people like this so often in books? She was also too cowardly to learn about her past or get close to anyone because she’s scared to lose them, which is just kind of silly and does nothing but hurt everyone involved (including herself). I’ve seen a lot of people comparing this book to an SJM book and I do see a lot of parallels between her and Aelin, but not in a good way. She has all her worst traits without the growth. I am firmly in the ACOTAR camp and Aelin honestly wasn’t my favorite character either(sorry), but at least she was always working hard to protect people and was open to learning about her true identity rather than trying to hide under a rock and pretend nothing had changed.

I also felt like this author made a lot of awkward/uncomfortable word choices that bogged down the reading experience. Instead of saying someone was living a nightmare, she would say they were “living a slumber terror,”etc. Just why? What is she trying to prove? We get it, you know lots of words. 🙄 Decoding the characters bizarre way of speaking often distracted from the plot and those unnecessary deviations added nothing to the story.

Maybe most importantly, this is High Fantasy but it’s not explained clearly at all. This was especially hard to digest while listening to the audio. The description given for the book was about the only explanation the author gave for anything. Readers are left to their own devices and must scrounge up and hoard tiny snippets of information as they read.

Upon finishing, I am left with so many questions. Who are the creators? Gods? If so then why do they not factor into the story? Is that just an origin story that was created over time to explain the dragons entombing themselves in the sky? How long is a phase? How long is a cycle? They say “folk,” (an aggressive amount) do they mean “fae?” Are the dragons similar to any other animal? Or are they more sentient? They played almost no role despite the importance placed on them. Why? The world building was so messy and incomplete which was even more upsetting to me since the book was so long.

I also think the voice actors for the audio were poorly chosen. Her voice sounded too modern and his accent was one that I could not even place, making the finished product feel very disjointed. If anything, he should have sounded more modern since she’s been entombed for so long. Her voice would be perfect for a contemporary romance, but it did not quite work for this book.

The revelations at the end mainly just annoyed me. I felt like we should have known them all along and was bothered again by her lack of bravery in uncovering the truths of her past. I should not have had to wait that long for that information and then feel like it was poorly explained enough to relisten to the final chapter.

Reading this was an absolute drag and I’m feeling pretty salty about the whole experience. I’m honestly so disappointed despite my premonition that this wasn’t for me. Sighh*

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

Pre-read: I have a bad feeling about this one. Not sure why, but I think I’m gonna hate it. 😅 I’d love to be wrong! Fingers crossed for 5 stars! 🤞🏻

[Maeghan 🦋 · Rating 5 out of 5]

« For those who feel small and quiet. Spread those wings and soar »
♾️ 🌟
I feel like I was transported into another world and just got back 🦋 I’m in emotional turmoil because I’ll never read this for the first time again. I didn’t want this to end 😭

« Survival’s funny. Some wear it like a whisper, others like a scream. Mine’s a scorched skeleton of flame-forged rage that keeps me upright. Keeps me moving forward »

🔅 He falls first & loves her so much it hurts
🔅 Dragons
🔅 Forbidden romance
🔅 She doesn’t know who she is
🔅 He waited decades for her
« I catch him looking at me with the intensity of a chapped wasteland desperate for even a drop of rain. The sort of look that consumes »
🔅 Unpredictable ending/plot

« Chase death, Moonbeam. And I pray your bloodlust brings you the same sense of peace I feel just knowing you exist »

«… but what she doesn’t see is that her love bolsters me. Strengthens me. When she shines that light my way, nothing can hurt me »

« The pain… it never goes away. No matter how hard you pretend »

———•
Pre read ;I’ll be slowly reading this as I have another busy week ahead! Hope everyone has an amazing week ❤️
I bought this physical book but decided to read it on my kindle as the spine looks fragile (any reason is good to read on my kindle😂)

[Esta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stab a glare at a page buttoned with florid whorls of flowery adjectives, honeyed adverbs and sighing metaphors, where every wailing, wandering sentence, every unsuspecting noun is spangled with ornamental language, teetering on the precipice of nonsensical decadence.

However, as I cast my gaze at the torrential sentences, I feel the initial bulb of my apprehension towards the writing style soften, split and transform into a seed of warm delight that sprouts serpentine tendrils which creep past the barbed, spiky defences surrounding the thumping organ in my chest.

(Even though the writing was overly ornate and sometimes made super weird choices, I really ended up enjoying the story.)

[Edit: Updated this to five stars because still thinking about it a month later and I skimmed a certain chapter to understand something and it was a straight punch to the gut. Re-reading this a second time would 100% hit harder than the first.]

﹏﹏﹏﹏

Within the first 6% of this story, the FMC dismembers and executes a child abuser & predator. 😌💅 I'm in.

[Laura Jane ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

reread: STILL 6 STARS. STILL ONE OF MY FAVOURITE BOOKS TO EVER EXIST. STILL DEEPLY UNWELL OVER MY YEARNING HUSBAND KAAN. please. reading this a 2nd time hit so much harder. i’m not going to survive book 2. i genuinely feel sick 😭
i don’t care how over dramatic it sounds, this book literally makes my soul ache 😭
it’s a masterpiece in every sense of the word. like i genuinely cannot. bury me with this book. kaan #1 book husband, period. ‘No, you don’t, Moonbeam. You love me. You’re just too busy feasting on my heart to notice.’ 😩😩 OFF TO DIE BYE.

__________
Wow, all the ⭐s!!! This book was phenomenal. I cannot believe I put this off for so long because this is officially one of my favorite reads of the year! I am speechless at how much I loved this.

Everything about this is magnificent. The world building is absolutely incredible!! The writing is so beautiful and evocative. It pulled me in and made me feel a deep connection from the very beginning. Everything about this is so unique and captivating. I cannot tell you one thing I didn't adore about this book! The dragons, the creatures, the characters, the love, the development of the plot and how everything fit together. Wow, just wow.

I went into this book mostly blind and I think it made me have the best experience so although my review will contain no spoilers, I am also going to be pretty vague, as to not give much away. 

Kaan, fuck, HE WROTE THE BOOK ON YEARNING!!! My down bad, tortured, beautiful man!! I am sorry but he is TOP book husband material. Why are more people not screaming about him?! The way my chest was hurting with crumbs of how this man feels and everything that has transpired. Sedate me. There were multiple times when I was crying into my kindle because I felt like my heart had been torn in two listening to his pain and his love for Raeve. I could go on and on about this man - goddamn he deserves everything and more. I’m not sure how I’ll survive him finding out everything.

‘You look me in the eye, Moonbeam–right in the soul–and tell me you don’t hear this fire’s hissing shrieks. Look me in the eye, sharpen those words, and don’t fucking blink as you plunge them through my heart.’ 😩😩😩 please!!!

Raeve, my girl is so incredibly hurt and her suffering runs so, so deep. She has so many complex layers to her, she is stubborn, witty, smart and so strong to have endured what she has. She has a long way to go to let her walls down and heal. A couple of things did frustrate me at times, but I do understand her behaviours and how they make sense for everything that’s happened to her & the situation she is in. easily one of my favourite fmcs ever.

The romance was so angsty and full of so much tension, longing, and the type of chemistry you can feel radiating off the pages. This is the kind of love that I live for in books!! And the slow burn, goddamn.
🥹 - Me literally very time he called her moonbeam.

Then the ending!! AHHH! So much is about to happen and I am so stressed out!!!
A couple of these revelations aren’t sitting right with me either like I’m going to manifest one thing didn’t go how it’s implied 😩

I have SO many highlights it’s unreal, but I’ve picked a few spoiler free ones to include.

Survival’s funny. Some wear it like a whisper, others like a scream. Mine’s a scorched skeleton of flame-forged rage that keeps me upright. Keeps me moving forward.

As I looked at her one final time, wishing she’d grow wings and flutter into the sky so she could ball up and take her place amongst the moons where I’d be able to see her always. So I wouldn’t have to say goodbye.

He’s watching me with a haunting intensity that threatens to peel off one of the many calluses crusting my heart. A look that presses against my chest. My soul.

‘Chase death, Moonbeam. And I pray your bloodlust brings you the same sense of peace I feel just knowing you exist.’

It was the kiss of someone who wanted to give me everything. Take nothing. Yet I gave him my whole heart anyway. Realized it was rightfully his. That it had been for some time.

The only beam of light I’ll ever need or want in this world, my love for her sitting like a moon in my chest. Only this moon will never fall, no matter how hard she tugs on it.

Side note, if you are a fan of the war of lost hearts trilogy (which is god tier for me) then I really think you would absolutely adore this book. The way I connected to the writing styles is so comparable to me. I also think you can absolutely ignore the glossary and not let it intimidate you - just use it as and when you feel you might need it! I didn’t find this confusing at all - which is mostly the reason I put it off. Please just try it for yourself!!

[Minni Mouse · Rating 2 out of 5]

2025 REREAD

Listen, I really tried with this book. I downloaded Tik Tok -- made a Tik Tok account -- just so I could watch about a half dozen clips on "Tips for Reading When the Moon Hatched." I studied the videos, borrowed the hardcover book from the library to compare side-by-side to my Kindle ebook whenever I needed to flip back to the glossary, and took breaks when I needed to.

And it helped. A lot. Enough to round up to two stars. Because there's no denying that author had so many complex ideas and plans and details to this book. There were many parts of this book I thought were highly entertaining, and I love me a good complex fantasy series.

It also still makes me rage at the writing.

The crux of this story is fairly simple...but wrapped up in layers and layers of overly complex world building that buries the plot deep beneath any semblance of normal: Elluin and Kaan were in love; King Ostern coerced Elluin into marrying Tyroth instead by threatening to kill Kaan and their unborn child. So Elluin makes Kaan believe the lie that she doesn't love him anymore, runs away, gets killed, then comes back as Raeve with no memories. A solid story. But the sequence it's told and the distractions along the way with unnecessary side characters and Tookeh trials — and the many perspectives that randomly get thrown in despite the narrative voices all sounding exactly the same — turn the plot pacing into a mess.

Will I read the sequel? Yes. But oooof, do I despise the pretentiousness of this book's world building.
___________________

ORIGINAL 2024 REVIEW

DNF at 61% and 1.75 stars rounded up because my dislike for this book became personal triggers.

I first came upon this book heavily praised on a r/fantasy romance thread. People made it sound like it was the real deal so I figured I’d give it a try.

My thinking now is that if you’re relatively new to fantasy romance and this is the third book you’re picking up after Fourth Wing or the ACOTAR/ToG series, maybe this will wow you. I, on the other hand, have been doing myself a disservice by reading almost exclusively fantasy books in the young adult, new adult, or adult genre since 2015. This means that I have read all of the tropes, read all of the popular and medium popular fantasy books, and I am very numb to the grabby, marketing tropes that a lot of books are so popular for these days. In short, I really have no business still reading young adult or new adult fantasy but instead need to be either getting into the adult fantasy classics or branching out into a different genre. Or picking up a new hobby for a couple months.

Having said that, I can still appreciate a good fantasy book with good writing, good execution, good entertainment, or fresh ideas. This book is none of those things. This book had maybe the potential at best of reaching for a complex plot.

THE BAD
1) I don’t think I have ever studied a map of a fantasy book before I have begun reading. I will sometimes reference it during the book, but it’s rarely been essential to understanding the story. This darling book, however, opens up with a multi page glossy, key terms of places in time, pronunciation, and cast of characters. The author leaves a note to say you don’t necessarily need to read this before beginning the book but I would argue that it is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, for instance, you won’t understand until maybe 30% through that the main male character is named Kaan and that he’s the King of the Burn. The names of the side characters are dropped, but not fully explained through context; some of them you can understand that they are the shopkeepers, or the current leader of the assassins Guild, but other creatures and other names are just dropped like we should already have known them from a previous book… Or from a previous glossary of terms. And that’s malarkey. You shouldn’t need a cheat sheet of lazy background storytelling to make sense of the rest of the book. The fact that you need one means that we have lazy exposition and storytelling that doesn’t have the patience to set up its world building or characters.

And what about characters like Noeve that are named in Veya's perpspective but aren't in the glossary...so we're left wondering who this Noeve character even is...but then realize that out of the 80-something chapters, Veya is only randomly given a handful here and there...so why does it matter?

2) I’ve read a lot of five star reviews praising the author for her prose and poetic way of writing. I will admit that I could tell right away that this wasn’t a dumb-dumb book, so I made sure to take my time to read every single word as well as picture what was happening as I read it. Do I think that the author has an ability for writing, a beautiful lyrical description? Perhaps. The problem was it became too much. Every single page and every single thought from Raeve is overly bloated with complex inner monologues and lofty statements about life or the cosmos. In short, it became pretentious. Sometimes, I just want to read a fast-paced action scenes with words three syllables or less. Sometimes, I just want to read dialogue for the pace of keeping the momentum going and understanding the characters through their speech. I don’t want to read a line of dialogue followed by two pages of smarmy, self-righteous reflections from Raeve before the next character responds to the original dialogue.

3) Raeve is yet another victim to the current trend of female characters being “badass and tough” through their cold demeanors, superior stealth and fighting abilities, and overall immunity to fear or doubt or weakness or kindness or respect. Our main female character is hard to relate to because there is nothing relatable about her. She doesn’t show us anything deeper than the outward caricature of a confident action star, and yet we are to believe in the complexity of her tragic past and the loss that she experiences with people close to her. Not buying it.

4) I’m almost 3/4 of the way through the book and I’ve still to state a clear plot. What are those people even doing? We’re so bogged down by this purple prose and inner monologue that we don’t have a clear direction of what our characters are trying to accomplish and what internal hurdles they have to overcome to get what they need.

5) It’s ironic that for all the glossary and cast of characters listed in the front of the book, the world building here is still extremely vague and confusing. We have nods to different species and abilities and political machinations, but we don’t actually explore any of these things enough to give them meaning. Why are the dragons so essential to the people? What are the differences and tensions between the Burn, Fade, and Shade? How does the caste system of elemental powers affect people and both the upper class and lower class? What did the Crown do that is so abhorrent that the assassin guild needs to rebel against?

6) Zero chemistry between Kaan and Raeve...because all their history and meaningful interactions were off-page in another time when Raeve was actually Elluin so putting these two together was like putting two attractive strangers together and hoping they could somehow sell the "one true love across all eternity" trope.

FINAL THOUGHTS
This isn’t a terrible book – it’s rather a very ambitious book with a lot of pretentious window dressing that distracts from the fact that it’s sorely in need of a third-party editor. And I hated it.

[sakurablossom95 · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Hot Mess in 700 Pages
This book has been on my TBR list for a while, and I finally finished it. Oh man, where do I even start with this hot mess?
First of all, the praise for its “wonderful world-building” initially intrigued me. But upon diving in, I found it to be mediocre and lacking creativity. The author's use of terms like “DAE” for daytime and “SLUMBER” for nighttime was just the beginning of my cringe with it.

The best parts of this book were the magic system and the dragons, but even they didn’t get much page time. This book did not need to be over 700 pages long. It could have easily been condensed to 400 pages and still achieved the same result.
The writing style was inconsistent, with prose that was all over the place. The jarring mix of modern terms with a fantasy setting made for a disjointed reading experience. The characters felt like they were trying too hard to fit into trope categories. The female lead was a cliché cool assassin with a cardboard cutout personality, and the male lead was the typical brooding misunderstood type seen in every romantasy book. Nothing about them set them apart from characters I've read a hundred times before.

As for the romance, consider me blind because I could not, for the life of me, see how these two characters could possibly love one another. His feelings were pure lust, and she had the personality of watching paint dry.
The plot was a convoluted mess. After slogging through 700 plus pages, I honestly cannot pinpoint what the plot was supposed to be. It was all over the place with many things happening, then nothing much in the middle, and suddenly new things happening at the end. You would think that with over 700 pages, at least some threads would tie up or make sense. But nope, that didn’t happen.

Oh, and before I forget, that 30-something pages of glossary at the beginning? FUCK THAT! Don’t tell your readers about the world-building, show them. Overall, my dislike for this book is astronomical to the point that I would burn it for warmth.

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

thoughts/review to come!

———

🐉💫 pre-read:🐉💫

I’m really hoping this isn’t going to be a letdown because I was so excited for it before seeing the mixed reviews🤞

[ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was so disappointing for me🥲 i feel like a lot was happening at the same time as absolutely nothing happening. the romance did not give. the world was so confusing with not much explanation. i was just boggled and was kinda praying for the end🥴 i think if i had to be specific it was a 2.75 stars - i can definitely see some of the positives but overall just not enjoyable sadly

[Andy ₊✩ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

Okay but can we talk about HOW this book had me fighting for my life for the first 18% 😭

Me: “I just want answers.”The book: “No ❤️”

I was out there switching between glossary and Fandom Wiki like a detective on unpaid overtime, absolutely DESPERATE to understand what was happening. Then I got annoyed, gave up, and just… read.

And weirdly? Best decision ever.

This is one of those books that throws terms at you like confetti and only explains them 200 pages later. Did I understand everything? Absolutely not. Did I suddenly stop caring? Also yes.

The writing? Kinda whimsical, occasionally chaotic, definitely not perfect — but somehow it worked?? A few transitions had me like “wait did I miss a chapter??” because some things felt very behind-the-scenes, but honestly… vibes were vibing so I forgave everything.

Now for the main characters:

Reave… girl, you took me a MINUTE 😭 She was impulsive, angry, acting first and thinking later like it was an Olympic sport. But then again, if my life got wrecked the way hers did, I’d probably be committing emotional crimes too, so fair.

And Kaan???

Yeah no. My “book boyfriend list” is no longer a list. It’s a Post-it note.

And it says one name.

HIS.

Anyway, book 2 is getting downloaded to my Kindle the SECOND once it is out because I am emotionally unemployed now.

[manas (traveling) · Rating 1 out of 5]

time of death—30%, page 200.

unfortunately, this book did not deliver in any way, shape, or form. i don't like the phrase people lied to me, everyone overhyped this... however, in this case, i sadly think that is what caused me to be even more disappointed. nothing about this novel was interesting or engaging. i read diverse fantasy often. people keep saying, “i did not understand it”—which is why i didn’t like this??? i in fact hated it because it’s stupid. i really don't know why this book is so long. i found nothing interesting in the characters or the magic system.

types of fantasy i read regularly :

➺ sci-fi
➺ epic fantasy
➺ high fantasy
➺ urban fantasy
➺ romantasy
➺ historical fantasy
➺ gothic fantasy
➺ fantasy-romance
➺ fairytale fantasy
➺ dark fantasy
➺ magical realism

this is somehow more absurd than that…

i don't even know what to label this type of fantasy. there was so much info-dumping and world building, but none of that mattered. there is a huge map and glossary at the start of this book, which the author urges us to reference and familiarize ourselves with. if you ask for my opinion on this? this is a LAZY device that is used in order to write nonsense. i could not tell you what the first 200 + pages were about. none of the material we are presented with makes any sense. arrant blather.

⌞world building + magic system⌝

the world building makes ZERO sense. a load of zilch. while people try to label this novel as a high fantasy, i feel like that is doing actual high fantasy novels injustice. this book reads like a first draft. there is an insane amount of dumping that goes nowhere. while i only read give or take 200 pages, i cannot imagine reading an additional 500+ pages of this. i don't understand why this was SO long with no payoff either.

⌞characters + romance⌝

by far just a load of horseshit. i didn't give a flying fuck about the FMC, her friends, or the romance between our two main leads. i felt no chemistry, no friendship, and certainly no love. her whole badass personality felt extremally forced, and it was VERY jarring to read. in addition, the concept was so unoriginal. boring, yawning, sleepy, lazy. fuck off.

⌞writing +pacing ⌝

THIS is where i claim everybody is a liar. LIARS, please come to the front so i know who spread this tomfoolery. why would you emphasize this book being “poetic”, and “beautifully” written, when it is in fact elementary school material??? i have crafted better essays drunk. there was nothing about the writing that was adequately done. this was the most soporific, dry, brain rot, bullshit, horrendous fantasy i have picked up in a long time. i honestly don't know how this wasn't a stand-alone either. i could not even get through 30% without losing my mind. the pacing of this novel is ALL OVER THE PLACE. there is truly no structure or consistency.

sarah parker... you have officially abused, butchered, fried, destroyed, cut up, tortured, slaughtered, crushed, annihilated, dissolved, and desolated my brain. there is currently nothing functioning in my cerebral cortex.

[Iqra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so luscious I’m genuinely never getting over it I’ll never find a book as good as this ever again I’m devastated why did it have to end how am I going to wait for the next one my mind is racing my heart is in tatters just imagining what’s next how will I survive the next book I’m a mess can you tell I’m a mess?

Proper rtc for sure this time bc I cannot move past it without pouring my heart over this book. It deserves at least that from me.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

I’ve been waiting all year to read this and idk why I waited so long 🙏 it’s so good already

[Laura Greenhalgh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finishing my reread on Ballad release day 🥹 this was EVEN MORE incredible on the second read through. Sarah’s writing is so beautiful I love the lyrical and musical tone woven throughout the story. Despite the beautiful writing, the story is dark and full of pain, loss, heartache and female rage (basically everything that sucks me in to a book!). The magic system is elemental but done in such a unique way and is possibly one of my favourite magic systems from any fantasy book I have read. I love the complexity of characters in this world, I love Raeve & Kaan and I am SO excited to dive into Ballad!!! INFINITY STARS 🌟 ♾️

[Emmy Rosam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well… I have no idea how I feel about that?
After the first 130+ pages I wrapped my head around the world building and the info dumping thrown at you. It went from epic fantasy vibes to pure romantasy after that? Disappointed we didn’t get more of the world building and politics as it was SO heavy at the start.

Secondly, what happened to the plot? It started to go downhill for me after those weird second ‘trials’. I am yet to understand the purpose of those. I saw every big plot twist coming really early on so felt underwhelmed with the ending but the biggest thing for me was I struggled to believe in the romance. For how heavily romance oriented the book ended up being it was not believable how they went from 0-100 with little to no actual communication on what happened. Raeve went from suppressing everything to accepting who she was but still avoiding it? And ‘that conversation’ they mentioned over multiple chapters that was so important to have? Never happened.

I feel like the plot kept getting off track. I definitely will read the next book when it comes out as I need some answers and closure but this read was a little bit too all over the place for me.

[Madison Kait · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is so polarizing, but i honestly thought it was perfect *for me*. full thoughts in my next reading vlog ♡ ౨ৎ

[Ahappyhermit · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS IS FANTASY ROMANCE. full stop.

⭐️ ♾️
🌶️ yesss

It starts with a 20 page glossary in the beginning and it’s meant to be USED. the author dumps us in the middle of a dense, lush fantasy world and said “you can figure it out, I’m not hand holding you through this.” And 🙌🏻 I love it. I LOVED IT.

This book starts in the middle of the characters story, with the beginning swathed in shadows and we get flashes of light… slowly giving us glimpse of the past for us to try and piece together slowly.

Nothing is as it seems and EVERYTHING needs to be questioned.

- Stabby FMC x “I’ll bleed for you” MMC
- Forgotten memory trope
- Dragons
- Gods
- UNIQUE magic system
- A love story that HURTS. OH IT HURTS
- So MUCH BANTER 🤌🏻

this book is also just STUNNING. Like utterly gorgeous. I’m not one to say you should get a physical copy… but wow- I highly recommend.