The Five Daughters of the Moon Lib/E

The Waning Moon #1

by Leena Likitalo

The Crescent Empire teeters on the edge of a revolution, and the Five Daughters of the Moon are the ones to determine its future.Alina, six, fears Gagargi Prataslav and his Great Thinking Machine. The gagargi claims that the machine can predict the future, but at a cost that no one seems to want to know. Merile, eleven, cares only for her dogs, but she smells that something is afoul with the gagargi. By chance, she learns that the machine devours human souls for fuel, and yet no one believes her claim. Sibilia, fifteen, has fallen in love for the first time in her life. She couldn't care less about the unrest spreading through the countryside. Or the rumors about the gagargi and his machine. Elise, sixteen, follows the captain of her heart to orphanages and workhouses. But soon she realizes that the unhappiness amongst her people runs much deeper that anyone could have ever predicted. And Celestia, twenty-two, who will be the empress one day. Lately, she's been drawn to the gagargi. But which one of them was the first to mention the idea of a coup?

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Historical Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Novella

Audio CD

First published July 25, 2017

About the author

Leena Likitalo hails from Finland, the land of endless summer days and long, dark winter nights. She lives with her husband on an island at the outskirts of Helsinki, the capital. But regardless of her remote location, stories find their way to her and demand to be told.

While growing up, Leena struggled to learn foreign languages. At sixteen, her father urged her to start reading in English, and thus she spent the next summer wading through his collection of fantasy and science fiction novels.

Leena breaks computer games for a living. When she's not working, she writes obsessively. And when she's not writing, she can be found at the stables riding horses.

Reviews

[Acqua · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Five Daughters of the Moon is the first book in the fantasy duology The Waning Moon. The sequel, The Sisters of the Crescent Empress, will come out this fall.
I decided to pick it up because its setting - the Crescent Empire - is inspired by Imperial Russia and the Russian Revolution.
This novella follows five sisters: Alina (six), Merile (eleven), Sibilia (fifteen), Elise (sixteen) and Celestia (twenty-two), the daughters of the Crescent Empress and the Moon. There are two chapters in the PoV of every sister, which was enough to develop all of them. My favorite was Alina, because she was the youngest and at the same time she was the one who saw the most - maybe too much. The other sisters think that Alina is haunted, that her mind is weak, but it's more complicated than that.

These are difficult years for the Crescent Empire. The unhappiness amongst the people - poor, fighting unnecessary battles - runs deep, but not everyone who claims to bring equality actually has their best interests at heart. Gagargi Prataslav is an ambitious man, and he might be more powerful than most people realize.

I really like reading books that are inspired by Russian history and folklore, and this was no exception. I loved the gaslamp aspects and the magic that is woven into the story. There are mechanical peacocks, lamps that are fueled by chicken souls, and machines that might require human souls to work - but that's not something we should know. There is also an older, more mysterious kind of magic: the magic of witches, the magic of the moon.
The scene with the witch was my favorite in the novella.

I liked the writing. (English is not the author's first language! And it isn't mine, but I could never write a whole book in it...) That being said, I thought that the ending was rushed, and the novella felt more like a part of a book than something that could stand on its own.

Review also on wordpress

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off: if you’re like me and don’t pay enough attention, you might miss that this book is the first of a duology. It very much just comes to a stop, and will require the second volume to become a full story. You might want to hold off until you have your hands on both of them to start reading, because they’re the same story.

Anyway, The Five Daughters of the Moon is a historical fantasy based on the story of the Russian revolution. If you know the story of the Romanov sisters, you know there’s not likely to be a happy ending coming — and you know which characters to be suspicious of. Each chapter is told from the point of one of the five girls, from the youngest to the oldest. Likitalo actually does a pretty good job of distinguishing each of the voices — you wouldn’t think Sibilia was Celestia or Alina when reading, for a certainty — but Alina’s narration, at six years old, sounds rather too mature for her age.

Setting that aside, it’s beautifully written, and the worldbuilding that emerges slowly is lovely. The idea of the Empress being married to the moon, the arrangement whereby each of the girls has a different earthly father (or “seed”) but is considered a daughter of the Moon, the soul beads — it isn’t all immediately apparent how it works, but as you need to know, you learn. I think that’s well done.

Overall, a fascinating novella retelling, to my mind, but I do wish the two books had come out together (or that it was just sold as a novel).

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

[Rachel (Kalanadi) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fantasy retelling of the Russian revolution and the fate of the Romanov sisters. Here, the Crescent Empress is wedded to the Moon, who is the symbolic father of her five daughters: Celestia (the empress-to-be), Elise, Sibilia, Merile, and Alina (the youngest). The Crescent Empress has pushed to expand the boundaries of her empire, rather than attending to the needs of her subjects. The peasants are toiling for nothing, the men dying in far off wars, and revolution brews in response.

The gagargi Prataslav (think Rasputin) wishes to twist the Empress (or her daughter Celestia) into supporting his great machine of progress, which runs off of human souls. (Animals souls are used for many things, including swan souls in the Empress's magical wedding with the moon and other types for lighting, etc.)

The Five Daughters of the Moon is the first half of this story, which I think is rather strangely cut in half. It could have easily been a much smoother single volume, without an awkward pause in the middle and with some of the redundancies removed.

Here the five daughters are quickly and nicely established. The chapters are told from rotating points of view, letting each girl (or young woman) tell what they experience and how they understand (very differently sometimes) what is happening.

The sisters all have distinct voices and personalities. Alina, the frailest and youngest, who can see into the shadow world, is convinced that Gagargi Prataslav is going to take her soul and feed it to his machine. Merile is obsessed with her two dogs, Rafa and Mufu, who are her constant companions. She is old enough to glimpse what is going on, but still young enough to not really grasp the true meaning of the tragic and scary events. Sibilia is about to turn 16 and debut into society; she's also, sadly, the disposable one (who may yet surprise everyone). Elise is secretly funding the revolution, the only one of her sisters to see how people are really living in their empire and what has gone wrong. And then Celestia - the eldest sister, who always feels the most distant, and is struggling to come up with a plan to save them, in a situation she was never prepared for.

Gagargi Prataslav is a really evil villain. He made my skin crawl. His plan is to sacrifice every other human child to his machine of progress, a machine that will fuel the revolution and "help" the peasants. But at what price? I think the reality of revolution is conveyed very well in this story. Through the sisters' eyes I can see both sides of the argument: those who want the revolution because they are pushed to the breaking point by a distant monarchy slowly grinding them under the heel, but then those who point out that the revolution has a terrible cost of human lives.

The sisters are at once brave and resolute, petty and sniping, clueless and then confronting their fate. I could be irritated with Merile and Sibilia, constantly complaining and focusing on such silly details when their lives are at stake... then near tears at the end, because this is not a happy story. You know what happened to the Romanov sisters and Likitalo doesn't give in to any temptation to give her story a happy save.

I'd rate this duology at 3.5 stars overall. The first half was shorter and quicker and establishes the story well, but the second half (The Sisters of the Crescent Empress) was darker and more emotional. I really enjoyed the retelling and inspiration. Likitalo manages to both stay true to the reality of both the revolution and the sisters while making it her story that stands on its own. The ending is a gut punch.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

> 3.5 stars

This book is really hard to review because it has really interesting parts, but they were dimmed down by some not as good things.

In short: the novel taking loose inspiration from the Romanovs was something I loved. The worldbuilding was also really interesting in its presentation of an alternate fantasy version of Russia. The writing was also gorgeous, and I think Likitalo has really nice prose.

However, I really do think this duology should’ve been released as one book. I think the story would’ve benefited from this; as it is, its slightly slow and choppy in some parts, and the ending feels abrupt. And, whilst I did love the sisters, I preferred some narrators over others, and once or twice I flipped through some chapters - just because I wasn’t in the mood. It had a really fascinating first half, but I began to lose interest due to the pacing, some of the narrators, and almost even the lack of complexity? So whilst this definitely has a kernel of potential, it doesn’t fully shine through.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an interesting world! Both immersive and incredibly surreal due to the parallels with real historical events. As described, it takes inspiration from the Russian revolution, the five daughters being the heirs to the Crescent Empire.

The villain is really well written. I disliked him a LOT and found myself rooting hard for Celestia to kick his butt.

I look forward to 'soul beads' being explained more in the sequel (out in November '17 I think) as the concept really grabbed me.

I'd recommend this to people who enjoy unique, character-driven fantasy. It was pretty dark, but not explicitly violent. I wouldn't call it YA, but I think YA readers would enjoy it.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to rate as is slow n writing can be awkward- perhaps this is a translation? Stops dead in the middle of the story.........

[Anita Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had so high hopes for this book. In parts I really enjoyed this book. I think it had a pretty strong start, and pretty interesting ending, however between around the halfway-point until the last couple of chapters, I was a little bit bored. I probably will read the last book in the duology to figure out how it all ends up, but this did not exactly meet my expectations fully.

[Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned about this little known new release from an article that compared this to Catherynne Valente's Deathless. Apart from the pseudo-1917 Russian setting, the two books have little to nothing in common.

The Five Daughters of the Moon, first in a duology by novice Finnish writer Leena Likitalo is essentialy a YA novel that follows the 5 princesses of the Crescent Empire, which ressembles - although rather vaguely - Revolutionary Russia.

Now I know a thing or two about the Russian revolution, because my mother had a nice book with photos and paintings of the royal family around Tsar Alexander II and the chronicle of their demise is not unfamiliar to me.

Likitalo borrowed quite freely from the Romanov family, but seemingly without giving them as people too much thought. Tsar Alexander is utterly missing from the picture. His wife, who was a daughter or granddaughter of the late Queen Victoria of England and who carried the faulty bleeder genes, gave their only son amidst all the daughters (Olga, Alexandra and Anastasia, if memory doesn't fail me) a sickness that made his blood unable to clot after a wound. A very dangerous disease for the heir to the throne, who was the youngest of the children and due to his illness, hardly ever allowed out of his rooms that were meant to keep him safe.
The Empress was a devout Christian, and her beliefs grew more and more desperate and extreme as her son's illness basically marked him as unfit for the throne - a terrible thing in the unbalanced Russia of that time. Another famous actor of the time was of course the dreaded Rasputin. Rasputin was a sort of mystic priest and an influencer to the queen. He was later murdered by the revolutionaries, who hated him, as he was often depicted in propaganda flyers as greedy and disgusting.

In The Five Daughters of the Moon the Romanovs suffer from terrible misrepresentation. Tsar Alexander doesn't exist. The Pater Familias, although the girls were obviously fathered by less mystical entities, is the Moon himself, of whom exist scriptures which I would liken to the bible. The inventive setting Likitalo made up for the Crescent Empire also includes visions, magic, soul-stealing priests and jewelry made of dead animals' souls. However, the royal family, including the shallow, hardly represented Empress of the Crescent Moon, who in this book is no where near the religious craze that was the original Tsaritsa, fails to adequately explain how she, a seemingly competent ruler (something that Tsar Alexander was NOT) could be so blind to the demands and opinions of her people.

Here, the Empress has 5 daughters, and not a single son. While the youngest child, Alina, has some strange, little explained mental affliction, it is hard to guess how this lack in lucidity would threaten the rule of the Empire, as it should have, to solidify the claim the Revolutionaries have to purge the royal family.
The heir to the throne, Celestia (originally Olga), seems competent at first, but her role as what appears to be mostly a pawn is very disappointing.

Finally, Rasputin, or Gargari Patlatov (or whatever his name was), is the most puzzling figure in this family tragedy. His role in the original Romanov downfall, although unclear and shrouded in mystery, is not so hard to outline in broad strokes: Rasputin was an advisor to the scared and devout Queen, who possibly had a mental illness he could use to increase his influence in court. He may or may not have been her lover, but rumors led to him being a despised scapegoat by the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. He was assassinated, it is mostly believed, after having his penis cut of and being drowned in a river.

Suffice it to say, Rasputin wasn't popular with ANYONE but the Empress herself, and I firmly believe that this novel should kept this as a truth instead of warbling Rasputin into more of a comic villain and less of the creepy menace he really was. In this tale, Gargari P. fools everyone, even though ever POV shown in this book characterizes him as creepy and icky. There seems to be no logical reason why he is part of the Empress's advisers, apart from his magic. Which is, of course, a cop out. The real Rasputin, who was probably icky and creepy as well, managed quite well to capture his audiences with words, promises, cajolings and fear-mongering. Instead of going the psychological, endlessly more creepy path, Likitalo disappointingly chose to make the all-enemy a magical creature who is hardly frightening and whose motives are lame and one-dimensional.

The second thing this book fails to do is to even sketchily explain the movements of the Revolution. Instead of politics, the plight of the poor devils is highlighted as an emotional bait. Any person who isn't utterly naive would now that people starving alone never started a revolution anywhere and starving peasants never warmed the pitying heart of any noble princess of a true absolutist system. We have no bolsheviks or mensheviks, and instead are given the unsatisfying idealist Marxism voiced through none other than .... you guessed it, Rasputin, the people's favorite. This really bothered me, because really, self-righteous Marxism isn't exactly the fastest way to a luxurious, power-encrusted life. But I digress. Even if Rasputin alias G.P. had a dumb plan and nothing in the plot made sense to begin with, the cutesy Communist education the people got and how they cheered on each other was just blatantly idiotic. Where was the violence, the rule-breaking, the general uproar actually needed to make a Revolution work? What is displayed here is a bloodless Revolution light: the poor starving devils are basically driven like sheep into the Revolutionary Marxist ideal of a new state, while showcasing no anger of their own.

Finally, the storytelling: we have here 5 POVs of the Princesses, respectively aged 6, 11, 15, 16 and 20ish. Each princess gets two chapters, all from youngest to eldest. The problem is, of course, that while this is a good frame for any story, a 6yr old shouldn't sound like a 15yr old. The 16yr old shouldn't switch her tone so extremely. The 20yr old heir to the throne should be as wise and serene as her sisters give her credit for, not as panicked and dumb as the rest of them. Not only the narration, even though it was a first person singular, remained mostly the same, but the dialogues were also less than exciting. After having read this book, I couldn't name a single memorable quote.

That being said, the world-building is interesting if incomplete and I will be reading the finale to this duology even though there were many things that bothered me.

[Emilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a creative lore. It was not fully developed, but I enjoyed the descriptions of the Crescent Empire, and the setting of this Russian-inspired magical society.

Because The five daughters of the moon is based on the history of the Romanov family and their fall down from grace, you can anticipate what is to come in this fantasy retelling.

I overall enjoyed the aesthetics of this novel but I thought that the story was poorly structured. Each of the five sisters has a POV explored in rotating chapters. This means that we barely get to know one sister before moving onto the next one.

The tone of the book is also disjointed. Mostly because the sisters are too far apart in age (the youngest is 6 and the oldest is 22). So their struggles and narrations are too different; to the extent that sometimes I felt like I was actually reading a middle grade book, and then a YA/Adult fantasy book with dark themes (like rape).

I think the author has potential and I will be reading the second part to see how she adapts the death of the Romanovs.

[Hailee · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

Not the best read but I'm curious enough to read book 2 of the duology since I already own it.

[Charles Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Involving fantasy from a Finnish writer

As I'm attending the SF Worldcon in Helsinki, I wanted to read some Finnish fantasy and science fiction. Otherwise I wouldn't have chosen to read this book - it seems aimed at young adults. However, I'm glad I did - the author is obviously talented, and I will look out for her future books.

It is loosely based on the fate of the Romanov's after the Russian revolution, but with an injection of fantasy elements, and an invented society based on Moon worship. The switches in point of view are nicely handled and the story moves along rapidly and becomes very involving.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This story, inspired by the story of the Romanov children and the Russian Revolution, is slow-moving, with complex characters. I didn’t fully understand the magic system using soul beads, but I still liked the slow-build tension.

[Sara Norja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oooh this was good. I wasn't sure such a short book could successfully handle five first-person narrators, but Likitalo did it super well. The narrative voices felt distinct, and the multiple points of view - in addition to the time skips - brought a great sense of fragmentation to the book, which I think really underlined the theme of breaking up of empire. Likitalo uses unreliable narrators really neatly, too.

I love stories with sisters (being part of a three-sister family myself), and Likitalo did the sisterly relationships well here. I love how the sisters pulled together and protected each other. <3

Also, subtle creepy worldbuilding (animals' souls used in the manner of electricity!!), and cool folkloric magic. Yessss. I got a sense that the world - of which we just got glimpses - is far wider than what we saw, and I'd like to see more of it.

I'm very sad that I'll have to wait a while to get the library copy of the second book in the duology, because I'd have liked nothing better than to devour the second part right after this one.

Oh, NB - TW for a rape, not explicitly described, but unpleasant nonetheless.

[Matthew Galloway · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled to rate this one. It's beautifully written and the five POV characters are nicely distinct. I didn't necessarily love all the characters, but that's fine. Plus, even only getting two chapters a piece, most of them have good character growth. My problem is that this does't feel like a complete book to me. I've enjoyed a lot of the Tor novellas, but I think this one should have been published as a full length novel. I see that it's planned to be a duology -- so why not publish it all together as a single book? This one just... ends. It's all rising tension that just cuts off. To me, most books that successfully pull off a cliffhanger still have an internal plot that is resolved before the cliffhanger is reached. This does not.

[Melliane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mon avis en Français

my link text

I admit that I am always intrigued by stories regaring the Romanovs. How not to be? There are so many mysteries surrounding them. A tragic story that continues to haunt us today. As soon as this novel was announced, I confess that I was very impatient to see what the author was going to propose us. How can we resist the paranormal and historical mix proposed? The cover also immediately charmed me. It is really beautiful !

Each chapter follows one of the sisters that the synopsis presents. I admit that from the start, I had some trouble with this type of format. I am easily lost in the number of characters and as we follow one person and we move to another in the same context, it was a bit difficult for me to situate everything. Besides, I must say that the first part of the story seemed a bit blurry … It took me a few chapters to get to understand more clearly what was going on.

Once the characters understood, I had a better time with the characters but it is true that I think I missed the basics, some explanations about the impact of the moon, on this world which is finally different and on the powers of the Gagargi. It was an intriguing and interesting story, with original ideas but I think I was expecting a little too much or maybe I was expecting something different.

[༺Kiki༻ · Rating 3 out of 5]

You might also enjoy:

✱ Shadow and Bone series
✱ The Bear and the Nightingale
✱ The Left-Handed Fate
✱ The Goblin Emperor
✱ Smoke

[Faith Rivens · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first in a duology, The Five Daughters of the Moon is a fantastical reimagining of the 1917 Russian Resolution. The Crescent Empire is threatened by insurgence and rebellion but one of the daughters might be at the heart of it.

This was a very unique book, beautifully written. The cold world of snow and danger leapt off the page with vivid descriptions. The magic in the world , the power of naming days, the stealing of souls, the peril of mesmerization all made for the creation of a wonderful fantasy realm.

The narrative itself is told through the eyes of each daughter with the book divided into 10 chapters (5 for each). This challenged my enjoyment of the story as not all the characters were as likeable as the rest, a problem that mostly resolved itself after the midpoint. I did however love the voices that rang through the eldest and youngest daughter: Celestia and Alina.

The ending of the book was a tad anticlimactic for me, but it is a shorter book with a sequel so there’s obvious reason for leaving some hanging elements.

Overall, I did enjoy this short adventure and will most likely pick up the second book at some time to know its resolution.

[Alenka of Bohemia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the Romanov-related and Anastasia-inspired books, this one is possibly my favourite. Exactly because it takes the inspiration, but not the exact story, and the parallels are not obviously drawn, neither forced into every page. I loved that the author captured the sense of looming threat and danger that can be felt, even if it is not understood in its true magnitude (or even detailed origin). There is a sense of isolation and loneliness, as well as palpable relationship ties between the characters (even if they have issues with each other). Perhaps only.... it could have been one book instead of a duology?

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was hard for me to rate. While I love Russian folklore, and reading about the Romonovs, this was not my favorite. I thought it was beautifully written, but the characters just weren't very likable. I didn't really like the magic either. I liked the writing style, but not enough to continue with the series. Like I said, I had trouble with this rating. I'm feeling generous.

[Kylie Corley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought since it was inspired by Russia and the Romanovs, it would be intriguing. It felt so bland and felt like it went nowhere. I thought it lacked anything really exciting. I was definitely let down. I will continue with the next book, though, because I at least want to know the ending.

[Miriam Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started slow, but I loved how it was structured & it ended up being quite compelling. Looking forward to the sequel.

[Lia Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting imperial fantasy almost steampunk inspired by turn of the century Russian revolution/Romanov family. interesting little read i'll definitely pick up the sequel

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm back on my Anastasia bullshit baby. I'm amazed I've never seen or heard of this version, but holy hell I am HERE FOR IT.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kniha, ktorá berie inšpiráciu v osude poslednej cárskej rodiny? Ktorá zabŕdne do osudu sestier najväčšieho impéria svojej doby a revolúcie, ktorá ich zničila? Všetko v novom svete s vlastnou mágiou, kde nemáš elektrinu, ale svietiš si slepačou dušou? V chladnom prostredí paláca, ktorý sa čochvíľa môže otriasať od základov kvôli revolúcii? Hell yeah, že niečo také chcem prečítať.

A aj som to prečítala. Rýchlejšie než by som čakala. Na to, že hento nie je rodný jazyk autorky zvládla ma vtiahnuť do deja veľmi rýchlo a ja som musela otáčať stránky. Proste taká depresívna a melancholicky podaná téma, no nechci vedieť, čo sa s piatimi dcérami stane.
I keď je kniha krátka, má dosť času ukázať každé z dievčat (mladých žien, rozdiel vo veku ide od 6-22) v rôznom svetle. Čo je jediná dynamickejšia vec v diele. Ich pohľad na vec sa rapídne odlišuje jeden od druhého, máš fajn podmienky na vytvorenie komornej drámy medzi nimi, ak veľmi chceš (a autorka, žiaľ, chcela iba trochu, lebo hlavným zloduchom je týpek, čo vyzerá a koná ako Rasputin z animovanej Anastázie.)
Máš tu klasické deti, ktorými trieska puberta, chorľavého podivína skupiny, čo vidí zvláštne veci a nik mu neverí, staršiu sestru, ktorá vyzerá ako líder, ale len sa riadi heslom, ktoré sa mi stalo mantrou odkedy som legálne dospelá: Fake it till you make it alas, the only thing she made was an utter mess.
Každá z nich má pre seba 2 kapitoly a veľmi rýchlo zisťujeme, že toto nie je pekná jazda.
Nejde iba o impérium, ktorého ľudia trpia odkedy sa trojnásobne zväčšilo. Ide aj o stroj, ktorý sa živí dušami ľudí a bubu kňaz/čarodej ním chce ovládnuť svet. Impérium. Nutné podotknúť, že s davmi mu to ide, i keď to nedáva extra zmysel, najmä zo začiatku (magická charizma je tiež limitovaná, chápeš).

A tak sledujeme smutný pád jednej ríše. Máme pred očami zvláštnu revolúciu, ktorá vyzerá ako niečo, čo by ti povedal môj spolužiak pri odpovedi z tej ruskej (a dostal za to trojku, lebo nespomenul ani boľševikov ani menševikov a tvrdohlavo trvá na tom, že hladujúcim ľuďom sa naraz podarilo zničiť skoro tisícročný systém silou hladu a hnevu).
Nie že by to bolo zle. Predsa len kniha si požičiava z histórie, a keď vidíš všetko z pohľadov privilegovaných mladých báb, ktorých tatko je doslova na oblohe...niet času na detaily. Veď to nemá ani tristo strán.

Čo na teba dopadne, keď čítaš bez prestávky a musíš vidieť isté slová zopakované viac než by bolo zdravé...


(prisahám. S.J.Maas a jej "word /mate/ everywhere like I am in Australia syndrom" is strong with this one. Just skip it. Also that one kid who. Who speaks like this. Sad. It is just so sad. Aware. Are you all aware how annoying this is with every line she speaks? Know. I know it is hard to establish unique voice for a character, but there are good examples in this book, too... sa tu predieram druhým dielom a to decko inak nehovorí. Takže áno, najmä staršie sestry mi boli vykúpením.)

Pridaj fakt, že neustála repetícia istých fráz ti bude žrať nervy (synonymá. Bože na nebi, používajte ich ľudia.) ak ešte raz prečítam "dear companion", "companion", or whatever the frick, i will flip my-
A tak. Ak ste die hard fans of historical accuracy, skip it. Môže sa tiež stať, že detské postavy ani neznejú na svoj vek (hlavne najmladšia) i keď každá má istý purpose. Vidieť ich ako držia spolu bolo dosť osviežujúce. Spolu s mytológiou sveta a tradíciami tej krajiny. Nesmiem zabudnúť nezvyčajne pochmúrny, melancholický tón. Až sa cítite akoby ste sedeli v izolovanej chatke zasypanej snehom, len vlci zavýjajú v diaľke...

Odporúčam ak to toho idete, zaobstarať 2. diel hneď ako to bude možné (nebol problém, obálky mi za to stáli). Kniha mi príde useknutá ku koncu. Podobný feel som mala so Spidermanom, keď sa diel skončil úplne náhle, nič sa nevyriešilo, obrazovka tmavne, to be continued...
Našťastie, hneď išlo pokračovanie, takže som nebola naštvaná. Priveľmi.

So yeah:
+ family dynamics, sistersly love (samo sebou, že sa aj hašteria, ale nie spôsobom, že by si šli oči vyškriabať)
+ fantasy prvky - ukradnuté duše, pôvod cárskej rodiny, atď
+ inšpirácia históriou
+ komorná atmosféra
+ veľmi rýchlo sa to číta

- opakovanie fráz
- nie všetci znejú úplne na svoj vek
- náhle ukončenie bez klimaxu
- trochen povrchne riešený zánik impéria, nič epic (ale to môže byť aj plus, viz. komorná atmosféra)

Ja som spoko. 3,65*

Ak sa autorka rozhodne ten svet rozšíriť a ísť do ďalekej histórie a poriadne sa vypíše (mám na mysli takú 500+ knihu v tomto svete) je dosť možné, že tomu dám šancu. Lebo je to zatiaľ fajn. Nič extra mind blowning, ale fajn to je a o pár rokov tu môžem byť úplne v šoku...dúfam.

[Black Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5 stars.

Mon Avis : Ce roman a terminé dans ma PAL un peu par hasard. En effet, je suis de nombreux éditeurs sur les différents réseaux sociaux et j’ai vu passé la couverture de ce livre qui m’a tout de suite attiré. Illustrée par Anna et Elena Balbusso, je la trouvais franchement jolie et aussi très intrigante. Ajouter à cela un résumé efficace et intéressante, qui proposait une Fantasy basée sur la révolution Russe de 1917, ce qui change je trouve, il a donc très rapidement fait son entrée dans ma PAL. Concernant l’autrice, elle est Finlandaise et écrit en Anglais si j’ai tout bien compris et voit ici son premier roman publié, même si elle a déjà écrit plusieurs nouvelles.

Comme je l’ai dit, on plonge ici dans une Fantasy qui prend comme inspiration la famille Romanov ainsi que la révolution Russe de 1917. Déjà premier point ne croyait qu’il s’agit de la Fantasy Historique qui cherche à s’avérer pointu, l’autrice ne fait que reprendre de nombreux aspects de l’époque, pour ensuite apporter ses idées pour écrire son récit. La preuve en est, le récit nous présente cinq sœurs alors que les Romanov ont eu quatre filles et un fils. On est donc dans de la récit imaginaire, donc si vous cherchez un récit sur la Russie et la révolution il vaut mieux passer votre chemin. Le roman nous fait ainsi suivre la vie des cinq filles de la Lune, descendantes du Crescent Empire, en pleine période instable qui voit le peuple commencer à se rebeller. Leurs vies vont alors complètement changer. Une fois la dernière page tournée, je dois bien avouer que j’ai passé un bon moment de lecture avec ce récit. Certains points m’ont certes laissé perplexe, mais dans l’ensemble je me suis laissé porté par le destin de ces héroïnes. Déjà, il faut le savoir, la narration est construite de telle façon que l’on suit chacune des héritières de l’empire dans l’ordre croissant de leur âge. Par conséquent on voit l’évolution politique et sociale à travers le regard de chacune d’entre elle. Cela a obligatoirement pour conséquence de limiter bien entendu la vision que l’on a de cette révolution. Si vous cherchez un récit qui vous plongera au cœur d’une révolution, montrant comment le peuple s’est levé avec tout ce que cela entraîne alors passez votre chemin. Ici on est clairement plus dans un récit humain : comment cinq jeunes filles voient leurs vies changées et être bousculées et les actions qu’elles entreprennent. Le tout est ainsi porté par un rythme lent qui, certes, n’oublie pas d’offrir par moment des moments de tension, mais qui prend son temps de bien poser le récit.

L’univers qui se développe au fil des pages se révèle très étrange. Par là je n’entends pas qu’il est mauvais, loin de là, mais il repose clairement sur un aspect plutôt poétique, troublant, magique et sur des mythes et légendes que le lecteur se doit d’accepter. Je n’entends pas par là que les idées développées sont incohérentes dans ce qui est construit, non, mais plus qu’elles ne sont jamais complètement expliquées. Le récit joue ainsi clairement sur l’imagination du lecteur et son acceptation de cet univers. En effet ce sont vraiment ici des filles de la Lune. Le pouvoir est ainsi menée par l’Impératrice tandis que son mari, la Lune donc, ne représente finalement qu’un aspect, certes bien réel, mais plus magique et protecteur. Il est difficile de parler finalement de l’univers qui est présenté ici par l’autrice, car il repose principalement sur des sensations, un côté plutôt abstrait, une certaine poésie et un côté envoutant qui s’en dégage, soit on l’accepte et on se laisse alors porter par ce qui est présenté soit on est bloqué, je pense. Pour ma part je me suis laissé porter. Ainsi la magie qui est présentée, sans révolutionner non plus le genre, se colle parfaitement à l’ambiance que cherche à construire Leena Likitalo tout du long mélangeant idées intéressantes et mythes connus. L’aspect historique, principalement dans les parallèles que construit l’autrice avec la vraie histoire Russe apporte un plus je trouve aussi. Reste que voilà l’aspect social et politique passe tout de même un peu à la trappe, j’avoue, même si les grandes lignes sont tracées dans la chute de l’Empire. J’aurai pourtant quand même aimé avoir plus de détails. Ce n’est en rien bloquant, mais je pense que le récit aurait pu ainsi gagner encore plus en complexité à mon avis.

Les personnages sont l’un des points forts du récit, Leena Likitalo a fait un gros travail sur eux pour les rendre intéressants, attachants, humains, complexes et soignés. Chacune des héroïnes possède ainsi sa propre voie, sa propre identité, ses propres envies, ses forces, ses faiblesses. On sent que l’autrice a fourni un sacré travail pour faire que chacun d’entre elle se dégage des autres et touche le lecteur. Alors après je ne le nie pas, le fait de suivre cinq héroïnes a pour conséquence aussi de faire que le lecteur s’intéressent à certaines que d’autres qui paraissent moins apporter au récit. Trois des filles de la Lune sortent ainsi clairement du lot, là où les deux autres, sans être inintéressantes, manquent quand même parfois un peu d’impact. Ensuite je trouve qu’il y a un léger soucis au niveau de la narration qui fait que ressort un côté frustrant de ne pas en savoir plus, mais j’y reviendrai plus tard. De Celestia, l’ainée future Impératrice qui cherche à trouver son propre chemin au point limite de se perdre, à Alina coincée dans une « folie » qu’elle ne maitrise pas je les ai trouvées captivantes. Concernant les personnages secondaires, c’est là que le bât blesse un peu je trouve; car ils manquent quand même de profondeur. Le fait de suivre cinq héroïnes, qui plus est cinq jeunes princesses avec leur soucis personnels, leurs histoires et autres, les rend certes profondes et intéressantes, mais donne aussi l’impression que les personnages secondaires sont à la périphérie de leurs vies. L’exemple le plus marquant vient de Gagargi Prataslav qui, sans non plus se révéler vide ou caricatural, aurait mérité un travail plus soigné sur ses motivations et sa recherche. Ce que j’espère voir par la suite.

Mais voilà, pour moi le principal soucis de ce roman vient, je trouve du découpage. Car oui, pour moi, il ne s’agit pas d’un roman en deux tomes par choix de l’autrice, mais bien un découpage d’un roman de 540 pages en deux. J’ai l’impression que l’éditeur, vu qu’il s’agit d’une nouvelle autrice et qui plus est non-US, a fait ce choix d’un point de vue économique (je peux me tromper). C’est très frustrant, surtout que cela joue aussi sur le reste, car finalement vu que chaque chapitre suit un fille de la Lune différente et qu’il y a dans ce premier livre 10 chapitres on ne « rencontre » nos héroïnes que deux fois ce qui est, je trouve, un peu dommage même si bien entendu elles se croisent dans les différents chapitres. Ensuite l’autre point est qu’on est clairement dans un roman d’ambiance, de magie, de création d’univers le tout porté par une plume, qui est le gros point fort du livre et qui s’avère soignée, poétique, et que j’ai trouvé entrainante et fluide, mais par conséquent l’intrigue passe un peu au second plan. Alors je ne me doute pas qu’elle va prendre de l’ampleur par la suite, mais voilà cela se ressent parfois un peu trop. Comme si l’autrice cherchait surtout à émerveiller en oublie un peu de raconter. Enfin certaines ellipses sont par moment aussi un peu frustrantes, même si là rien de très bloquant. Au final si vous cherchez un roman à l’atmosphère envoutante, porté par l’évolution de cinq jeunes filles, cinq princesses qui vont perdre leurs illusions face à ce qui arrive alors vous pourrez accrocher à ce livre qui, pour ma part, m’a offert un très sympathique moment de lecture et je lirai le second tome sans soucis.

Sur le blog

[USOM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was just amazing. Brings history to life before your very eyes in a magical and also eerie way. There's so much life and personality to the main sisters and it just has so much gorgeous potential. I am so thrilled for the sequel because there is so much ripe promises within these pages.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/revi...

[Xan Rooyen]

Okay, this was an odd one. I didn't love it - but then I'm not a huge fan of historical novels in general. This was meant to be a fantasy - and it did have fantastical elements - but I felt that it was really a historical retelling with fantasy elements rather than the epic fantasy with historical elements I was hoping for.

I started this not knowing anything about the Romanov sisters. Some Googling revealed their story to me, and if this duology is going to be historically accurate, well then I don't really want to continue reading.

I wasn't a huge fan of the 5 different perspectives and how the sisters shared the narrative. It could've worked really well, but it didn't for me. Maybe because I didn't feel there was enough differentiation between their voices even though the youngest is 6 and the oldest an adult.

I did like the magical elements but was hoping for a whole lot more of it. It sort of drove the plot but then also sort of didn't because maybe the real life history kept getting in the way of making this a really cool fantasy.

The writing was a little clunky at times but still impressive considering the author isn't a native English speaker.

Biggest downer for me was the ending. it's a cliff hanger of sorts and yet doesn't really entice me to keep reading. Probably won't read the sequel

[Eva Müller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review can also be found on my blog.

I rarely say this, especially about fantasy novels but: This book would have been better if it had been longer. Especially the chapters featuring the oldest sister, Elise and Celestia, just throw important information at us at lightning speed. By the time of their first POV-chapters, many important parts of their story have already happened and all we get are flashbacks to those events. In addition to the things that are currently happening of course. In Celestia’s first chapter I almost laughed because it was so crammed with dramatic reveals, surprising twists and shocking events at a speed that made it hard to take it seriously (other authors would get a whole book out of what happened there, if not a trilogy).

It’s not quite as extreme in Elise’s case. Partly because not quite as much happens directly in the chapters and partly because we met Elise before her POV-chapter through her sisters (either directly or via her sisters thinking about her) while Celestia is barely mentioned by her sisters as being an actual person. (She’s only ever the future empress). But there is still so much that happened to Elise before the book started that her chapters also feel like missing half the story.

And there is so much else that is done rather half-heartedly: One of the sisters cares deeply about another person but that person falls under a spell so that they don’t even remember that they once knew her. What the reader sees is one chapter where the two are still together, then in the sister’s next chapter, she has already figured out that the person is under a spell so there is no emotional fallout from the situation. It felt more like reading an early draft that needed more depths.

The world building also leaves some questions: The Crescent Empire can only ever have an empress. She doesn’t even marry (not a human man at least, symbolically she marries the moon…it’s complicated), just takes lovers to conceive children. Yet, for the ordinary people life is still sexist: the men alone go to war and without a man to earn money, families will starve. (And also for the empress and her family there are various rules about when they are allowed to lose their virginity).

I already bought the second book anyway. Because the story is still good even though it could have used a lot more polishing. But also because the book stopped mid-scene. Of course, the first book in a series is supposed to set everything up but I also expect a closure of something. The heroes solving one problem, only to discover that they caused another/now see the much bigger problem that was hiding behind the smaller one. At the very least I expect them to have a plan about how to solve the big problem. But The Five Daughters of the Moon just…stopped. Nothing is resolved. Nobody has any idea what to do. Things just got a lot worse and then it was over.

[Areli Amaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Crescent Empire is growing restless and there are those who will see the Empress fall; armed with the power to destroy that which fuels humanity, the daughters of the moon will have to come together in order to save the future from certain ruination.
Each daughter is as different and vast as the world, and they all play a very important role, but a darkness will soon envelop everything the sisters have known and send their lives spiraling into grief.
·
I will go ahead and do something I have never done before and review both The Five Daughters of the Moon and The Sisters of the Crescent Empress at the same time, because I just cannot be bothered to care about this.
Before I go into my reasons why, I would like to point out that The Waning Moon duology is written in some of the prettiest writing style I have ever read and it was lovely to immerse myself in the way the author wove simple words to create something magical, but, that is basically the only aspect I liked about both books.
This duology is loosely inspired by the Russian revolution and the Romanov sisters, and in theory, the concept sounds too good to be true (it was), which is why it makes me sad to even think about the storyline.
There are a few elements I could have enjoyed, such as the fact that the daughters were not named until their sixth birthday and therefore weren't fully human, or the fact that the moon is their father, but everything else felt too rushed, unexplained and uneven for me to connect with.
The story is told in several points of view and as we get to know more about the sisters, one thing becomes clear: the author did not know where she wanted to go with the story. Both books incorporate so many pointless facts I actually forgot (twice) what the purpose of the narrative was. Not only that, but there are a couple of elements that got on my nerves - which is rare for me - and I could not seem to overlook them.
There are a few twists I saw coming and if this had been a different situation I think I would have enjoyed them, but everything else I already mentioned hindered my ability to like any of it.
If you plan on reading this, I really hope you love it! Sadly, this was just not for me. I am giving both books 2/5 stars.

[Bridget Mckinney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jacqueline Carey's cover blurb for The Five Daughters of the Moon calls the book "a lyrical elegy to the fall of an empire," and the book description is clear that this duology is inspired by the 1917 Russian revolution and the final days of the Romanov sisters, so you must know going in that this story doesn't have a happy ending. In alternating chapters told in first person from the perspective of each of the titular five daughters--ranging in age from six to twenty-two--Leena Likitalo brings each girl to vivid life and lets them tell their own stories. Fifteen-year-old Sibilia (whose chapters are excerpts from her diary) and sixteen-year-old Elise have the strongest voices of the five, and Sibilia's journey and coming of age is perhaps the most profound and deeply-felt story of any of the girls. However, Likitalo also does a lovely job of portraying the little girls, Alina and Merile, though the author's vocabulary is far better than any six- or eleven-year-old's would be. Eldest sister Celestia is a more difficult character to get to know and love; she's often distant from her sisters, focused on her own trauma and still trying to bear up under the weight of her responsibilities in a situation that is far different and more dangerous than anything she was ever prepared for.

The best part of this duology, however, is the way that Likitalo manages to capture the ambivalence of revolution. There's tragedy here, for sure, and there's a definite villain, but there's also a recognition of the hope the revolution offered to many people and some meditation on the idea that there's always a human cost in any system; the question is just who has to pay it and who benefits from it. The Waning Moon duology is a gorgeously written and deeply humane meditation on this question and its answers.

Read more reviews at SF Bluestocking.