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Waiting for the Moon
Waiting for the Moon [Paperback] [Nov 01, 1995] Hannah, Kristin
374 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
237 people are currently reading
20887 people want to read
About the author
Kristin Hannah
142 books290k followersKristin Hannah is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbuster, The Nightingale, which was named Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the coveted People's Choice award for best fiction in the same year. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, iTunes, Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, and The Week. In 2018,
The Great Alone became an instant New York Times #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads.
The Four Winds was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie bookstore's bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by the both Today Show and The Book Of the Month club, which named it the best book of 2021.
Firefly Lane, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke and Season Two is currently set to conclude the series on April 27, 2023.
Her new novel, The Women, about a young woman coming of age during the turbulent 1960's in America, who joins the Army Nurse Corps and serves in Vietnam will be published February 6th, 2024.
A former attorney, Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest.
The Great Alone became an instant New York Times #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads.
The Four Winds was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie bookstore's bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by the both Today Show and The Book Of the Month club, which named it the best book of 2021.
Firefly Lane, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke and Season Two is currently set to conclude the series on April 27, 2023.
Her new novel, The Women, about a young woman coming of age during the turbulent 1960's in America, who joins the Army Nurse Corps and serves in Vietnam will be published February 6th, 2024.
A former attorney, Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 520 reviews
August 3, 2012
This book took me by surprise. It's not at all the kind of story I read but it drew me in so deeply I had to keep reading. After a bungled suicide attempt, the seriously injured woman is pulled from the sea and taken to the nearest doctor, Ian Carrick, who runs a local asylum.
Once here Ian names her Selena and very quickly the reader is drawn into the strange world the reclusive Ian has created and the most unlikely cast of characters. Ian, shot by a jealous husband bargains with God to allow him to live. He survives but with a crippling phychic gift. He only has to touch a person and he knows firsthand their innermost traumas. This gift is such a burden he has become a recluse.
Serena is the first person he's touched that he can't feel her trauma or her past. But to the brilliant physician, years ahead of his time in clinical practice, everything is black or white. People are either normal or they're not. An attitude he learned living with his mentally challenged mother.
It takes Serena's almost childlike inocence to teach him to accept people as they are, that healing must involve the heart and soul as well as the body.
This is a wonderfully crafted story I would recommend to anyone
Once here Ian names her Selena and very quickly the reader is drawn into the strange world the reclusive Ian has created and the most unlikely cast of characters. Ian, shot by a jealous husband bargains with God to allow him to live. He survives but with a crippling phychic gift. He only has to touch a person and he knows firsthand their innermost traumas. This gift is such a burden he has become a recluse.
Serena is the first person he's touched that he can't feel her trauma or her past. But to the brilliant physician, years ahead of his time in clinical practice, everything is black or white. People are either normal or they're not. An attitude he learned living with his mentally challenged mother.
It takes Serena's almost childlike inocence to teach him to accept people as they are, that healing must involve the heart and soul as well as the body.
This is a wonderfully crafted story I would recommend to anyone
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 26, 2014
This was a wonderful book and completely unexpected! The book begins with a young lady alone with the captain on a small boat, she gives him some items as she gets him to let her out at a dangerous spot....a few minutes later he sees her leap from the cliffs...and the true story begins as he rescues her from her watery grave and he ends up taking her to the home of a doctor that is rumored to be "mad" who lives in a alleged insane asylum. But inside the house...is full of a wonderful cast of characters from a syphilis ridden former rake, a manic depressive mother, a mentally challenged child... a abused and suicidal young boy, a woman who thinks she is the queen.... and they all make an amazing story. Our heroine named Serena by our hero as she has no past as the traumatic injury has made her a brand new person, Ian is a doctor changed after an "incident" where he has now stopped doctoring for he touches people and their memories and thoughts slam into his head. But as he is shamed into helping her...he doesn't have that experience with Serena..as her mind is blank... the story is wonderful and heartbreaking and was so wonderful I do not want to share anymore as a reader you want that experience of not knowing what is coming... probably one of my top ten books EVER!
August 16, 2012
Wow!
I love this book so much. I have to say that Magic Hour is still first but I don't know if its Waiting for the Moon second first or second last after Angel Falls. Since I love them both just about the same. I knew I would love this one and it didn't disappoint me. I HIGHLY recommend this book. I love Selena and Ian. They are amazing. I especially liked the fact that she was "brain damaged" but she knew better and more than a successful doctor who is one of the best and knows it. Leaving aside the fact that the "accident" made him lose his practice and he had to battle his own hell.
I really loved the part when Selena says even if I am brain damaged I can still be hurt. And feeling emotions don't come from the mind but from the heart. Which is true and if a woman who has amnesia and is brain damaged from her accident knows that fact than how can someone who isn't brain damaged to understand that fact. There is a difference in healing someone out of the goodness of your heart without any strings attached and one the benefits them entirely forgetting and uncaring of who are affected by it.
I am definitely re-reading this novel. This story is going to be one of my most cherished and favorite all time books.
5 STARS!
I love this book so much. I have to say that Magic Hour is still first but I don't know if its Waiting for the Moon second first or second last after Angel Falls. Since I love them both just about the same. I knew I would love this one and it didn't disappoint me. I HIGHLY recommend this book. I love Selena and Ian. They are amazing. I especially liked the fact that she was "brain damaged" but she knew better and more than a successful doctor who is one of the best and knows it. Leaving aside the fact that the "accident" made him lose his practice and he had to battle his own hell.
I really loved the part when Selena says even if I am brain damaged I can still be hurt. And feeling emotions don't come from the mind but from the heart. Which is true and if a woman who has amnesia and is brain damaged from her accident knows that fact than how can someone who isn't brain damaged to understand that fact. There is a difference in healing someone out of the goodness of your heart without any strings attached and one the benefits them entirely forgetting and uncaring of who are affected by it.
I am definitely re-reading this novel. This story is going to be one of my most cherished and favorite all time books.
5 STARS!
April 28, 2025
After a near death experience the hero is cursed to read minds with a touch. As a result, he lost his career as a doctor and became a recluse in a asylum. The heroine is brought to him with a severe head wound and when he can't read her mind he does everything in his power to save her. And he does. However, the hero is selfish, cold and calculating throughout the story. The girl looks to him as God-as her savior but he doesn't care for her as a human, but just as a test subject to get his career back. From the heroine's prospective, it's a dark, painful story for the first half of the book as she struggles to speak and understand why the hero treats her so poorly. But the second half is spent with the hero battling his own fears that turns into an unhealthy possessiveness of the heroine. It was a good book but so dark at times that I found it hard to read-disliking the hero as much as I did.
August 4, 2011
After reading "Magic Hour" I ran out and bought every book by Kristin Hannah at the used bookstore I could lay my hands on. I absolutely loved "Magic Hour". However, "Waiting for the Moon" was a bit of a disappointment - it was obviously written when the author was younger and less experienced as a writer. The plot was good - a great premise for a story, I thought - but the writing itself shouted "novice" and the dialogue was cheesy and quite unbelievable in parts. The characters have a hard time staying "in character", but I was willing to overlook what I consider a blatant flaw because the story itself was so engaging.
March 5, 2022
I wonder how authors come up with ideas for a novel. In this book a woman attempts suicide on an island off of the Maine coast in 1882. She is rescued and taken to a doctor who runs a mental asylum. He saves her physical life, but she has total memory loss. The first half of the book is slow as she slowly recovers. Eventually, of course, she and the doctor fall in love. The concept of honor comes to play, and honor is defined as "honorable means moral, living your life so as not to willfully hurt people. To keep promises that you have made and never lie". They each promise to live honorably, which leads to tough decisions as the book continues. There are magical things that happen.
I love the books definition of a family - "A family was what he saw on the snow-covered lawn. A big, messy, laughing group of people who cared for each other."
A unique kind of novel. Was it worth me reading it? Yes
I love the books definition of a family - "A family was what he saw on the snow-covered lawn. A big, messy, laughing group of people who cared for each other."
A unique kind of novel. Was it worth me reading it? Yes
November 27, 2022
This book was extremely different than what I thought it was going to be. There were some parts I just did not care for but the message of the book was wonderful! 3.75 stars
January 4, 2022
Hated this with a passion. Wish I could give zero stars. I know this is an old book, but UGH with the "amnesia girl" who needs a big strong doctor man to save her, and "whoopsies she's naked but just SO INNOCENT". Barf.
November 26, 2020
0 stars if I could, trash book. Disappointed fan.
March 18, 2021
⏱ Sixty second, no spoiler summary
A mysterious woman jumps off a cliff and nearly dies. She’s rescued and taken to a home that’s not quite an asylum, but full of outcasts. When she awakens, she doesn’t know who she is so they residents name her Selena. Ian, the doctor and owner of the home, doesn’t think she will ever regain normal functioning and believes she is a lost cause. Time passes and things improve and they become close. Until we find out who she really is and everything changes. The ending I guess is happy.
👍🏻Turn Ons
Some of the history was interesting to read about. Maeve was my favorite character.
👎🏻 Turn Offs
A lot. I was so bored while reading this. The idea was interesting, but I think it fell flat. Ian has a “gift” after having a near-death experience, where he can read people’s thoughts and emotions if he touches them. I’m not really sure why this is even a factor in the entire book. It doesn’t really play into much and I was hoping near the end, he’d touch a character that arrives and unlock a large twist in who Selena really is. That does not happen. I think when we find out who she is, it’s lackluster and anticlimactic.
I could feel this way because I was turned off by the “god/goddess” references throughout the first quarter of the book. I rolled my eyes every time I read that and then suddenly it was gone until near the end. It felt overdone and unnecessary.
Maybe I was so annoyed by this book because I finished The Four Winds before I got too far into this and Hannah’s writing style has improved drastically. I didn’t care for any of these characters and I only kept going because I was hoping for more drama and twists than there were.
👵🏻 Safe to talk about with Grandma?
My grandma would tell me to “skip the sex” and then I could read this book. There might have been 3-4 pages total of sex and it wasn’t too graphic. No f-bombs and no violence. Grandma would read this.
⭐Rating ⭐
I’m giving this just two stars. I was bored and ended up skimming the last quarter of the book just to finish it. And I didn’t miss much by mainly reading the dialogue. This KH book was not one of my faves at all! ☹
Title & Author: Waiting for the Moon by Kristin Hannah
Format: Paperback
Read: 3/8/21-3/17/21
Rating: Two stars
A mysterious woman jumps off a cliff and nearly dies. She’s rescued and taken to a home that’s not quite an asylum, but full of outcasts. When she awakens, she doesn’t know who she is so they residents name her Selena. Ian, the doctor and owner of the home, doesn’t think she will ever regain normal functioning and believes she is a lost cause. Time passes and things improve and they become close. Until we find out who she really is and everything changes. The ending I guess is happy.
👍🏻Turn Ons
Some of the history was interesting to read about. Maeve was my favorite character.
👎🏻 Turn Offs
A lot. I was so bored while reading this. The idea was interesting, but I think it fell flat. Ian has a “gift” after having a near-death experience, where he can read people’s thoughts and emotions if he touches them. I’m not really sure why this is even a factor in the entire book. It doesn’t really play into much and I was hoping near the end, he’d touch a character that arrives and unlock a large twist in who Selena really is. That does not happen. I think when we find out who she is, it’s lackluster and anticlimactic.
I could feel this way because I was turned off by the “god/goddess” references throughout the first quarter of the book. I rolled my eyes every time I read that and then suddenly it was gone until near the end. It felt overdone and unnecessary.
Maybe I was so annoyed by this book because I finished The Four Winds before I got too far into this and Hannah’s writing style has improved drastically. I didn’t care for any of these characters and I only kept going because I was hoping for more drama and twists than there were.
👵🏻 Safe to talk about with Grandma?
My grandma would tell me to “skip the sex” and then I could read this book. There might have been 3-4 pages total of sex and it wasn’t too graphic. No f-bombs and no violence. Grandma would read this.
⭐Rating ⭐
I’m giving this just two stars. I was bored and ended up skimming the last quarter of the book just to finish it. And I didn’t miss much by mainly reading the dialogue. This KH book was not one of my faves at all! ☹
Title & Author: Waiting for the Moon by Kristin Hannah
Format: Paperback
Read: 3/8/21-3/17/21
Rating: Two stars
November 21, 2010
This book was hard from me to put down from the first page. Without giving anything away, it starts out with a young woman who ends up losing her memories from a head injury. She is taken to an asylum, where Dr. Ian Carrick -a reclusive doctor- takes care of her.
The group, as the author refers to them, of inmates not knowing her name, dub her Selena. Selena has to relearn everything about life, her mind set is like that of a child. Like, for instance, fire bad.
While Selena is relearning everything she is bringing out the best of her fellow 'inmates', as well as their leader and caretaker, Ian. And instead of just living together, thanks to Selena's amazing kind pure soul, they learn to live as a family.
The book is heartbreaking and fantastic all wrapped in a nice package. You end up wanting to root for all the characters! A must read! Two thumbs up.
The group, as the author refers to them, of inmates not knowing her name, dub her Selena. Selena has to relearn everything about life, her mind set is like that of a child. Like, for instance, fire bad.
While Selena is relearning everything she is bringing out the best of her fellow 'inmates', as well as their leader and caretaker, Ian. And instead of just living together, thanks to Selena's amazing kind pure soul, they learn to live as a family.
The book is heartbreaking and fantastic all wrapped in a nice package. You end up wanting to root for all the characters! A must read! Two thumbs up.
May 1, 2012
This book is amazing its got an amazing moral! I borrowed this book from the library and I enjoyed reading it a lot. A couple years later I tried to find it in used books stores all over the the town and couldn't find it, so I ordered through chapters the used book option and it never came. I called for my money back and literally the next day I found it in the value village in town it was probably the greatest moment and story to my book acquiring I have. But the book it amazing!!!!
April 5, 2021
I didn’t like Ian, he was selfish and quick to judge and then I wondered if this is the reason the author gave him a special gift of touching people and knowing what they were thinking. Would this teach him not to be so critical and judgmental? I hated that he was considered to be “God” by Selena. He did save her life but her character and brain were damaged, childlike and yet she is the one he loves. Too crazy for my liking. I pushed through this novel and the last few chapters improved to a little redemption to Ian’s character.
Book 3 of broken ankle recovery time.
Book 3 of broken ankle recovery time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 21, 2023
This book is amazing. Wow. This is my first Kristin Hannah read and got a physical copy of this book from a second hand shop. It was written 20 years ago and has a comfy fall feel but this love story is timeless. There's so much to think about throughout this story about love, honor, humility and innocence. I highly reccomend this story to anyone looking for a little dark, quirky at times, new found family romance.
April 23, 2021
Great book about looking into the heart of people. Learning that there is beauty and hope in everyone despite their scars.
June 15, 2022
This review is simple. This is the most beautiful book I’ve ever read. Just absolutely incredible.
June 17, 2025
I’m really glad Kristin Hannah’s writing has improved since the 90s. This was pretty rough. The only reason I’m giving it 1 star is because the last 80 pages weren’t terrible and I liked the theme of found family.
December 5, 2018
Doktor Ian bütün bencilliğine rağmen iyiki varsın, tanıştığıma çok memnun oldum 😻❤
October 22, 2023
3.4 stars
April 18, 2025
So weird.
March 6, 2024
Between a 2.5-3 star
What to expect in this book:
-Found Family
-Brain injury
-Learning to love
-Group of misfits
-Older, backlist Kristin Hannah
-Historical romance
-Dated references
Thoughts
This is my TWENTY FIRST KH book and I cannot believe I only have four left, all of which are her oldest books and historical fiction. What a wild ride. Before Kristin Hannah wrote historical fiction and poignant contemporary fiction, her earliest books are historical romances, and man, are they a much different pace than her most recent reads. Waiting for the Moon tells the story of Selena, who after having a brain injury, cannot remember who she is or her life before she ends up in the care of Dr. Ian Carrick. While Ian is not broken in the way that Selena appears to be, he is wrestling with his own path and trying to believe in himself again. In this character-focused story, love is the heartbeat that connects both Ian and Selena's isolation to so many other's in need of family and connection.
Written in the early 1990s and set during the late 1800s, there are many dated references to mental health in this story, but are relevant to the time periods. Dr. Ian Carrick works with individuals who have severe mental disorders and is healing from his own struggles of being raised by a "mad" woman. As someone in this field, it is always interesting to see the development, and in this case, the rudimentary beginnings of mental health as a field of medicine. While I wish there was more about Ian's past and his "gift" (that was kind of weird), it was a good look into how love and compassion can heal wounds in a way that medicine cannot. Selena's brain injury was also interesting but strange in it's progression and development. There were not many details of what occurred beforehand or even how she came to Ian's. The pacing was off and overall this was a very slow read.
But I have said it once and I will say it again, despite not loving her older reads, there is something so profoundly impressive to me about an author who can write across genres, decades, and writing styles . And as always the number 1 question I get is, "where do I start with KH?." I always suggest starting with her historical fiction: The Great Alone, The Nightingale, Firefly Lane, The Four Winds, and The Women. These are all phenomenal!
What to expect in this book:
-Found Family
-Brain injury
-Learning to love
-Group of misfits
-Older, backlist Kristin Hannah
-Historical romance
-Dated references
Thoughts
This is my TWENTY FIRST KH book and I cannot believe I only have four left, all of which are her oldest books and historical fiction. What a wild ride. Before Kristin Hannah wrote historical fiction and poignant contemporary fiction, her earliest books are historical romances, and man, are they a much different pace than her most recent reads. Waiting for the Moon tells the story of Selena, who after having a brain injury, cannot remember who she is or her life before she ends up in the care of Dr. Ian Carrick. While Ian is not broken in the way that Selena appears to be, he is wrestling with his own path and trying to believe in himself again. In this character-focused story, love is the heartbeat that connects both Ian and Selena's isolation to so many other's in need of family and connection.
Written in the early 1990s and set during the late 1800s, there are many dated references to mental health in this story, but are relevant to the time periods. Dr. Ian Carrick works with individuals who have severe mental disorders and is healing from his own struggles of being raised by a "mad" woman. As someone in this field, it is always interesting to see the development, and in this case, the rudimentary beginnings of mental health as a field of medicine. While I wish there was more about Ian's past and his "gift" (that was kind of weird), it was a good look into how love and compassion can heal wounds in a way that medicine cannot. Selena's brain injury was also interesting but strange in it's progression and development. There were not many details of what occurred beforehand or even how she came to Ian's. The pacing was off and overall this was a very slow read.
But I have said it once and I will say it again, despite not loving her older reads, there is something so profoundly impressive to me about an author who can write across genres, decades, and writing styles . And as always the number 1 question I get is, "where do I start with KH?." I always suggest starting with her historical fiction: The Great Alone, The Nightingale, Firefly Lane, The Four Winds, and The Women. These are all phenomenal!
February 6, 2021
This book took me so long to read! It wasn't bad but, as with the other old Kristin Hannah's I've been reading its very slow. This book is about a woman who falls overboard and is severely injured in the water. Dr Ian Carrick starts caring for her and trying to get her out of her coma and back alive. He lives in an insane asylum because he has a special gift where he can read people's minds and its making him crazy. The whole group that lives there, including his mother who has undiagnosed schizophrenia, makes up a hilariously sweet family. They take in the injured girl and name her Selena. Ian is trying to nurse her back to health both for her sake and for his own validation that he is a legitimate doctor. He goes to talk to another doctor who had a similar case and while he's gone she makes a huge recovery. This book is Ian and Selena's love story, but what happens when her husband comes to claim her? Selena's childhood innocence as she came back to life was really sweet to watch and I really felt the connection between her and Ian. I thought the premise of this story is so interesting and at times I was really engaged, but overall the pacing was just too slow.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
Ian had lost his wife, witnessed his mother attempt suicide, etc. making him very jaded. However, he falls very sweetly for Selena and his heart breaks when someone comes claiming to be her husband. He lets her go and the man (Elliott) takes her to an Amish type community where everything is very chaste. They're married but don't sleep anywhere near each other and of course nothing physical happens. Shes miserable in that life and eventually Elliott lets her go back to Ian.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
Ian had lost his wife, witnessed his mother attempt suicide, etc. making him very jaded. However, he falls very sweetly for Selena and his heart breaks when someone comes claiming to be her husband. He lets her go and the man (Elliott) takes her to an Amish type community where everything is very chaste. They're married but don't sleep anywhere near each other and of course nothing physical happens. Shes miserable in that life and eventually Elliott lets her go back to Ian.
May 2, 2011
Early book by this author
I have read other, later books which have been better. This almost borders on fantasy, very few details drawn except for the asylum, the home of Ian Carrick. A beautiful (? she was rescued from the Atlantic ocean and her face and head are battered) young woman is brought to Dr. Carrick for treatment. She does not recover her memory, but the author creates scenarios where she does recall certain things that she has learned in life. The intention is to clearly have the doctor fall in love with his patient, which is subverted late in the story by introduction of a previously unknown husband.
I forced myself to finish the book, and with the introduction of the husband, my attention firmly returned to the story. Artful contrivances, but didn't pass the "suspension of disbelief" test.
I have read other, later books which have been better. This almost borders on fantasy, very few details drawn except for the asylum, the home of Ian Carrick. A beautiful (? she was rescued from the Atlantic ocean and her face and head are battered) young woman is brought to Dr. Carrick for treatment. She does not recover her memory, but the author creates scenarios where she does recall certain things that she has learned in life. The intention is to clearly have the doctor fall in love with his patient, which is subverted late in the story by introduction of a previously unknown husband.
I forced myself to finish the book, and with the introduction of the husband, my attention firmly returned to the story. Artful contrivances, but didn't pass the "suspension of disbelief" test.
August 13, 2021
I can’t figure out how truly good this book is…
I found it in my bag after checking in and renunciating my phone at a silent Buddhist retreat in the mountains. No talking, writing or reading was allowed (!) so I tossed the contraband aside.
After three days of horrible insomnia and nothing to read besides hand washing instructions and occasional motivational quips from the Buddha, and also knowing I would have another rigorous tight schedule to stick to once again in the morning, I pulled this book out.
Grabbing my flashlight and reminding myself of when I was little, I pulled the covers over my head and sneakily greedily and voraciously gobbled up this riveting story under the covers and radar of the fellow retreatants.
So, I was desperate. This book was there. I am grateful.
Was it good? Yeah. It was damn good.
I found it in my bag after checking in and renunciating my phone at a silent Buddhist retreat in the mountains. No talking, writing or reading was allowed (!) so I tossed the contraband aside.
After three days of horrible insomnia and nothing to read besides hand washing instructions and occasional motivational quips from the Buddha, and also knowing I would have another rigorous tight schedule to stick to once again in the morning, I pulled this book out.
Grabbing my flashlight and reminding myself of when I was little, I pulled the covers over my head and sneakily greedily and voraciously gobbled up this riveting story under the covers and radar of the fellow retreatants.
So, I was desperate. This book was there. I am grateful.
Was it good? Yeah. It was damn good.
March 31, 2021
I really liked the setting. It felt like I was right there in the mansion surrounded by all these interesting characters.
The book was a little slow in the middle, but I feel like this with all of Kristin Hannah's books. For me, they grab my attention with a great setting and strong characters, then they get wordy and slow down, but then they have a great ending.
I must not mind too much though, because I keep reading her. 🤷🏼♀️😆
The God/goddess references in this book were a little overdone and annoying.
The supporting characters and setting were what made this a good book for me.
The book was a little slow in the middle, but I feel like this with all of Kristin Hannah's books. For me, they grab my attention with a great setting and strong characters, then they get wordy and slow down, but then they have a great ending.
I must not mind too much though, because I keep reading her. 🤷🏼♀️😆
The God/goddess references in this book were a little overdone and annoying.
The supporting characters and setting were what made this a good book for me.
August 15, 2019
The beginning was sometimes a little silly but I loved loved the last quarter of the book and the ending.
August 16, 2022
I love Krintin Hannah for her character development but these characters were a bit strange and not at all what I was expecting. Not really sure what to say about this book...certainly not her best.
April 11, 2024
I struggled so hard the first 2/3 of this book. But the last third made up for the struggle- thankful that I finished it, but wish the first part was more interesting!
December 11, 2020
My Grandmas have been bugging me to read this author for a while now so I picked the book that seemed least likely to make me cry and then demanded my Grandma tell me if there was a happy ending or not. Well I did cry but not until the end and Grandma was not lying about the HEA.
Our hero, Dr. Ian Carrick is an arrogant jerk, which I suppose is the character trait of many great doctors so at least it is honest if not attractive. Don't worry, he will be made to suffer greatly for his choices and will redeem himself before the end. Selena has no memory and is like a baby who has to relearn skills. She will be made to suffer some more as well even though she has suffered enough IMO. It is very hard to connect with these main characters in the beginning and everyone knows first impressions are everything. This is a big risk for the author to take and I respect her for it. The good thing about placing your characters at the bottom of the barrel right at the beginning is that they have no where to go but up. These characters both grow quite a bit if you can bear to stick with them.
About the ending. I cried right out. Tissues were pointless. It was literally the perfect HEA. I went back and read it again to make sure it was real, then I read it again. Some reviewers described this as bittersweet but I completely disagree. Bittersweet implies that there was an element of suffering (which there was plenty of suffering leading right up to the HEA) but the HEA itself was not bittersweet. It was the absolute perfect solution and is the only way the novel could have ended in a most satisfying way without that element of suffering.
Some authors like to pile on the bad stuff which is why I don't read them. If you want to see bad stuff happening to people, if you want some angst and sadness, just look around you IRL I say. Some people (like Grandma :) love angsty stuff in books so I'm happy that they have a great author like this to read. Perhaps the suffering makes the HEA more powerful but it is not worth the trip for me. There was plenty of piling on of bad stuff in this book and it is the perfect example of why I don't read this author. That being said, there was also a lot of joy to counteract the sadness. This is why it gets the 5 star rating from me. I don't want to rate the book lower, just because it's not normally what I read. I think the overall low rating on Goodreads is unjustified and hope my rating will bring it up a bit.
Will I read this author again? I certainly hope not! Life is too short to cry your way through books!
Our hero, Dr. Ian Carrick is an arrogant jerk, which I suppose is the character trait of many great doctors so at least it is honest if not attractive. Don't worry, he will be made to suffer greatly for his choices and will redeem himself before the end. Selena has no memory and is like a baby who has to relearn skills. She will be made to suffer some more as well even though she has suffered enough IMO. It is very hard to connect with these main characters in the beginning and everyone knows first impressions are everything. This is a big risk for the author to take and I respect her for it. The good thing about placing your characters at the bottom of the barrel right at the beginning is that they have no where to go but up. These characters both grow quite a bit if you can bear to stick with them.
About the ending. I cried right out. Tissues were pointless. It was literally the perfect HEA. I went back and read it again to make sure it was real, then I read it again. Some reviewers described this as bittersweet but I completely disagree. Bittersweet implies that there was an element of suffering (which there was plenty of suffering leading right up to the HEA) but the HEA itself was not bittersweet. It was the absolute perfect solution and is the only way the novel could have ended in a most satisfying way without that element of suffering.
Some authors like to pile on the bad stuff which is why I don't read them. If you want to see bad stuff happening to people, if you want some angst and sadness, just look around you IRL I say. Some people (like Grandma :) love angsty stuff in books so I'm happy that they have a great author like this to read. Perhaps the suffering makes the HEA more powerful but it is not worth the trip for me. There was plenty of piling on of bad stuff in this book and it is the perfect example of why I don't read this author. That being said, there was also a lot of joy to counteract the sadness. This is why it gets the 5 star rating from me. I don't want to rate the book lower, just because it's not normally what I read. I think the overall low rating on Goodreads is unjustified and hope my rating will bring it up a bit.
Will I read this author again? I certainly hope not! Life is too short to cry your way through books!
November 12, 2025
2.5 stars ⭐️
1 of 5 chili peppers 🌶️
In short: “Violet Evergarden” meets “Phantom Thread”.
**********
This book asks the same question in a few ways: “How could someone like her — broken and inexperienced — tell a great man of science that he needed to search for what was right with her, not what was wrong?” (p. 191). It’s this premise’s emotional promise which hooked me at first, but I can’t say it fully delivered.
I’ll start by saying Hannah’s strengths show even in this early book. Ian’s rigid control over his household sets up a (satisfying) emotional arc and challenge that we as readers will have a hill to climb before we start rooting for him. His relationship with Selena begins without sparks, he treats her like a failed experiment and overlooks her pain, and their dynamic is intentionally uncomfortable; it’s also a perfect foil to the extremely charming ensemble cast across the household.
But I had two major issues which dropped the star rating:
▫️Selena — she should carry the story, but her motivations, including the shallow longing for Ian’s approval, never feel fully explored; he’s hot, he’s smart, he’s emotionally unavailable — what’s not to want? That doesn’t work for me. And it makes Selena a vehicle for his transformation, when she also has so much to develop.
▫️Pacing — The back 10% quite suddenly introduces a religious turn which feels strange and unsupported by the rest of the book. It does serve a narrative purpose, but some prior groundwork would have gone a long way.
Ultimately, this early novel shows signs of the emotional precision Hannah develops later in her career. “Waiting for the Moon” just fell over the edge of broody-atmospheric into weird and infantalizing for me.
Read to the Foreign Family Collective Intermission Broadcasts, mixed by Tycho and Kasbo.
1 of 5 chili peppers 🌶️
In short: “Violet Evergarden” meets “Phantom Thread”.
**********
This book asks the same question in a few ways: “How could someone like her — broken and inexperienced — tell a great man of science that he needed to search for what was right with her, not what was wrong?” (p. 191). It’s this premise’s emotional promise which hooked me at first, but I can’t say it fully delivered.
I’ll start by saying Hannah’s strengths show even in this early book. Ian’s rigid control over his household sets up a (satisfying) emotional arc and challenge that we as readers will have a hill to climb before we start rooting for him. His relationship with Selena begins without sparks, he treats her like a failed experiment and overlooks her pain, and their dynamic is intentionally uncomfortable; it’s also a perfect foil to the extremely charming ensemble cast across the household.
But I had two major issues which dropped the star rating:
▫️Selena — she should carry the story, but her motivations, including the shallow longing for Ian’s approval, never feel fully explored; he’s hot, he’s smart, he’s emotionally unavailable — what’s not to want? That doesn’t work for me. And it makes Selena a vehicle for his transformation, when she also has so much to develop.
▫️Pacing — The back 10% quite suddenly introduces a religious turn which feels strange and unsupported by the rest of the book. It does serve a narrative purpose, but some prior groundwork would have gone a long way.
Ultimately, this early novel shows signs of the emotional precision Hannah develops later in her career. “Waiting for the Moon” just fell over the edge of broody-atmospheric into weird and infantalizing for me.
Read to the Foreign Family Collective Intermission Broadcasts, mixed by Tycho and Kasbo.
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