Joanne

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Joanne is Currently Reading

Joanne is currently reading

When the Moon Hatched (Moonfall, #1)

by Sarah A. Parker

bookshelves: june-2024, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in June 2024

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Joanne said: " 3.5 stars. Raeve is an assassin working for the rebellion but when she gets caught and captured, her life will never be the same again. Concealing secrets of her own, she meets the mysterious Kaan, bringing up conflicting emotions and a suppressed pa 3.5 stars. Raeve is an assassin working for the rebellion but when she gets caught and captured, her life will never be the same again. Concealing secrets of her own, she meets the mysterious Kaan, bringing up conflicting emotions and a suppressed past that tries to claw its way out of the darkness she shoved it into, but Raeve is adamant on revenge and nothing will stop her.

This book is rich in world-building and full of so many different creatures including fae and dragons as well some whimsical new ones. It starts off with a story of the gods at the very beginning which felt very atmospheric and laid a nice foundation for the history of this exciting new world. Introduced to Raeve's point of view to begin the story in the present day, it started off strong with this fierce and witty character.

I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning and felt immediately pulled into this fantastic world. We meet a lot of characters but most quite briefly and I would have liked to have seen more of them, as well as Raeve's current situation with her job. Unfortunately the love interest was introduced annoyingly early - I wanted to roll my eyes - but I went with it. Raeve gets imprisoned and things looked very dire for her but of course, the story doesn't stop here and Raeve is whisked away to a new area of the world to discover.

Though I was really immersed in the story and loved the setting and the world, when the Tooka Trial took place, I felt the story got lost from hereon. This part felt wedged in and over so swiftly - it was clearly included just to force a bridge between Raeve and Kaan, but it was so out of place with the rest of the book and quickly brushed over, it just didn't fit. Then there was a lot of milling around and nothing really happening because of Raeve and her refusal to explore her past.

The more I read, the less enamoured I became with the protagonist and the more my irritation grew. Raeve was steadfast in not addressing some very repressed issues and was unrelentingly stubborn which just became exasperating and frustrating to read. This put a huge block on the plot moving forward because Raeve wanted to live in fantasy land and not face reality, and so we couldn't discover anything more. She was hellbent on revenge, the bloodlust obscuring everything else which created a stagnant middle half and I was very vexed with Raeve's mulish disposition because, as the reader, we couldn't find out anything more until she yielded.

I have some frustrations with this book as a whole on how it was formatted with the use of multiple point of views - I don't think they worked. I think the book would have been better just being in Raeve's POV because we find out some very vital information through another character's POV which was so underwhelming and would have been much more shattering to find out through Raeve. Veya was too closely written like Raeve and the random one chapter from Rekk's POV was unnecessary unless more had been included.

I found this book quite predictable so the revelations weren't that shocking and the ending was a bit underwhelming as well. The 'romance' was a bit unsettling to read at times; some of the spicy scenes weren't done well and felt included for the sake of just having them in there. I just wasn't keen on the love interest and felt nothing from the two of them.

Also, this book felt too much like a remake of Throne of Glass with dragons - like a TOG and Fourth Wing mash up but not original enough. Raeve was far too similar to Aelin from TOG for many reasons but not likeable.

While it was a good story and I did enjoy it, I think there were too many sticking points and the book needed another draft just from Raeve's POV with the obstinacy toned down. We don't get many answers in this book with what happened to Raeve as well as what's going on with her right now so I will be reading the next one - I liked it enough to want to continue - but it definitely didn't live up to my expectations that this was going to be an epic fantasy book with high stakes and superb characters. Overall, it was good but not great. ...more "

Jun 29, 2024 12:32AM · see review

Joanne is currently reading

How to Argue With a Meat Eater (And Win Every Time)

by Ed Winters

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Apr 25, 2026 03:27PM

Joanne is currently reading

A Poem for Every Day of the Year

by Allie Esiri (Goodreads Author)

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Jan 01, 2026 05:16AM

Joanne’s Quotes

“Instead of focusing on what she didn't have, she needed to look at what she did.”
― C.J. Redwine, The Wish Granter

tags: fantasy, uplifting

1 likes

“Common dates in romance movies:
Seats in a box at the opera or ballet
Walking around a beautiful foreign city
Night-time picnics in empty parks
Finding some gorgeous abandoned house that the boy fills with candles

Common dates in real life:
Nando's...”
― Holly Bourne, It Only Happens in the Movies

tags: contemporary, reality

8 likes

“The only love affair I needed to invest in right now was one with myself. Spend some time with me. Figuring out myself and why I picked the relationships I did. I was holding out my heart to me. Because I'd realised I was the only person who could give me a happily-ever-after.”
― Holly Bourne, It Only Happens in the Movies

tags: contemporary, romance

68 likes

“What was the point? What is the point in love, and promises of it, when it can just jump from one person to another like that?”
― Holly Bourne, It Only Happens in the Movies

tags: contemporary, romance

23 likes

“I think real kindness, real compassion, is having the strength to stop and try and see where another person is coming from. To try and work out why they're being the way they're being. It takes time and patience. It's not easy, but that's real kindness.”
― Holly Bourne, Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes?

tags: ya

8 likes

More of Joanne’s quotes…