Kristen's Reviews > Moth

I received a free copy of Moth from Netgalley.

Disclaimer:

I try to write spoiler free reviews, but inadvertently, usually let a few things slip. Sorry in advance!

The skinny:

In a world that has stopped turning, two civilizations reside: Eloria (the part of the world that is cloaked in darkness), and Timandra (the part of the world that is in sunlight). One of the main characters, Koyee, is from Oshy, a small fishing village in Eloria. Torin and Bailey, two more main characters, are from Fairwool-by-Night, which is part of Timandra. Timandra knows little about the world of Eloria, and vice versa (both sides do not stray out of their respective day/night). Ultimately, boundaries are crossed, and misunderstandings ensue, leading to a clash of worlds.

What I liked:

At first, I thought the novel was incredibly slow, and dare I say dry?! It seemed to lack forward momentum, making it appear very stagnant. But as I continued to read, I became more and more immersed in the world that the author painted. I truly felt, due to the vivid desciptions, that I could picture both Timandra and Eloria. If I was artistic, I feel certain that I could paint the most detailed of pictures of the two worlds (both Timandra and Eloria are both part of one world, but I don’t know how else to put it, so for the sake of this review they will be deemed worlds). I especially LOVED the way Pahmey was described; wholly cripes would I like to be in that city for even just a nano-second!!!

Not only was I drawn in by the vivid “world” descriptions, but also because of the characters. My favorite character was probably Koyee. Starting with her time in Pahmey, I felt so DEEPLY for Koyee, that I just wanted to cry. Despite all of the terrible things that happened to her, she kept dusting herself off and driving forward. Whereas another character might have succumbed to all that had happened, Koyee kept a level head, even in the most trying of times. Relying on her friend (?!?!) during the hard times helped Koyee work towards making her father, her town, and eventually her city, proud.

Another character I grew to love was Bailey. At first, Bailey and her attitude reminded me of a typical high school student (aghhh!!!!!!!); she was very snappish towards Torin, and oftentimes condescending. As the story progressed though, Bailey’s actions and words gave her away; she actually truly cared about Torin and wanted to protect him. In one scene, which I will try not to spoil, Bailey responds to Torin’s attempted heroics with “I already had to save you twice, and that was here in the daylight.” In saying this, she is basically making a snarky, yet playful jab at Torin’s inability to protect himself; If he can’t even protect himself in the daylight (which he is accustomed to), how does he expect to do so in the dark?! Well played Bailey, well played.

Dislikes:

*The dislikes I am about to discuss have to do more with my preferences and oddities than the book itself.*

The first dislike has to do with how DAMN frustrating the book was at times. On more than one occasion, I had to step away from reading because I thought I was going to toss my Kindle across the room. Why, OH WHY, were some of the characters so STUPID?! Torin, tried and tried to get people to see reason, but they refused. I thought it was bad when I wanted to throttle most of the people in his town, but it got worse. I eventually wanted to throttle 99.9% of the people in Timandra. Le sigh. I guess, grudgingly, this is a mark of a good book though.

Second pet peeve had to do with Okado. At first, Okado seemed to be a very flat character to me. He seemed to have the sense and intelligence of a caveman. He also lacked what I thought were normal human feelings. Once again though, I was proven wrong, because I ended up liking his character a lot more by the end.

My last dislike, and the weirdest of them all. I really didn’t like how the author used the word mewled (I tried to keep track and my final count was 6 times...and I don't think I caught them all) repeatedly throughout the book. I felt like certain people and creatures were supposed to be hard and tough, yet when they faced adversity, or were injured, they…..mewled. This just doesn’t work for me. Weird, I know.

Final conclusion:

I felt that 75% of this book was setting us up for the second book. This was okay with me though, because I really enjoyed the process. I will be eagerly looking forward to the next installment.

4/5 stars.