The Night & Its Moon

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Overall I'd say the book is fine in this state. My major complaint was copyediting, and the book was rushed off to publication so I wasn't expecting it to have been completely revised/rewritten. The concept is a blend of Tolkien, Sarah J Maas, and The Witcher, which I think is fun. The writing itself could still use work, but that's something that takes years to hone. I have both a desire and an obligation to share this apology and accountability with you and use my platform for good. I can only ask for the grace to show you that I can and will do better. The attention to “tiny” description details: scents, foods, and scenery. The details of the music and nameless folks in the tavern came alive. I always want to be immersed in a book and Piper delivered with detailed descriptions. The plot is written in a manner that builds and pulls you into a vivid fantastical world while examining themes of race, objectification, feminism, equality, self-empowerment, child trauma, abuse, misandry and misogyny. This is orchestrated by having two main characters who have a similar origin but are separated during their young adult years, breaking their hearts and the readers'. This separation decreases the ~spice~ significantly in this novel, but the mature themes constitute this novel as being in the adult genre, contrary to what another review stated.

The book is intended for the adult category, and while it does contain mature themes and content, I thought that the book read like YA. I would be surprised if it ended up shelved in the adult section - unless the series pulls an SJM and has to be moved in the future…. To that end, I think much of this stems from the attempt at an omniscient narrator. There are times when the narration is so close to Nox and Amaris' perspectives that it feels like you're reading a third-person limited rather than omniscient, and then are jarringly reminded via scenes from other characters' perspectives. Third-person omniscient is an undertaking, and there's a reason it isn't often used anymore: it's incredibly hard to execute.FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHY WOULD YOU INCLUDE NOX GETTING WHIPPED?? and in the little timeskip after, referring to her 13 year old self as a "young woman" But the reality is worse. The scandal is happening right now, and she brought it on herself. The behavior that she’s apologizing for is very much not in the past, and she clearly has not grown or changed (or been held accountable in any way, as apparently many of her followers are willing to fall for her lip service and instantly forgive her). She tries to excuse her bad behavior by calling it “a glitch in the matrix,” or attributing it to mental health, or claiming that being a new author has “a learning curve.” I’m sure it does! But she seems to be struggling on the learning curve of simply being a decent person. Jan 2023 update: Below you’ll find the initial review I left as an ARC reader for this book. It didn’t convey my true thoughts, as I was attempting to be diplomatic and supportive of a new author. My 3 stars was always undeserved, but especially after the author’s continued unprofessional conduct on social media. Not to mention the novice writing and uncomfortable characterization in the book. I was one of the first reviewers to get some shade thrown at me online, and it seems it still hasn’t stopped in the new year.

There’s weird mixing of archaic and modern terms. Terms like “she has not yet bled” and a “woman’s moon time” are more primitive, but then characters know and use “sexism” and “tokenism” and refer to serotonin, dopamine, and testosterone, ideas that wouldn’t have been understood in a modern way. It's like the author wants to make sure readers are aware that SHE is aware of these concepts, so she drops them into a context that doesn’t make sense. EDIT TO ADD: The author advertises this book as dual-POV, and it’s not. It does primarily follow the story of two main protagonists, but it’s a 3rd-person-omniscient POV that switches between all primary and secondary characters’ heads at random points in the text. The slow pacing makes this extra confusing to the reader.For fantasy selling points, this book features fae, dragons, magic in multiple forms, and a map of the world you're exploring through this story. In an attempt to mimic the long-winded prose of the high-fantasy genre, the prose is overwrought. It's an attempt to be descriptive or lyrical, but comes off as a beginner attempting to mimic the greats. This also causes scenes to be far too long, ruining any sense of immediacy in dynamic scenes. The pacing issues are not limited to individual scenes, but the entire narrative as well.

After witnessing the behaviour from both the author and the editor towards readers critiquing this book, I will not be reading this and I strongly urge you to do the same. On Earth, our view of the illuminated part of the Moon changes each night, depending on where the Moon is in its orbit, or path, around Earth. When we have a full view of the completely illuminated side of the Moon, that phase is known as a full moon. I literally never do this. I never one star. If I don’t like a book or it’s not for me, I move on. As a writer, I cringe at the thought of putting up a review like this. But honestly, this book left me confused and frustrated. I don’t even know what I was reading half the time. I wanted to highlight another critique I’ve seen that I wholly agree with but just didn’t know how to put into words. The fetishization of POC and the excessive sexual trauma the POC alleged main character (Nox feels like a side character despite being the leading love interest) in this book is disgusting. It, like many other heavy topics in the book, are dealt with poorly.

Details e-book The Night and Its Moon (The Night and Its Moon, 1)

TL;DR: Read this book if you like sapphic rep, rich imagery, fae and magic, deep world building, and slow burns. I had to read this several times before I understood that the hand in question was Millicent’s—at the end of the arm it’s supposedly slithering down (I think). The Night and Its Moon asks the reader to define different types of love in the context of being an outsider, being different, and being queer, while leaving the reader open to establish their own emotions which is once again a rarity for popular fantasy novels. It's a beautifully written, enthralling epic that is hard to compare to other works. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. It is, simply put, not a good book. As others have said, it certainly COULD be, but it does not live up to the hype. The pacing is off, the prose is purple, and it’s riddled with easily avoidable grammar and spelling errors. But for a day or two, I remained hopeful about the rest of the series. Again: It COULD be good. This book is GAY! Read this for representation of both male and female bisexual characters, sapphic romance, and girls kissing girls. It's delightful.

uaimh reev is a fortress set in the mountains where the reevers are trained and taught to kill monsters and protect the realm. kaer morhen is a fortress set in the mountains where the Witchers are trained and taught to kill monsters and protect the realm. both reevers and Witchers are sworn to take no part in king's wars. much like the brothers of the night's watch in game of thrones. How poetic it would be to drift into the sea. Instead, she would bring the sea to her, as all the salt in her body poured from the bottomless well in her eyes.” (ALL THE SALT IN HER BODY is coming out of her eyes?)I’m also put off by the marketing of this book as the only sort of bisexual representation in fiction. There’s a lot of queer fiction, and even whole queer bookstores, which is not to say there’s ENOUGH queer fiction. The author stated (in her B&N live interview) that she doesn’t actually read much romantic fantasy, which really put a bad taste in my mouth. You can’t claim to be representative of a genre if you don’t know what else exists in that genre. There are also sentences and metaphors that just plain don’t make sense or are ridiculous. “Curiosity pulled her forward like a physical tether, the desire to know burning hotter than the chill of the night.”