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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy
Book review: When the Moon Hatched ✨
5 ⭐️
This book just made to my top 5 reads of 2024.
I absolutely loved When the Moon Hatched. No, I did not devour this book, it took me daaaaaays to finish it. First because the world building is complex and I’m not gonna lie, the first few chapters can be confusing, but also because life was happening and I did not have the time to just sit down and read.
But when I finally got into the groove, I ate it up!
There’s a few different POV’s throughout the book, but mostly we get to know the story through Raeve’s eye. She’s our FMC and she’s a badass woman. She’s an assassin, she’s part of a rebellious group, she’s loyal and fierce, a little stubborn and she always gets what she wants.
Until we meet Kaan, the king of The Burn, and ghosts of the past come rushing back. He’s strong but he leads with his heart. He’s absolutely breathtaking. I LOVE HIM!
So many secrets. The past and the present came together and I finished reading this book at 1am gasping at the ending and needing the second book NOW!
It’s a fast paced story with a slow burn romance (and trust me when I say that the slow burn was buuuurning!!!), the world building is exceptional and worth every page.
I absolutely cannot wait until Fall of 2025 to continue unfolding this story.
If you haven’t read it yet: READ IT NOW!
5 ⭐️
This book just made to my top 5 reads of 2024.
I absolutely loved When the Moon Hatched. No, I did not devour this book, it took me daaaaaays to finish it. First because the world building is complex and I’m not gonna lie, the first few chapters can be confusing, but also because life was happening and I did not have the time to just sit down and read.
But when I finally got into the groove, I ate it up!
There’s a few different POV’s throughout the book, but mostly we get to know the story through Raeve’s eye. She’s our FMC and she’s a badass woman. She’s an assassin, she’s part of a rebellious group, she’s loyal and fierce, a little stubborn and she always gets what she wants.
Until we meet Kaan, the king of The Burn, and ghosts of the past come rushing back. He’s strong but he leads with his heart. He’s absolutely breathtaking. I LOVE HIM!
So many secrets. The past and the present came together and I finished reading this book at 1am gasping at the ending and needing the second book NOW!
It’s a fast paced story with a slow burn romance (and trust me when I say that the slow burn was buuuurning!!!), the world building is exceptional and worth every page.
I absolutely cannot wait until Fall of 2025 to continue unfolding this story.
If you haven’t read it yet: READ IT NOW!
I would say that this is the cooler bigger sister of fourth wing. I would recommend all of my friends who love fantasy romance to read this book. I’m just dying to get my hands on the second book and I’ve been scouring the Internet to see when that’s released and I can’t find anything so if you know, let me know.
I absolutely love the MMC and the FMC. The magic system and the world building were some of my favorite parts of this book and add dragons and this just makes this book 6 out of five stars.
I absolutely love the MMC and the FMC. The magic system and the world building were some of my favorite parts of this book and add dragons and this just makes this book 6 out of five stars.
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNF 2%
genuinely the first 30 pages were a glossary. i’m serious. Sarah, you do not need to tell people that grandpah means grandpa. i think they’ll get it. then we get into some of the most GOD AWFUL writing ever. why was every other word italicized. i know, im exaggerating, but god it felt like it. for the “prose”, i shall direct you to the reviews with their quotes and highlights available. it’s so fucking stupid.
am i surprised booktok/stagram latched onto shitty writing by an author named Sarah AGAIN? no. if i’m ever feeling masochistic, i might attempt to read the whole thing. but i fear that day is not today. what makes it even worse is that this isn’t even Sarah’s first romp in a high romantasy novel. this isn’t a debut.
also, i’m begging you to peer inside When the Moon Hatched in Barnes & Noble because the illustrations are gorgeous. stunning. sucks bc the writing is hot garbage.
genuinely the first 30 pages were a glossary. i’m serious. Sarah, you do not need to tell people that grandpah means grandpa. i think they’ll get it. then we get into some of the most GOD AWFUL writing ever. why was every other word italicized. i know, im exaggerating, but god it felt like it. for the “prose”, i shall direct you to the reviews with their quotes and highlights available. it’s so fucking stupid.
am i surprised booktok/stagram latched onto shitty writing by an author named Sarah AGAIN? no. if i’m ever feeling masochistic, i might attempt to read the whole thing. but i fear that day is not today. what makes it even worse is that this isn’t even Sarah’s first romp in a high romantasy novel. this isn’t a debut.
also, i’m begging you to peer inside When the Moon Hatched in Barnes & Noble because the illustrations are gorgeous. stunning. sucks bc the writing is hot garbage.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I nearly cried a few times reading this, and my edition of the book (a signed hardback, with sprayed edges and a gorgeous cover) is extremely well crafted from a publishing perspective. This is a Romantasy book, and so if you don’t like that genre you will not enjoy this. That being said compared to other books of this genre, I quite enjoyed this one. I thought the world building was interesting (particularly a song/language based magic system) for what is essentially a romance set in a fantasy setting.
I also enjoyed the mashup of Romantasy conventions as well as a slightly slower and more complex exploration of trauma that was more developed than I would have typically expected from a book of this genre. I thought the plot was all pretty well foreshadowed, such I was never bored, but none of the plot twists felt totally left field either. I
mean what can I say, it had dragons and a really stubborn murderous female lead.
I get that sometimes a self-hating main character is hard for people to like, however I personally felt like that was a more realistic depiction of what would happen to someone who had been through what Raeve had, compared with the way most other romantasy books handle heavier subject matter. Yes, she is stubborn to make the kingdom better, and she is stubborn to not talk about her trauma, that’s not annoying that’s realistic. I also think it made the conflict within the romance more fleshed out and realistic. This book was extremely angsty though I will say.
I also enjoyed the mashup of Romantasy conventions as well as a slightly slower and more complex exploration of trauma that was more developed than I would have typically expected from a book of this genre. I thought the plot was all pretty well foreshadowed, such I was never bored, but none of the plot twists felt totally left field either. I
mean what can I say, it had dragons and a really stubborn murderous female lead.
I get that sometimes a self-hating main character is hard for people to like, however I personally felt like that was a more realistic depiction of what would happen to someone who had been through what Raeve had, compared with the way most other romantasy books handle heavier subject matter. Yes, she is stubborn to make the kingdom better, and she is stubborn to not talk about her trauma, that’s not annoying that’s realistic. I also think it made the conflict within the romance more fleshed out and realistic. This book was extremely angsty though I will say.
I also didn’t find I had to refer to the glossary and was able to pick up on the world building without too much issue. I wasn’t a huge fan of the trial section of the story, it felt slightly stereotypes for something published so recently. I’m also not sure what I think of the ending. The prose is also in that slightly overwritten fan-fictiony style similar to fourth wing, or kind of typical of romantasy.