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areaderamongthestars's review against another edition
5.0
In The Light of A Broken Moon is a sweet and angst-y poly romance settled in space, full of many elements I love dearly, and I just can’t stop thinking about it.
The world-building is brilliant: from the concept of magical librarians to the world itself, with magnificent landscapes from a destroyed planet full of ancient knowledge and an evil empire seeking to destroy all that is left of it, it’s impossible to not be fascinated by what Spicer was able to create. The writing style is also pretty good, even though I would have liked a little bit more dialogues instead of description in a couple of scenes.
I was really impressed by the sigil magic, and the way how it works, how one is possible to heal and to protect though its usage, was described in such an elegant and extraordinary way.
The plot is clearly in its early stage in this first episode, so the main focus are, obviously, the characters. And saying that they are all my babies is an understatement.
Demya is such a strong woman, a true warrior, and it’s heartbreaking to see how she always thinks of herself as unworthy of being loved and cared for by the person she shares her soul with, no matter what she accomplish.
Selena instead is a softer and more innocent character, but that doesn’t prevent her from being fierce and determined in her own way.
The romance between Demya and Selena was so well done: the yearning, the soft touches and the little attentions each of them has for the other… there is something special in the way they both try to overcome the trauma of losing their home-world, their life, and their lover in the same instant, without losing each other in the process.
I can’t wait to see how the comeback of Aleksan will influence their relationship, and I can already know that seeing them healing together will be the death of me. Because what Aleksan went through, being alone for so long and get to the point where he believed the women he loved maybe would not have come back for him without secondary motives, destroyed me.
I’m just so excited to see how the story is going to be developed!!!
The world-building is brilliant: from the concept of magical librarians to the world itself, with magnificent landscapes from a destroyed planet full of ancient knowledge and an evil empire seeking to destroy all that is left of it, it’s impossible to not be fascinated by what Spicer was able to create. The writing style is also pretty good, even though I would have liked a little bit more dialogues instead of description in a couple of scenes.
I was really impressed by the sigil magic, and the way how it works, how one is possible to heal and to protect though its usage, was described in such an elegant and extraordinary way.
The plot is clearly in its early stage in this first episode, so the main focus are, obviously, the characters. And saying that they are all my babies is an understatement.
Demya is such a strong woman, a true warrior, and it’s heartbreaking to see how she always thinks of herself as unworthy of being loved and cared for by the person she shares her soul with, no matter what she accomplish.
Selena instead is a softer and more innocent character, but that doesn’t prevent her from being fierce and determined in her own way.
The romance between Demya and Selena was so well done: the yearning, the soft touches and the little attentions each of them has for the other… there is something special in the way they both try to overcome the trauma of losing their home-world, their life, and their lover in the same instant, without losing each other in the process.
I can’t wait to see how the comeback of Aleksan will influence their relationship, and I can already know that seeing them healing together will be the death of me. Because what Aleksan went through, being alone for so long and get to the point where he believed the women he loved maybe would not have come back for him without secondary motives, destroyed me.
I’m just so excited to see how the story is going to be developed!!!
smartie_chan's review
2.0
I'm almost sorry, that I have to write this review now, because it's
a) the first negative review this book has gotten and
b) it'll destroy the high goodreads ranking.
Besides that, I'm not sorry, because I don't know and/or understand, how people walked out of this and did not feel as empty as I did. And I don't mean the empty you feel after a book has emotionally destroyed you. That's the good kind of empty.
This empty feels just sad and dissapointing. Although, maybe even that is too much of an emotion.
I struggled with this book, almost since chapter 2 and I wasn't able to pinpoint why that was, until we reached the 50% in mark and I realised that I found the "thing" that bothered me.
The thing was: kinda everything and nothing at all.
So the book has something like a plot? The important part is the 'something', because I reached the last page and I still felt like we hadn't even started anything at all.
The reason why I feel that is, is because we include a lot of unnessecary 'flashbacks' and memorys & informations, that we are told rather than shown, that - and I'm not making this up - by the time we reach 35%, our MC is STILL almost at the same location, she started with. She moved maybe two streets away from her starting point. But Martina, what the duck was she doing those 35% long pages?
Lol I have no clue. She was thinking? Reliving memorys and stuff. And that's kinda everything that happens. If you read the blurb you know the whole plot. There is not happening anything else. Unless you count the flashbacks and the 1 - 2 conversations Demya has with her girlfriend.
The book is over and if you asked me to characterize ANY of these people I'd have to give you a blank piece of paper, because I was told a lot about them, but I haven't really SEEN any of them, I haven't connected with a single one of them, I know a lot ABOUT them, but I don't KNOW them. That is an important difference.
The poly relationship was - at least to me - the hightlight of the book. It was also told rather than shown and I just have to believe the words and thoughts that left our MC's brain - which I don't like - but it still felt like those three actually cared for each other.
Although, I sometimes wasn't the biggest fan of the fact, that the book tried to tell me how oh so important the Knight x Libarian relationship was. It almost made the romantic bond they shared less deep, because it almost felt like, it was expected of Demya do fall in love/lust with her Librarian. I could see why SHE loved Demya, but the other way around... meh. It was overshadowed a lot by "I love you because I NEED to" instead of "Because I WANT to".
This feeling is only made stronger, when you look at how many actual dialog those two have with each other in the present. Flashbacks & Memorys don't count. Just look at what's actually said on page. :) The number doesn't look good. And since those two never really interacted, I didn't really feel like there was a real emotional connection or spark between them.
The worldbuiding was interesting - at least the part we actually got to see . The concept alone. A scifi setting WITH magic, a culture that resolved about that, wisdom as the greatest power of all. That sounds so cool!
The fact that the book ends the way it does just made this experience even more sad. Because this is not even a real cliff hanger. It's kinda like the book was cut of in the middle of somewhere. We could have alsmost have a plot, but than the books over and I'm left with nothing but this feeling of "wow". Not the good kind of wow though.
There was stuff in there I liked. It had a lot of potential, and if it had cut out a lo of stuff that did not need to be there and maybe fused the second and first book together, I would have walked out of this feeling happy.
But since that is not the case and I can only look at this the way it actually was written, I'll have to give 2 stars.
a) the first negative review this book has gotten and
b) it'll destroy the high goodreads ranking.
Besides that, I'm not sorry, because I don't know and/or understand, how people walked out of this and did not feel as empty as I did. And I don't mean the empty you feel after a book has emotionally destroyed you. That's the good kind of empty.
This empty feels just sad and dissapointing. Although, maybe even that is too much of an emotion.
I struggled with this book, almost since chapter 2 and I wasn't able to pinpoint why that was, until we reached the 50% in mark and I realised that I found the "thing" that bothered me.
The thing was: kinda everything and nothing at all.
So the book has something like a plot? The important part is the 'something', because I reached the last page and I still felt like we hadn't even started anything at all.
The reason why I feel that is, is because we include a lot of unnessecary 'flashbacks' and memorys & informations, that we are told rather than shown, that - and I'm not making this up - by the time we reach 35%, our MC is STILL almost at the same location, she started with. She moved maybe two streets away from her starting point. But Martina, what the duck was she doing those 35% long pages?
Lol I have no clue. She was thinking? Reliving memorys and stuff. And that's kinda everything that happens. If you read the blurb you know the whole plot. There is not happening anything else. Unless you count the flashbacks and the 1 - 2 conversations Demya has with her girlfriend.
The book is over and if you asked me to characterize ANY of these people I'd have to give you a blank piece of paper, because I was told a lot about them, but I haven't really SEEN any of them, I haven't connected with a single one of them, I know a lot ABOUT them, but I don't KNOW them. That is an important difference.
The poly relationship was - at least to me - the hightlight of the book. It was also told rather than shown and I just have to believe the words and thoughts that left our MC's brain - which I don't like - but it still felt like those three actually cared for each other.
Although, I sometimes wasn't the biggest fan of the fact, that the book tried to tell me how oh so important the Knight x Libarian relationship was. It almost made the romantic bond they shared less deep, because it almost felt like, it was expected of Demya do fall in love/lust with her Librarian. I could see why SHE loved Demya, but the other way around... meh. It was overshadowed a lot by "I love you because I NEED to" instead of "Because I WANT to".
This feeling is only made stronger, when you look at how many actual dialog those two have with each other in the present. Flashbacks & Memorys don't count. Just look at what's actually said on page. :) The number doesn't look good. And since those two never really interacted, I didn't really feel like there was a real emotional connection or spark between them.
The worldbuiding was interesting - at least the part we actually got to see . The concept alone. A scifi setting WITH magic, a culture that resolved about that, wisdom as the greatest power of all. That sounds so cool!
The fact that the book ends the way it does just made this experience even more sad. Because this is not even a real cliff hanger. It's kinda like the book was cut of in the middle of somewhere. We could have alsmost have a plot, but than the books over and I'm left with nothing but this feeling of "wow". Not the good kind of wow though.
There was stuff in there I liked. It had a lot of potential, and if it had cut out a lo of stuff that did not need to be there and maybe fused the second and first book together, I would have walked out of this feeling happy.
But since that is not the case and I can only look at this the way it actually was written, I'll have to give 2 stars.
readingthroughinfinity's review
Trigger warnings for violence, murder, genocide, threats of sexual assault.
This was an intriguing first episode in the Light of the Broken Moon series, with action, romance, and surprising reunions. Full review to come for the blog tour.
This was an intriguing first episode in the Light of the Broken Moon series, with action, romance, and surprising reunions. Full review to come for the blog tour.
georginap92's review
4.0
Thank you to the author for a Gifted eBook. This is episode one of Bri Spicer’s “In The Light On The Broken Moon” debut science fiction novel, and it did not disappoint. This book was released on October 26th, 2020 and episode 2 is upcoming on December 28th, 2020, I cannot wait for episode two!
This episode outlines our key players and main characters; Demya & Aleksan who were meant to be Selena’s knights (first and second respectively) but never managed to have their ceremonies due to their home world being destroyed, and our librarian Selena who is gifted with incredibly powerful magic.
The book starts with an introduction into our main character Demya as she fights in underground circuits to be able to gain enough credits to help her and Selena afford to survive, until she receives a message from Aleksan - who was amongst the dead during the purge of their home world – he is alive and wants her and Selena to come and find him.
There is a lovely flashback that Demya shares of her and Aleksan and I found that very sweet and it then the book delves a little into the relationship between all three main characters, who were involved in a polyamorous relationship before their home world was destroyed, which is quite a unique read for me, most books I read are about couples so a “throuple” is a new interesting read, and I feel that there is a lot of development that can come in the future episodes
I really like the main character Demya, she is easily my favourite at the moment, as she is fiercely protective of her loved ones and will stop at no bound to look after them, including putting herself at risk, and working in the fight clubs to earn the credits which will help her and Selena, which is exactly what is expected of the librarian’s knight. I feel that her character development was the better of the three characters so far, and feel that there is more of a way to go with the other characters
The authors ability to create the setting and describe the different worlds is very good and I was able to envision everything as it was happening, the book had a good flow and I was able to read it in one sitting, the chapters were perfectly spaced for my personal liking and there was no abruptness making it easier to read. I found some similarities to the Shadowhunter’s in this with the way that magic is written into sigils and used that way
My only downside is that I feel the story was already given away in the synopsis, and there were no unexpected plot twists, hopefully I will be proven wrong with future releases. Plus, I want to get to know more about Selena and Aleksan, and the polyamorous relationship.
I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in science fiction, mixed with magic, mixed with Shadowhunter vibes.
⭐⭐⭐
This episode outlines our key players and main characters; Demya & Aleksan who were meant to be Selena’s knights (first and second respectively) but never managed to have their ceremonies due to their home world being destroyed, and our librarian Selena who is gifted with incredibly powerful magic.
The book starts with an introduction into our main character Demya as she fights in underground circuits to be able to gain enough credits to help her and Selena afford to survive, until she receives a message from Aleksan - who was amongst the dead during the purge of their home world – he is alive and wants her and Selena to come and find him.
There is a lovely flashback that Demya shares of her and Aleksan and I found that very sweet and it then the book delves a little into the relationship between all three main characters, who were involved in a polyamorous relationship before their home world was destroyed, which is quite a unique read for me, most books I read are about couples so a “throuple” is a new interesting read, and I feel that there is a lot of development that can come in the future episodes
I really like the main character Demya, she is easily my favourite at the moment, as she is fiercely protective of her loved ones and will stop at no bound to look after them, including putting herself at risk, and working in the fight clubs to earn the credits which will help her and Selena, which is exactly what is expected of the librarian’s knight. I feel that her character development was the better of the three characters so far, and feel that there is more of a way to go with the other characters
The authors ability to create the setting and describe the different worlds is very good and I was able to envision everything as it was happening, the book had a good flow and I was able to read it in one sitting, the chapters were perfectly spaced for my personal liking and there was no abruptness making it easier to read. I found some similarities to the Shadowhunter’s in this with the way that magic is written into sigils and used that way
My only downside is that I feel the story was already given away in the synopsis, and there were no unexpected plot twists, hopefully I will be proven wrong with future releases. Plus, I want to get to know more about Selena and Aleksan, and the polyamorous relationship.
I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in science fiction, mixed with magic, mixed with Shadowhunter vibes.
⭐⭐⭐
feministreadinglist's review
4.0
I enjoyed this novella, I think my favorite thing was the epic scale worldbuilding. I love when my scifi and fantasy get mixed. The grungy spaceport and the decaying castle are fantastic settings - overall very atmospheric and fun. I also really enjoyed the poly rep too, always excited to see that!
I thought it was maybe trying a bit hard to be edgy and some of internal monologue felt repetitive - maybe a case of a bit too much tell rather than show? Im still looking forward to reading the next in the series tho
I thought it was maybe trying a bit hard to be edgy and some of internal monologue felt repetitive - maybe a case of a bit too much tell rather than show? Im still looking forward to reading the next in the series tho
daja's review
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
biblioseph's review
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit
foreverinastory's review
4.0
Thank you to Pride Book Tours & the author for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
It's been seven years since Demya watched her home be destroyed. It's been years since she and her Librarian, Selena, have felt safe. They lost everything that day and have been on the run ever since. If caught, they would be killed for being a Librarian and Knight sworn to the Librarian's service. But when Demya receives a message from someone she long thought dead, she knows her and Selena must try to find and rescue Aleskan.
This was a great start to this serialized novel. From it we learn that the Caedes empire has gone out of it's way to destroy anything related to the Library and its keepers of knowledge. This episode was definitely more set up than action, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Demya was such a strong character, especially physically. I love that she's a Knight and all about protecting Selena. However, Demya is clearly suffering from past trauma and hasn't given herself the time to heal from it. Worse, she doesn't believe she deserves to heal. I'm hoping finding Aleskan and reuniting him with Selena will be the beginning steps for her to heal.
Selena is still a bit of an enigma to me, but she clearly cares for Demya and Aleskan. I really liked the bond between these three. I'm getting some poly-amorous vibes, but I could be wrong? However, it seemed like Librarians and their bonded Knights regularly have large families with multiple parental units. Selene even mentions having five parents at one point and I am so here for normalized polyamory.
I don't completely understand the magic system yet, but I was fascinated by all the sigils and what they could do with them. Can't wait to learn more about this serialized novel!
It's been seven years since Demya watched her home be destroyed. It's been years since she and her Librarian, Selena, have felt safe. They lost everything that day and have been on the run ever since. If caught, they would be killed for being a Librarian and Knight sworn to the Librarian's service. But when Demya receives a message from someone she long thought dead, she knows her and Selena must try to find and rescue Aleskan.
This was a great start to this serialized novel. From it we learn that the Caedes empire has gone out of it's way to destroy anything related to the Library and its keepers of knowledge. This episode was definitely more set up than action, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Demya was such a strong character, especially physically. I love that she's a Knight and all about protecting Selena. However, Demya is clearly suffering from past trauma and hasn't given herself the time to heal from it. Worse, she doesn't believe she deserves to heal. I'm hoping finding Aleskan and reuniting him with Selena will be the beginning steps for her to heal.
Selena is still a bit of an enigma to me, but she clearly cares for Demya and Aleskan. I really liked the bond between these three. I'm getting some poly-amorous vibes, but I could be wrong? However, it seemed like Librarians and their bonded Knights regularly have large families with multiple parental units. Selene even mentions having five parents at one point and I am so here for normalized polyamory.
I don't completely understand the magic system yet, but I was fascinated by all the sigils and what they could do with them. Can't wait to learn more about this serialized novel!
melaniereadsbooks's review
4.0
Thank you to Pride Book Tours and the author for an advanced copy of this book!
7 years have passed since Demya's homeworld was destroyed, and with it, her future dreams of becoming a knight to her beloved Librarian, Selena. With Librarians and the knights who served them hunted into extinction, Selena has no choice but to stay on the run with Selena, try to eek out an existence where they can, and mourn the loss of their beloved knight, Aleksan and the home and life they grew up in.
But when they get a message from Alek about an active Librarian holdout, after long thinking both Alek and all other Librarians are dead, Demya and Selena have no choice but to answer the call and travel to the Broken Moon that may hold all the answers they have been searching for.
I loved this first episode of this serialized novel. It was a lot of set up and not a ton of action yet, but I know it's building to something great.
I really love the polyamory and love between the Selena, Demya, and Alek, and I can't wait to see them all reunited and working together to heal from their trauma and time apart, and to figure out how to save the way of life they've dreamed of!
I'm very excited to read more!
7 years have passed since Demya's homeworld was destroyed, and with it, her future dreams of becoming a knight to her beloved Librarian, Selena. With Librarians and the knights who served them hunted into extinction, Selena has no choice but to stay on the run with Selena, try to eek out an existence where they can, and mourn the loss of their beloved knight, Aleksan and the home and life they grew up in.
But when they get a message from Alek about an active Librarian holdout, after long thinking both Alek and all other Librarians are dead, Demya and Selena have no choice but to answer the call and travel to the Broken Moon that may hold all the answers they have been searching for.
I loved this first episode of this serialized novel. It was a lot of set up and not a ton of action yet, but I know it's building to something great.
I really love the polyamory and love between the Selena, Demya, and Alek, and I can't wait to see them all reunited and working together to heal from their trauma and time apart, and to figure out how to save the way of life they've dreamed of!
I'm very excited to read more!
stillreadingat4am's review
5.0
I went into this book with no idea what's waiting for me and I absolutely loved it.
The genre is basically magic gays in space, make of that want you want ☺
The writing is very poetic and beautiful which made even descriptions of blood seem non-brutal. Many pages are invested into the backstory of the protagonists and it's totally worth it so their relationships seem real and intriguing. In many situations I sat on the edge of my seat and eventually binged through the entire book in one sitting.
A theme that's explored in here (and hopefully even more in the next three installments) is polygamy which I'm very excited about!
My favourite aspects about this great book were the amazing writing, the characters and the complex worldbuilding
The genre is basically magic gays in space, make of that want you want ☺
The writing is very poetic and beautiful which made even descriptions of blood seem non-brutal. Many pages are invested into the backstory of the protagonists and it's totally worth it so their relationships seem real and intriguing. In many situations I sat on the edge of my seat and eventually binged through the entire book in one sitting.
A theme that's explored in here (and hopefully even more in the next three installments) is polygamy which I'm very excited about!
My favourite aspects about this great book were the amazing writing, the characters and the complex worldbuilding