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krobart's review against another edition
4.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2022/06/20/review-1876-the-moon-spinners/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2022/06/20/review-1876-the-moon-spinners/
nolegirl's review against another edition
3.0
Not the best romance/suspense book I've ever read, but not horrid either. The whole story takes place in a couple of days in Crete. It was written in 1962 and has been re-released, so the language usage sometimes takes a bit to figure out.
spotsoftime's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this! A light read, set in Crete and written in the 1960s. Enid Blyton for adults with marauding villains wandering up and down hillsides mumbling threats, octopus and wine replacing hams and lashings of ginger beer, and a plucky heroine who rescues the hero!
jupiter2932's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
So, this is not a bad book. I had a decent time when I was reading it, I didn't set it aside multiple times because I was bored, and there were a couple of scenes that had me genuinely intrigued. It's probably the weakest Mary Stewart book I've read, though, and definitely the most forgettable.
The story revolves around Nicola Ferris, a young woman who works at the British Consulate in Greece. She's meeting up with an older cousin for some time off in a somewhat remote village on the coast; she ends up heading there a day early, and on her trip there ends up getting plunked squarely in the middle of an Adventure involving murder, kidnapping, and a handsome young British man named Mark Langley.
Look, overall this book is fine. It's okay. It's nothing to write home about, but it's not terrible. There's some 'of its time' sexism and xenophobia/racism (the latter sort of lampshaded by the Greek villagers' opinions of Muslim people). I found it interesting that, unlike a lot of other 'exotic adventure' novels, the heroine isn't completely on her own; in this one, she does end up getting advice and companionship for large chunks from her older, maternal cousin.
While she does tend to go into occasional interior monologues about how it's *good* that the strong, handsome man is bossing her around and telling her what to do, the main character is perfectly serviceable as an adventure heroine, and her love interest is okay. They have some nice banter now and then, and her attraction to him is plausible (he's hot, she's on an adventure) and written well (really, he's hot. She finds him really, really hot). Like in the other novels by Stewart I've read, the landscape is almost its own character. Stewart writes some really nice descriptions of the remote coastal area (and it helps that the maternal cousin is a hobbyist botanist of a sort), and the setting really comes alive. The thing that just doesn't work as well here is the actual adventure, unfortunately.
There are some pretty good suspenseful scenes; there are a couple where people are hiding from other people where the tension is palpable (which is a fun trick, because you're literally just reading about someone hiding behind a shrub but it's got you flipping pages as fast as you can), and one scene in the village after dark that was pretty good.But the entire mystery isn't very mysterious; you find out pretty early on who the bad guys are, and they're just not terribly interesting. The reasons behind why they're doing the things they're doing are also kind of boring and sort of an afterthought; and a lot of the novel is people tromping around the Greek countryside looking for a missing person and making plans on when they can next surreptitiously look for this missing person (the Greek countryside comes off really well, though. Seriously, this book bumped it up my 'places to visit' list a couple of notches).
And the denouement of the whole thing was sort of just aggressively fine. It's fine! There's some action, some danger, some moxie from the heroine and some big heroism from the hot love interest (who looks really hot while doing it). It's. Fine! I'm probably going to forget about this book until I scroll through my 'read' list at the end of the year, but it's fine.
The story revolves around Nicola Ferris, a young woman who works at the British Consulate in Greece. She's meeting up with an older cousin for some time off in a somewhat remote village on the coast; she ends up heading there a day early, and on her trip there ends up getting plunked squarely in the middle of an Adventure involving murder, kidnapping, and a handsome young British man named Mark Langley.
Look, overall this book is fine. It's okay. It's nothing to write home about, but it's not terrible. There's some 'of its time' sexism and xenophobia/racism (the latter sort of lampshaded by the Greek villagers' opinions of Muslim people). I found it interesting that, unlike a lot of other 'exotic adventure' novels, the heroine isn't completely on her own; in this one, she does end up getting advice and companionship for large chunks from her older, maternal cousin.
While she does tend to go into occasional interior monologues about how it's *good* that the strong, handsome man is bossing her around and telling her what to do, the main character is perfectly serviceable as an adventure heroine, and her love interest is okay. They have some nice banter now and then, and her attraction to him is plausible (he's hot, she's on an adventure) and written well (really, he's hot. She finds him really, really hot). Like in the other novels by Stewart I've read, the landscape is almost its own character. Stewart writes some really nice descriptions of the remote coastal area (and it helps that the maternal cousin is a hobbyist botanist of a sort), and the setting really comes alive. The thing that just doesn't work as well here is the actual adventure, unfortunately.
There are some pretty good suspenseful scenes; there are a couple where people are hiding from other people where the tension is palpable (which is a fun trick, because you're literally just reading about someone hiding behind a shrub but it's got you flipping pages as fast as you can), and one scene in the village after dark that was pretty good.But the entire mystery isn't very mysterious; you find out pretty early on who the bad guys are, and they're just not terribly interesting. The reasons behind why they're doing the things they're doing are also kind of boring and sort of an afterthought; and a lot of the novel is people tromping around the Greek countryside looking for a missing person and making plans on when they can next surreptitiously look for this missing person (the Greek countryside comes off really well, though. Seriously, this book bumped it up my 'places to visit' list a couple of notches).
And the denouement of the whole thing was sort of just aggressively fine. It's fine! There's some action, some danger, some moxie from the heroine and some big heroism from the hot love interest (who looks really hot while doing it). It's. Fine! I'm probably going to forget about this book until I scroll through my 'read' list at the end of the year, but it's fine.
almondson's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-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? It's complicated
4.0
dozylocal's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I ran out of reading material while on holiday so dragged this one out of a dusty old box. It's well written (language) and fairly entertaining, but I struggled with some of the decisions the main character made. They just seemed overly brave/stupid to me. Also I thought a great plot twist would have been if it turned out she was actually helping out the baddies, because she seemed to take the story she was told at face-value even after being held at knife point once she realised that the injured party was British and quite good looking....
The descriptions of the area (Crete) are rather nice and the story stirred some nostalgic Nancy Drew and "Island of Adventure" type memories.
I ran out of reading material while on holiday so dragged this one out of a dusty old box. It's well written (language) and fairly entertaining, but I struggled with some of the decisions the main character made. They just seemed overly brave/stupid to me. Also I thought a great plot twist would have been if it turned out she was actually helping out the baddies, because she seemed to take the story she was told at face-value even after being held at knife point once she realised that the injured party was British and quite good looking....
The descriptions of the area (Crete) are rather nice and the story stirred some nostalgic Nancy Drew and "Island of Adventure" type memories.
caitlin_89's review against another edition
4.0
This is a zippy, suspenseful, fun and beautifully descriptive travel mystery/romance. I had no idea what I was in for when I started it - not this twisty-turny fast-paced and action-packed whirlwind, that's for sure. But I loved it. A little cheesy in spots, but it was all part of the fun! Couldn't put it down.
bookgirl4ever's review against another edition
3.0
Nicola is on holiday in Greece. She is headed to a small out of the way village not yet on the tourist radar to meet her cousin when she stumbles across two men in a shepherd's hut, one with a gunshot wound. They warn her to not get involved but Nicola is too concerned about their survival and the justice of the situation that she fully immerses herself in the situation, putting her very own life at risk.
Adult.
Adult.
allycat96's review against another edition
4.0
While the descriptions of the scenery were a little dry, the story was fun! I enjoyed the movie as a kid and now I was able to enjoy the book as an adult.