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3.25 AVERAGE
3.25 AVERAGE
Red Moon is good. Compelling and fun and thought-provoking (at a high school level). It’s true that Percy is, to understate the matter, verbose, and sometimes his lengthy descriptions are just this side of comical (see: “[the tree] has died and rotted from the inside out, its base hollowed like an empty eye socket that seems to follow him…”) The book is also (or perhaps consequently) unnecessarily long, and the second half is executed more clumsily than the first. But if one is willing to look past these deficiencies (and I was) what emerges is a pretty enjoyable read, like the love child of a supermarket paperwork and mid-tier literary fiction (weirdly, I mean this as a compliment).
[FULL REVIEW]
[FULL REVIEW]
had to read a decent werewolf book to get the bad taste of Anne Rice's new series out of my brains.
The premise sounded good
But I kept falling asleep trying to read this book.
There were a few spots where it got pretty exciting and I thought that finally we got to the good part where a story picks up. Alas, it didn't last. The book was like 90% tell us what is happening and 10% showing us.
The premise is good, but cut the book down by about half and rewrite it with active voice, and it could be a good book. As it currently stands, read it when you can't fall asleep. This'll help.
But I kept falling asleep trying to read this book.
There were a few spots where it got pretty exciting and I thought that finally we got to the good part where a story picks up. Alas, it didn't last. The book was like 90% tell us what is happening and 10% showing us.
The premise is good, but cut the book down by about half and rewrite it with active voice, and it could be a good book. As it currently stands, read it when you can't fall asleep. This'll help.
I liked this book but i had some serious problems with it as well.
I really hated that all the 'big' moments are just glossed over and time jumped and you have to guess about exactly what has happened.
I also hate that essentially you don't really find out what has happened with a lot of the characters. After reading 530 pages i really wanted more from the ending in terms of the individual characters. Having said that, i did like the way the book ended in the epilogue.
Overall, i enjoyed this book but think it could have been improved.
I really hated that all the 'big' moments are just glossed over and time jumped and you have to guess about exactly what has happened.
I also hate that essentially you don't really find out what has happened with a lot of the characters. After reading 530 pages i really wanted more from the ending in terms of the individual characters. Having said that, i did like the way the book ended in the epilogue.
Overall, i enjoyed this book but think it could have been improved.
This was pretty dark and gory but I enjoyed it. I think it’s a very timely book- the themes of war, politics, eugenics, science, immigration and racism are heavy. It felt stunted to me at times, not a lot of smooth connection between the passages of time in the book, but each of their characters and their journeys intertwined to make a complete story about identity and what it means. I liked the way the author handled the subject of lycans. It’s been done so many different times but I think seeing it in this context related to the current state of the world, and it was so interesting reading lycanthropy as a disease passed on through blood or sexual intercourse. The author took the time to explain a lot of the science behind it which could drag but also helped put things into context. A long read but it’s written well. I could root for several of the main characters and the villains were the worst kind. There was plenty of action, and like I said it was written well, but it also didn’t inspire too much emotion in me and I wasn’t overly invested in anything besides a couple of the character’s arcs.
Years ago, Trevor Moore released a song* about an alternative universe with kittens playing a major role in history and things are woke. It's a banger.
Benjamin Percy did that with werewolves, is far more serious, and is also a banger.
* https://youtu.be/0-Lvv1f5Qu4?si=3CpCMQbUCBmzdOLp
Benjamin Percy did that with werewolves, is far more serious, and is also a banger.
* https://youtu.be/0-Lvv1f5Qu4?si=3CpCMQbUCBmzdOLp
Terrorist werewolves and those who just want to be left alone. An interesting conceit, and some characters who stuck with me. But ultimately not enough payoff for suffering through the violence.
There was a lot to love in this book. I love that Percy turned the werewolf trope on its head by giving it a science fiction spin. It read more like a zombie story than your typical werewolf fantasy. I love that there was not just one but two strong female characters who repeatedly rescue themselves instead of waiting around for a man to do it. And I absolutely love the ending - a brilliant twist that I never saw coming but didn't feel like "cheating" either.
For every aspect that I loved, however, there was something that rubbed me the wrong way. Most of the time, I enjoyed the quick pacing of the narrative, though it really slowed down in Part II. (Another reviewer suggested that it would have been better as either a trilogy or one much shorter book, and I think it's a splendid idea.)
I also grew very annoyed by the prose, which is wonderfully descriptive and rich and precise until he recycles the same exact language and imagery over and over again. (Everything apparently looks like a bruise - my personal pet peeve, so forgive me if I'm being too harsh - or a wraith.) It was really unfortunate because the quality of the writing is so good when it isn't trying too hard. I don't blame Percy for this one though. As a writer, you are far too close to the story to be able to catch each of the two dozen times you use the word "bruise," but that's what editors are for. At the risk of reaching rant-length, I have to give another example because the first time he described a student "turtling" under a backpack, I was gobsmacked with the brilliance of it. (Of course, that's exactly the right metaphor!) But then, 200 or 300 pages later, someone else is turtling under the weight of a hiking pack, and I'm like, hey, you can't do that. It was too memorable to be reused, especially in the same book. But I digress...
Call me a prude, but the intersection of sex and violence made me deeply uncomfortable. I know it's an unpopular position given how well these types of movies and TV shows do, but it sicks me out to be reading a gory massacre one minute and then about some dude's erection the next. I can imagine that this was intentional - humans reduced to their base instincts, and it is horror after all so discomfort comes with the territory - but it couldn't help feel gratuitous at times.
Despite my gripes, however, I really did enjoy Red Moon. It's an allegory of xenophobia in post-9/11 America, and that aspect of the novel is handled with the gravity it deserves - taken seriously without being too heavy-handed. The question of who is right and good versus who is wrong and bad is given the complexity it deserves, though the presidential election was eerily prescient.
For every aspect that I loved, however, there was something that rubbed me the wrong way. Most of the time, I enjoyed the quick pacing of the narrative, though it really slowed down in Part II. (Another reviewer suggested that it would have been better as either a trilogy or one much shorter book, and I think it's a splendid idea.)
I also grew very annoyed by the prose, which is wonderfully descriptive and rich and precise until he recycles the same exact language and imagery over and over again. (Everything apparently looks like a bruise - my personal pet peeve, so forgive me if I'm being too harsh - or a wraith.) It was really unfortunate because the quality of the writing is so good when it isn't trying too hard. I don't blame Percy for this one though. As a writer, you are far too close to the story to be able to catch each of the two dozen times you use the word "bruise," but that's what editors are for. At the risk of reaching rant-length, I have to give another example because the first time he described a student "turtling" under a backpack, I was gobsmacked with the brilliance of it. (Of course, that's exactly the right metaphor!) But then, 200 or 300 pages later, someone else is turtling under the weight of a hiking pack, and I'm like, hey, you can't do that. It was too memorable to be reused, especially in the same book. But I digress...
Call me a prude, but the intersection of sex and violence made me deeply uncomfortable. I know it's an unpopular position given how well these types of movies and TV shows do, but it sicks me out to be reading a gory massacre one minute and then about some dude's erection the next. I can imagine that this was intentional - humans reduced to their base instincts, and it is horror after all so discomfort comes with the territory - but it couldn't help feel gratuitous at times.
Despite my gripes, however, I really did enjoy Red Moon. It's an allegory of xenophobia in post-9/11 America, and that aspect of the novel is handled with the gravity it deserves - taken seriously without being too heavy-handed. The question of who is right and good versus who is wrong and bad is given the complexity it deserves, though the presidential election was eerily prescient.
I really enjoyed this book. I found the writing style interesting, liked the characters, and enjoyed finding out how the story would unfold.
I hope there will be a part 2....
I hope there will be a part 2....
A long but wonderful read. Frightening look at our world and the fine line between the bad guys and good guys. End was a little vague but the whole was worth the 400+ pages.