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selenajournal's review against another edition
3.0
Garth Stein is known for the popular book The Art of Racing in the Rain, which at one point last year, was even being sold at Starbucks. Though I thought the dog was adorable and the minimalist cover appealing, I avoid books with animals as a major theme (the endings almost always end up being sad).
Raven Stole the Moon is a complete departure from the premise of The Art of Racing in the Rain. The story begins in Seattle with a troubled couple, Jenna and her husband, getting ready to go to a party. All the while, Jenna spends her time thinking about how one can drown himself. Wouldn’t your body fight it? Wouldn’t you float upward? Slowly, we learn that she and her husband lost their son Bobby in Alaska – that he disappeared and was thought to have drowned.
At first, the story reminded me very much of Glen Duncan’s Death of an Ordinary Man. Jenna’s reaction to her son’s death and her marriage very much followed what Duncan portrayed in his novel. Their marriage had mostly deteriorated and each found their own way of coping with it – without relying on each other. Despite the harsh topic, Stein impressed with his very likeable characters. Though I was reminded of Death of an Ordinary Man, it is important to note that Stein’s characters are more real, more raw than Duncan’s. Something about Jenna makes me feel like I would be her friend were she a real person. In very subtle ways, through gestures and phrases, the characters become people we would be glad to know in real life.
What brought the story to life for me was the strong focus on Alaska and Tlingit culture. After the party, we see Jenna pick up and leave to Alaska on a whim – to go to the place where she lost her son (and coincidentally, where her Tlingit grandmother lived). The information we learn through Jenna’s case about the Tlingit society and their mythology and folklore alone makes the novel worth reading.
Stein’s ability to seamlessly weave this historical content into Jenna’s story was downright impressive. It never felt like he was reaching or forcing the story through. As someone particularly uneducated about Native American tribes of the United States, it felt like I took in valuable information (and accurate information).
Knowing that the author had ties to the Tlingit culture, being 50% Tlingit himself through his grandmother only made me appreciate this aspect of the book even more. It is apparent that the story within Raven Stole the Moon means a lot to Stein.
Raven Stole the Moon is a complete departure from the premise of The Art of Racing in the Rain. The story begins in Seattle with a troubled couple, Jenna and her husband, getting ready to go to a party. All the while, Jenna spends her time thinking about how one can drown himself. Wouldn’t your body fight it? Wouldn’t you float upward? Slowly, we learn that she and her husband lost their son Bobby in Alaska – that he disappeared and was thought to have drowned.
At first, the story reminded me very much of Glen Duncan’s Death of an Ordinary Man. Jenna’s reaction to her son’s death and her marriage very much followed what Duncan portrayed in his novel. Their marriage had mostly deteriorated and each found their own way of coping with it – without relying on each other. Despite the harsh topic, Stein impressed with his very likeable characters. Though I was reminded of Death of an Ordinary Man, it is important to note that Stein’s characters are more real, more raw than Duncan’s. Something about Jenna makes me feel like I would be her friend were she a real person. In very subtle ways, through gestures and phrases, the characters become people we would be glad to know in real life.
What brought the story to life for me was the strong focus on Alaska and Tlingit culture. After the party, we see Jenna pick up and leave to Alaska on a whim – to go to the place where she lost her son (and coincidentally, where her Tlingit grandmother lived). The information we learn through Jenna’s case about the Tlingit society and their mythology and folklore alone makes the novel worth reading.
Stein’s ability to seamlessly weave this historical content into Jenna’s story was downright impressive. It never felt like he was reaching or forcing the story through. As someone particularly uneducated about Native American tribes of the United States, it felt like I took in valuable information (and accurate information).
Knowing that the author had ties to the Tlingit culture, being 50% Tlingit himself through his grandmother only made me appreciate this aspect of the book even more. It is apparent that the story within Raven Stole the Moon means a lot to Stein.
grandmabethany's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
aligato's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book. It was a page-turner, fun to read because it involved 1990's Seattle and because it gave me chills, and because it was "unconventional" in its treatment of Pacific Northwest Tlingit mythology.
sfahrney's review against another edition
3.0
Starts slow but picks up. Story of wife/mother finding herself through going back to her Tlingit ancestry. Set in Alaska with interesting cultural elements.
shannanigans92's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Grief, and Infidelity
nicollemk's review
3.0
There seemed to be a lot going on with this story, but it intrigued me enough to keep reading because I did want to find out what would happen next.
It was interesting to see the story was intervoven with the Tlingit beliefs as understood by the author.
It was interesting to see the story was intervoven with the Tlingit beliefs as understood by the author.
thikrayat's review
5.0
I loved this book, even though it gave me nightmares the second day after I finished it, I kept dreaming of these otters replacing my family members, I wrote a full review on it in my blog: http://thatsmemories.blogspot.com/2014/08/book-review-raven-stole-moon-by-garth.html
awesome514's review against another edition
3.0
If this book was a movie, it would be filmed in hues of blue. It was really hard to get through because of the bleakness of the tone. The writing was filled with rich language and the main character was well-developed, but I felt depressed the whole way through. Also, several of the minor characters like Eddie and Joey seemed misplaced in this story. 2.5 stars? 3 stars? I'm not sure how I feel about it.
punipoli's review against another edition
2.0
me gusto tanto "el arte de conducir bajo la lluvia" que me esperaba algo parecido, sin embargo este libro parece escrito por alguien totalmente diferente, no esta escrito poeticamente, asusta un poco, y la verdad aunque estuvo interesante toda la parte sobre los nativos americanos, el folklore, que era algo de lo que nunca habia leido, el libro no me engancho,para mi estuvo bien pero solo eso..
desiree930's review against another edition
1.0
DNF at 50%
I have so many issues with this book. I went as long as I could but I got to the point where I wasn’t even having any fun hate-reading it anymore.
As someone who grew up in Southeast Alaska (on the same island this resort is supposedly located) I find it difficult to believe that this author had even been to Alaska at the time this book was written. He has absolutely no sense of the space and distance of these towns he’s referring to. He says that the resort is near Klawock. Btw, I grew up in a town 7 miles from Klawock, Alaska. Then he also says, over and over again, that the resort is close to Wrangell, AK. This makes no sense. Prince of Wales Island is the third largest island in the United States. Klawock is on the western coast of the island. Wrangell Island, where Wrangell is located, is to the east of prince of Wales island. It just can’t be close to both. Especially when you consider that when this book was written, most of the roads around Prince of Wales were logging roads, especially in the Northern part of the island, which would be the closest to Wrangell Island. It would take a fair chunk of time to get there from Klawock. It may seem very nitpicky to some, but as someone who literally grew up there, it seemed very obvious that he didn’t have a lot of first-hand knowledge of the geography.
Also, there were several instances of stereotyping in this book with reference to the Tlingit people. It’s really a shame, especially since the author himself touts his ‘verified blood quantum’, seemingly as an excuse to make stuff up. First, there is a character who is a shaman, and is brought in to cleanse the resort of spirits. I’ve never once met a Tlingit shaman in my life.
In doing a little research, I learned that while shamanism was a prevalent part of Tlingit religious history, it is just that: history. When Christian missionaries converted the Tlingit to Christianity in the late nineteenth century, shamanism dwindled until it pretty much disappeared by the 1930s. I got my information from a Duke University article titled: Shamanism and Christianity: modern-day Tlingit elders look to the past.
Now I’m not saying that an author isn’t allowed to take a little bit of artistic license, but in this case I feel like people reading this who know nothing of the Tlingit culture may end up with an inaccurate impression of it.
Some other stereotypes include:
-Every native character described in this book (as far as I read) was described as having waist-length, straight black hair.
-Most natives are described as having leathery faces.
-Everyone is obsessed with the Kushtaka. I, along with most of the Southeast AK population, know the story of the Kushtaka. I had friends whose parents used it in almost the same way the boogeyman is used for the rest of us- as a cautionary tale to get children to behave. But it wasn’t something that was talked about ad nauseum. I get that this is supposed to be kind of a horror book with the Kushtaka as its villain, but the number of conversations revolving around this creature became boring and repetitive.
Now that I’ve got my technical gripes out of the way, the story itself just isn’t good. Jenna is the worst. This is not a real woman. This is the author’s fantasy of a woman. When we first meet her she’s dancing around her husband naked trying to seduce him while they are supposed to be getting ready for a party. Later, after she runs off with her husband’s vehicle and is pulled over for speeding, she gets turned on by the cop...who pulled a freaking gun on her when she tried to step out of the vehicle instead of rolling the window down and staying put like any normal person. She actually tries to flirt with him while thinking that all women love a man in uniform and ‘good porn movies start out this way.’
...HE HAD A GUN PULLED ON HER AND ALL SHE CAN THINK ABOUT IS HOW FUN IT WOULD BE TO HAVE SEX WITH A COP.
Later she gets all twitterpated for Eddie after knowing him for about five minutes. Seriously, less than half a day and she’s talking about how she knows they both want it and blah, blah, blah. Then she tries to make her husband feel bad to justify her cheating behavior. I hated this main character. So, so much. I was rooting for the Kushtaka.
Even though I could go on and on about the things I hated about this book, I’m just going to talk about one more thing, and that is how this book was marketed. Now, I don’t know about the original version. I’m only talking about the reprint that was done a few years back. From the cover and the synopsis, this is presented as a literary fiction/ chick lit type of book. I was very surprised to learn that it is turned into basically a fantasy-horror novel. I didn’t like that. Now that has more to do with the publishers than the author, but still. It added to my dislike.
If you want to read a great book about Alaska, pick up The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. Also The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie Sue Hitchcock. And if you’re truly interested in Tlingit culture and storytelling, I suggest you pick up a mythology book or a non-fiction title. They will be a hell of a lot more accurate than this mess.
I have so many issues with this book. I went as long as I could but I got to the point where I wasn’t even having any fun hate-reading it anymore.
As someone who grew up in Southeast Alaska (on the same island this resort is supposedly located) I find it difficult to believe that this author had even been to Alaska at the time this book was written. He has absolutely no sense of the space and distance of these towns he’s referring to. He says that the resort is near Klawock. Btw, I grew up in a town 7 miles from Klawock, Alaska. Then he also says, over and over again, that the resort is close to Wrangell, AK. This makes no sense. Prince of Wales Island is the third largest island in the United States. Klawock is on the western coast of the island. Wrangell Island, where Wrangell is located, is to the east of prince of Wales island. It just can’t be close to both. Especially when you consider that when this book was written, most of the roads around Prince of Wales were logging roads, especially in the Northern part of the island, which would be the closest to Wrangell Island. It would take a fair chunk of time to get there from Klawock. It may seem very nitpicky to some, but as someone who literally grew up there, it seemed very obvious that he didn’t have a lot of first-hand knowledge of the geography.
Also, there were several instances of stereotyping in this book with reference to the Tlingit people. It’s really a shame, especially since the author himself touts his ‘verified blood quantum’, seemingly as an excuse to make stuff up. First, there is a character who is a shaman, and is brought in to cleanse the resort of spirits. I’ve never once met a Tlingit shaman in my life.
In doing a little research, I learned that while shamanism was a prevalent part of Tlingit religious history, it is just that: history. When Christian missionaries converted the Tlingit to Christianity in the late nineteenth century, shamanism dwindled until it pretty much disappeared by the 1930s. I got my information from a Duke University article titled: Shamanism and Christianity: modern-day Tlingit elders look to the past.
Now I’m not saying that an author isn’t allowed to take a little bit of artistic license, but in this case I feel like people reading this who know nothing of the Tlingit culture may end up with an inaccurate impression of it.
Some other stereotypes include:
-Every native character described in this book (as far as I read) was described as having waist-length, straight black hair.
-Most natives are described as having leathery faces.
-Everyone is obsessed with the Kushtaka. I, along with most of the Southeast AK population, know the story of the Kushtaka. I had friends whose parents used it in almost the same way the boogeyman is used for the rest of us- as a cautionary tale to get children to behave. But it wasn’t something that was talked about ad nauseum. I get that this is supposed to be kind of a horror book with the Kushtaka as its villain, but the number of conversations revolving around this creature became boring and repetitive.
Now that I’ve got my technical gripes out of the way, the story itself just isn’t good. Jenna is the worst. This is not a real woman. This is the author’s fantasy of a woman. When we first meet her she’s dancing around her husband naked trying to seduce him while they are supposed to be getting ready for a party. Later, after she runs off with her husband’s vehicle and is pulled over for speeding, she gets turned on by the cop...who pulled a freaking gun on her when she tried to step out of the vehicle instead of rolling the window down and staying put like any normal person. She actually tries to flirt with him while thinking that all women love a man in uniform and ‘good porn movies start out this way.’
...HE HAD A GUN PULLED ON HER AND ALL SHE CAN THINK ABOUT IS HOW FUN IT WOULD BE TO HAVE SEX WITH A COP.
Later she gets all twitterpated for Eddie after knowing him for about five minutes. Seriously, less than half a day and she’s talking about how she knows they both want it and blah, blah, blah. Then she tries to make her husband feel bad to justify her cheating behavior. I hated this main character. So, so much. I was rooting for the Kushtaka.
Even though I could go on and on about the things I hated about this book, I’m just going to talk about one more thing, and that is how this book was marketed. Now, I don’t know about the original version. I’m only talking about the reprint that was done a few years back. From the cover and the synopsis, this is presented as a literary fiction/ chick lit type of book. I was very surprised to learn that it is turned into basically a fantasy-horror novel. I didn’t like that. Now that has more to do with the publishers than the author, but still. It added to my dislike.
If you want to read a great book about Alaska, pick up The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. Also The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie Sue Hitchcock. And if you’re truly interested in Tlingit culture and storytelling, I suggest you pick up a mythology book or a non-fiction title. They will be a hell of a lot more accurate than this mess.