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A review by wordsofclover
Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter by Lizzie Pook
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
It's 1896, and Eliza Brightwater finds herself alone in Bannin Bay, Australia, when her father disappears at sea and her brother can't handle the unanswered questions. But Eliza is sure that her father is still alive and waiting for her to find him so she sets out to uncover the mystery of what happened and bring him back before it's too late.
This book was fine. I don't think I've read that much historical fiction set in Australia so it was a nice change and a different setting, and I did appreciate the fact that the author didn't hide away from and often highlighted the cruel treatment of Australian's First Nations people - and how bad the white settlers were towards these people from slavery, casual racism and mistreatment of women and children.
I think the disappearance of Eliza's father was a little weak overall and I think it lacked an excitement and an energy to make the book fun to read - it was a bit bland and it felt like some of the bigger obstacles Eliza faced sizzled out quickly.
I did like where Eliza ended up, there was a little bit of girl power feminism going on and the naturalist angle was nice. I had an ARC copy of this so I'm not sure if the finished copy had any illustrations of Eliza's animals and sea creatures but that would be a fun element to the book.
This book was fine. I don't think I've read that much historical fiction set in Australia so it was a nice change and a different setting, and I did appreciate the fact that the author didn't hide away from and often highlighted the cruel treatment of Australian's First Nations people - and how bad the white settlers were towards these people from slavery, casual racism and mistreatment of women and children.
I think the disappearance of Eliza's father was a little weak overall and I think it lacked an excitement and an energy to make the book fun to read - it was a bit bland and it felt like some of the bigger obstacles Eliza faced sizzled out quickly.
I did like where Eliza ended up, there was a little bit of girl power feminism going on and the naturalist angle was nice. I had an ARC copy of this so I'm not sure if the finished copy had any illustrations of Eliza's animals and sea creatures but that would be a fun element to the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual harassment