A review by lindsaygp_reads
When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I am a big fan of big beautiful poetic/lyrical language, so there was a lot in the writing that I was a huge fan of. The first quarter of the book feels VERY different from the rest of the story, where the beginning feels a lot more like a fantasy forward book with political intrigue and secrets, but as soon as Raeve leaves the city it pretty quickly switches over to a romance centered romantasy book, and while I loved the romance in this book the switch did feel a bit abrupt.

The relationship between Raeve and Kaan is delightful and toe curling— I love how he crawls for her but also pushes her, refuses to let her waste herself away and continue forgetting who she is, who they are to each other. Their intimate scenes together are steamy and playful that lean into need.

I loved Veya, she reminds me a lot of Jenny from Outlander and I really enjoyed her scenes. Her relationship with Kaan feels very relatable and real. The pain she carries from their father is crushing. The little time that she does spend with Raeve felt important and tender (like putting a bandaid on a fresh paper cut) and I really wish there was more!

I think that what keeps me from giving this a full 5 stars is that I wish we had the opportunity to understand Raeve better, earlier. **MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**
I also really fucking hate getting a character who very vocally does not want children and then getting a surprise pregnancy or a forgotten child. As a child free person, I find it beyond annoying and borderline insulting. The only way I am justifying this in my head is that Raeve did not want children but Elowyn did, and based on the epilogue, she is perhaps more Other than she realizes. Also, it’s unclear to me if Kaan knew that she was pregnant when she left, so perhaps it is a surprise to them both, which I will have to sit with a while to know how I really feel about it. 

The next book needs to be here immediately because I have so many questions about what is happening with Raeve and Elowyn, and if this Other is just another part of them both or something bigger. 

The ending was both satisfying if a little jarring in terms of where we are in time and how Raeve/Other is getting around like this, and the political implications of torturing and killing Kaan’s bastard of a brother. Because in the chapter right before it’s all talk about keeping him alive and why she can’t tear out his throat, but then there she is immediately after.


My hopes for the next book are more consistency with the blend of fantasy and romance, but even still this book is probably my favorite of the year.
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