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A review by stefaniebrooktrout
Red Moon by Benjamin Percy
4.0
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.