Scan barcode
mmarzullo's reviews
156 reviews
Moon Deeds by Palmer Pickering
3.0
I'm giving this book overall 3.5 stars.
Positives-
I loved the world building. Pickering does an incredible job of really immersing you in this fantasy-dystopian-wizardesque landscape with a combination of vivid illustrations and scientific rationale all while incorporating the other-worldly backdrop. The juxtaposition of life on earth vs the moon was really well done. And also made me never want to live on the moon.
Torr & Cassidy. Love both of these characters and it's been a while since I've read any novel that centers around the core relationship between a brother and sister. I'm excited to explore their bond more in the second book (fingers crossed)
Found family- I had fun finally finding Jasper and creating a family with Berkeley, Hawk, Durham, Roanoke, etc.
Less positives-
I love a long book. Honestly, the longer the better because then I don't need to suffer the withdrawal when it's over. But this book was long only for descriptive and world-building purposes and less so for any plot advancement. Like I said, I LOVED the world building. But I would have really liked to have some more action sequences (or even one). Some other reviewers have said they thought it took too long for Torr to find Cassidy and his family but honestly that was the most exciting part for me and I flew through the first half. Hoping for more character-driven scenes and some action.
Side characters/dialogue. I mentioned earlier that I loved the found family aspect. But that being said, the side characters fell really flat for me. Berkeley was really interesting and I'm excited to find out more about him. But aside from him, even Jasper was kind of vanilla and the conversations between all of them just felt very cookie cutter and uninteresting.
The role of women. I hope she's going somewhere with this. Because women are just treated like shit. Objects by both humans and cephs for breeding and r*pe. I get it... women are a rare commodity on the moon. But give them some credit. I have yet to see a strong woman character. Not even Cassidy (yet... hopefully this changes). Gabira was the only maybe threatening female but she is portrayed as a villain. Maybe other planets with have a different view towards women and we'll get to see how different it is for them to be treated with dignity and respect. Hopefully. Even on earth there are arranged marriages, etc. Jasper says he didn't want to "sully" Cassidy by sleeping with her. Which I get... she was 15, he was 20 and he was living at her parents' house. But those are better reasons for distancing himself rather than worried about her "honor." Like come on.
Anyways overall I did enjoy this book. I think this was a great entry point into the world Puckering is creating and am excited for the next one.
Positives-
I loved the world building. Pickering does an incredible job of really immersing you in this fantasy-dystopian-wizardesque landscape with a combination of vivid illustrations and scientific rationale all while incorporating the other-worldly backdrop. The juxtaposition of life on earth vs the moon was really well done. And also made me never want to live on the moon.
Torr & Cassidy. Love both of these characters and it's been a while since I've read any novel that centers around the core relationship between a brother and sister. I'm excited to explore their bond more in the second book (fingers crossed)
Found family- I had fun finally finding Jasper and creating a family with Berkeley, Hawk, Durham, Roanoke, etc.
Less positives-
I love a long book. Honestly, the longer the better because then I don't need to suffer the withdrawal when it's over. But this book was long only for descriptive and world-building purposes and less so for any plot advancement. Like I said, I LOVED the world building. But I would have really liked to have some more action sequences (or even one). Some other reviewers have said they thought it took too long for Torr to find Cassidy and his family but honestly that was the most exciting part for me and I flew through the first half. Hoping for more character-driven scenes and some action.
Side characters/dialogue. I mentioned earlier that I loved the found family aspect. But that being said, the side characters fell really flat for me. Berkeley was really interesting and I'm excited to find out more about him. But aside from him, even Jasper was kind of vanilla and the conversations between all of them just felt very cookie cutter and uninteresting.
The role of women. I hope she's going somewhere with this. Because women are just treated like shit. Objects by both humans and cephs for breeding and r*pe. I get it... women are a rare commodity on the moon. But give them some credit. I have yet to see a strong woman character. Not even Cassidy (yet... hopefully this changes). Gabira was the only maybe threatening female but she is portrayed as a villain. Maybe other planets with have a different view towards women and we'll get to see how different it is for them to be treated with dignity and respect. Hopefully. Even on earth there are arranged marriages, etc. Jasper says he didn't want to "sully" Cassidy by sleeping with her. Which I get... she was 15, he was 20 and he was living at her parents' house. But those are better reasons for distancing himself rather than worried about her "honor." Like come on.
Anyways overall I did enjoy this book. I think this was a great entry point into the world Puckering is creating and am excited for the next one.