Book: Raven Stole the Moon by Garth SteinGenre: Literary Fiction
Rating: B+
For: review request
From: the author/publisher
This is the story of Jenna, and her husband, trying to deal with the drowning of their son two years before the book begins. They've been struggling for those two years, and when the book start, Jenna reaches a breaking point and ends up running away to Alaska where the drowning took place. There, she learns about an Indian legend that makes her think she can figure out just what happened to her son, and hopefully put the whole experience to rest.
There were parts of this book I liked a lot, and parts I didn't like so much. I really liked the Indian legends, the creepiness and the mystery. Many, many times I found myself holding my breath and/or clutching quite hard to the book. Lovely edge-of-your seat stuff.
I didn't like some of the character choices. It always bothers me when people choose to solve their problems by running away rather than communicating. Then the whole conflict of married people falling in love with other people, that always stresses me out. Anyone else have that problem? Oh, and then there was one character that was just really vulgar and awful. I'm very glad he didn't have a very huge role in the book or else I'm not sure I could have stomached it! That being said, he was supposed to be that way, so the author did his job by making me cringe every time he appeared, right?
But I did enjoy the writing and the overall story. I think I need to read more books set in Alaska. And THEN I need to go visit in real life!
Bottom line: I liked it.
For more on author Garth Stein, visit his website here.
Other reviews (most with giveaways if you're interested):
Booking Mama
Caribousmom
Carp(e) Libres Reviews
Estella's Revenge
Sounds like a fascinating read. As I was reading - I thought - that if you enjoyed this you may enjoy Siri Husvedt's What I Loved which I have read recently and intend to publish a review on soon... (I always seem to be behind on my "must blog on list") That covers similar themes and is a superb book.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this excellent post,
Hannah
I'm right there with you on "that vulgar character." I'm glad he didn't stick around long or I would've probably heaved the book at a wall.
ReplyDeleteWell-balanced review, Suey. Like you, I didn't love it, but I liked it and I thought it a worthwhile read.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to my review!
Thank you for your honest review. I have seen Garth Stein twice and he really is a delight in person. I read The Art of Racing in the Rain and am looking forward to this book.
ReplyDelete