Moon Chosen (Tales of a New World #1) by P.C. Cast
Expected Publication: October 18th 2016 by St. Martin’s Griffen
This eArc was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads Summary:
#1 New York Times bestselling author, P.C. Cast, brings us a new epic fantasy set in a world where humans, their animal allies, and the earth itself has been drastically changed. A world filled with beauty and danger and cruelty…
Mari is an Earth Walker, heir to the unique healing powers of her Clan; but she has cast her duties aside, until she is chosen by a special animal ally, altering her destiny forever. When a deadly attack tears her world apart, Mari reveals the strength of her powers and the forbidden secret of her dual nature as she embarks on a mission to save her people. It is not until Nik, the son of the leader from a rival, dominating clan strays across her path, that Mari experiences something she has never felt before…
Now, darkness is coming, and with it, a force, more terrible and destructive than the world has ever seen, leaving Mari to cast the shadows from the earth. By forming a tumultuous alliance with Nik, she must make herself ready. Ready to save her people. Ready to save herself and Nik. Ready to embrace her true destiny…and obliterate the forces that threaten to destroy them all.
“It’s not about how much time we spend together. It’s about how much fun we have when we do, and we have lots of fun!”
This was a decent start to a new series for P.C. Cast, I just hope that it won’t be as long as her House of Night series. The Kindle edition that I read is 608 pages, and I think that is 300 pages too long. Cast took a very long time in world building and letting us get an understanding of all of the characters. Which started off great, but then it just took forever for the plot to progress. I would say that plot moved in the first 100ish pages and then the last 100ish pages. Everything in the middle just seemed like filler.
“Rigel has changed everything and nothing. Everything and nothing.”
Mari is a very selfish main character. She has spent most of her life hiding who she is from her clan and has pent up aggression towards them. Mainly because Mari is different and has to hide that she is both Earth Walker and Companion, she felt as if she didn’t owe anyone anything especially after her mother died. At that point in the story, Mari really started to annoy me. She had been training all of her life to be the Moon Woman and yet she refused to help train Sora or help any of the Clan members. It isn’t until Sora points it out and asks why she hates them so much, that Mari is finally honest with herself and Sora. I loved how Sora didn’t let Mari get away with her feeling alienated from the Clan, when she did it to herself. Thankfully near the end of the book she becomes more sure of herself and starts to help people like her mother would have wanted her to.
“What’s the old saying? The cone doesn’t fall far from the pine?”
This is definitely a book for a more mature young adult audience. There are strong themes of violence, depression, and abuse. On the flip side, there is also strong themes of friendship and loyalty. With a small dash of romance that slowly built up but didn’t amount to anything until the end. I thought that fit in perfectly and didn’t have that insta-love relationship most YA’s seem to lean towards these days.
Overall, if you like dystopian novels that have multiple view points then you’ll really enjoy this novel. It has elements of magic, animals, and creepy bad guys to help you through the lengthy novel.
Sam's Little Corner 