April Book Review: Raven Stole the Moon
A day late but here's my April book review. I REALLY have to start reviewing these books right after I read them so I can just copy and paste when it's time.
To be honest I read three books in the month of April, but will review only this one. The other two were Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane (of which I recommend--both the movie and the book), and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (which I found really boring but read for nostalgia purposes).
I have the following books on my shelves that I have yet to read and review: Ship Breaker, The Hollow, The Sweet Far Thing (the third installment of the Gemma Doyle series), and Mockingjay (the third installment of the Hunger Games). If you have a desire for me to read/review one of these before the other, let me know. If you have any book suggestions that I haven't already listed above, let me know of those as well. I don't know if these reviews help or interest anyone, but it's something I enjoy doing and will gladly accept requests/suggestions.
Quick Facts:
Title: Raven Stole the Moon
Author: Garth Stein
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Age Group: Adult
Length: 441 pages
From the back of the book: When Jenna Rosen abandons her comfortable Seattle life to visit Wrangell, Alaska, it's a wrenching return to her past. The hometown of her Native American grandmother, Wrangell is located near the Thunder Bay Resort, where Jenna's young son, Bobby, disappeared two years before. His body was never recovered, and Jenna is determined to lay to rest the aching mystery of his death. But whispers of ancient legends begin to suggest a frightening new possibility about Bobby's fate, and Jenna must sift through the beliefs of her ancestors, the Tlingit, who still tell of powerful, menacing forces at work in the Alaskan wilderness. Armed with nothing but a mother's protective instincts, Jenna's quest for the truth behind her son's disappearance is about to pull her into a terrifying and life-changing abyss.
In the pursuit to dabble outside the world of young adult fiction every once in a while, I picked up Raven Stole the Moon, a contemporary fiction novel from the best-selling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain (which I haven't read but plan to). The novel explores Native American lore and the spiritual traditions of the Tlingit as our main character, Jenna, on an impulse, abandons her cosmopolitan life in Seattle (and her husband, Robert) to return to her home town of Wrangell, Alaska and seek to repair the broken pieces after her very young child drown there two years earlier. Not knowing what she's doing or really why, Jenna stumbles along in a story of grief, redemption, and spiritual mystery. Strong and endearingly flawed characters, a sometimes confusing mystical plot, and the clear, crisp language Stein uses makes Raven Stole the Moon an enjoyable and oddly chilling read.
The story starts out a little dully as the focus is set on Jenna and her husband at a party in Seattle on the anniversary of their son's death. Their marriage is noticeably strained as Robert has already grieved and accepted his son's death, while Jenna is struggling to function normally still two years later. A lot of the book intermingles the mysticism of the Tlingit lore and the reality a lot of people face: the dying of a marriage, the struggle to grieve and recover, and the search for one's self in the here and now. Jenna's journey, for me, was enjoyable for the very reason that it was as simple but as abstract as someone wanting to find closure and healing in the impulsive act of running away. A lot of Jenna's actions may not be understood simply because they are impulsive, but each one feels imperative to her journey.
There's some interesting legends in this book as well as touching characters: Eddie, the injured fisherman, is caught up in Jenna's search for closure and truth and the two create a relationship together. Cautious, odd, and sometimes secretly, sometimes obviously passionate, you can't help sympathizing for Eddie almost as strongly as Jenna. There's also a dog named Oscar who Jenna finds (or really, who finds Jenna) and acts as protector during Jenna's journey. Being that this is a novel with a heavy basis of Native American spiritualism, Oscar is explained to be Jeanna's spirit guide, having been drawn to her at a time when Jenna was being chased by something.
The something of this book was not expected...by me, at least. We follow Jenna through her journey, finding metaphors and hints through the many legends being told to her, but surprisingly and really, really oddly...one of them seems to be true and the last few chapters of the book tend to lean towards the weird and unexpected. Reading something based in modern times for 3/4's of the book (all seemingly completely normal) and then finally crossing that line that we had been toeing into the paranormal/spiritual makes for a really crazy blending of reality and myth in this book. For me it was almost too much of a shift as I was firmly planted in the book's reality and upon stepping into something definitively mystical caused some confusion for me and made the story a lot less fluid in my eyes.
I enjoyed this read, overall. I could have done without the paranormal aspect and been completely happy with the legends as they were, legends, but the story was still a compelling one. I enjoyed Stein's voice and hope to read some of his other works soon and I'd recommend Raven Stole the Moon to anyone with an interest in Native American legends and the interpersonal journey of grief and closure.
To be honest I read three books in the month of April, but will review only this one. The other two were Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane (of which I recommend--both the movie and the book), and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (which I found really boring but read for nostalgia purposes).
I have the following books on my shelves that I have yet to read and review: Ship Breaker, The Hollow, The Sweet Far Thing (the third installment of the Gemma Doyle series), and Mockingjay (the third installment of the Hunger Games). If you have a desire for me to read/review one of these before the other, let me know. If you have any book suggestions that I haven't already listed above, let me know of those as well. I don't know if these reviews help or interest anyone, but it's something I enjoy doing and will gladly accept requests/suggestions.
Quick Facts:
Title: Raven Stole the Moon
Author: Garth Stein
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Age Group: Adult
Length: 441 pages
From the back of the book: When Jenna Rosen abandons her comfortable Seattle life to visit Wrangell, Alaska, it's a wrenching return to her past. The hometown of her Native American grandmother, Wrangell is located near the Thunder Bay Resort, where Jenna's young son, Bobby, disappeared two years before. His body was never recovered, and Jenna is determined to lay to rest the aching mystery of his death. But whispers of ancient legends begin to suggest a frightening new possibility about Bobby's fate, and Jenna must sift through the beliefs of her ancestors, the Tlingit, who still tell of powerful, menacing forces at work in the Alaskan wilderness. Armed with nothing but a mother's protective instincts, Jenna's quest for the truth behind her son's disappearance is about to pull her into a terrifying and life-changing abyss.
In the pursuit to dabble outside the world of young adult fiction every once in a while, I picked up Raven Stole the Moon, a contemporary fiction novel from the best-selling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain (which I haven't read but plan to). The novel explores Native American lore and the spiritual traditions of the Tlingit as our main character, Jenna, on an impulse, abandons her cosmopolitan life in Seattle (and her husband, Robert) to return to her home town of Wrangell, Alaska and seek to repair the broken pieces after her very young child drown there two years earlier. Not knowing what she's doing or really why, Jenna stumbles along in a story of grief, redemption, and spiritual mystery. Strong and endearingly flawed characters, a sometimes confusing mystical plot, and the clear, crisp language Stein uses makes Raven Stole the Moon an enjoyable and oddly chilling read.
The story starts out a little dully as the focus is set on Jenna and her husband at a party in Seattle on the anniversary of their son's death. Their marriage is noticeably strained as Robert has already grieved and accepted his son's death, while Jenna is struggling to function normally still two years later. A lot of the book intermingles the mysticism of the Tlingit lore and the reality a lot of people face: the dying of a marriage, the struggle to grieve and recover, and the search for one's self in the here and now. Jenna's journey, for me, was enjoyable for the very reason that it was as simple but as abstract as someone wanting to find closure and healing in the impulsive act of running away. A lot of Jenna's actions may not be understood simply because they are impulsive, but each one feels imperative to her journey.
There's some interesting legends in this book as well as touching characters: Eddie, the injured fisherman, is caught up in Jenna's search for closure and truth and the two create a relationship together. Cautious, odd, and sometimes secretly, sometimes obviously passionate, you can't help sympathizing for Eddie almost as strongly as Jenna. There's also a dog named Oscar who Jenna finds (or really, who finds Jenna) and acts as protector during Jenna's journey. Being that this is a novel with a heavy basis of Native American spiritualism, Oscar is explained to be Jeanna's spirit guide, having been drawn to her at a time when Jenna was being chased by something.
The something of this book was not expected...by me, at least. We follow Jenna through her journey, finding metaphors and hints through the many legends being told to her, but surprisingly and really, really oddly...one of them seems to be true and the last few chapters of the book tend to lean towards the weird and unexpected. Reading something based in modern times for 3/4's of the book (all seemingly completely normal) and then finally crossing that line that we had been toeing into the paranormal/spiritual makes for a really crazy blending of reality and myth in this book. For me it was almost too much of a shift as I was firmly planted in the book's reality and upon stepping into something definitively mystical caused some confusion for me and made the story a lot less fluid in my eyes.
I enjoyed this read, overall. I could have done without the paranormal aspect and been completely happy with the legends as they were, legends, but the story was still a compelling one. I enjoyed Stein's voice and hope to read some of his other works soon and I'd recommend Raven Stole the Moon to anyone with an interest in Native American legends and the interpersonal journey of grief and closure.