The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Alyssa Tyler editor in chief
Before starting this book review, I would like to begin with some very basic facts about myself. I am a self-declared book worm, I read 100 books last year (outside of classwork). And I’m currently on book 25 of this year (including coursework). This being said, I will gladly read whatever I can get my hands on. I love my Kindle, which has access to Kindle Unlimited, which has some of the worst but most entertaining books on there. I’m a sucker for classics, thrillers, poetry, fantasy, romance, and the occasional political philosophy.
Through this review, however, my goal is to try and promote books that may not have as much recognition as I feel that they deserve. Or, books that I feel like are recommended a bit too much. I will be ranking the books around a few things, the quality of the writing, character development, plot holes, and overall, how entertaining the story was. I will be ranking ‘how likely I would recommend this book to someone else,’ on a scale from 1-10. 1 being run away from the book. And 10 being, I will never stop recommending this and you have to read this.
This week I will be reviewing, ‘The Night and It’s Moon,’ by C.J Piper. I do have to say, this book was entertaining, but it took me nearly a month to finish it. I could not get ‘hooked’ on the plot line, and struggled to become connected to any of the characters. However, once I hit around page 200, I finished the book quickly thereafter.
The story follows two orphans who live in the ‘orphanage,’ Farleigh. This place may come off as a place filled with Goddess following, they were actually prepping to sell the children to the highest bidder. Nox and Amaris, have been inseparable since the day Amaris was dropped off at the orphanage years prior.
Through the years Nox was the matrons right hand, constantly hiding Amaris from the Bishop that would visit once a month. Nox quickly became extremely protective of Amaris, and tasked herself with always protecting her. Finally, one day, the ‘Mistress,’ the owner of the brothel, Selkie. Millicent, the mistress, takes an immediate interest in Amaris ‘snow-touched’ look, and vows to buy her from the matrons and from Farleigh. Terrified of being separated, the two come up with a plan to leave. Unfortunately, the plan does not end the way they wanted, and they are separated across the continent.
Amaris is taken to an assassins keep while Nox takes her friends place at the brothel. Throughout the rest of the novel, the chapters bounce back and forth through Nox’s and Amaris’s point of views, until the end that finishes with a cliffhanger.
The book starts with describing the complex world that they all live in, from the neighboring lands, to the leaders of their nation. The plot and world building felt rushed, it was descriptive, but confusing at the same time. The LGBT+ inclusion and representation was well done and well written. The writing was extremely descriptive, and the analogies were entertaining and well written. Although, it did take me almost a month to finish this book due to how slow the beginning was. But, as stated earlier, when the plot started to pick up, I couldn’t put it down.
Overall, I rate this book 7.5/10. I give it this rating for a few reasons, the writing was well done, the plot twists weren’t easily guessed or expected, and I really did enjoy Amaris and Nox’s character development. However, compared to other high fantasy novels I’ve read, this just did not hit the same mark. I did not really ‘crave’ the second book, and after finishing it, was not really in love with it. Overall, I would recommend this book, but it’s not an all time favorite.