Review: Woven In Moonlight

Discussion

Let’s Talk Attention to Detail:

It all comes down to the details.

For me there is such a fine line between overly detailed description and sparse development. Of course what is overly detailed to one, is sparse to another and etcetera etcetera. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again … I am an incredibly picky bitch when it comes to books. I need a book that is going to remember the details but not drown me in them. Invoking all the senses. Especially the food … bring me all the descriptions of food.

Well it is all here.

Isabel Ibanez strikes the right balance giving me all the delicious descriptions of food, clothing, colour that really made the Central American culture come to life. I loved it.

Let’s Talk Character Growth:

Holy Jesus was Ximena tough to stomach at first! She was so doggedly headstrong (not in a good way), annoyingly naive (not in an endearing way), and altogether too self righteous (is that ever a good thing?). But, what prevented this story from falling apart was the fact that Ximena continued to pay … and pay gravely … for her misguided, hasty judgments and stubbornness. She showed genuine character growth throughout this novel as her assumptions and preconceived prejudices were systematically brought to question time and again. Of course there were excellent parallelisms to our toxic culture of “my side” “your side” politics, but even more so – it truly made for an enjoyable, honest read.

Side characters were very well drawn and I truly enjoyed the masked bandit, kind healer, and my favourite – the head wise princess locked away in her tower … but not so helpless.

Let’s Talk More Central American Fantasy Please:

I just loved this book that not only struck the right descriptive balance to bring alive the story and world, but was also loosely based around real Bolivian history and politics. Woven in Moonlight is a delicious combination of fantasy, historical fiction and political intrigue wrapped up with dazzling description … did I mention the food? I think Isabel Ibanez needs a cookbook accompaniment.

Overall Thoughts:

I really loved this historical fiction fantasy loosely based upon Bolivian history and politics. Combining just the right amount of delicious description to create atmospheric world building, a gentle slow burn romance, and fantastically honest character growth … colour me impressed. I think this is an excellent example of YA fantasy done right. For once, I’m actually happy this isn’t a stand alone!

TBR Ranking: High

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A River of Royal Blood

Written by Amanda Joy

Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

You can find it here: Bookshop.org