When the Moon Hatched is a fast-paced fantasy romance for fans of witty banter and strong, sassy protagonists. Beneath the cover is an immersive, vibrant world with mysterious creatures, a unique magic system, and a love that blazes through the ages.
Author: Sarah A. Parker
Series: The Moonfall Series, Book 1
Release Date: January, 13th 2024
Genre: Fantasy
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice Level: 2
Available on Kindle Unlimited
Official Description:
The Creators did not expect their beloved dragons to sail skyward upon their end. To curl into balls just beyond gravity’s grip, littering the sky with tombstones. With moons.
They certainly did not expect them to fall.
As a valued Elding Blade of the rebellion group Fíur du Ath, Raeve’s job is to kill. To complete orders and never get caught. When a renowned bounty hunter is employed by The Crown to capture a member of the Ath, Raeve’s world is turned upside down. Blood spills, hearts break, and Raeve finds herself at the mercy of the Guild of Nobles—a group of dual-beaded elementals who intend to turn her into a political statement. Only death will set her free. Crushed beneath a mourning weight, Kaan Vaegor took the head of a king and donned his melted crown. Now on a tireless quest to assuage the never-ebbing ache in his chest, his hunt for a moonshard lures him into the belly of Gore’s notorious prison where he stumbles upon something that rips apart his perception of reality. A shackled miracle with eyes full of rage and blood on her hands. The echo of the past sings louder than the Creators themselves, and even Raeve can’t ignore the truths blaring at her from a warmer, happier time.
However.
There’s more to this song than meets the eye, and some truths …
They’re too poisonous to swallow.
Warning : This article contains spoilers !!
#1: First thoughts
I was not the biggest fan of her previous works "To Bleed a Crystal Bloom" but I must say that I was immediately enthralled by this first instalment in the Moonfall series. Sarah A Parker's "When the Moon Hatched" delivers a great narrative that seamlessly blends fantasy, romance, and intricate world-building. You can definitely tell that her writing style has matured.
The book starts off with a complete glossary explaining terms for age, time, creatures, beings and even gives an indication on pronunciations. While I appreciate that, I usually skip it or would read it after finishing the book, just because it can become too overwhelming when you haven't yet followed the story to understand what world it actually takes place in. That being said, it shows the effort that Sarah A. Parker has taken to create an enticing narrative.
One thing that was a bit confusing to me was that the narrative included not just different POVs, but also "diary excerpts" shown as flashbacks from a time over 100 years ago. The character is only being revealed at the end, so it kind of breaks the story at times, especially when you can't place this unknown character into the overall story. What I found useful was to bookmark those diary chapters to re-read later as it allows then to fill the gaps.
Apart from that, we have a beautiful and unique magic system, kingdoms on the brick of war, a "trial battle" (love tournaments, competitions, trials, tests and such) a slow-burn romance AND dragons.
Raeve is a moody, loner FMC who has clearly been traumatised. She is using her bloodlust and need for justice as an assassin for the rebel group Fíur du Ath. While she appears quite aggressive, cold and harsh, she would protect any child, women or person in need. I immediately got the feeling that she doesn't care much about her own life or any future happiness as if she has given up the possibility of it for herself and therefore acts often selflessly but also recklessly, taking unnecessary risks that ultimately result in her being caught by a bounty hunter. While she is now being held in prison and is facing a trial that might lead to her death, she is practically running towards it if it were not for Kaan who comes to her rescue. It turns out that the hooded stranger that followed her in the past weeks, is the King of the Burn. She doesn't understand his reasons for helping her and therefore assumes the worst when he takes her away to his Kingdom.
Kaan, on the hand, is teased as a horrible ruler who only brings death. Ultimately we learn that he is fierce, loyal, protective and would do anything for Raeve who he has - unbeknownst to her - a history with.
#2: Romance & Steam
The slow-burn romance between Raeve & Kaan is in a way very refreshing because it is a new and old romance in one. Raeve is not aware that she has history with Kaan and so she is not able to understand her immediate and undeniable attraction to him. While she is being hesitant and mistrustful at (in any male for that matter), Kaan is very considerate and gives her time to figure her feelings out, something I really appreciated. He is not the typical broody character that masks his attraction towards her with banter or (as it often happens) mobbing.
Their romance also really got me thinking about this situation where your partner suddenly has no recollection of your entire time together (be it due to sickness, accident or whatever - I am also thinking about the movie "The Vows") and how hard it must be. I would assume that a natural first instinct would be telling your partner your entire lovestory, showing them proof - be it letters exchanged or pictures, videos. And so while I understand that need to get their memory working, I could also imagine that this vast new information that is being dumped on you is quite overwhelming. You are basically forced to remember, forced to love. So I like the idea of a new and fresh start, getting to know each other again, making new experiences and memories and eventually (hopefully) fall in love again - which is, I believe, what Kaan is trying to do, even though it hurts him and he is aware of the possibility of losing her (yet again), he is also giving her space. Thankfully, her memories are being triggered by spending more time with him and her former friends and so she is reminded of her love for him, nevertheless she is not yet ready to just go back to how things were. She has now those two identities, so she needs to find out how she can merge them.
If I compare this to other Romantasy books where the typical tropes are "Touch her and you'll die", "We are mated so deal with it" or arranged marriages, I must say that Raeve's and Kaan's story feels a bit more authentic.
Now that's let to the steam. I found it really funny that while Raeve is the one who wants to put distance between her and Kaan and is mistrustful of his motives vs. him being clearly and openly in love with her but being considerate and giving her space - it is her who has the hots for him throughout the entire story and is trying to initiate action. There is a LOT of tension, her fantasy and dreams go wild and I really enjoyed the one quite open-door spicy scene.
So overall I would give it 2 🌶️. Judging by the amount and pace of the tension, I would strongly assume that the spice level will pick up in future books.
#3: Final thoughts & Open questions
While I really liked the story overall and am looking forward to the next instalment, I thought there was one big issue that was not addressed at all. How can it be that Raeve never raises the question of why she doesn't remember most of her life? I mean the whole time she is being introduced, we learn that she is connected to multiple gods which is why she has superior magical qualities. We understand that she has experienced trauma which resulted in her living a pretty isolated life but we (and she herself) know nothing of her background until her identity is revealed later in the book.
If you don't know anything about your past, about your upbringing - wouldn't you question it? And wouldn't that be a driving force, trying to find out more about yourself? Once her identity was revealed to her, we see her struggling with the truth which is absolutely understanding. But if the shock is so vast, wouldn't that mean that she was assuming a different identify for herself? And if so - what did she believe all this time?
There is a whole chapter on "The Other". I have no idea who that is supposed to be? Did I miss something important in the story, it was very confusing to me. At times I thought I might be an "unconscious" Raeve?
If you liked this review of When the Moon Hatched or have any questions or comments, let me know !
Disclaimer: I have added an affiliate link for your convenience so you can directly purchase the book if you are intrigued. This also means that I will receive small commission. This does not affect inclusion in my reviews or the overall rating of the book.
Also, Is the conversation they are going to have together about their daughter or does Kaan not know about her? I was disappointed that they did not have "The conversation" before the book ended.
I was confused by The Other as well. In the first chapter about The Other, I assumed it was Raeve. And then in the second chapter (near the end of the book) I thought maybe it could be someone else.