Other Broken Things
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Nat's not an alcoholic. She doesn't have a problem. Everybody parties, everybody does stupid things,...
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Imogen SB (4507 KP) created a post in Smashbomb Council
Dec 9, 2019
The Gathering
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A Time to Die (Out of Time, #1)
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Bestselling author R.L. Stine returns with a thrilling retro horror story with a terrifying twist,...
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Gone (Dream Catcher, #3)
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Things should be great for Janie—she has graduated from high school and is spending her summer...
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Jet Black and the Ninja Wind: British Edition
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**Winner of the 2013-2014 Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature****2015 Sakura...
The Last Love Song
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Joan Didion lived a life in the public and private eye with her late husband, writer John Gregory...
The Quiet You Carry
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YA Young Adult Fiction Contemporary Fiction Sexual Abuse The Quiet You Carry
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Cleopatra's Moon in Books
Feb 15, 2019
Catered to the young adult market, <i>Cleopatra's Moon</i> has a lot to offer older readers as well. While there may not be as much meat on the bones as many adult historical fiction novels have, the history is plentiful and smoothly incorporated into the story. Aside from a few, minor instances, not much Cleopatra Selene said or did stood out as odd and the history seemed sound (though I am far from an expert). The author's writing style is easy to read, has a nice flow, and the descriptions are well-done; I could easily picture the surroundings, so the scenes came alive for me. She doesn't shy away from suggestive scenes, making the story feel more realistic, though nothing is described explicitly either. The author is up front about what is and is not fact in the six-page section at the end of book entitled "The Facts Within the Fiction," which gives the reader more information about the people mentioned within the book. If anyone goes into this book expecting more love story than historical fiction, they will be sadly disappointed. Any love story takes a back seat to Cleopatra Selene's struggle with both herself and her circumstances in life.
If I had one quibble with the book, it was the children's and Cleopatra Selene's voices. The children sounded a bit too mature at times, including Cleopatra Selene when young. Although in her case, it was more her voice didn't change much throughout the ten years the book covered and it was too familiar. I've come across other young adult protagonists that sounded very similar to her, both historical and contemporary, so I was hoping hers would be a bit more distinctive from the rest. Still, it's a very small thing and I did like Cleo Selene; she wasn't passive, but she wasn't aggressive either, she fell somewhere in between the two, which worked well for the book.
After all has been said, <i>Cleopatra's Moon</i> does what any (good) historical fiction novel should aspire to, it made me want to know more about the time, people, and places.
Darren (1599 KP) Dec 10, 2019
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) Dec 14, 2019