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My name is Ardis and I am an avid reader and budding writer. I want to share my love of books with others. I work with kids and am interested in finding and creating books that will ignite the reader in everyone. Contact me at: ardis.atkins@gmail.com

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I Owe You One
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Love, Hate & Other Filters
The Wartime Sisters
The Belles
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Hey, Kiddo
Blackberry and Wild Rose
Queen of Air and Darkness
Firestarter
The Retribution of Mara Dyer
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Tuesday, July 26, 2016

ARC Review: Valley Of The Moon

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30008681-valley-of-the-moon?from_search=true


Please Note:  I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This does not affect the opinions in my review in any way.


Synopsis (From GoodReads):

Lux is a single mom struggling to make her way when she discovers an idyllic community in the Sonoma Valley. It seems like a place from another time until she realizes it actually is. Lux must keep one foot in her world, raising her son as well as she can with the odds stacked against her, but every day she is more strongly drawn in by the sweet simplicity of life in Greengage, and by the irresistible connection she feels with a man born decades before her. Soon she finds herself torn between her ties to the modern world, her adored son and the first place she has ever felt truly at home.

Review:

How can I describe this book?  If I needed to explain it to one of my friends, I would say it has similar elements with The Time Traveler's Wife and Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children.   I would also go on to say that it was wildly entertaining!

The book begins set in a communal farm in Sonoma in 1906.  A whole community with it's joys, along with it's tensions, discovers an unusual fog that seems to trap them on the estate.  What is happening?  How long will they be stuck there?  Fast forward to 1970 San Francisco where Lux, a struggling single mother, goes camping and wanders in to a mysterious fog...

                
via GIPHY

This story is about how the lives of the people in 1906 intertwine with Lux's life.  

I loved how the book mingled the backstories of Lux and Joseph with what was going on around them.  This is more than a fantasy book.  Author Melanie Gideon explores the effects our childhoods have on the kind of people we become as adults.  I was very moved by how Lux's connection with her father changed as she reached her teen years.  Sadly, these can be make or break years in parent-child relationships which take years (if ever) to repair.

I also enjoyed the distinct time periods of 1906 vs. more modern times.  The shock of the differences is felt by both the people on the farm and Lux.  Would you want to know what will happen sixty or seventy years from now?  Would you feel cheated that you missed out, or relieved that you wouldn't live to see what humanity has done to itself?  

                  
via GIPHY

Are you sure about that, friend?

I think the author is trying to show us is that knowledge and growth come at a price.   I don't think she is saying that we shouldn't try to find things out, but that we need to understand that we will change as an outcome of our new realizations.  
I think this is a charming book that will leave you thinking about it for many weeks afterwards.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30008681-valley-of-the-moon?from_search=true
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/valley-of-the-moon-melanie-gideon/1123653196?ean=9780345539281

https://www.amazon.com/Valley-Moon-Novel-Melanie-Gideon/dp/0345539281/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468453086&sr=8-1&keywords=valley+of+the+moon



Rating: 



Release Date:  July 26th, 2016

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  ARC E-Book

Recommendation:  Part fantasy, part family saga, this novel will be hard to put down.  
 
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4 comments :

  1. AAAH! I haven't heard of this one before, but it sounds really really good! *runs off too goodreads*

    Aditi @ http://athousandwordsamillionbooks.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you should read it! I don't think I even got into how romantic this book is. I hope you can get a copy soon.

      Delete
  2. I haven't heard of this one but it sounds good. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I am going to a book signing and will be putting up my cash to get a copy. It is a wonderful book.

      Delete

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