Book Review: Moon Chosen

Moon Chosen (Tales of a New World #1)

By: P.C. Cast

Published By: MacMillan Australia

Publication Date: 25th October, 2016

Page Count: 608

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Booktopia

Source: Kindly Provided by Publisher

Audience: Young Adult - Fantasy

The earth is a very different place from the world we know. Some great catastrophe has befallen it, and the survivors are living very different lives to ours. We meet four different races in this book, but in particular it focuses on Mari, an Earth Walker. Her mother is a Moon Woman, tasked with healing the clan but more importantly, washing them every third night to take away the curse that afflicts their people. The women of the clan become melancholy and the men become increasingly violent. By calling down the power of the moon, the Moon Woman relieves them of their suffering. Mari's mother is due to announce her apprentice, and she wants it to be Mari, but Mari is only half Earth Walker. The other half of her nature, that of Companion, would lead her to becoming an outcast were the clan to find out about it. 

Mari has had to hide her true identity her whole life, but that becomes a whole lot harder when she is chosen as Companion by a canine from the tribe of the trees. Her father's people live closely with canines and it's a great honour to be chosen as a companion.

Nik is of the companions. His people enslave clan members, believing them to be childlike and unable to care for themselves. His path crosses Mari's while he's in search of a missing pup.  His presence challenges Mari and all she believed about herself.

The third main group we are introduced to are the Skin Stealers. They are a bloodthirsty group who survive by cannibalising the other groups.

A fourth group is introduced briefly. Rather than canines, their affinity is to cats.

At 608 pages this is a weighty tome, and it took quite a while to get going. I almost gave up on it early on. There was quite a bit of clunky, exposition-filled dialogue which I found off putting, but once the story got going, I found it more enjoyable.

Both of the main protagonists were pretty annoying. They were angst filled and felt quite sorry for themselves. When they were forced out of their comfort zones and to work together things improved. 

One of my favourite characters was Sora. She's the other potential apprentice Moon Woman in the Earth Walker clan and she and Mari do not get along. When Nik turns up needing their help, Sora votes for killing him outright. Her interactions with Mari and Nik provided some much needed levity in what is quite an earnest story.

Despite its length, the book does not cover all there is to know about this world. There are at least two other races that we have only just begun to know, and it is clear that they will play a bigger part in future books.

Over all I quite enjoyed it, but it did take quite a while to get through. If you don't mind the length, then this is worth the time investment.

Goodreads:

Chosen to embrace her true identity. Chosen to follow her destiny. Chosen to change her world.

Mari is an Earth Walker, heir to the unique healing powers of her Clan, but she has been forced to turn from her duties, until she is chosen by a special animal ally, altering her destiny forever. When a deadly attack tears her world apart, Mari reveals the strength of her powers and the forbidden secret of her dual nature as she embarks on a mission to save herself and her people. It is not until Nik, the son of the leader from a rival, dominating Tribe, strays across her path that Mari experiences something she has never felt before…

Now evil is coming, and with it, a force more terrible and destructive than the world has ever seen, leaving Mari to cast the shadows from the earth. By breaking Clan Law and forming an alliance with Nik, she must make herself ready. Ready to save her people. Ready to save herself and Nik. Ready to embrace her true destiny…and battle the forces that threaten to destroy them all.