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karen_hallam's review against another edition
1.0
This isn’t good at all. To quote Publishers Weekly “ Shrouded in symbolic imagery, this is a veiled reference to the abortion, as the book increasingly functions, however subtly, as anti-abortion polemic. More of a problem,in the narrative, are sentimentality in lieu of emotion, occasionally cloying preciousness and the general superficiality of characterization.”
billymac1962's review against another edition
3.0
Yet another novel that I have had on my list for over 10 years but has eluded me on every search. Well, I just about dropped dead when it caught my eye in the most unlikely of places, a retail book store. Bones of the Moon is back in print.
You can well imagine how excited I was to finally get the chance to read this. I wouldn't go so far as to say I was completely disappointed with the story, it went along quite fascinatingly for the most part, but it deserved a much better ending.
It's a wonder that a writer with an imagination as rich as this couldn't come up with one.
Regardless, it is still very much worth tracking down.
You can well imagine how excited I was to finally get the chance to read this. I wouldn't go so far as to say I was completely disappointed with the story, it went along quite fascinatingly for the most part, but it deserved a much better ending.
It's a wonder that a writer with an imagination as rich as this couldn't come up with one.
Regardless, it is still very much worth tracking down.
dryden's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
davscomur's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.0
This is the longest 186 pages I’ve ever read.
Poorly defined characters, terrible dialogue, clumsy narration, plot points you can see coming from 100 miles away, and a very strong anti-abortion agenda made this one of the more unpleasant reads I’ve had lately.
A good rule of thumb that I always try to follow: if Stephen King recommends a book, it is almost always terrible. Guess who has a gushing quote on the back jacket of this book?
Poorly defined characters, terrible dialogue, clumsy narration, plot points you can see coming from 100 miles away, and a very strong anti-abortion agenda made this one of the more unpleasant reads I’ve had lately.
A good rule of thumb that I always try to follow: if Stephen King recommends a book, it is almost always terrible. Guess who has a gushing quote on the back jacket of this book?
hoserlauren's review against another edition
4.0
Cullen James has come a long way. She has left behind a boyfriend that didn't truly love her and made the tough decision to abort her baby with that man. Still getting over it, her long time friend Danny comes back from Italy to console her. The two eventually get married, have a child, and that's when the dreams start.
Cullen has incredibly vivid dreams of Rondua, where animals take her and her son Pepsi around trying to find bones of the moon. Cullen vaguely remembers similar dreams when she was a child and now this land is back in her dreams. The dreams and Cullen's real life start to intersect, as her and Pepsi find more bones and need to prepare for a fight with the man running Rondua.
This dream work is incredibly imaginative and fantastically represented in the story. I felt like I was right there with Cullen and Pepsi in Rondua. The entire book sets up for an epic battle between Cullen and Pepsi and the villian of Rondua, but the ending falls rather flat with everything happening rather quickly and too cleanly. With a better ending, this book had the chance of being one of my top read for the year.
Cullen has incredibly vivid dreams of Rondua, where animals take her and her son Pepsi around trying to find bones of the moon. Cullen vaguely remembers similar dreams when she was a child and now this land is back in her dreams. The dreams and Cullen's real life start to intersect, as her and Pepsi find more bones and need to prepare for a fight with the man running Rondua.
This dream work is incredibly imaginative and fantastically represented in the story. I felt like I was right there with Cullen and Pepsi in Rondua. The entire book sets up for an epic battle between Cullen and Pepsi and the villian of Rondua, but the ending falls rather flat with everything happening rather quickly and too cleanly. With a better ending, this book had the chance of being one of my top read for the year.
tarugani's review against another edition
3.0
This is beautifully written, something that is sometimes hard to find in fantasy-esque novels, but I wasn't thrilled with the plot and the characters are distinctly meh. Still, I'll probably give Carroll at least one more try.
thegoodmariner's review against another edition
5.0
Jonathan Carroll is perfect. There isn't any other way to say it. Every time I read one of his books, I get angry at any other book I've read between the one I just finished and the last one of his I read for not being as good as a Jonathan Carroll book. Bones of the Moon did not fail to live up to this expectation. Just. Perfect.
dfmjr's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 Stars (wish we could do half stars)
I wanted to like this book more than I did, and the initial reviews and comments made me quite excited. I think I was not quite sure what I was getting into and at times I feel like the book does quite know what it is either.
Cullen James is a beautiful, smart woman who had an abortion when she was younger, has moved on to marry a great guy and eventually land in New York after a brief time in Europe. Her marriage is strong and realistic. Cullen and her husband have a baby girl She then begins to have a series of dreams that are vivid, linear and fantastical. In her dreams, she is on a heroes quest with a group of amazing animals and her son, Pepsi.
This book has a divided set of reviews depending on what you categorize it as. Some people call is magic realism (a term I despise) and fantasy. I find myself in the second camp and I do not think it grasps things very well. My problem is that the fantastical world - about 50% of the book- is not well realized and flat. It is actually more surreal. It is in dreams so literally all bets are off and I am cool with the weird. As a matter of fact, it could have gotten weirder and I would have been happier.
My other beef is the pacing. I found it off and not really finding a rhythm to fall into. Both the real and fantastical portion had waves that clicked, that moved and felt like there was something happening. Then the opposite would happen. For such a short work, it felt much longer to me.
I did enjoy the actual prose those. I think the minimal prose of [a:Jonathan Carroll|23704|Jonathan Carroll|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1222900262p2/23704.jpg] was strong. He made a few words do some heavy lifting. I think the characters in the real world were rich and felt tangible. But the characters in the fantastical were flat and felt like cut-outs. I just could not care about them and their quest.
I wanted to like this book more than I did, and the initial reviews and comments made me quite excited. I think I was not quite sure what I was getting into and at times I feel like the book does quite know what it is either.
Cullen James is a beautiful, smart woman who had an abortion when she was younger, has moved on to marry a great guy and eventually land in New York after a brief time in Europe. Her marriage is strong and realistic. Cullen and her husband have a baby girl She then begins to have a series of dreams that are vivid, linear and fantastical. In her dreams, she is on a heroes quest with a group of amazing animals and her son, Pepsi.
This book has a divided set of reviews depending on what you categorize it as. Some people call is magic realism (a term I despise) and fantasy. I find myself in the second camp and I do not think it grasps things very well. My problem is that the fantastical world - about 50% of the book- is not well realized and flat. It is actually more surreal. It is in dreams so literally all bets are off and I am cool with the weird. As a matter of fact, it could have gotten weirder and I would have been happier.
My other beef is the pacing. I found it off and not really finding a rhythm to fall into. Both the real and fantastical portion had waves that clicked, that moved and felt like there was something happening. Then the opposite would happen. For such a short work, it felt much longer to me.
I did enjoy the actual prose those. I think the minimal prose of [a:Jonathan Carroll|23704|Jonathan Carroll|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1222900262p2/23704.jpg] was strong. He made a few words do some heavy lifting. I think the characters in the real world were rich and felt tangible. But the characters in the fantastical were flat and felt like cut-outs. I just could not care about them and their quest.