West of the Moon is a lovely
tale of two sisters who, after their father travels to America from their
homeland of Norway, end up in the care of their Aunt. Whist living with their
Aunt the two sisters get separated when the Aunt sells the eldest sister,
Astri, to the local goat herder. As we soon find out he is as cruel if not
crueller than the greedy Aunt. The story basically revolves around Astri saving
herself, the spinning girl who is also being held by the goat herder, then
rescuing her younger sister Greta and embarking on a journey to America to find
their father.
Whilst I can see why many
people are enjoying this book, and I will point out that I read an ARC proof so
there may still be slight changes to be made, I just wasn’t fond of the writing
style for the most part. This was such a small book compared to what I normally
read but I just didn’t feel drawn to read it. Additionally, Astri, the main
character uses folk tales and myths to deal with the situations around her and
as a coping mechanism. Which I just found long winded and at times confusing. I
would have preferred a childlike musing of the situations much like in Room by
Emma Donoghue, than a child using stories to describe how she feels.
This just wasn’t for me
personally and I understand it is aimed at younger readers but I don’t honestly
think it would have been my thing even when I was younger. The last section of
the book was much better as the folk tale inclusion was minimal and I finally
felt like I got to understand Astri’s real feelings about everything that had
and was happening to her. I wish it had all been written like this
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