Moonblood

By: T.W. Fendley

Narrated by: Amanda Leigh Jerry

Who wants to live a century before seeing the outside world? Not Ariadne.

Restless and idealistic, the young immortal sneaks out of the Eves’ secret compound and finds the outside world more dangerous than she could have imagined. Cut off from her own kind and hunted by mortals, she is forced to hide among the Adams, the immortal sons born of her sisters.

But the Adams have sinister plans of their own. Ariadne must find a way to stop them, even if it means sacrificing her immortal life.

Written by award-winning author T.W. Fendley and rivetingly narrated by Amanda Leigh Jerry, Moonblood is a deeply thought-provoking and exciting near-future adventure.

©2020 T.W. Fendley (P)2020 Spoken Realms

Handmaid's Tale meets Hunger Games

Moonblood is Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games. In a future dystopian world, humans come in three flavors: the Eves (immortal women who live off moonlight); the Adams (immortal men who live off sunlight); and the Cains (mortal men & women who need real food to live). Many of the Eves live in a clan isolated from the rest of the world. However, the Adams have managed to capture some Eves over the years, plus they control these towers filled with Cains. Women are mostly kept in harem-like situations with very little say over their lives. Then there are the average people, all Cains, who live outside the safety and stability of the Adams’ towers. The story is a delicious mix of social castes coupled with an exploration of misogyny.

Ariadne makes a dumb mistake at the start of the story and it puts the Eves in danger of being discovered. She’s assigned a task that takes her away from the only home she’s ever known and almost immediately, things go sideways. Luckily, there are allies out there in the bigger world and Ariadne must take on a role she feels very ill-suited for: to live as a man while she figures out her next move.

The tale brings in more main characters, switching the point of view between them. Blair is some kind of mutant that was somehow identified by this somewhat militant force that forcibly separated her from her family. I forget what this force was called, but it’s separate from the Adams who keep the Tower Harems. As Blair struggles for freedom and also to be reunited safely with her family, she comes across several allies, just as Ariadne does. However, not all allies are created equal. Some of these allies are men and some of these men truly believe the women in the towers have the best life, being cared for and protected. Of course, all the ladies disagree with these men, wanting control over their own lives.

There are some points that I wanted some more explanation for – like how the Adams and Eves live off of sunlight and moonlight, how so many of the men are chemically brainwashed into misogynistic control of the women in the towers; why the Eves die always when they birth male children. I was ok with the parthenogenesis (virgin birth) for the Eves because if we can live off moonlight, why can’t we do parthenogenesis? I can see how a sequel could explore these things and really add to the world building.

The story takes an excellent and unexpected turn at the end. While I did feel it wrapped things up a little quickly and a little too neatly, it still had me on the edge of my seat. I was very worried that the bulk of the Eves would be captured, or even killed. I was worried that a certain character had betrayed Ariadne. Oh, and I loved the pizza delivery vehicle that helped make it all happen – because everyone, no matter which side you’re on, want pizza. 4/5 stars.

The Narration: Amanda Leigh Jerry was a great choice for this book. She had the perfect voice for Ariadne. I also loved her old lady voices for the Matron, Margery, and the cross-dressing ally in one of the Towers. I did sometimes want a bit more distinction among some of the characters, like when the point of view shifts from Ariadne to Blair, it wasn’t always clear with the voices. Yet Jerry had the shift in attitudes down pat. Most of the male voices were distinct and I especially liked the amount of emotion that went into Nathan as he struggles with his established morals. The pacing was perfect. There were a few mispronounced words but they were few and far between. 4/5 stars.

3.5/5 Stars (rounded to 4) Moonblood

Summary:

A “young” woman’s quest for freedom leads to a series of events that sets three societies on their ears.

Another young woman’s quest to find her mother draws her into a dangerous ride.

Additional Comments:

- Narration is generally good, but there are a few bizarre pronunciations like cacophony.

- Interesting worldbuilding but you have to have some serious suspension of disbelief to believe most of it. And it’s not really explained why Eves can spontaneously have kids, but if they bear Adams (boys) they die. There are also Cains who are I’m guessing the rest of the world, not a part of either secret society.

- Book blurb concentrates on Ariade but the book itself spends times on several characters.

- It gets more interesting as the book moves on.

- The end is perhaps a tad too pat, but satisfying nonetheless.

- Contenting warnings: There’s some references to violence and adult themes, but nothing described. There are some curse words.

- Kind of not sure what to categorize it as. It’s sort of a fantasy, but has some scifi elements yet the government is at once modern and a dystopia.

Conclusion:

Intriguing young adult book. Probably the start of a series.
*I received a free copy from the author. I have freely chosen to review this story. All thoughts are my own.

Exciting, Poignant and Action Packed

In a future time, Ariadne is a young immortal woman seeking freedom from her confining world at the compound run by the Matron, the leader of the Eve’s. Ariadne encounters the Adam’s, a group of males who raise the male babies and who build the compounds for the Eve’s. In her adventure, she discovers that not all is right within the compound of the Adams and the fight for her life and her people will be deadly. She further discovers that her naivete can and will get people killed, so she must tread carefully.

The conflict between the Eve’s, Adam’s and the Cain’s is interesting and thought-provoking; highlighting sexism and the fear/hate for anyone different from themselves. The conflict that Ariadne feels against authority and feeling she knows better is a common trait amongst the young. I thought the author, T.W. Fendley handled this very well and presented the dilemma vividly.

The character development was well done. Each character was believable and had the necessary flaws and strengths to make them credible and with the right level of depth. The dialog was flowed smoothly and was consistent with the characters.

The narrator, Amanda Leigh Jerry, performed the audiobook beautifully. I enjoyed hearing her project the emotions of each character – specifically Ariadne. She spoke clearly and with a steady rhythm.

This book is one of those edge-of-your-seat stories that captures the imagination of the listener and keeps them engaged well after the book ends. The story moves forward at a steady pace, sometimes quickly and other times deliberately slowly allowing the listener to catch their breath!

I look forward to more books by T.W. Fendley and hearing Amanda Leigh Jerry perform again.

Disclaimer: This Audiobook was provided free of charge by the author, narrator, and/or publisher in exchange for a non-bias, honest review.

Moonblood

It was a good audible book . I would recommend it to others who enjoy this genre.

Definitely for the YA crowd

This book wasn't what I expected. Definitely a YA book, and the thousand years didn't even affect the story at all. Could have been about 14-17 year olds. There wasn't enough back story or anything to really bond to the characters. I don't like leaving books unfinished, that's probably the biggest/only reason I made it to the end.