CLOSED: Book Review & Giveaway: Raven Stole the Moon, by Garth Stein

The Book:

Synopsis:

When Jenna Rosen abandons her comfortable Seattle life to visit Wrangell, Alaska, it’s a wrenching return to her past. The hometown of her Native American grandmother, Wrangell is located near the Thunder Bay Resort, where Jenna’s young son, Bobby, disappeared two years before. His body was never recovered, and Jenna is determined to lay to rest the aching mystery of his death. But whispers of ancient legends begin to suggest a frightening new possibility about Bobby’s fate, and Jenna must sift through the beliefs of her ancestors, the Tlingit, who still tell of powerful, menacing forces at work in the Alaskan wilderness. Armed with nothing but a mother’s protective instincts, Jenna’s quest for the truth behind her son’s disappearance is about to pull her into a terrifying and life-changing abyss.

The Good:

• I admit, I’m a total cover junkie when it comes to books, and the cover of this re-released novel is MUCH better than the cover used for the original 1998 publication.
• The exploration of Native American Tlingit stories and legends.  I found this area of the storyline creepy, mystical, and complex.  Very intriguing.
• The Alaskan setting.  Wrangell becomes a sort of character in itself, with the weather and surrounding forests and water.
• The supporting characters.  I’ll be honest – I think I liked them better than the main characters.  The sheriff, the local fisherman, the shaman – they all had an authenticity that I appreciated.
• The way Stein writes about grief.  I could feel Jenna’s heartache, and that’s what drew me into her story in the first place.
• The first half of this book – Stein starts out very strong and I was immediately invested in the book.
• The trajectory of the story.  I simply *had* to finish the book, because I simply *had* to know how it ended.
• The climax of the story.  Suspenseful, kinda creepy, well-written.

The Pause:

• The language.  Garth Stein explains in the afterword that one of the few revisions he made between the 1998 and 2010 editions was to cut a lot of the language.  In my opinion, he could have cut even more.  It’s just so unnecessary and doesn’t quite fit in with the mystical, moody nature of this book.
• The timeline.  Waffling back and forth between past and present is a tricky proposition, and in this case it didn’t work for me.  I understand why Stein did it, I’m just not sure I like how he did it.  It left me feeling disoriented.
• The storyline and character of the Private Eye.  Was it really necessary?  Could Stein have put pressure on Jenna and brought Robert to Alaska some other way?  This storyline was weak, and it inserted a vulgarity and brutality that disconnected it from the overall mood of the book.
• Robert.  I never did connect with his character, and felt unsympathetic towards him (which makes the ending all the more frustrating…more on that in a minute).
• That Jenna became such an inconsistent, unreliable character.  The book is written from a 3rd-person omniscient point of view, meaning we get to see inside everyone’s head to know what they’re thinking at any time.  There are several key moments when Jenna makes profound realizations about how she feels, only to turn on those feelings and go a completely different direction.  One of the main themes of Raven Stole the Moon is that nothing is inherently good or evil, nothing is either/or.  Maybe that’s what Stein is trying to communicate through Jenna as well, but it just left me feeling confused, and in some cases, totally duped.
• The ending.  OH, THE ENDING.  In at least one respect, I was satisfied.  But on another equally important point, I was absolutely dumbfounded.  And the final scene?  It put an exclamation point to Jenna’s inability to commit to her own feelings and decisions.

The Bottom Line:

I liked this book, but I really wanted to LOVE it.  Stein showed superior talent in The Art of Racing in the Rain, a book I really did love.  I was less impressed with this one, giving it a B- (or 3.5 out of 5 stars).

The Giveaway:

Terra Communications has generously offered a copy of Raven Stole the Moon to one reader of Tree, Root, and Twig.  To enter, please answer in a comment to this post:  what’s the last book you read?  US entries only, please.

For extra entires, do any of the following and leave an extra comment for each entry method used:

• Tweet about this giveaway (leave your Twitter ID in the comment)
• Follow this blog via Google Connect
• Subscribe to this blog via email or reader

All entries are due by 11:59PM CST Tuesday, March 23.  Good luck to everyone!

*Disclosure:  Terra Communications provided me with this copy to review, as well as the copy for giveaway.

You might also enjoy these related posts from Tree, Root, and Twig:

1. CLOSED: Book Review & Giveaway: Spaceheadz Book #1, by Jon Scieszka
2. CLOSED: Children’s Book Review and Giveaway: Because Your Mommy Loves You
3. Book Review: Mister Monday, by Garth Nix

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