Thursday, June 23, 2011

A Simple Ball of Yarn - a mini review

Dark of the Moon



Written by: Tracy Barrett

Released: September 19, 2011 by Harcourt Children’s Books

Summary: Ariadne is destined to become a goddess of the moon. She leads a lonely life, finding companionship only with her beloved, misshapen brother Asterion, who must be held captive below the palace for his own safety.

Then a ship arrives bearing a tribute of slaves from Athens, and Ariadne meets Theseus, the son of the king of Athens. Ariadne finds herself drawn to the newcomer, and soon they form a friendship—one that could perhaps become something more.

But Theseus is doomed to die as an offering to the minotaur, that monster beneath the palace—unless he can kill the beast first. And that "monster" is Ariadne’s brother . . .


I know that this story is base on the ancient myth about the minotaur and the labyrinth, but I have to confess that that’s about everything that I knew about the legend. Well, that and that there was a ball of string involved. So I went into reading this novel not fully knowing what was going to happen and having no clue what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome, though.

This novel alternated between Ariadne and Theseus’ perspectives, which really made it easy to follow the “love story” aspect and everything else that happens. Normally I’m not too keen on the alternating perspectives, but it really works for this novel, so I really didn’t give it a second thought. It also was interesting to read about how minor details can completely change a person’s perspective on something that happens... but I don’t want to give anything away.

I enjoyed reading this novel. It may not have been what I would normally pick up, but it was a nice change and very interesting. I’m giving it a 7/10 and stay tuned for a full review closer to the publication date.



My thanks to netGalley and Harcourt for allowing me to read an eARC of this novel.

No comments: