A Creature of Moonlight by Rebecca Hahn
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 2014
Reviewed from ARC

This is a book that, I’m pretty sure, was written just for me. I love fantasy, I love courtly politics, I love dragons and willful ladies. Somehow, though, even though my review is due, I have to confess that I’m only about half way through. (Sometimes, reading in short bursts on the subway is not my friend, even though it makes for nice visuals.)

I have a second confession: if I were on RealCommittee, I’m not sure I’d finish A Creature of Moonlight. It’s written in a distinctive first person voice, it’s got a detailed fantasy setting, the passages describing the lure of magic are strong, and it provides a thoughtful exploration of what it means to be different — it’s competent and sometimes compelling, but it doesn’t feel fresh or particularly groundbreaking.

It’s also a very slow-paced story; Marni’s only just started on knitting her vengeance and hasn’t even taken off for the forest to explore the woodland magic. Her time at court is clearly wrapping up, and I’m looking forward to lots of upcoming stuff (getting more answers, meeting the dragon, watching Marni navigate the path forward — which will probably involve less revenge than I’m hoping for).

So don’t get me wrong; I’ll be sad to put it aside. The number of readers I’ll be handing this book to is pretty impressive, too; there’s certainly appeal within the pages. But time is limited, and we have a mission here! This is the kind of decision RealCommittee members have to make pretty often — when to give up on a good but not entirely Printzly read. And I think I’ve reached that point.

What I will be wondering about: A Creature of Moonlight‘s chances as a Morris finalist. We’ve written before about the differences between Printz reading and Morris reading. With the smaller pool of candidates, I wonder if Hahn’s strong characterization and detailed world building will stand out. I definitely hope so; I’ll be happy to have the excuse to return to the title.

Many of you have probably finished this book. What are your thoughts? Can you give me any excuses to pick it back up during blogging season (she types with hope)?