If you asked me a couple of years ago if I would be into dystopian books, I would have laughed. Oh how times have changed – and it is all thanks to this blog and the wonderful authors who put their faith in me to review their books. But I digress. Maybe I would have fell down the dystopian hole a lot sooner had I read this next book. A dystopian story not based around technology or the end of the world, can it work? Yes, it can!
Goodreads Blurb
The Moon Hunters by Anya Pavelle
The Pestilence sweeps the globe with terrifying speed. A group of survivors finds an island sanctuary.
Three generations later, no one has heard from the outside world in years. The old radio only crackles with static. The Pestilence either finished its job or the world tore itself apart.
In the Village of Lehom, Leilani has been called to court as a Virtue by the King. Going to court means losing her independence and self-respect. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have a choice.
Leilani decides to take a stand; the King be damned. She plans a daring escape and sets in motion a series of events that will shake the foundation of her village and the island to its core.
Review
Ok, I bent the truth a bit. There is an element of “the end of the world” in The Moon Hunters but, unlike other dystopian books, it is minimal. The Moon Hunters takes place in a time where the world has restored itself, so you won’t have tot deal with a bunch of characters running around wondering how they will survive.
However, this world, or at least the village of Lehom, is as awful a place to live in as the “end of the world” scenarios I’ve read about in the past. Why? Because of the damnation of the women who live there.
In Lehom, women are not independent, cannot make their own choices, are not free to marry as they choose. Actually, it sounds rather like parts of today’s world, right? Where women are oppressed and the root of this oppression is religion. That’s what makes The Moon Hunters so disturbing. There are some fantastical elements to this book, but there are many elements that are true of today’s world. Therefore, the book had me asking myself one important question: how far away are we from returning to the oppression of women. We can already see some parts of the developed world unravelling the hard work done to combat racism, why should women be any different?
The Moon Hunters is no light read but it addresses important questions. Plus, it is not your usual “there are only ten survivors on earth” kind of story. Two great reasons to pick up a copy, if you ask me.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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