Rating: 
Summary: Overwrought with an ending that left me saying Huh?
Review: What a struggle! Even though I'm pretty good at suspending belief to let the author carry me along for awhile. Well, the ending was a total let down. One of the very few times an author has angered me. Things happen that she hasn't prepared you for, especially Sweeney's climatic moment. It's OK to take me for a ride, Ms. Hand, but don't make me feel like a fool for coming along.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book! The best science fantasy I have ever read!
Review: A marvelous book by a wonderful writer. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in a bit of mythology and suspense!
Rating:
Summary: zzzzzzzzzzzzz..............
Review: As an avid reader, I was really looking forward to a good, long read when I picked up this book. Well, I was half right. At this point, I am determined to finish this book only because I've wasted so much time thus far and would like to see for myself that it does indeed end. I believe Ms. Hand enjoys reading her own writing as much as some people enjoy hearing themselves talk. Other readers have found sections so meaningful that they have read them over and over. I, too, have read sections repeatedly. I finally learned to omit about every other word and found that the sentences made much more sense. Then there are the little things that really seem silly considering how much research supposedly went into the book. When does this book take place? If Sweeney was at the Divine twenty years ago, she would have been there in the seventies, right? Where'd Angelica find those tinted lenses? She didn't seem to know she was a goddess at that point, so I guess she didn't conjure them up. Actually, I have been known to give up on a book. I'm just disappointed that this one didn't deliver when it had so much potential.
Rating:
Summary: haunting
Review: I read this book a year ago and can't get it out of my mind--ms. hand has tapped into something very powerful here, and tells a dark, nasty, and very convincingly researched and detailed nightmare about what might happen if the goddess really came back...couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: This book makes you feel what you are reading.
Review: This book is well written and gives a very graphic picture of the characters in a manner that does not draw you into utter boredom, like some. It has alot of feeling and even some suspens If you like it you will love Winterlong it's twice as good.
Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking, exciting and realistic
Review: I would dearly love to have Ms. Hand's bibliography for this novel. The research was tremendous, her style excellent and the story itself a non-stop, read it all night tale. I finished the book a week ago, and am still going back and re-reading sections. I loved it!
Rating: 
Summary: Good Writing + Horrible Plot + Poor Editing = Hype
Review: What starts out as an compelling narative filled with moody characters quickly devolves into a story that owes most of its story line to late night B-Movie horror flicks. Would you believe an Archeologist discovers an ancient body killed in a ritual murder? Would you believe the body wears a strange bit of jewelery? Would you believe that doning that jewlery causes the wearer to lure people to bed and kill them? Gasp! How original! This is the heart of the tale that is dressed up with some post-feminist rant regarding the absence of Godess worship. It seems that there is this secret organzation who has had through the ages the mission of wiping out all Godess worship. But lest the reader think that this is a bad thing, we are quickly treated to the knowledge that Godess worship involves ritual murders culminating in no less that the destruction of all life on this planet. Quick check. Yes this book is written by a woman, not some rabid misogomist. But its all OK really because the book offer such weighty insights as nothing is all black and white or my favorit, ritual murder isn't all bad. Still, despite the poor underpinnings - the author seems unaware or ignored the fact that godess worship is alive in other cultures and to some extent in Christiantiy throught the Virgin Mary and the Saints and faded away under the push of monotheism that got rid of Gods of both genders - still all in all the book is very readable. Disappointing, yes. Predictable, yes. Silly, yes. Boring, no. It's not bad if you don't expect much.
Rating:
Summary: Mythology in the modern world
Review: In Waking the Moon, Elizabeth Hand builds upon what Neil Gaiman has been trying to do (and brilliantly succeeding at, may I add) for years, and that's bring magic back into the modern world, create modern myths ofr readers to explore, enjoy and learn from. She does all of this in this aching, terrifyingly beautiful book. The only fault I can really find in this novel is the ending, which left a bit to be desired. It was confusing, and throwing the Dylan element in wasn't exactly to taste, but these points are easy to overlook as the rest of the novel is gothic, erotic and just really well written. Hand writes like she has silver in her pen. Just beautiful imagery. Highly recommended. I don't think you'll be sorry.
Rating: 
Summary: Great plot but cumbersome writing = disappointing
Review: I had great expectations for this book, as there are so many good reviews out on it. I found it to be very disappointing. The plot was very imaginative and could have been exciting. But the writing was overly verbose without being engaging. I never felt for any of the characters despite the author's obvious attempt to make things feel real. I also was discouraged by some big problems with the narrative - the ending was dramatic, but the consequences of both sides were not explored. In the end, the narrative has convinced the reader that matriarchal-based religion is seductive but evil, but she never explores the consequences or goals of the patriarchal religion and society that the Benandanti defend. By not addressing the world that the Benandanti stand for and by lumping all ancient goddess-based religions into one homogenous blood-hungry cult, the author's epic starts to seem more simplistic than it should, like a soap-opera.
Rating:
Summary: Form your own opinion, but man.......was this good.
Review: I found this novel to be everything a novel should be-- entertaining. OK, so it's not exactly the highest standard, but when you come right down to it that's what I found _Waking the Moon_ to be. Sure, it was full of rich imagery, and descriptions of the fantastic that made you think you were seeing the actual events take place. Plus, Sweeney is a great protagonist. But all in all, the book was just a great experience. However, anyone who approaches it looking for a ghost story, or a horror novel, or fantasy, is going to be sorely disappointed. The book does not fit firmly into any genre, but stradles them all. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a "novel" read.
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