Rating: 
Summary: Pretentious and silly
Review: This is a book for sensitive college girls who see faces in the moon. For the rest of us, though, this book is ridiculous. The use of mythology is interesting, but degenerates into laugh out loud scenes of bare-breasted women chanting and summoning snakes. Furthermore, Washington is a poor choice for a setting, since it is NOT an old city, even by North American standards.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't quite like it, but read it over and over
Review: I did think the plot was contrived, but the imagery captures the imagination despite the anachronisms and plot holes. This novel isn't about plot, anyway; it's about ideas, words, and images: they all become greater than the plot and haunt the reader long after the story line is forgotten...that is, after all, if it is forgotten.
Rating: 
Summary: It changed my life
Review: This book was a revelation for me. Not only was it beautifully and brilliantly written, but I so identified with Sweeney that I had to buy two copies of this (one for reading, one for underlining great passages). In addition it was a wonderful book to use for a research paper on horror literature. I recommend this to anyone looking for excellent reading materials, whether one uses it for academic purposes or purely entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing and way too long, but unpredictable
Review: I bought this book after having it suggested by another bookstore's recommendation engine and by reading the reviews on this page. I'm kinda peeved that I wasted this much time reading it (about 2 months). The main characters were well developed (except Angelica whose personality dropped off around the middle of the story- but I guess becoming a godess can do that to you.) The story was way too long to have such a short ending. Many of the twists were unpredictable but the ending was exactly what I pictured it to be. There was definitely not enough action and magic for my taste, at times (many times) it was just outright boring. I do applaud her for her research effort but I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, except maybe on tape since they compressed it onto about 2 tapes. Just the fact that they could fit a 500 page book on 2 tapes is ridiculous and shows how much crap she could have left out and still got her idea across. (Example. Mists of Avalon @ 1000 pages fit on more than 40 tapes this says to me that Mrs. Hand dropped close to 300 pages to fit her story on tape and it still made sense.)
Rating:
Summary: Kind of disappointing...
Review: i'd been thinking about picking up this book for almost 2 years when it was featured at a convention that i attended. the first half (the part where the characters are in college) had a nice feel to it. by the second half, it all went downhill. it got less moody. the characters who are introduced later are either completely undeveloped (dr. dvorkin) or cardboard (dylan). angela, a charcter who was fairly complex in the first segment of the book becomes a much more boring villain in the second half. by the end of the book, it had just become too predictable. well, not entirely. i was surprised that the benandanti, the powerful secret society in the first half, is surpisingly helpless in the second. there is no explanation why this group that has guarded humanity against the goddess religion for all time is suddenly powerless at the end of the novel.a more minor point is the author's apparent belief that washington d.c. has a tropical climate, or that the weather there is all that different from in new york city (i grew up almost exactly between the two cities and there never seemed to be much of a climactic difference to me). i just reread what i wrote and i think i've given the impression that i hated this book more than i did. it wasn't bad. its just that with the set up in the beginning i expected so much more...
Rating: 
Summary: Nice gothic tale
Review: I enjoyed this book very much, but was a little disappointed with the ending. It just didn't seem to fit with the spirit of the rest of the book. I think Ms. Hand did an enormous amount of research for this book, which I found incredibly interesting. Still, a great read for any "gothic" fiction fan!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading, hauntingly beautiful and unforgettable.
Review: I just happened across this book one day and thought it might be interesting... Now I am hooked and will read everything this author has written. This was a definate page-turner that kept me up far too late for three nights. The characters in this story are gripping and the story is mesmerizing. Some scenes are heart wrenching and brought me to tears. Her descriptive prose was so realistic you can almost feel the humidity and see that great big moon hanging there. I hope she writes a sequel, I would really like to hear from Sweeny again someday.
Rating:
Summary: It's just the BOMB, dude! (only didn't quite explode...)
Review: I don't think it's a horror novel. Sure, tons of people got killed, but most times Ms. Hand manages to create such a mystical and almost surrealistic atomsphere around all the incidents and characters that what I feel is not horror, but the feeling of drawn toward the vortex of oblivion with helpless elation. It's so beautiful, really. Except the very end, this book is perfect. About the ending, you may know how I feel if you've seen the movie "Leaving Las Vegas" and liked it like I do: in the whole movie Sera is talking to an invisible therapist. I really don't like that part, it's just silly; but on the other hand I just don't have any better idea. Same thing for the ending of this book: when the Angels are flying in the sky and Apocalypse is descending, I really hoped SOMETHING other than the actual ending happened. But I don't know what. Overall, it's definitely a great fantasy book to me.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping and impressive.
Review: Just want to thank all the people who read this book before me and put their thoughts on this site. I followed through on their 10 ratings and bought this book. A good solid read - Hand really uses words well. Sometimes you get the feeling that you don't really know what the hell is happening but still the utter thrill and suspense will keep you reading on. (Trust me - you really read on). Now I walk on the streets and every wavy-haired guy would remind me of Oliver or Dylan - both so handsomely described by Hand. I wish for a friend like Sweeney and well, uhm...moonlight just doesn't seem the same after the book. Right now, my book's being passed around at the office. Pray for me that I'll eventually get it back. Ha!
Rating:
Summary: Waking the Reader
Review: It started out well (though I would've paid another dollar to get a readable font). But after reading, and reading, and reading ... the payoff wasn't there. After I finished, I still had too many questions. Like what, exactly, were the Benandanti and how did they come about? Too many side plots that meant nothing, like the Minerva lawyer and getting back the artifacts -- what was that all about? And when did Dylan find the missing chunk of the lunula? And how could Sweeney be that braindead not to notice a major cult figure in America? What was that bit about Oliver? This book was just too unfinished. And I grew weary of reading about chthonic blackness ... This book was not erotic -- it wasn't even a very good bodice shredder (which is what it turned in to). Promising beginning, frustrating reading, disappointing ending.
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