Review by fancyreadsbooks -- The Eclipsed by Dara Kent
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- Latest Review: The Eclipsed by Dara Kent
Review by fancyreadsbooks -- The Eclipsed by Dara Kent
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Eclipsed" by Dara Kent.]
The Eclipsed is a beautiful story of searching for meaning, forgiveness and redemption. The story follows a supernatural being, a Luna on her quest to keep reality from shattering. All lunas are tasked with the job of recording massive catastrophes where many lives are extinguished in order to ensure the fabrics of time and reality are not impacted. The lunas work alongside the Reapers, each of them separate but both required at mass casualty events.
The lead character of the story, Eighty-Nine is just like the other 99 lunas in her Eclipse. So average as to be almost invisible to humans with exception for the moth like wings which spread out only in the final moments of an event where the human lives are recorded and felt as essences. The lunas can only record and feel the human lives flowing through them momentarily. The tasks which exhilarates, then exhausts them must be recorded in the archives before a period of recovery. Lunas are born fully understanding their true purpose but Eighty-Nine and her best friend Six contemplate why they are tasked to always feel only momentarily a part of something important, always on the outside.
The friendship shown between Six and Eighty-Nine is quite an anomaly to the lunas who are depicted as barely noticing one another between their jobs. They have a true connection, care about one another and Eighty-Nine remembers her time before Six came along as a dark and dismal period of eternity. Six brought fun, laughter and depth to an existence which before had none outside of the lunas set purpose. After returning from a job, Luna is surprised to find the presence of a new Six, meaning her best friend somehow winked out of existence. Can Eighty-Nine find the secret to bring her friend back before the fabric of time unravels?
The Eclipsed is well written with no noticeable typos or errors and appears to be professionally edited. There are minimal curse words, however the first noted curse word appears on page 38 as ‘hell’. As a reader with a typical knack for guessing plot lines and endings, The Eclipsed kept the true nature of the lunas buried through most of the story, making the plot twists and turns all the more exciting. The story touches on so many thematic events such as friendship, true love, searching for purpose, the prisons we build for ourselves. The only struggle in reading the book were during the moments of disorientation for the main character. These points where Eighty-Nine is being pulled through time and/or space were difficult to understand and at times pulled me out of the story trying to make sense if I had read correctly. Although it is most certainly understood the scene is jarring and disorienting for the character, it would be preferable if there could be a modicum of clarity for the reader. At least to the point of not being drawn out of the story.
Overall, The Eclipsed is a beautiful original story without predictable patterns. The author writes the diverse characters in the series in a way which allows the reader to empathize with and root for the multiple beings while still maintaining an aura of their ‘otherness’. I give this book a rating of 4 out of 4.
******
The Eclipsed
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
The Eclipsed is a beautiful story of searching for meaning, forgiveness and redemption. The story follows a supernatural being, a Luna on her quest to keep reality from shattering. All lunas are tasked with the job of recording massive catastrophes where many lives are extinguished in order to ensure the fabrics of time and reality are not impacted. The lunas work alongside the Reapers, each of them separate but both required at mass casualty events.
The lead character of the story, Eighty-Nine is just like the other 99 lunas in her Eclipse. So average as to be almost invisible to humans with exception for the moth like wings which spread out only in the final moments of an event where the human lives are recorded and felt as essences. The lunas can only record and feel the human lives flowing through them momentarily. The tasks which exhilarates, then exhausts them must be recorded in the archives before a period of recovery. Lunas are born fully understanding their true purpose but Eighty-Nine and her best friend Six contemplate why they are tasked to always feel only momentarily a part of something important, always on the outside.
The friendship shown between Six and Eighty-Nine is quite an anomaly to the lunas who are depicted as barely noticing one another between their jobs. They have a true connection, care about one another and Eighty-Nine remembers her time before Six came along as a dark and dismal period of eternity. Six brought fun, laughter and depth to an existence which before had none outside of the lunas set purpose. After returning from a job, Luna is surprised to find the presence of a new Six, meaning her best friend somehow winked out of existence. Can Eighty-Nine find the secret to bring her friend back before the fabric of time unravels?
The Eclipsed is well written with no noticeable typos or errors and appears to be professionally edited. There are minimal curse words, however the first noted curse word appears on page 38 as ‘hell’. As a reader with a typical knack for guessing plot lines and endings, The Eclipsed kept the true nature of the lunas buried through most of the story, making the plot twists and turns all the more exciting. The story touches on so many thematic events such as friendship, true love, searching for purpose, the prisons we build for ourselves. The only struggle in reading the book were during the moments of disorientation for the main character. These points where Eighty-Nine is being pulled through time and/or space were difficult to understand and at times pulled me out of the story trying to make sense if I had read correctly. Although it is most certainly understood the scene is jarring and disorienting for the character, it would be preferable if there could be a modicum of clarity for the reader. At least to the point of not being drawn out of the story.
Overall, The Eclipsed is a beautiful original story without predictable patterns. The author writes the diverse characters in the series in a way which allows the reader to empathize with and root for the multiple beings while still maintaining an aura of their ‘otherness’. I give this book a rating of 4 out of 4.
******
The Eclipsed
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
Latest Review: The Eclipsed by Dara Kent
