Crow Moon (Crow Moon, #1) in Read UKYA

Dec 02, 2014 Lucy Powrie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ukya-2015, ukya, review-books, kindle, to-review, debut, favourites, arcs

When you first hold a copy of your most anticipated read of the year in your hands, it fills you with dread. You think to yourself: will I like it? What if I hate it? Sometimes, though, you’ve just got to have a little faith.

In McKerrow’s debut novel, the world is split in two. There is the Greenworld – think environmentally friendly and self-sufficient - and the Redworld. The Redworld is your worst nightmare – filled with gangs, it’s made up of the people intent on finding a power source to sel When you first hold a copy of your most anticipated read of the year in your hands, it fills you with dread. You think to yourself: will I like it? What if I hate it? Sometimes, though, you’ve just got to have a little faith.

In McKerrow’s debut novel, the world is split in two. There is the Greenworld – think environmentally friendly and self-sufficient - and the Redworld. The Redworld is your worst nightmare – filled with gangs, it’s made up of the people intent on finding a power source to sell to the world.

Crow Moon is absolutely, undoubtedly my dream novel. I’ve been searching for something just like it for years and it’s not until now that I feel satisfied that I’ve finally found my ideal book. I devoured it within hours because I was so engrossed in the story and I adored all of the characters, who were so easily imaginable.

It’s an incredibly diverse novel – both racially and religiously. Crow Moon challenges stereotypes put in place by the media, as well as cultural ideas of witches and paganism. I hope it sets the trend for similar books (as well as climate fiction) with a realistic portrayal because it’s so desperately needed in modern fiction.

Danny’s exploration of the Greenworld opened up wonderful doors for the reader, who learns with Danny in a very natural way.

Although Danny is the protagonist, Saba was my favourite character; I could see myself reflected in her and she stood out immediately to me as soon as she was introduced. She’s a reason all on its own to read the book!

I desperately want to live in the Greenworld because it seems like such an idyllic, perfect place. McKerrow has created a vivid land to fictionally escape to. I hope in the future it’s possible to move to fictional worlds!

I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to be able to wait another year to read the sequel! I expect I’ll have to re-read this novel before then because I can’t bear to separate myself from the amazing world!

Crow Moon completely blew me away and I’ll be recommending it to absolutely everyone this year. PHENOMENAL! ...more

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Mar 05, 2015 Cora Tea Party Princess rated it really liked it

5 Words: Magic, survival, family, love, responsibility.

At the beginning I wasn't sure what to think.

This book doesn't really start slowly with a gentle introduction. You are thrust right into the heart of a green oasis in the middle of a ravaged world. And then you're surrounded by magic and superstition and danger.

And it's fantastic.

And more than a little bit weird at times.

I was so caught up in this world that when I finished the book I just sat and blinked and stared around a bit.

The best thi ...more

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Nov 27, 2014 Lu Hersey rated it it was amazing

In a not too distant future, Britain is divided into Red World and Green World. Red World is the consumer driven, polluting part we'd all recognise, while Green World is Devon and Cornwall, a land of eco living and non polluting self sufficiency, cut off from the rest of Britain.
In a world warring over remaining resources and where the future is uncertain, Danny, the hero of Crow Moon, has grown up in the relatively peaceful security of Green World. His mother's a powerful witch - but like many ...more

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Mar 28, 2015 Russell Sanderson rated it it was amazing

A wonderful book set in a near future where the remnants of modern society - the Redworld - have descended into crime, anarchy and war for the last remaining scraps of fuel. Meanwhile a community that has rejected consumerism, waste and violence has flourished in Devon and Cornwall - the Greenworld, an agrarian, Wiccan society, ruled by benevolent witches and living an environmentally sustainable life.

Sixteen year old Danny is the son of a head witch, who gets himself into trouble and has to tra ...more

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Jan 11, 2015 Sofia rated it really liked it

It took me so long to finish this book. Not because it wasn’t good. It was so very good but I just simply was not in the mood to read a fantasy book. However, in the last couple of days I committed myself to finishing it and I’m so happy I did. I loved the whole book for many reasons.

The first reason has to be because of the world. The world that Anna McKerrow has created is unique and just so wonderful to read about. I loved how we learnt more about the world as the book went on. There wasn’t a ...more

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Feb 22, 2015 Shannon rated it really liked it

Check out my full review over on my blog Click Here!

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A huge thank you to Quercus for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and loved the magical elements of the story. This is a great UKYA novel and I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel which is being released in spring 2016.

The characters in this novel are extremely vivid and fun to read about. I enjoyed reading the story from the perspective of Danny, our young protagonists, and I enj Check out my full review over on my blog Click Here!

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A huge thank you to Quercus for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and loved the magical elements of the story. This is a great UKYA novel and I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel which is being released in spring 2016.

The characters in this novel are extremely vivid and fun to read about. I enjoyed reading the story from the perspective of Danny, our young protagonists, and I enjoyed his voice as he narrates his journey from "Greenworld" boy into a world of magic and sorcery.Danny was extremely funny and cheeky and often made me laugh. Although at times I felt Danny was sexist and objectified women, it could be argued that this is just the way 16 year old boys minds work. I really enjoyed reading about his relationship with his mum and with Omar.

The other characters in the novel were also great. I loved the strong female witches, from beautiful Saba, to quiet and tough Melz. I loved reading about these girls and their power in their group. I really enjoyed how Anna Mc Kerrow captured the rebellious nature of these teenagers in a realistic way.

The plot of the novel focuses mainly around Danny and his journey into harnessing his own power. I did enjoy the plot but felt that at times it was a little slow, it did take me around 70 pages to get into the novels plot but I think that this may have been because I am in a slight reading slump! The plot was eventful, constantly filling the reader with information on magic and Greenworld life while also having this great slow build up to the main plot twist of the novel.

The writing style was so easy and fun to read. I really enjoyed the little snippets of poetry at the beginning of each chapter. The setting of both the Greenworld and Tintagel are so vivid and immediately the reader has an image of both towns clear in their mind. Mc Kerrows writing has a poetic flow at times and the reader is constantly drawn into the plot with vivid descriptions and humorous dialogue.

Overall a really good and magical start to what I think is going to be a great series. ...more

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May 11, 2015 Michelle added it

Shelves: uk-ya, england, 2015-read, favourites-2015

It’s no secret I’m a contemporary girl at heart, so sometimes it takes some convincing for me to pick up another genre. I kept hearing about Crow Moon on #ukyachat, but it wasn’t until Lucy from Queen of Contemporary listed it as one of her top five must-read books that I finally decided to give this a go.

Crow Moon is set some time in the future, where England has split up into the Greenworld and the Redworld. Those in the small village communities of the Greenworld live self-sufficiently, while It’s no secret I’m a contemporary girl at heart, so sometimes it takes some convincing for me to pick up another genre. I kept hearing about Crow Moon on #ukyachat, but it wasn’t until Lucy from Queen of Contemporary listed it as one of her top five must-read books that I finally decided to give this a go.

Crow Moon is set some time in the future, where England has split up into the Greenworld and the Redworld. Those in the small village communities of the Greenworld live self-sufficiently, while the Redworld wages wars over dwindling fuel supplies. In the Greenworld, each village has its own head witch, or set of witches, who protect the villagers from the Redworld and gangs roaming between the two societies. I absolutely loved the use of celtic mythology and paganism in Crow Moon. It’s clear so much research has gone into creating this world, yet the beauty of McKerrow’s writing is that this never takes away from the story or its characters.

Nature is a crucial element of Danny and the witches’ power and likewise, the Cornish setting for Crow Moon is integral to the story. I adored imagining the lush Cornish countryside and windswept cliffs of Tintagel. McKerrow shared some gorgeous photos of the places featured in the novel on her blog. I loved the way those in the Greenworld lived self-sufficiently, respecting nature. It’s so relevant to our current environmental concerns and definitely gave me a lot to think about. Much like When We Wake, Crow Moon had a richly imagined society, but this time it was one I would actually love to live in.

Danny was an interesting protagonist. What immediately struck me was his personality. Danny was likeable for the most part and I found his constant thoughts about getting with different girls refreshingly realistic, because let’s be honest what 16-year-old boy isn’t thinking about that, even if he does live in a pagan utopia? There were also times when I just wanted to shake some sense into him and ask what the hell he thought he was doing. For me caring that much about a character is always a sign of great writing.

One of my favourite elements of Crow Moon is how powerful women are within the Greenworld. It’s powerful and wise women who have protected the community for decades. It was refreshing to see that, despite discovering he was a powerful witch, Danny was learning from the wisdom of these women in the Greenworld and wouldn’t have been able to harness his magic without their guidance.

Crow Moon was a breath of fresh Cornish air. I can’t quite articulate why I love this so much because it was just one of those books which scream ‘favourite’ at me from the very first page. It’s all too easy to get completely lost in the Greenworld and the pagan magic sprinkled through its quaint English villages. Charming from start to finish, count me in for book two.

This review and many more can be found at The Unfinished Bookshelf. ...more

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