Review: Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein
by Jenners • 03/04/2010 • 3 Stars, Fiction, Literary, R Titles, S Authors • 17 Comments
Raven Stole the MoonHarper, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-180638-4
Genre: Fiction
My rating: 3 stars
Story Overview
On the surface, Jenna Rosen has it all: a husband who loves her, a comfortable life in Seattle, and good looks. But Jenna is troubled; it shows in her excessive drinking, Valium addiction, depression and the increasing discord in her marriage. But her problems can all be traced back to the loss of her son Bobby, who drowned during a family vacation in Alaska two years ago. Jenna blames herself for Bobby’s death and cannot get past it. Yet her husband Robert seems to have been able to put the past to rest. One night at a party, Jenna gets in Robert’s car and keeps on driving. Her trip leads her to Bellingham, WA, where she impulsively boards the ferry that will take her to Wrangell, Alaska—a small town where her Native American grandmother lived and close to the Thunder Bay Resort where Bobby died.
Once in Wrangell, things happen that lead her to believe that something is calling her to discover the truth about Bobby’s death. Her grandmother’s Tlingit ancestry begins to manifest itself in strange and frightening ways. As Jenna begins to explore the Tlingit legends of the kushtaka, she begins to believe that Bobby’s death was no accident. Determined to find the truth, Jenna embarks on a quest to discover what really happened at Thunder Bay. The result is a terrifying but liberating journey into the heart of the Alaska wilderness and the ancient legends of the Tlingits.
My Thoughts
Contrary to what you might think, this isn’t a new book by Garth Stein, author of the best-selling Art of Racing in the Rain (which is on my TBR list for later this year). Rather, this is a rerelease of his first novel, which was published in 1998. (Note to authors: If your first book is not very successful, keep on trying. You may score later on and then get a rerelease for your earlier books!) Raven Stole the Moon has been out of print for several years, but is being rereleased on March 9. Remember how I told you I was reading a mystery book that I couldn’t talk about? This was it!
Anyway, on to my thoughts about the book. I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I enjoy stories of ancient legends coming to life in our modern world, and I thought the sections dealing with the kushtaka were disturbing and frightening at times. (Let me tell you, after reading this book, I won’t look at otters quite the same way again!) On the other hand, I had some issues with the tone and writing in the book. In many ways, the book is told in a very plain, straightforward way: She did this. Then she did that. He reacted this way. Then the author mixes in some stream-of-consciousness stuff that I found a bit jarring. Here is a small example:
She got off the freeway in Bellingham feeling tired and hungry. She pulled into a gas station to get some fuel for the Machine, and she picked up some Corn Nuts and a Coke—fuel for herself. The trip suddenly had the feeling of an all-night drive. Standing under a canopy of fluorescent bulbs. Artificial sunlight. Electrified reality. Everyone would be asleep if they weren’t plugged in.
My other quibble was that I thought the emotional lives of characters could have been better developed. We know Jenna is devastated by the loss of her son because the author tells us, but I never really felt it from Jenna herself. For me, this kept the book from being more than a competently told story with some supernatural elements. I think with a little more work and polishing, this book could have been something special. However, in the end, I think it falls shy of the mark.
My Final Recommendation
If you enjoy books with supernatural elements related to Native American culture, this would be a good read for you. The Tlingit legends and story line were the most compelling part of the story for me, and the descriptions of the kushtaka were interesting and a bit frightening. Although the writing is competent and the story moves along quickly, I didn’t think it was unforgettable or out of the ordinary. For this reason, I’m giving it 3 stars. However, that is just one girl’s opinion! I suspect you’ll be seeing a torrent of other reviews about this book in the coming week so check out what other bloggers thought about it using the Book Blogs Search Engine.
Also, if you fell in love with Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain (and so many of you seem to have done that!), you may want to check out this book. I know that when I fall in a love with a book, I always like to explore the author’s other writings as well.
The Whys and Wheres: A big thank you to Terra Communications for my review copy. They graciously offered me the opportunity to be a part of promoting this rerelease.
Hey … you know that if you click on the link above and buy this book, I might get a few cents. I think I’m supposed to let you know that. No obligation or anything. But if my review made you want to buy the book, why not help me out? All proceeds go to support this blog. Not there are a lot of proceeds, by the way. If I’m lucky, I might eventually get enough to pay the postage for one of the giveaways I’m always having.
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I probably did like this one a bit more than you – but I know what you mean about the weird, choppy sentences. That bugged me for quite a while. I almost abandoned it until Jenna made it to Alaska – then things got a lot better for me.
I am not familiar with this author..as usual…lol
I must say I was interested by the Alaska connection. When I was up there, I did not get to Wrangell..but was close.
Bummer…the story does sound really interesting, but I'm not sure I could handle the writing. Plus, the fact that it's a re-release just seems odd. Like someone thought, "Hey! Let's capitalize on the success of Racing in the Rain!"
Thanks for the answer, Jenners. I read through the HarperCollins browser copy, and it seems a little different to me. I might have to break out my old copy because now I'm really curious.
I was really excited about this one until I found out it was a re-release. Now, I think I'll skip it.
Katy: Couldn't see how to reach you so I'm responding here. The blurb at the end of the book says he didn't make too many changes to it for the rerelease so I don't think it was substantially different from you read.
I haven't read any Garth Stein, but your review and these comments have me curious about his work. I love dogs, so perhaps I should check out "The Art of Racing Rain". You also have me wondering about the otters. My husband traps and I have a beautiful coat he had made for me from otters he trapped on our property. I don't know what they're like in the book, but in reality they're very efficient killing machines!
Thanks for a great review. I do like supernatural/legends and loved Racing in the Rain so would probably give this a try – with this extra knowledge I won't expect too much.
It's too bad he didn't do a re-write of the book, but I guess it would be hard to go back to it after all that time. I did like The Art of Racing in the Rain though, and one scene in particular from that book (where the dog rides in the race car) pops into my head at odd times.
I read this book back before Garth Stein was known. I loved it, because I'm from the northwest and really enjoy local stories. Are there changes to this re-release? It looks like it has a new cover… just curious… I might be interested in picking up a new copy if there are changes.
Jenners…Glad it was not just me. I LOVED The Art of Racing in the Rain, but this book by Stein–not so much. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
This sounds like a good book. I'll definitely enter the giveaway. I've been wanting to read "art of racing in the rain" but I keep forgetting about it then hearing about it and saying "oh yeah, I've been wanting to read that book!"
Good honest review. After reading Racing in the rain, I've wanted to check out his other books-thank you for doing that for me!! I'm so glad he kept trying!
The switches in tense bugged me, as did the little snatches of songs that would play through Robert's head on occasion. But I wanted to slap Robert most of the time anyway. lol
Really good review of this book which I finished last night (my review will post either later today or tomorrow morning). I agree with most of your points – Stein's writing in The Art of Racing in the Rain is so much better – but he wrote Raven Stole the Moon 13 years ago! I liked seeing his growth as a writer. Aside from that, I had mixed feelings about the book itself.
Great review that alas, convinced me not to get this book! Well, your review and also a message I received from an otter blogger.