Review of Day Moon by the RW Team

RW Disclaimer:  

The Rebellious Writing Team received this work from the author free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are the reviewers', and may not reflect Rebellious Writing as a whole. Rebellious Writing's reviews and star ratings only apply to the work in question, not to every work by the author.


Lila Kims and Audrey Caylin took up the task of reading and reviewing Day Moon by Brett Armstrong. Here are their thoughts on this YA dystopian!

image source: Goodreads

                         

Goodreads Summary:

In A.D. 2039, a prodigious seventeen year old, Elliott, is assigned to work on a global soft-ware initiative his deceased grandfather helped found. Project Alexandria is intended to provide the entire world secure and equal access to all accumulated human knowledge. All forms of print are destroyed in good faith, to ensure everyone has equal footing, and Elliott knows he must soon part with his final treasure: a book of Shakespeare’s complete works gifted him by his grandfather. Before it is destroyed, Elliott notices something is amiss with the book, or rather Project Alexandria. The two do not match, including an extra sonnet titled “Day Moon”. When Elliott investigates, he uncovers far more than he bargained for. There are sinister forces backing Project Alexandria who have no intention of using it for its public purpose. Elliott soon finds himself on the run from federal authorities and facing betrayals and deceit from those closest to him. Following clues left by his grandfather, with agents close at hand, Elliott desperately hopes to find a way to stop Project Alexandria. All of history past and yet to be depend on it.

Lila's Review:

Not a bad dystopian! I didn't find it amazing, nor can I say that I even liked it a lot. I liked it, and that's it. :)

Language: ✩✩✩✩✩. We're good in this area, I do believe!

Abuse: ✩✩✩✩✩. I think we're good in this area, as well. Looking back, I can't recall anything abuse-related that would turn a YA reader away.

Lust: ✩✩✩🟉 (3 1/2 stars). There were some kisses (at least one was pretty passionate) and physical attraction between the main character Elliott and his friend/romantic interest. None of it was bad - it was even cute at times - but some of it might make readers uncomfortable.
Also, another character gave off a fairly bad vibe in regards to lust. She is even, at one point, seen wearing inappropriate clothing. It's a long story, but... yeah. :/ That particular character made Elliott super uncomfortable in general, though, so it wasn't put in a good light.

Likes:

- The characters! Most of them were interesting, not flat, which was nice. I found Elliott to be a very flawed yet likeable and realistic character. :)

- The Christian aspect. This is a dystopian book with some elements of Christianity mixed in, rather than a Christian book with some elements of dystopian mixed in. That's how I see the novel, and I like it. As a Christian myself, I found that the author's incorporation of God and faith was well-executed. It wasn't subtle, but it wasn't excessive, and I certainly didn't feel like it was trying to shove the Bible down my throat.

- The dystopian aspect of the novel. This book's version of the world's future was simple, unique, and vivid!

Dislikes:

- The writing style. It wasn't bad; it was pretty distinctive, actually. My problem with it is that there were so many parts that could have been cut down and, as a result, been more effective and engaging as a result.

- Some things the characters did were jarring. It's hard to explain, but I almost want to say some of their immediate decisions seemed... unnatural? Especially John's. And some of the dialogue felt slightly unrealistic.

- Lara. Overall, she annoyed me. I found her a little too possessive of Elliott at times. This is just a personal preference, though. Many readers would or do like her, I'm sure.

Overall: ✩✩✩. Not my favorite book, but I definitely appreciated how unique of a dystopian it was, and how the Christian principles were woven into the novel. If you're in search of a fresh Christian dystopian, I recommend Day Moon!

Audrey's Review:

The premise of Day Moon immediately caught my attention, as well as the fact that it's a Christian dystopian, and those are pretty rare these days. It wasn't a very fast read, but it was very interesting and kept my attention well.

Language:  ✩✩✩✩✩. There was absolutely no language! There might have been a mention or two of swearing (i.e. "he swore"), but I can't remember anything else.

Abuse: ✩✩✩✩.  There were a couple fight scenes and threats of torture, but those are pretty common in all YA books. 

Lust: ✩✩✩.  The two MCs are in love and share more than one kiss. It's kept clean though. There was also one scene that implied two characters sleeping together, and one of those characters acted and dressed pretty inappropriately for several scenes.

Overall: ✩✩✩✩. The story was well written, mixing in elements of mystery and contemporary, though still sticking with an overall dystopian theme. The plot felt a little slow in a few places, but I loved the characters enough to keep reading. The theme was very beautiful too. The only problem I had was with the prose, where there was a bit of head hopping and quite a bit of telling, but other than that, it was a wonderful, clean story, and I'd definitely recommend it.

image source: Goodreads author page

About the Author (bio source: one of the back pages of Day Moon)

Brett Armstrong started writing stories at age nine, penning a tale of revenge and ambition set in the last days of the Aztec Empire. Twenty years later, he is still telling stories though admittedly his philosophy has deepened with his Christian faith and a master’s degree in creative writing. His goal with every work is to be like a brush in the Master artist’s hand and his hope is the finished composition always reflects the design God had in mind. He feels writing should be engaging, immersive, entertaining, and always purposeful. Continually busy at work with one or more new novels to come, he also enjoys drawing, gardening, and playing with his beautiful wife and son.

Visit Brett Armstrong's website at www.brettarmstrong.net.