No Moon was another book acquired through Early Reviewers. Though it is a story for young adults, I found myself drawn in to the narrative and wound up finishing it in one afternoon. (Mind you, this says as much about my reading speed as it does about the lure of the story. I would have to say it was an equal balance of the two.)
The first chapter features a rather whirlwind approach; a representation in the prose of the confusion of childhood. As the protagonist ages and develops, there is a growth of understanding and clarity reflected in the prose. Such reflection is not often developed by writers, and I appreciated it very much.
The plot-line was engaging – it developed the main character, gave her a story, and was not a typical “Titanic” book. I was drawn in and genuinely cared about the fate of Louisa. In fact, though the voyage and sinking was the climax of the story, it felt rather personal to Louisa, rather than an event outside of her, and part of History – deliberate capital.
Some of the subjects touched upon were very emotional ones, not typically something one would see in literature for younger readers, but they were presented in a sensitive and realistic manner. Louisa faces a number of tragedies in her life, but her story is not, looking at the overarching theme, a sad one. It felt like a representation of what life can throw at us, both good and bad, and how we face them.
The other characters were a little predictable and set in their roles, but not at all in an offensive or distracting way. In light of the intended audience and length of book, I feel that the level of depth was perfectly suitable. They were colourful enough that there was some variety, but did not delve so deep that they were distracting. They were as fleshed out as they needed to be without crowding a relatively short book.
Overall, I have to say that I enjoyed this book a great deal. I’ve always been fascinated by the Titanic, and would probably have loved this story when I was younger.

(As usual, nitpicking and miscellaneous mutterings: I spotted a typo on page 17, and another later on, though by then I was too involved in the reading to stop and note which page it was on. Additionally, and this is a bit of a spoiler, I wound up doing a bit of research into the fate of the pregnant cat. Possibly just a wishful rumour, but apparently Jim Mulholland was a stoker who saw the cat carrying her four kittens off the ship before they set said across the ocean. He mentioned this later to a reporter as it was the reason why he decided to actually not sail himself. Though I haven’t verified this at all, other than some web searching, for the sake of my peace, I’m going to assume that that small family made it out alright, at least.)

Filed under: Books, Review by Lensblot