T.W. Fendley

Moonblood is a mystery fantasy book set in a future world where humanity has splintered into three subraces. There are Eves who are immortal women who reproduce through virgin births and feed off the light of the moon. There are Adams who are immortal men that feed off sunlight and whose otherwise immortal Eve mothers die after giving birth. Cains are the third subrace which is composed of mortal humans who reproduce in the usual way and eat meat in order to live. Each race lives separately and largely in fear of each other.

The novel weaves together two separate plotlines which eventually conjoin where a scientific innovation shows potential for bringing the subraces together and sowing some seeds of peace. One plot centers around a young Cain woman and her mother who are accused of being Eves and the other involves a young Eve who finds herself trapped in the dangerous environment outside her Eve compound.

Overall Moonblood is well written with an engaging premise and multiple suspenseful plot twists. The story drags a bit in the middle but not so much as to cause the reader to lose interest. It would be a good read for young adults who enjoy fantasy and science fiction novels and adult fantasy readers who are looking for a lighter intriguing story.

This review is based on the audiobook version of the novel. Seeing as the book has numerous minor characters and is dialog-heavy in some places, the audiobook format is a good choice. The reader adjusted her voice to represent each character. This is helpful for maintaining interest and to clearly signal a change in speaker and to identify who is speaking.… (plus d'informations)

I received an early reader copy from LibraryThing.com in return for an honest review.
I am not sure what category I would put this book. It’s clearly sci-fi and ponders aspects of societal changes that would occur if we had great leaps in longevity research. (In the real world this research exists too, check out the The Coalition for Radical Life Extension) But the book more focuses on the romances between the main character and three partners she has. The sex scenes are too graphic for romances I have read before, but too sparse for erotica.
Overall, the topics and ideas Fendley comes up with are very interesting and engaging. I liked the congressional hearing section (sounds boring, but really realistic enough to be believable without becoming CSPAN). I believe people would fight back against such miraculous treatments and politicians can always find a way to profit off of fear.
Still, I felt emotionally detached from the characters. The love story was straight forward, but lacked some sweet ache wonder and waiting. Maybe the characters were too lackadaisical and quick to decide “this is love!” before declaring their love to each other. It left me feeling like they were more in lust than love and then not really care when they fought with each other.
Overall the writing style was descriptive and clear. The ideas were interesting and make you wonder what you would do in this future.… (plus d'informations)

What a captivating novel. Fendley's character development by alternating chapters on the main characters made the story move along quickly. Her creation of the particular lineages of Eves and Adams was fascinating - I feel all women have some connection to the Eves! The conflict between the Adams, Eves and Cains echoes some of the strife in today's world. Hopefully those struggles will not exist by the time we reach the technological level Fendley created for her world. I fell the ending wrapped up suddenly, but I do not know how she could have expended it. All told, an enjoyable read.… (plus d'informations)