The Last of the Moon Girls

The Last Of The Moon Girls' is a catchy title. The cover is eye-catching and has a wistful feel to it.

The premise also has promise: our heroine is the last of a long line of Moon women, each gifted in their own special way, who have lived at Moon Farm in a small New England town. She's stepped away from The Path, fleeing the farm after her grandmother is assumed to have murderer two dead girls whose bodies are found on the farm. Eight years later, after her grandmother's death, our heroine returns to tidy up affairs and stays to clear her grandmother's name.

Sounds like the basis for a good mystery/thriller with a twist of magic to add spice.

But it isn't.

From what I've seen so far, this is a romance. It's wrapped in an investigation into show more the murder of the two girls and tied up with a bow of pagan magic but its got in its DNA it's a Romance.

I could roll with that except I don't find the people believable. Our heroine seems barely to have grown up. The man helping her is so nice, butter wouldn't melt. The woman staying at the farm is a psychic from central casting.

Everything seems a little too neat and tidy to be real. It's like those shows on American TV where the actors all seem to have been taught the same set of facial expressions so that they can emote on command: I always know what they mean. I just don't believe they really mean it.

If you're looking for a cosy New England romance with a few trope twists and a garnish of mystery and magic then I think you'd enjoy 'The Last Of The Moon Girls'.

I'm setting it aside as a poor buying decision on my part or at least a poor selection from the free books Amazon offered this month. show less

The Last of the Moon Girls by Barbara Davis is well-written, full of twists and turns, and not quite predictable. Bordering on the edge of magic, it is part mystery, part love story, and part fairytale, all rolled up into a story that is as intriguing as it is hard to put down. I loved it and easily got lost in the story, which is what I always hope for in a well-written novel. With likable characters, bits of folklore here and there, and a hint of magic, it bewitches the reader into falling under its spell of magic and mystery to the last page.

Barbara Davis did her homework, as the witchy aspects of the story are accurate and delivered in a respectful manner rather than the often sensationalized manner that some authors employ when show more writing about witches and the craft. Just as important, Ms. Davis has a strong command of English grammar and mechanics, making the story a pleasure to read without the burden of deciphering blatant errors.

Witches are a popular subject in fiction, and those looking for a book about witches will not be disappointed, even though that aspect of the story is more subtle. Mostly the book focuses on the themes of acceptance, unconditional love, and what it means to be an outsider. I truly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to escape into the pages of a book with a story that feels like the reader has walked into a fairytale. show less

This book reminds me of my Grandma. She would have liked this book but not for the murder mystery or for the romance or even the supernatural element but because its really about woman. The relationships that woman have and specifically about mothers and daughters and the expectations we set on our children. More deeply, we view our mothers and grandmothers by the role they play in our own lives forgetting that they are more then the label we assign them but that they are full faceted people with their own dreams, and problems and lives separate from our own. That the damage they inflict on their children isn't always about the child but trying to fill the role of mother, grandmother while still being a person who is trying to figure show more their own life out and the expectations they inherited from their mother, and grandmother.

This book also is about the role that woman play in the bigger world conversations both historically and currently.

The Last of Moon Girls adds a splash of the supernatural and a murder mystery with a hint of romance to a beautiful narrative on the woman we love and what we want for our lives. Beautifully written with compelling charcters, a lovely summer read. show less

Thank you to the author for this book which I won on Blue Sky Chats book group on Facebook.

I know I'm a broken record when it comes to reviewing books about family but I loved this book. It was magical, mysterious, and everything else rolled up into one book.

Loved the characters Lizzy, her mom Rhanna who comes back after years to the family farm after leaving Lizzy with her mother Althea which is why Lizzy comes back after she dies. She finds Evvie living there who took care of her grandmother for years when Lizzie was working in New York. I loved her comforting presence and would have loved to meet her if she was real.

There's a lot going for this book and I don't want to repeat the plot.

Fun Story, Could Have Done Without The Epilogue. This was one of those moving yet fun and quirky stories about a person fleeing their home town as a teen only to be drawn back to it in the face of tragedy. The quirkiness was fun, and the magick was downplayed just enough to arguably keep this out of "paranormal" labels even while being present. (And the honeybee scene... that was cool. Freaky, but cool.) Overall has some similarities to the 2019 book The Scent Keeper by Erica Baurmeister, and that is not a bad thing at all. (This book takes a more paranormal tack, that one takes a more science based tack.) Really the only quibble I have with this book is the epilogue, where things are tied up maybe a bit too tidily for the overall tone show more of the book. Excellent work with a compelling mystery and fun characters - even if I did get at least part of the mystery solved by about the 36% mark. Though the ultimate unveiling was more of a surprise. Very much recommended. show less

This wasn't my favorite read for this year only because for me it was a little slow to start. But I loved the landscapes and description of the rundown farm, so well written you could envision the gardens full of flowers and the lavender fields full of beautiful grey and purple again.

Lizzy is part of a special family. Every woman in her family for generations has had a special, unique gift. The gift of healing. And when two girls die and are found in the Moon Girl Farm pond, the town accuses Althea, Lizzy’s grandmother, of being a witch.

Lizzy has been away from her family farm for quite a while. She has made a name for herself in NYC and she has no intention of ever coming back. Then she hears the news of her grandmother’s death. And the guilt of the past cannot keep away. She is determined to clear her grandmother’s name.

Lizzy is a force to be reckoned with. But, she has a soft side. Lizzy is a character I loved from the start. And let me tell you…nothing is going to stop her from finding the truth! She show more does not care who she makes mad or who threatens her. She is going to find out who the murderer is.

This is a story about family, love, and friendship. I enjoyed everything about this tale. The chemistry of the characters, the mystery and even the rumor mill of the town made this story unstoppable.

If you need a fantastic read…this is it!! Grab it today! Plus this cover is fabulous! show less