On the Night of the Seventh Moon

I read this for "Gothic square". "On the Night of the Seventh Moon" by Victoria Holt.

So I just realized after finishing this book that I really can't write a very in-depth review, because if I do I'll be spoiling the entire book. So I'm going to try to keep this to just general things and then you can make a decision if you want to read this for Halloween book bingo.

On the night of the seventh moon is told from the first person point of view of a young girl named Helena. Helena is raised in a loving household, the only fly in the ointment so to speak is the fact that her parents are both desperately in love with each other and that doesn't leave a lot of love left over for her when they are in the same room together.

Helena's mother is show more from a Germanic country. The book doesn't really come out and say where she's from exactly and I couldn't guess and I was honestly not really in the mood to go do some digging about this. Helena's father is English and though many around them don't think the marriage is going to work, it does.

The only thing that Helena's mother really wanted was for her daughter to be sent away to learn Germany and French and other things and Helena is eventually sent to a boarding school that's near a town that her mother knows. So we find out pretty early on that Helena is sent away from home for four years and is being raised and taught by nuns.

Everything kind of goes sideways for Helena when she gets lost in a forest when mist suddenly forms. Helena meets some mysterious man and she calls him Siegfried. He takes her back to his lodge (as one does) and then goes about trying to seduce her. Long story short, everyone around can tell that Siegfried is up to no good, but Helena feels so excited by things. Blech. This little adventure ends up with her almost being raped (she bolts the door and is later awoken by the doorknob turning) but in the light of day is disappointed.

Smack upside the head for Helena.

Cue Helena having to go home after her mother passes away and then her father does as well. Being forced to go home to her dreary little village and not be able to see her Siegfried again it's just making her sad. I on the other hand think that if she had any sense she would realize that Siegfried was not a cool dude and she should just move on but then we wouldn't have a story here if that's what the author chose to do what do we?

Fast forward to some relatives of Helena's mother showing up and when she's given the opportunity to return with them to be at a nearby Village that is close to her old school she jumps on it because of course all she's thinking of is seeing her Siegfried again.

And see him again she does. I'm not going to talk much after that because that's where the mystery lies and the entire rest of the book is Helena unraveling who's being truthful and who is lying to her. I do have to say that even when she does find out what's been going on I think that she took things way too laid-back for for what I would have probably have done. And I honestly wish that Holt had just decided to end the book in a different way because I never did warm up to Siegfried.

I have to say that I thought that the writing that Holt did in this one was very good. I love the descriptions of the town's and other locations that appear in this story. Holt really made me feel like I was Helena in a couple scenes as she becomes more and more thrilled with her surroundings. Everything sounds positively Gothic at times which was nice to read on an overcast day.

The ending just turned into a mess though. Once again won't spoil for others, but it just didn't make a lot of sense at all. Then Holt does an epilogue that shows what happened to everyone and I ended up just feeling dissatisfied. show less

After running out of fresh Mary Stewart novels to read, I turned back to Victoria Holt to try and fill the gap. On the Night of the Seventh Moon is romantic suspense with a bit of a fantasy twist. Set in the middle of the 19th century and spanning the course of about two decades, this novel is set in the Black Forest. The Night of the Seventh Moon is the evening on which Loke, the god of mischief, comes out to play; on one such of these nights, Helena Trant becomes lost and meets a dark handsome stranger in the forest…

The concept is a little bit cheesy, the outcome is predictable, and there were a number of coincidences that were a little bit too much for me. But I loved this novel. The setting is magical, literally, and the book show more moves at a rapid pace. Holt keeps her reader perpetually guessing at the motives of the main character’s love interest (in a good way; if we were as sure as Helena is about Sigfried/Maximilian’s motives, the fun would have been completely removed from the plot.

I also loved the inclusion of German pagan myths, which adds something interesting and fun to the book. Victoria Holt was also very skilled at writing about people; I enjoyed watching Helena mature from a naive girl to a young woman. It’s pretty obvious, however, where the story will go; but getting there is half the fun of this novel. show less

I enjoyed this. Victoria Holt is the master of Gothic Romance. I rated this 4 stars only because I want to distinguish my 5 star ratings as more to my liking.
Yet I couldn't stop reading this until I reached the resolution. She tied all the loose ends up very nicely and used beautiful language. The damsel in distress storyline of this was a bit predictable, but all of the adventures and turmoil in-between made up for it. I didn't predict those twists and turns! I was biting my nails on edge of my seat.
Whenever I need a break from the heavy literature I normally consume, and my soul needs a warm happy ending, I will turn to another Gothic romance from Victoria, because she was certainly the best of this genre.

Compared to the other Victoria Holt novels I’ve read to date this one rates high in terms of creating mystery and suspense. Certain outcomes weren’t difficult to predict but many other revelations did surprise me.

The characters are all well-drawn, especially the children and the illness-obsessed aunt.

The plot works well and many scenes are vividly portrayed.

As usual with Ms Holt much of this novel revolves around a long suspenseful build-up to a climax that's over too soon. I often feel that this author doesn't squeeze the full potential out of dramatic/exciting/frightening scenarios. She's great at building suspense, creating mystery, but tends to resolve her heroine's most trying moments too quickly and too easily, as I feel she's show more done here.

Overall, a good read, though the ending had the potential to have been much better. show less

I read this for "Gothic square". "On the Night of the Seventh Moon" by Victoria Holt.

So I just realized after finishing this book that I really can't write a very in-depth review, because if I do I'll be spoiling the entire book. So I'm going to try to keep this to just general things and then you can make a decision if you want to read this for Halloween book bingo.

On the night of the seventh moon is told from the first person point of view of a young girl named Helena. Helena is raised in a loving household, the only fly in the ointment so to speak is the fact that her parents are both desperately in love with each other and that doesn't leave a lot of love left over for her when they are in the same room together.

Helena's mother is show more from a Germanic country. The book doesn't really come out and say where she's from exactly and I couldn't guess and I was honestly not really in the mood to go do some digging about this. Helena's father is English and though many around them don't think the marriage is going to work, it does.

The only thing that Helena's mother really wanted was for her daughter to be sent away to learn Germany and French and other things and Helena is eventually sent to a boarding school that's near a town that her mother knows. So we find out pretty early on that Helena is sent away from home for four years and is being raised and taught by nuns.

Everything kind of goes sideways for Helena when she gets lost in a forest when mist suddenly forms. Helena meets some mysterious man and she calls him Siegfried. He takes her back to his lodge (as one does) and then goes about trying to seduce her. Long story short, everyone around can tell that Siegfried is up to no good, but Helena feels so excited by things. Blech. This little adventure ends up with her almost being raped (she bolts the door and is later awoken by the doorknob turning) but in the light of day is disappointed.

Smack upside the head for Helena.

Cue Helena having to go home after her mother passes away and then her father does as well. Being forced to go home to her dreary little village and not be able to see her Siegfried again it's just making her sad. I on the other hand think that if she had any sense she would realize that Siegfried was not a cool dude and she should just move on but then we wouldn't have a story here if that's what the author chose to do what do we?

Fast forward to some relatives of Helena's mother showing up and when she's given the opportunity to return with them to be at a nearby Village that is close to her old school she jumps on it because of course all she's thinking of is seeing her Siegfried again.

And see him again she does. I'm not going to talk much after that because that's where the mystery lies and the entire rest of the book is Helena unraveling who's being truthful and who is lying to her. I do have to say that even when she does find out what's been going on I think that she took things way too laid-back for for what I would have probably have done. And I honestly wish that Holt had just decided to end the book in a different way because I never did warm up to Siegfried.

I have to say that I thought that the writing that Holt did in this one was very good. I love the descriptions of the town's and other locations that appear in this story. Holt really made me feel like I was Helena in a couple scenes as she becomes more and more thrilled with her surroundings. Everything sounds positively Gothic at times which was nice to read on an overcast day.

The ending just turned into a mess though. Once again won't spoil for others, but it just didn't make a lot of sense at all. Then Holt does an epilogue that shows what happened to everyone and I ended up just feeling dissatisfied. show less

3.3 stars

And I had learned the truth of what happened on the Night of the Seventh Moon; I had taken back those six days of my life; they belonged to me and I had been wantonly deceived.

This story was full of gaslighting, obliviousness, and trickery. Helena starts off as a young girl going to school in Germany, she gets lost wandering in the woods and gets "rescued" by a man. This begins her journey of never forgetting him, going back home to England, time jumps, going back to Germany, reunions, lies, gaslighting, more time jumps, more back and forth between England and Germany, a wild card old nursemaid, danger, and truths revealed.

I don't want to ruin the surprises and mystery, so I'm not going to go into detail of the story but there show more are some spoilers in my previous updates as I tried to figure things out as I read:
30% update
70% update

This was good but the ending kind of jumbled together in a hurry and, dare I say, had too happy of a one?? Some Gothic vibes at times and people wilding out with their scheming. show less

This was a reread for me for bookclub. I originally read this as a teenager back in the 1970s. It was just as readable this second time through. I didn't remember much of the plot even though I remembered vaguely that the book ended happily. I did feel the angst at the horrible things that were happening to Helena. I probably figured out what was going on earlier this time since I've read so many books since I first read this but it was all new the first time through and as a teenager I wasn't quite so savvy. Still the writing was such that you kept wanting to read to find out for sure what was going on and to get Helena through the bad stuff.

It is of course a gothic novel so even though there is a romance the main thrust of the story show more is the surreal things that are happening to the poor heroine. A fun read altogether. show less