Moon Soul

"How nice it is to be two happy people on a purple moon."

You guys.

You guys.

For the short story fans out there, for the grounded sci-fi lovers on my list, even for the “I need a short book to pad out my Goodreads goal already” people, I ask that you keep this one on your list or in your mind for March. I’m going through a rough mental patch this last week or two, and this book was everything I needed to hear in all the right ways.

August lives in a Spire on a world of purple sand. A Spire is essentially a self-contained tower of people, like a vertical city. If you’re familiar with the term “arcology”, it’s like that. August herself is a rarity, in that she’s half human, half spyren, an alien race who are spiritually and physically connected with the world, and share memories and emotions through the sand around them. Her mother (the spyren) left the Spire when she was very little to return to her people, while her father left as soon as August was old enough to live on her own. They’ve remained out of her life since. She’s since made a living on the Spire as a sand reader, someone the residents can go to to have memories in the sand read for them (like a medium), but the job is taking a terrible toll on her mental health. She opts to take a sabbatical and find something new to do with her life. It’s through this that she meets Alix, a painter, and Lekka, a gardener who maintains the plants on the outside of the Spire (like a window washer, but…plant maintainer). As she slowly starts connecting with these two and finding where she belongs now that she feels she can’t go back to sand reading, the past intrudes on her new happiness.

It bills itself as a cozy science fantasy novella, and I agree with that assessment. It’s sci-fi in setting, fantasy in terms of sand reading, and grounded in the feelings of fear, inadequacy, and awkwardness we all feel when leaving something familiar behind and branching out into something new. The writing is stellar (badumtssss), and very quiet and deliberate in terms of setting the scene. I absolutely want to live on the Spire as described. It’s more family drama than action packed, so temper your expectations accordingly, but it really was the thing I needed to read right now.

Thank you to BookSirens and the publisher for providing me with a free eBook copy in exchange for an honest review.

“Talent brings about opportunity, but it doesn't determine destiny.” 

Nothing I say here will properly give this book justice. Moon Soul is a beautiful, introspective novella with a heartbeat that many readers will feel as if it's their own. Having read several of Luscombe's books before, I went into this book prepared for unique perspectives on themes and story worlds, but I wasn't prepared for how personal August's journey of self-discovery would feel to me. There were so many times when I felt as if August were reading my own jumbled thoughts and writing them down in a language that allowed me to process them better. I don't think I've ever related to a character as much as I related to August.

The story is fairly fast-paced, but I think it suits the story well. I would've loved for this to be a full-length novel where we learned all the intricate details of the memory-holding sand on the purple moon, but that's just because I don't think I could get enough of this world—or August, Lekka, and Alix. As it is, it still felt complete and perfect.

“If you live your life based on other people's reactions, you'll never truly live.” 

I don't always feel the need to annotate or highlight lines in the books I read, but I can't wait for this book to be released so I can go through it again and annotate it in its physical form. It just adds such an artistic and unique perspective on this life, and I think anyone who feels overwhelmed by work, expectations, or family dysfunction will feel comforted within the calming pages of Moon Soul. 

The easiest 5 stars I've given a book in a long time! 

I received this book from the author/publisher via BookSirens. All comments are entirely my own and this review is voluntary. 

I discovered a love of Cozy Sci-Fi/Fantasy in March when I read another indie with my little chaotic readalong group (The Crossing by Laurie Janey). I’ve been passively looking for another book in that genre since then and was excited to find this one. It’s very cozy, but also very heartfelt and emotional.

Our main character, August, lives a lonely, unsatisfying life, and when she decides to make some changes, we get to come along for the ride. I instantly connected with August and it was a joy to see her making connections of her own. Her issues with her mother reminded me of my own issues with my father and I may have shed some tears as she reflected on their relationship. Yeah, I definitely shed some tears. Luscombe’s letter to the reader at the end of the book made me cry again, btw. I was kind of a mess there at the end. But a good mess.

I like to highlight lines in a book that I resonate with so deeply I could have written them myself, or they feel like they were written to or about me, and I was highlighting this one all over the place. So many things spoke to me in a way many books do not and it felt really good, like being given a hug by someone who truly understands how I feel.

If you’re anyone, you should give this book a read. But if you’re feeling or have ever felt burned out, stuck, or unseen, you might find a bit of yourself in August and especially enjoy Moon Soul.