Dark of the MoonAuthor: Tracy BarrettPublisher: Harcourt Children’s Books, 2011
Ariadne is destined to become a goddess of the moon. She leads a lonely life, filled with hours of rigorous training by stern priestesses. Her former friends no longer dare to look at her, much less speak to her. All that she has left are her mother and her beloved, misshapen brother Asterion, who must be held captive below the palace for his own safety.
So when a ship arrives one spring day, bearing a tribute of slaves from Athens, Ariadne sneaks out to meet it. These newcomers don’t know the ways of Krete; perhaps they won’t be afraid of a girl who will someday be a powerful goddess. And indeed she meets Theseus, the son of the king of Athens. Ariadne finds herself drawn to the newcomer, and soon they form a friendship—one that could perhaps become something more.
Yet Theseus is doomed to die as an offering to the Minotaur, that monster beneath the palace—unless he can kill the beast first. And that "monster" is Ariadne’s brother . . .
My Review:
One of my favorite subjects in humanities and art history classes was the Minoans, that first civilization that would eventually grow to become the Greeks. I’m a history geek like that and so finding a YA book with a story related to this got me really excited. And I have to say I was not disappointed in that aspect. Dark of the Moon has an enthralling story and prose that kept me reading hour after hour. Through Ariadne’s story we learn about the Kretan’s culture and belief system. There is also a lot of mythology involved, and for Ariadne is not myth but reality. I mean, she is training to become a goddess and her brother Asterion is the freaking Minotaur!
The story concentrated around Ariadne, although we do get a second POV from a young man named Theseus (more on that later). She has trouble accepting the role she is to inherit. As a goddess in training she is not to be touched by anyone, friends are not encouraged, and everyone fears her. She resents this. Ariadne also dreams of traveling, but goddesses in training can’t leave the island. Her world is Krete and will forever be Krete. This makes for a very narrow view of the world and we see that when the Athenians come into the story. Athenians don’t understand how Kretan society works, because their own culture is based on politics not religion. They see the Kretan people as barbarians for their rituals and sacrifices; they also find it inconceivable for a woman to be the leader of the people.
Theseus is the son of the king of Athens, and he is the typical hero in the sense that he is there to challenge the gods and Ariadne’s view of them. He doesn’t believe that the gods dictate his life, and that he has no control over it. Ariadne is the opposite; she believes in the goddess completely and is prepared to receive whatever punishment for having done something wrong. I would have loved to read about Theseus changing Ariadne’s views, or doing some sort of heroic act, but sadly that was not to be.
Like I mentioned before I was not disappointed in the history/mythology/story aspect. However there were some things that did let down. The romance falls short, very short, almost non-existant. I don’t even know why Theseus POV was written if he ultimately didn’t affect Ariadne in any way. It became not Ariadne’s story but also not Theseus’. It was like a mix of the two that left me wanting. I would have either gone with Ariadne’s POV the whole way, or Theseus, but the story of the two together just seems incomplete.
Again I say that I liked this story because of its mythology and history aspects. But I would only recommend this to people who are really into the whole Greek past history thing.
Favorite Quotes:
“Bastard!” someone jeers. I don’t turn to see who it is; it’s what everyone calls me.
“Son of no one!”
It’s not fair. I’m hardly the only person in Troizena with an unknown father. Many people live with a crowd of half brothers and half sisters with different fathers, some of them unknown. Yet it is only my parentage that causes scorn.
~
Three girls are standing on the path. I know all of them, and I also know what I’m in for an uncomfortable time. For tormenting, girls are even worse than boys. I’d rather be punched in the face by the biggest of my enemies than have to listen to the taunts that girls seem capable of throwing from the moment they learn to speak.
~
Many years stretched ahead of me to choose a man and then watch him die, choose another man and watch him die too, every year for the rest of my earthly life. This was how it had been since time was time.
