Welcome friend! My March New Releases post saw a lot of comments about Nathaniel Luscombe’s novella, Moon Soul. Go swoon at this gorgeous cover and read my thoughts:
Nathaniel Luscombe | Goodreads
“I don’t think I can justify it any longer. I’m going to quit my job.”
August has never been good with change and isn’t sure who she is beyond her job of reading memories in the sand. When she comes to the conclusion that she has to quit her job, she’s left with an overwhelming sense of emptiness. What follows is the quiet chaos of a girl regaining control over her life on a small desert moon.
Deciding to take a job in the hanging gardens of the Spire, August discovers more to life as she meets new friends, forms a different connection with her home, and faces an unexpected visitor from her past.
Rich in relatable emotions and experiences, inspiring in message, and written in prose that will hook you from page one, Moon Soul is a science fantasy novella unlike any you’ve read before. It will leave you feeling seen and understood.
Moon Soul – Review
Moon Soul is a cozy fantasy with the vibes of The Psalm of the Wild-Built and Legends & Lattes. The main character is August, a part-human, part-spyren. As a spyren, she has the ability to read memories in the sand and that is the job she pursues in the Spire. Neither of her parents are in her life anymore. Her mother left over ten years ago while her father left two years ago.
Reading memories in the sand has become a draining experience for August. Sometimes, she is unable to identify which ones are hers and which belong to her clients. Her mental health has been suffering and hence, she decides to quit her job. Moon Soul beautifully portrays the challenges of quitting work, and in the broader sense, making a change. August is hesitant about quitting and unsure about what she would do after. She is also concerned about leaving her clients without a replacement because no one else can do what she does. Thanks to her journaling practice and supportive therapist, August takes the leap to try something new. The book offers commentary on the ways in which our sense of identity gets tied to the job we embrace and how hard it can be to untangle our worth from the work we do. We are more than our jobs even though they take up most of our adult life.
August recognizes that she has had a lonely existence ever since her father left. She has been lacking friends and opening up to new people and experiences would be good for her. As she steps out of her comfort zone, she meets new people and tries out a new occupation and hobbies. She connects with Alix, a painter in his free time. He helps her discover the world of art and takes her to places she has never been like shopping for edible paint. August loves the hanging gardens of the Spire and she decides to try her hand at gardening. Her mentor, Lekka, soon becomes her friend.
I love stories that have journal entries and I enjoyed seeing August evolve through the story, particularly in the diary entries. In the very first journal entry that I was privy to as the reader, August signed off as ‘one who does not know who they are’. Each entry has a different signature, two of my favorites being ‘one who can’t accept the present without knowing the future’ and ‘one who is beginning to understand’. These entries were a highlight of the book for me. I have been every single ‘one’ that August signs off as and I love that Moon Soul felt so personal.
A note about the Spire – it’s the one on the cover. There are many such living spaces around the desert moon and based on the descriptions in Moon Soul, it sounds like a beautiful place to live. No wonder people come from across the galaxy to visit and stay!
Moon Soul is a lovely story about finding oneself and opening up to the experiences in the world. It has moments of loneliness, joy, camaraderie, confusion, the thrill of introducing friends and many human emotions that would come up on such a journey of self-discovery. The plot progresses at a good pace and there are pivotal moments that help August grow.
I enjoyed this book and already have the author’s other novella, The Planets We Become to read next. Many thanks to the author for making a review copy available via BookSirens for an honest review.
If you are intrigued, add the book to your Goodreads. Moon Soul has an accompanying playlist that you can listen to on Spotify.
Hey! Thank you so much for this beautiful review. Every time I see Moon Soul connect with someone, I have to sit back and let myself breathe. It is such a relief knowing that people find solidarity within this personal story.
Thanks for reading the review, Nathaniel! I look forward to reading more of your stories and hope to connect for an interview sometime.