What does it mean to have roots in a colonized country? What is it like to live there now? Woven in Moonlight is the first novel that I have picked up that addresses the aftereffects on colonization. I am so glad that I was buddy reading it with Ariel – she is wonderful partner to discuss hard topics with. Though the book an interesting premise, execution was not on par. Let’s take a look at the synopsis and then we will dive into our discussion.
A lush tapestry of magic, romance, and revolución, drawing inspiration from Bolivian politics and history.
Ximena is the decoy Condesa, a stand-in for the last remaining Illustrian royal. Her people lost everything when the usurper, Atoc, used an ancient relic to summon ghosts and drive the Illustrians from La Ciudad. Now Ximena’s motivated by her insatiable thirst for revenge, and her rare ability to spin thread from moonlight.
When Atoc demands the real Condesa’s hand in marriage, it’s Ximena’s duty to go in her stead. She relishes the chance, as Illustrian spies have reported that Atoc’s no longer carrying his deadly relic. If Ximena can find it, she can return the true aristócrata to their rightful place.
She hunts for the relic, using her weaving ability to hide messages in tapestries for the resistance. But when a masked vigilante, a warm-hearted princess, and a thoughtful healer challenge Ximena, her mission becomes more complicated. There could be a way to overthrow the usurper without starting another war, but only if Ximena turns her back on revenge—and her Condesa.
Content Notes: Some graphic descriptions of violence and abuse.
Woven in Moonlight – Whole book Discussion
It’s time. Since you did more research on this and can speak to the allegory in this book, why don’t you start, Ariel?
Okay! In some further exploration and a few Google searches, I found that Woven in Moonlight is a political fantasy that closely mirrors the recent events of Bolivia. The Illustrians (the ethnicity of our main character, Ximena) represent a colonizing ethnic group, while the Llacsans represent the native indigenous that have been cast from their hometowns into the nearby mountains over the generations. Interested in a more in depth review of the way this book addresses the topic of colonization? You can find a well-thought out review here.
I will note that it is obvious that the author loves Bolivia. The love for the lush jungle and Bolivian foods was my favorite part of the whole book. Having traveled to Panama and Mexico City myself for study abroad programs, I love the idea of a Central/South American-inspired fantasy. There is rich folklore and culture to draw from, and I look forward to finding more books within this sphere.
The book begins with the Llacsans staging a coup and retaking their land with the help of Atoc, the main villain of the story. Ximena, disguised as the Condesa and finding herself surrounded by Llacsans as she is betrothed to marry Atoc. While Atoc is undoubtedly a terrible dictator, it takes a while for Ximena to realize that Atoc is not a true representative of the Llacsans. The adventures that ensue are Ximena’s slow acknowledgement that the Llacsans also have human rights and that there is a third option beyond Illustrian or Llacsan oppression: joint peace where both groups work together.
That’s a great summary of our reading experience. For me personally, I had no context for Bolivia and its political struggle. I’m still learning about the different ways in which colonization has manifested around the world as well as how different people have responded to it. I struggled with trying to decipher how much was fiction in this fantasy and how much was the truth.
The cultural references felt very one sided to me. Ximena did not do a good job of presenting her own culture’s uniqueness while she continuously had a negative attitude towards the colors and designs by Llacsans. I grew up in India and color is an integral part of our identity. Even though the comments were not directed at me or my roots, they still felt hurtful.
Agreed, and that is so valid. Rather than focusing on her own culture’s beauties and uniqueness, it almost seemed as though Ximena’s cultural identity was mostly reliant upon her negative views of the Llacsans. What could potentially be a meaningful story of a flawed heroine’s growth into maturity and away from polarized worldviews becomes an unfortunately slow-paced story that doesn’t feel interesting in spite of the beautiful and colorful worldbuilding. There are a lot of nuances to be captured within a complex character’s growth out of a flawed narrative, and this book unfortunately does not meet that criteria for me.
I want to make a quick note about magic in this book here. For a little bit I thought that only the Illustrans could do magic (that’s part of presentation of culture) and though Atoc could control ghosts using magic, it didn’t give me the impression that Llancsans had magic. Though Ximena’s magic evolved over time, the way she thought about her woven animals wasn’t very positive to me either. She would call them stupid and be mad at them for being in plain view. I think they sort of presented the turmoil that she herself felt. Overall, magic could have made this a more engaging read but it was one of the things that was often put on the sidelines and appeared only very convenient to the plot.
Yes I agree. I think if magic was a more prevalent part of the book, we may have felt more engaged. In addition, in a book where “romance” is mentioned in the marketing tagline, the romance is forced at best. I think overall there were a lot of minor details that added up to our overall feelings about this book.
Agreed. This could have been executed better. If only Xemina did not have such black-and-white opinions and had seen the grayness early on in the book, it would have kept me engaged more. I did not want to DNF the book because I kept hoping the end would feel redeeming but most of the book felt like a flat line experience with hardly any ups and downs.
That’s all for our discussion for Woven in Moonlight! You know we love describing our reading experience to you! Here is a summary of our read:
Interested in reading Woven in Moonlight and adding to our discussion? Find it on all retail stores. Here are the Amazon links for your convenience. I would recommend finding it at your local library.
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
Cover Photo by vaun0815 on Unsplash
I had this on my to buy list, so this was an interesting read! Going to read some more reviews first, i think
Good idea! Or see if you can get it from the library. 🙂