Over The Mountain Of The Moon: A Tale Of A Samurai Consort (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of this book. But its length stalled itself out.I'm not one who enjoys fluffy stories, and on the outside, taken without cultural context, this could probably be classified as a hurt-comfort fluff bunny story. There are a lot of tears and the devotions of love are rampant. However, I fell head-over-heels in love with this story. This book read just like a Japanese TV drama, which I am a fan of. Over the top scripts and high emotion are a hallmark, so this book was perfect in tempo and tone. The prose was beautifully crafted, the author utilizing nature as a true character. Some of the phrases and descriptions were simply gorgeous. The emotions in the characters are beautiful, even in their effusiveness. It's such a high and pure love, it's uplifting to witness. What downgraded this book for me, though, is that the last third of the book was unnecessary. The characters go through their changes for so long, then stall out. They are stuck and the conclusion of the book didn't resolve it because it just ends with another promise of undying love, which was no different than the ones in the previous chapters. It dragged on too long with no real reason other than to torture the characters some more. Hey, I am all for torturing characters, believe me. Hurt-comfort is some of my favorite guilty pleasure reads. But when there is no growth? It just got boring toward the end. Which was a real shame. However, I would still recommend this as a good read. Especially if you are a Japanophile or yaoi fan, which sort of goes without saying. I really enjoyed this novel. The author did a wonderful job with the research and obviously enjoys writing about this era and it shows. Tetsuya, a concubine in the beginning, undergoes a metamorphosis from a soft, sought after beauty who distances himself from emotions to a person who gives up everything for the samurai he loves. Reiko Morgan's writing makes you believe in his transformation and in his love for Jin. I loved this story and was with the characters emotionally thru their trials and journeys.
What do You think about Over The Mountain Of The Moon: A Tale Of A Samurai Consort (2010)?
