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When my friend Andrea picked Natalie Lloyd’s Over the Moon for book club a month or three ago, she warned me it was dystopian; she also said that her household had loved it and I was going to enjoy it in spite of its dystopian-ness.
She was right.
And okay, mountain community, children working in the mines–this is dystopian with a historical feel. That’s not the only reason I enjoyed it, though. Mallie is a character that you can’t NOT like, and her resolve to help her family and protect her brother is relatable in a fundamental way. Add to that the beauty of bringing hope back to a hopeless community–plus flying horses–and you have an entirely winning combination. (The narrator on the audiobook is also lovely.) There are some definite plot stretches and questions, but those didn’t seem to matter; the book did too good of a job of bringing the feels. (Also, there’s a legend-like quality to the end, or maybe a waking-from-a-bad-dream vibe, that smooths over the slightly questionable bits.) I ended up thoroughly enjoying Over the Moon, and it’s now headed down to my oldest daughter’s shelf. You should read it and tell me what you think!