Monday, August 29, 2011

Review: Cleopatra's Moon

CLEOPATRA'S MOON
Vicky Alvear Shecter
Young Adult/Historical
343 pages
Scholastic
Available Now
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY
Cleopatra VIII Selene, daughter of infamous ruler Cleopatra VII and Marcus Antonius, lives a life of privilege in her Egyptian home with her twin brother Alexandros and her younger brother Ptolemy (Ptolly). Things begin to change however when her father finally goes through with the divorce of his Roman wife to be with Cleopatra VII and his family in Egypt.

Octavianus, nephew of Julius Caesar and brother to Marcus's displaced wife in Rome, declares war on Cleopatra VII the minute the divorce is finalized. Eventually, when both Cleopatra VII and Marcus meet their tragic ends, Cleopatra Selene and her brother are shipped off to Rome to live with the enemy.

Sequestered in Octavianus's home, Cleopatra Selene finds herself the only one determined to get back to Egypt and claim her rightful place on the throne though she knows it will be nearly impossible to do so. While Alexandros and Ptolly begin to make a home in Rome, Cleopatra Selene constantly plots and plans, but when death finds it's way into her family again and again she begins to wonder if Egypt is her destiny after all.

MY THOUGHTS

Cleopatra's Moon is a fascinating trip back in time to ancient Egypt and Rome, delighting our imaginations as fiction and historical fact blend beautifully to present a tale of a young girl with a famous name but hardly a famous story. Though we know certain elements are exaggerated or invented for the sake of the narrative flow, understanding that these people lived and endured tragedy after tragedy when all-conquering Rome absorbed Egypt into its ever-expanding empire keeps us turning the pages to learn more as legendary events unfold before us. Reading of the destruction of the House of Ptolemy through the eyes of Cleopatra's daughter makes the past leapfrog through time to come to vibrant life in the present–the pain so very real, the politicians so very devious, and the betrayal so very heartbreaking.

We meet Cleopatra Selene at the youthful age of seven, follow her through her mother's death at age eleven and then finally accompany her through her time in Rome where she stays until age sixteen. We can easily relate to her desire to be the type of woman her mother was, but we realize long before she does that she is merely going through the motions, trying to live up to a revered icon and symbol of Egypt's strength instead of actually living herself. She walks in the intimidating shadow of her mother long after her death, and we can't help but sigh in both sympathy and exasperation as she weighs every decision and every action against the thoughts and actions of her remarkable mother. Eventually though, as she spends more time alone in the house of her enemy, we finally begin to see her take a few hesitant steps into the light of independence, shaking off some of the weight of her mother's memory and beginning to think in terms of how she herself is going to deal with her situation instead of how Cleopatra would.

Cleopatra Selene, her twin Alexandros, and her youngest brother Ptolly are all a pleasure to read about, the overwhelming nature of the pressure on them to survive in the house of the man who robbed them of their parents, their home, and their crown weighing on us as much as them, making us wish history could magically be rewritten in a way where the fates aren't quite as cruel to their family. Included in the back of the book are several facts about all of the players in this story, details that fill us on on their lives after our brief sojourn with them ends, causing us to be all the more interested in learning as much as we can about their unfathomable existence.

Cleopatra's Moon does start out a bit slow, the build up to the epic demise of Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra VII a bit tedious at times as it's almost 100 pages in the making. Additionally, though we are introduced to Cleopatra Selene when she's seven and continue with her to sixteen, the tone of her voice never really changes to reflect her aging, so we start out reading about a very mature young girl and then continue on reading about the exact same young woman. Despite those minor flaws, Cleopatra's Moon is an enjoyable read, one that keeps us thinking, wondering, and craving more time in Egypt with perhaps the most memorable of its royal families.

Rating: 4/5

46 comments:

  1. Oooh sounds good woman!! I'm not much for historical settings like this, but it totally sounds worth the read!

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  2. I really want to read this! I really like historical books! Great review!

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  3. I love books that follow the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (or in this case, teendom). It just makes me feel more connected to them! Cleopatra's Moon sounds very good; I'm looking forward to checking it out!

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  4. I don't think I have read any books set in Egyptian times so I think this sounds like a great starter. Awesome review Jenny :)

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  5. This seems interesting. I love reading books that are set in the past, I like the insight it gives me into past societies etc. Lovely review :)

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  6. Hmm, this one seems pretty interesting, Jenny! Though I'm not sure if I can get past the slow beginning, I'm usually a sucker for historical YA fiction! Thanks for the review :)

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  7. This sounds fabulous. I've been wanting to read more about Cleopatra, since a great bio of her game out last year. Historical fiction often gets bogged down, so I'm used to sticking with it.

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  8. I'm dying to read this, though after your review I'm a bit apprehensive of the whole voice not changing with age... I really enjoyed Cleopatra's Daughter, so I'm hoping to like this one as well!
    Thanks for the review!

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  9. Dunno since I have read two books by her already, but then again she was fascinating to read about :)

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  10. Ashley - I've always been fascinated by the Cleopatra story, so it was a fun read for me:)

    Book Crook - Hope you enjoy it!

    Lauren - I enjoyed her progression as well, I just wish we had gotten to her teen years a bit quicker.

    Nic - Thanks! I haven't read too many set in ancient Egypt either, so it was a nice break from my paranormal and contemporary YA.

    Kris - I'm becoming a bigger and bigger fan of anything historical, and I loved that she included a bunch of extra information in the back about all the actual people.

    Hafsah - Leading up to Cleopatra's death is just a touch slow, then it picks up once Cleopatra Selene and her brothers are on their own:)

    Alison - You should be fine then. I really liked learning about someone I honestly didn't even know existed.

    Daisy - I kept reading and forgetting what age she was supposed to be so I would have to flip back some chapters to see where it was written. She just sounded the same to me the entire time, but it worked fine once she got to sixteen and the maturity made more sense:)

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  11. Blodeuedd - It was a fascinating read, I'm glad I tried it:)

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  12. I love historical books and haven't seen many set in Egypt or Rome. Looks like this one would be good even with some of the flaws you mentioned.

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  13. This sounds like a really good read! Thanks for the heads up about the slow beginning. I'm hoping our library will get this in soon so I can read it. :) Thanks for the great review!

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  14. This sounds just like my sort of book. I'll definitely have to pick up a copy soon. Also, that cover is gorgeous!!

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  15. Wow this sounds great. I am def going to check it out :)

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  16. This one sounds so good. I love historical fiction and I would love a copy of this one for my classroom library. I haven't read too many stories that take place during this time period; I am definitely intrigued. Great review, Jenny!

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  17. I don't know a heck of a lot about Cleopatra but I can't think of a better way to learn about history than through a book. Not a history book because that might be too dry, but this book sounds great!

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  18. Amanda - It was good, I enjoyed it overall:)

    Christy - You're welcome. I guess I just expected her to start out a teenager, but obviously that doesn't make sense since her mom died when she was eleven. It was just harder to get into knowing she was so young.

    Leanna - I love the cover too, she looks like she has lots of secrets she wants to tell:)

    Laura - Hope you do!

    Christina - Thanks! It would be a fun way for students to learn a bit more about ancient Egypt/Rome. Obviously some things are made up, but I learned a lot about the family itself:)

    Aylee - Agreed, I always have trouble keeping my eyes open while reading an actual textbook. This is a much more pleasant way to learn:)

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  19. I loved historical books and books that take you different places. Thanks for the review! It sounds like something I can really get into :)

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  20. I've read two other books about Selene so I'm not really sure if I'm up for another one. Though I must say that the cover of Cleopatra's Moon is the best out of all the Selene books I've read.

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  21. Talk about trying to fill some big shoes. My heart already aches for her because she faces such an impossible task.

    It has been a really long while since I've read about a character that ages so much throughout one single book. It seems strange that her maturity remained at the same level, but then again, back in those days, kids weren't really allowed to be kids. They definitely had to grow up fast and meet high expectations.

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  22. Wow- that review was kick-butt. Im on a huge historical kick lately so I will defiantly check this one out!!

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  23. Hmmmm I'm tempted to say that 4/5 stars from you = a must read for me. A bit sad about the slow start, but I actually like the fact that it starts out with her so young. Hopefully, the voice changes as she gains maturity?

    Great review, Jenny!

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  24. Jenny, Jenny, worth much more than a penny. Yes, many, many wish they were Jenny!

    Blahahaha! Okay, so I suck at cheering, but I just wanted to stop by and say CONGRATS on your many noms for BBAW. :)

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  25. I love historical books which make the character's lives interesting and allow you to learn things about them or the time period without even knowing it. It seems like this one does that so I'm going to add it to my wishlist. Plus, anything related to Cleopatra is usually pretty fascinating.

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  26. Love historical fiction and would find this a fascinating read as I also love this time period. Have little knowledge of Cleopatra's children though which is another reason to check this one out.

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  27. This sounds like it would be an interesting read. I am not sure I would like the voice not changing very much---even if she is a very mature 7 year old. That being said I love almost everything from that era-----

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  28. I'm the editor of this book, and therefore totally biased. :-) Thank you for this great review! But I wanted to point out that part of the reason the voice doesn't change is because the novel starts when Selene is sixteen and looking back on her life, and the whole book is told from that perspective (though we tried not to make that older, wiser voice too present or intrusive). I'm glad you enjoyed it otherwise.

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  29. This sounds pretty interesting. I used to be completely obsessed with Egypt after reading THE EGYPT GAME and I even did a report on Cleopatra in 4th grade.

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  30. Savy - You're welcome, hope you try it:)

    Jenny - This is the first one I've read and I really enjoyed it:)

    Missie - Right? That's a bar that just might be out of reach:) And I emailed you with regard to your other comment that made me snort out my water:)

    Tina - Yay! Looking forward to your thoughts

    Linds - It definitely picked up when she got shipped off to Rome, I just don't know what I would have done if I were them!

    Zahida - Very true. I would definitely look up more historical fiction books about Cleopatra or Cleopatra Selene.

    Jan - I didn't even know she had children, how much do I suck? History failure:)

    Felicia - It was very interesting, I just felt so bad for all of them. Their lives were crazy tragic.

    Cheryl - Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment! What you said completely makes sense, I should have picked up on that:)

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  31. Hm... if it is slow and tedious at times, I think I'll wait to read something like this when I'm in the mood for historical fiction. It usually doesn't bother me then. I do think I'm going to put this one the wishlist. I think this is a POV I have never seen before!

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  32. The slow beginning might put me off but I love this time period so I'll have to give it a try.

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  33. I loved this book, though I do agree that it was a bit unrealistic in that Cleopatra Selene's vioce never changes. I adored Ptolly and Alexandros and I was so sad about what happened. =( Awesome review Jenny!

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  34. This is a bit out of my usual reading comfort zone but it sounds fascinating. I think I'll have to check it out -- you made it sound so very intriguing (and I can deal with a slow build-up. History's filled with 'em, right?).
    Mary @ BookSwarm

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  35. This book intrigues me because I don't think I've read a book that's has taken place in Egypt... :) I do love historical type books...I'm going to have to read this sometimes in the near future, thanks for the review!

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  36. I used to read a ton of historical fiction, but got away from it in the past year or so. Can you imagine living in a family/household like that? I always think how they have to worry about their lives all the time with all the political plots and intrigue going on.

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  37. I love that this is a time period I haven't read about yet - that alone intrigues me. Plus, the writing sounds beautiful.

    PS - congrats on your nomination, and holy hell your reviews get better and better :)

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  38. It's kinda odd that her voice doesn't change all that much from a 7 yr old to a teen. I guess the royal children didn't really have a childhood and had to be adults all the time. Boy, that would really suck. I haven't really read anything in this time period and despite the minor flaws, it does really sound fascinating. I think I'm going to stick this one in my tbr pile. Thanks for recommendation, Jenny!

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  39. I'm reading this book in the very near future and I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it! I'm fascinated with Egypt history and this seems right up my alley :)

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  40. I would probably have to wait until I was in the right mood to read this one, but it sounds pretty good. Glad you enjoyed it!

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  41. Beautiful review, Jenny! I love reading about this time period, but I haven't read any books that focus on Selene. It sounds like this is a winner. I couldn't imagine how much pressure I'd feel if my mother was a larger than life icon like Cleopatra. It must have been very hard.

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  42. Great Review! I've always thought of Cleopatra as such a strong woman but I've never known the story after she and Marc Antony died. I didn't even know she had children. I'd love to read this story.

    Heather

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  43. I'm going to have to check this book out. A book with a similar subject is Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray. I really enjoyed that book. I will have to check out Cleopatra's Moon to see how they compare. Great review!

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  44. This book sounds really interesting. Thanks for the recommendation. Also, the cover is beautiful!

    I’m a new follower—wonderful blog! Stop by my blog and follow me too? :) http://rachelbrookswrites.blogspot.com/

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  45. I've been craving a historical fiction and this sounds great! Another fantastic review :)

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