Ep 108 *listen to this* When The Moon Hatched Recap BEFORE Reading Ballad of Falling Dragons!! Deep Dive, Summaries, and Breakdowns

Remember two years ago (almost to the day!) when this new dragon book came onto the Romantasy scene called When The Moon Hatched, we voted for it as a Besties & the Book Club read (going in completely blind), and it took us all by storm?! Well, we do! 

We’re here today to officially deep dive When the Moon Hatched by the amazing Sarah A. Parker to finally do one of our favorite dragon books of all time justice. Hey… it might even be our most favorite dragon book to date. Just sayin’… The world building is insane, the magic system complex, the writing immaculate, and the CHARACTERS?! Don’t even get us started on Raeve and Kaan… they are unmatched.

However, we understand that this isn’t necessarily a book that everyone can digest easily. This was a reread for both of us and as we took notes, looked over the index, and mapped this episode out for you it became increasingly clear exactly how much vital info. we missed the first time. So today is all about recapping, talking our faves and fails dragon edition, sharing lore, speculations, and Easter eggs with you in preparation of the release of book two in the Moonfall Series: The Ballad of Falling Dragons out on May 19th!

If you’ve already read it and you need a refresher, we hope this helps! If you’re new to Moonfall and you want our spoiler free reviews at the top of the episode, we’ve got you! And don’t forget to jump into our free Fable book club chat for When the Moon Hatched (book two coming soon!) if you need to debrief and check out our initial reactions to book one at the beginning of episode 11! YES, ELEVEN. Linked below. 

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Check out these narrator interviews? ⬇️

Anthony Palmini gives us the lowdown on what it’s like to voice act Rhysand, Kingfisher, AND Slade Ravinger! 

https://youtu.be/zcCyrlZ5Jcc?si=2k7ULbRPgZl_5pUJ

Check out these author interviews? ⬇️

Penn Cole talks with us about Strong Female Characters, Feminist Themes, and her debut bestselling Spark of the Everflame Series! https://youtu.be/7ukNImyoObw?si=7C3Y9kOUMN4hfcKb

We interviewed Callie Hart all about her NYT Bestseller Quicksilver! Watch it here! https://youtu.be/CED5s7qDBdQ?si=8xtIRO1IzX6Rsld4

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Liz is wearing “I’m a Book Dragon” Clash of Tides tee from the Author Alivia Maar @livesbookshelf (gifted in PR)

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Transcript

This book is very polarizing, which makes no sense to me. I don't understand it. Dragons are sweet angel babies that could do no wrong. They're I tried to include all of the information like names for example or places that would be relevant. Of course, we are coming out with a deep dive on the ballot of falling dragon.

Welcome to the Besties in the Books podcast, guys. I'm Liz. And I'm Ashley. And today we are doing our official deep dive on When the Moon Hatched by none other than Sarah A. Parker. Hi Nate. Finally. Oh my gosh. Did we read this originally for a book club? I think so. I think we did. I think that's when we read it. So if we you know I think we talked about it on like a live like a book club style how we usually do with our virtual book clubs. That might have been one that got deleted. I don't know, like by Instagram. I think that was back when we were on Instagram and Instagram likes to delete like popular books. So, it's great like as soon as we finish filming it would just disappear or halfway through it get messed up and delete. So, that's that's why we do it on YouTube now. So, make sure you're following us over there on YouTube for our, you know, our book club talks. But, we felt like we needed to do this book justice since we absolutely love it. Okay, spoiler alert. We're obsessed with this book and we cannot wait for The Ballad of Falling Dragons. It comes out May 19th and so that means this is a reread for both of us. So, we feel even more prepared, even more knowledgeable with the reread now, but there's still things there's still things that I know that we probably missed, but we will find out more when we read more. Yeah. Well, and it's like just the rereads are just always such a treat because it's like this time Yeah. had the read and listen feature on Audible that exists now. That's amazing. Hopefully, this really helps you guys out too. Um, if you know, maybe you didn't have time to do a full reread and you want to recap before book two comes out cuz there's a lot going on. Even in I was telling Ashley like I didn't remember like two of the major plot twists that had happened. And so when I reread it, I was like, "Oh my god, imagine going into book two in a book and world this complex and like not doing a refresher. Good luck, you know. Yeah, cuz it's been over a year. I know. She kept pushing off the release date. So, maybe a year and a half. Has it been 2 years? No, it was when Yeah, it was October. It was It's been at least a year and a half because maybe two years cuz we had recently read it when we went to when we were young festival October of 2024. Crazy. So, I think that was like summer time of that dude. So, yeah. So if you guys, you know, need the refresher, this will be good. The way that I have organized the summary, I think will be especially useful. I made sure to include specific things. Um, since this was my second read that I think will be extra important moving forward. There's a little bit of lore, there's a few Easter eggs. Um, so yeah, like hopefully you guys find that super useful. The first 15 minutes, as per usual, will be spoilerfree, however, because we will just go into our basic star and spice ratings. Um, and who we'd recommend it for. So, definitely, you know, that way if you've been kind of like on the fence because for some reason, understood, I don't want to say unbeknownsted to me, but understood by me, and I think you as well, this book is very polarizing. Yeah. Which makes no sense to me. I don't understand it. Um, but for some reason it is I feel like you either love it with your whole chest or you don't. Um, and there's not a whole lot of inbetweeners. So, we will definitely be getting into that. But, if you've been like kind of considering reading it, you're wondering what the hype is about, but you're kind of curious to just hear our basic thoughts, stick around for that beginning part, and we'll definitely let you know when we start getting into spoilers. Um, but before we get into our deep dive, we just wanted to say thank you so much for being here. Seriously, thank you so much for taking time out of your day and your book. And if you're new here, please make sure to like, follow, and subscribe anywhere you like to listen favorite podcasts, including YouTube. We are Besties in the Books, podcast everywhere, including Instagram and Tik Tok. And if you aren't new to us, welcome back. Thank you so much for jumping back on in. We're so excited to have you all. Yeah, I'm so excited to talk about this book in depth because holy moly. Leave us a comment if you read this. What's your star rating on this? Let us know. You can also comment on Spotify if you're listening there. They do have that feature now. And of course on the YouTube video. I'm so curious, you know, do you what what are your thoughts? What are your opinions? If you haven't read it yet, you know, why not? Why not? Did you are you are you worried because it is polarizing like Yeah. Yeah. I mean, even I would say like when you know, we were reading this for book club and a lot of people were talking about it. I remember that a lot of people that I follow who generally I have very similar book taste with um did not like it or DNFed it. And I was very surprised by that. Yeah. Yeah. Truly, even with the reread, even more so confused. Yeah, literally. Yeah. Um, okay. So, before we get into our spoiler-free reviews, should we just start off with a fave and fail? Dragon lore edition. So, this could be literally anything dragon related that stands out to you. Fave and fail. Why don't you go first today? Okay. Fail. Dragons. Dragons are sweet. Angel babies that could do no wrong. Therefore, I don't have a fail. Sweet angel babies. I could really really I couldn't think of any. Like like Onyx shittorm, for example. That's not the dragon's fault. It's not the dragon's fault. The only red dreaming call quality of the series right now for me. That's true. That's true. That's true. Can we just get a There were no dragons. I wouldn't luck. Yeah. Literally good luck. Um but it's like tangentially related. You know what I mean? Yeah. So you could use it if you couldn't think of anything. No hot take. They saved the entire book. I don't think that's even a hot take. I think like everyone knows hot. I only read it because it's dragons. There's people that love the characters and that's fine. Good for you guys. I wish it was me, but it's not. It's not. Okay. I did find one dragonlike character I don't like um that's super creepy and gives the dragon name a bad rap. Therefore, I blocked it from my mind. But I searched up dragons to try to find one that I didn't like. Okay. In Monsters University, Dean Abigail Hardcrabble serves as the main antagonist and villain in that show. She's kind of like a weird dragon insect. Super creepy. And she's and she's a evil lady and annoying. So, is that that crazy show that the girls were watching when I was at your house that one time and I was like, who is this? Okay. Cuz there was No, this is literally Monsters Inc., Monsters University, the prequel. It's the movie. I've never seen Monsters University. So, Monsters, Inc. and then Monsters University is the second one, but it goes back to when they were in university. So, this is the Dean. And you're sure that I didn't see it? Any? I don't know. Out of my house cuz the girls don't like Monsters Inc. Scared. Okay. Cuz there was like a creepy creature that like I don't even know what kind of creature it was, but I remember like being like, "What is that?" Okay. Literally, thank you. Because my daughters so much time so many times I'll have them watch something that I liked as a kid and they're like, "Oh my gosh, it's so scary." And then I watch what they watch and I'm like, "This is a thousand times scarier and looks more realistic than my weird chicky shows and movies. Give me a break." Like literally whatever it was like I'm like no it was like from nightmares like whatever it was and they were watching it like no biggie and I was like uh is no one else like horrified. Story of my life. Even uh K-pop demon hunters. I'm like the villains are kind of creepy. The way they move. Like come on. The demons. It's different. It's just different. Different generations, man. It's like chippy. So therefore, they're scared of it. I'm like, okay. I can't relate because when I watch horror movies of like yester years, I'm like, "This is cheesy." Yeah. It's cheesy. It adds to the cheesiness. It makes it less scary, not more scary. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Like they won't watch Snow White because of the old lady. She's creepy. So scary. No. When was the last time when was the last time you saw you really paid attention to that? She's scary, dude. Yeah, she is. I will say like the witch in Snow White is scary. Yeah, it's creepy, but not as creepy as some of the stuff that they watch. That's my point for sure. It's like I get it, but I don't. So, who's your favorite? What's your favorite dragon born? How do I pick? I just love dragons. I love also what dragons do to the community and it gets us all in a fun time zone, including what how do dragons poo, where do they poo, the amount of comments I still get to this day on our dragon poo reel. I just love But no, I love every like I said, dragons can do no wrong. I love them all. The sweet little angel babies that they are. How do I pick one? You don't have one that stands out to you that like helped shape you as a human? I get like a highlight reel of all the amazing dragons. Okay. Okay. All right. So, yeah. Yeah. Falor was the first dragon, right? Yeah. Um, so many. Uh, the dragon and Lord of the Rings, Smog. Um, I feel like my head empties and blanks, but there's a lot. I love them through and through with all my whole heart. Yeah, for sure. There's not enough dragons out there. Also, that's another thing. There's a lot, but there's not enough. Yeah, there there's a lot but not enough. Exactly. It's like I feel like there could be a lot more for sure. Like I also love the moon plume when the moon hatched. My dog is named after Moon Plume. It's Molly Moon Plume. Yeah. So I love her dragons. I love the dragons in this book, guys. Yeah, they're very cool. Unique. Mhm. Yeah. Moon plumes are Yeah. Awesome. For sure. Top tier. Um Okay. So, I'll just start with my fail. My fail was season two of House of the Dragon. Yeah. Okay. I haven't watched any of that. So, um although I will say the dragon battle, see, this is what I mean when I say there's dragons everywhere, but seemingly not enough dragons. The dragon battle episode, I can't remember what which episode it was. Sorry, guys. If you've watched it, you know what it is. There is a specific episode where there's a big battle and it was like one of the freaking coolest things I've ever seen because you don't see with the technology we have now full on dragon battles on TV. Like that makes us sound so nerdy but it's so true. It's like it and it was just so cool. It was heart-wrenching. It was amazing. It was visually stunning. It was so awesome. So although as a whole, House of the Dragon season 2 was a fail for me as I think it was for a lot of you guys. I'm looking forward to season 3, but season 2 was like, what's going on here? Like it was a snoozefest. Um, that particular scene was insanely good. So that's cool. Um, as far as the shout out I have to give, uh, because I also love dragons. They're great, whatever. Um, just in general. But the shout out I have to give I put two I put two down. So the dragon that made me you would think that it would be Falkor. You would or Smog you would. But actually the dragon that made me was uh the Shan Connory dragon Draco from um Dragon Heart. Dragon Heart. Yeah. The way I was obsessed with that movie and would watch it over and over and over and over and I actually watched it somewhat recently again and it is still great. Um, it's like so ingrained in my brain that now like whenever I hear the voice of like a dragon from a book in my head. Yeah. It sounds like Shan Connory now. Yeah. It's like it's just the voice of a wise man or male dragon. Like that's just the way it is. Like so that did something to my brain chemistry for sure. um obsess like obsession on a different level as a child that it has expanded into all of this. So, here we are. Um oh, and then I did have to give a little shout out to the live action version of How to Train Your Dragon that came out obviously pretty recently. Um not a dragon, but Gerard Butler playing the dad was top tier. So, drag potentially related. Exactly. Um I know a lot of us were happy about that when we um saw that. Great job with that one. Great job. What a what a lovely time that was. Beautiful. Okay, so should we just give our spoilerfree reviews of When the Moon Hatch surprising. Yeah, I know. Hit us with it. Uh yeah, this is an infinity star read for sure. So, five stars um since that's the highest it goes technically. Um, but yeah, I rate I looked back, you know, I was pretty positive I rated it at five stars last time. I did. So, this was a five star last time, you know, five star infinity star this time. Uh, no notes. It was perfect. The world building, the magic system, the twists, the turns, the characters. Um, the more I thought about it, the more I was like, this would make an insane show or miniseries. Yeah. Um, insane. Like literally so amazing. Um to be able to see a moon plume like come to life would be like lifechanging. Gosh. Yeah. Um and so yeah, I obsessed with it. I really Maybe you can help me out with this. I was struggling between a two and a three spice for this one because it's not very fre frequent, but I felt like the times that we did get spice were um like intense in a good way. You know what I mean? So I don't know. What do you think? What are your thoughts on that if you waffle back and forth? I'm no spice girl, but I would say two. Yeah, cuz for the length of the book, it's not frequent and they don't the scenes don't go on too much. The the one scene that goes on longer, it also gives a lot of information during that time. Um, and then uh nothing that I can remember in those spicy scenes being triggering. So, for sure. I think that's a two. Okay. Yeah, let's settle on let's settle on a two. But yeah, that was definitely like a depending on what you read and what you've come to expect, it could probably go uh one way or the other, but yeah, we'll settle on a two just because yeah, not triggering. Um very very important to plot movement. Um yeah. So, all right, we'll settle on two. So, what do you think as far as your spoiler-free review? Oh, very similar. five stars last time, a still a strong and hard five stars this time. The reread just gave me even more. And like I have said so many times, when I reread fantasy, I used to expect, oh, I'm going to get bogged down and it's going to just feel monotonous. No, you're finding out more information that you either forgot or didn't realize was important to later. You're picking up other Easter eggs. And it was incredible. And our FMC is just such a badass from the beginning. like right out the gate, you're hooked in, which with this kind of high fantasy, in my experience, you're not always sucked in right at the beginning. Sometimes it takes the first 75% to get into it. I'm into it from the freaking get-go. That's why it's hard. It's hard that I don't understand why not everybody loves it, but different strokes for different folks, I guess, but there's like it almost feels maybe that's why, but like it feels like there's different parts to the story, even though it's all one big story, but you're like thrown in, you know, at this crazy you know, formative time and it's just so good. So, I love it. Do you like dragons? Read it. Like, do you like fantasy? Read it. Do you like a badass FMC? Read it. Do you like twists? Read it. Like, I just I don't know. Hey, slide into our DMs, let us know. If you read this book and you didn't like it, why? Why not? Just to play devil's advocate for a second because same thing like I would recommend it for all those people. Um, the MMC con is I texted Ashley about this. He is incredibly underrated. Yes. Like if you're talking book boyfriends, like what? And we'll go into the spoilers of why in a minute because oh my gosh, he's like right up there with Slade Ravager and I fear he's only going to become better in book two. Okay, so um yeah, I feel like uh there's that. Also, if you want to meet your new book boyfriend, who literally is like so good. Um, but yeah, to go back to what I was saying before about um playing devil's advocate, I will say the world building and the magic system and the political conniving uh you know, it it's complicated. It's complicated. It's not easy. It's not an easy read. And I could see how like me reading it the second time, I realized how much I missed the first time. Yeah. Um, as I was making notes for this episode, you know, we've got dual timelines going on. We have several different kingdoms. Um, we have flashbacks, we have, yes, more characters in this book that are relevant than I think we've had in probably any book that we've covered. Um, so I could see how that would be very intimidating um, going into it. But just as we would give you this advice for going into like Crescent City, for example, um, you know, I think the best thing you can do is just don't overthink it. Go into it, read it, and enjoy it. Um, and then if you decide you want to pick up on all those finer details, then yeah, use your tools. Like I think Ashley's getting ready to pick up the or pull up the index and all the useful info that Sarah Parker provides us with. Um and do a reread if you can um because you're going to be able to fill in a lot of those blanks, but it is a complicated book. There is a family tree also that I didn't notice um the first time I read it at the end of the book as well. And I think that is be that she includes it at the end because you don't want any spoilers. So, it would be very similar to like, you know, looking at the whole Game of Thrones g uh family tree before you know what before you finished it. Okay. I can't remember now. I think I first read it on Kindle cuz I don't think the paperbacks were even out yet cuz she got picked up into Tra Sarah A. Parker's been around for a little while and she got picked up into Trad Publishing. So, I'm pretty sure it was harder to get your hands on when the moon hatched physically when it first came out. weak might have caught it at like one of those times where she pulled it and then re-released it because I didn't have my Yeah, because I didn't have my hard covers for a couple months and then I bought all the beautiful editions also. Right. So, I think on Kindle the glossery was right at the beginning originally for this edition of whatever book I have. This might be the this might be the one that was traditionally published with the dragons on the side. I don't remember. Um, but the glossery is in the back. So, with that said, the family tree, the glossery, they are all in the back. I remember reading it for the first time on Kindle and being like, "Oh my gosh, how am I ever going to remember this? This is crazy. Holy moly." Um, you don't have to memorize it. I would skim through it, have that knowledge, know that it's there, including a pronunciation guide in the very back. And in other in other book versions, it might be in the front, but just know that. Don't get bogged down if you're still on the fence about where it'll just the story will unfold. It's nice to have like a brief like what are moon plumes like what are mountain mo molten moss and like what's the slumber mean? What's a phase? You can look through it but don't get bogged down by it. I think somebody gave us that um gave us that same tip that had already read it for us like hey check this out but don't get stressed about it and that helped because you can definitely get lost if you don't if you would go into it knowing nothing but you could also get freaked out if you try to memorize all that don't just don't yeah don't overthink it don't try to do that that's too much of our brain give it give it a brief once over well yeah if you're like or just think about it this way too if you're like wait what What is this? I feel like this is important, but I can't remember. Just flip to the glossery really quick. Read the quick definition and then move on. You know what I mean? It's like just yeah, don't worry about memorizing everything. But just know that you are not alone in the sense like we're very seasoned fantasy readers and I will be the first to admit that this is a doozy. So like don't feel like, you know, we're gaslighting you like, "Oh, this book is so easy. Don't worry about it." No, it's complicated for sure. Yeah. Um, and so, but that being said, it's worth it if you can, you know, put that analytical side of your brain just like to the side for a second and just try to like enjoy the ride. Yeah. You know, because it'll all unfold as you go and it's sometimes you need the context to like really grasp it, too. Mhm. Yep. For sure. Yeah. So, shout out to Jasper Coffee and Crackspines. I think she's the one that actually gave me this version. She knows how much I loved it. So, thanks, Jasper. Still cherish it. I know. I just realized cuz my cop is from um Fairy Loot. Yeah, I hope that's behind me. Yeah, so pretty. I'm so obsessed. Well, I'm pretty sure that I'm like I'm pretty sure I ordered Ballad of Fallen Dragons um on their pre-order, but like it always takes so long to get everything. I'm like, I don't remember what I did. So, hopefully it comes in the mail at some point. Oh, I definitely did. Oh, it's so And each one has different artwork. All the additions, guys. It's so pretty. Um I'm going to just look real quick. Okay. So, yeah, at the this is actually the traditionally published one that's just teal. Um, that hard cover. The glossery is at the beginning. So, yeah, I can see somebody picking up and being like, cuz it's long, guys. I can see somebody picking it up and saying, "What? I'm not doing this." Flesh thread, the flourish, gondra, like what is the unders city unveiling serum, wield tuka trial, velvet trogue. Like it goes into a lot of information that you're going to just find out while you're reading it, you know. So, I do love a good uh pronunciation guide. Not that I ever remember, but totally. So, don't get don't get scared. Don't get scared or get scared and then do it anyway and just be like, "All right, I'm scared, but I'm accepting it and I'm just going to see how this goes because it's so good. We're just going to let it happen." That's right. Yeah. So, okay, Ash, should we should we get into the spoiler section? The quote unquote five sentence summary, shall we? I'm a dragon. I'm a dragon. I'm gonna bring spoilers. So, don't get spoiled on this. Hopefully, we sold you and you're going to get to reading You can listen to the audio if you want. Honestly though, as a reread, I would recommend the audio, but I would not necessarily recommend doing audio for a book like this for the first time. I would physically read it. I'm glad I did it the way I did it. Same. So, yep. Or or do the read and listen, you know, on Audible that it can follow along because it's it is a lot. We're not going to lie. It's not easy. Like Liz said, it is a lot. So unless you just are amazing at picking up all the details audibly only. Yeah. But it's not like if you know if someone came up to me and they were like I've never read a fantasy before. What would you suggest? I wouldn't be like read when the moon hash. That's not what I would recommend. You know what I mean? It's like so yeah definitely um we see you and we understand. And yeah doing uh the audio because I did the read and listen for my reread but I did I read it on Kindle originally as well. Yeah. Yes. Plus, it's nice to be able to highlight easily and make notes and like all that kind of stuff if you want to. For sure. For sure. But spoilers from here on out, stay with your playlist. We'll see you later if this is goodbye for now. And those of you who have read it and everything, of course, we are coming out with a deep dive on the Ballad of Falling Dragons. So stay tuned. After finishing this, I'm like, I can't wait to read it. I can't wait to man. I'm freaking out. Freaking out. But I mean, hey, at this point, we're as we're filming this, we only have to wait like what, another like two weeks? Three weeks. Yeah, something like that. Yeah. So, hey, not too bad. Okay, so here we go. The five sentence summary of When the Moon Hatch by Sarah A. Parker. So, this is what I did for this five sentence summary because we're dealing with multi-povs again. We're dealing with multi- timelines this time. So, okay. Okay. So, did you do that thing where you like split it up into different I did, but I did it differently this time. Okay. Okay. So, I'm just going to do a musical instrument when you're all done. Yeah. Let's Let's We need to pay attention to this one cuz it's There's a lot of heavy duty. No joking around, you guys. You just do your thing. I'm just going to listen and you let me know when that's it and then I'll give you a treat. Okay. Okay. Um, and I tried to do my best to include since this is a recap for book two. Okay. I tried to include book one. Oh, it's a recap before we go into book two. Yeah. Um, I tried to include all of the information like names for example or places that would be relevant. So, I'm not saying that it's like I'm perfect and I didn't miss anything. Okay. But I'm saying that like if something I I have a very strong inkling is going to be important for book. in the summary intentionally. Okay. So, what I did just with that recap, let's go. Well, I separated it into current timeline rave. Okay. But then there's also previous timeline rave. So, technically Eluin. Okay. She has her own five sentence summary. And then there's a se a separate one that includes Con Vea and the Scavenger King. Okay. All together like in one. Yeah. So, we're going to start off with Rave's current timeline. Okay. Rave is an undercover assassin and vigilante worker for the Fur death rebel group living in Gore, a part of Arthia, ruled over by the evil king Tyroth Vagor, a man who conscripts all fay against their will into his brutal army who wield powers given to them by the four elemental gods representing ground, water, air, and fire. The fifth callus was trapped inside the aetherstone and is worn on a diadem by the princess Khazari, an heir to the shade realm's throne and over the centuries worn by the female sitting on or heir to the throne. Rave is brought in to stand trial by Rex Zaros, a bounty hunter for King Tyroth, but in the process tortures her and kills her closest friend, Essie, so she swears to get her revenge. a hooded stranger who she met during one of her undercover jobs ends up being King Khan Vagor, brother to the tyrant twin kings Tyroth and Kaddock, whose mother died in childbirth and whose father he murdered himself. He rescues her even though she hates him, having his gigantic sabers dragon, Ryon pretend to snatch her off of her sacrificial py to feed her to younglings, but instead dumps her in the burn where he helps her become well again and starts to reveal parts of her past slowly. They are drawn toward each other and bond, but she ultimately runs away anyway, not understanding, remembering her past fully, or being open to this dynamic. Due to a storm and her doled powers, she falls down a cliff and into a river that dumps her into the territory of the Jawool Warriors, the most elite band in the world that Khan trained with. A fate herder creature appears and pushes her to go to their camp, where they tell her it was prophesized that she would come there to create offspring that would prevent future moonfalls. the catastrophic phenomenon where dragons who have died and become moons plummet back to Earth. She challenges the warrior who is vying for her bond, refusing to lose her freedom and is winning the battle when he cheats and poisons her with a snake. But just in time, Khan arrives, battles Hawk in herstead, and wins. Then they travel back to his kingdom in the burn to heal. When Rave wakes up, she decides to leave because she isn't being held prisoner and wants her revenge on Wreck. But before she can go, she explores the city and sees that Khan's people are living really good lives. Happy to exist there and that he and that he is nothing like the rumors or his brothers. He removes her iron cuff, hums her special song when she is overwhelmed by Rain's intensity now that she has her elemental powers back and takes her to see Slattra, her moon plume that fell from the sky that he's been piecing back together for the last 25 years since she fell. He tells her about Eluin, his lost love that died. Eluin Rave Navon her. Rave can't accept all of this new information, so she plans to finally leave, but is drawn to a hidden secret dwelling in the jungle that she realizes used to be theirs. She lives there for about a month and is starting to live instead of just survive, opening her heart to Khan when they spend time together, but explaining to him that she can't fall for him because everyone she loves dies. So she plans on having him wiped from her memories after their time together. He tells her he loves her and refuses to accept this after waiting for her for 125 years. But before they can come to a resolution, Rex Zaros shows up searching for Princess Khazari, who is now missing. Rave bonds with his abused Moonplume Liry, adopting her as her own, and follows Re to neutral territory after he leaves with Khan's blessing and tortures him and kills him. Yeah, such a good chapter. Okay, so that's five sentences for Rave, current timeline. All right, you get the music at the very end. Okay, I got my reward. Okay, so this is the five sentence summary, current timeline also for Khan, his sister Vea, and the Scavenger King. Khan secretly meets with his niece, the princess Kazari, who wears the aether stone. And she tells him that she wants his help freeing freeing Kyus, who is trapped in the stone because she can hear him and she's in love with him. But Khan refuses because it'll kill her to remove it. Vea, Khan's sister and a badass warrior, discloses certain information when having a conversation with Pyro, one of their most trusted warriors. They've been putting together an army to challenge their father and Tyroth, a sort of rebellion. Rave was actually stabbed to death, which is not how they thought she died. And Vea will be traveling to the shade to find Eluin's to find Eluin's diary to find out the truth of her final days in order to discover whether she betrayed them for real or not. She travels to Gore to bargain with the Trog, who now has the Bengal she was given many years ago by a mind who told her that it would serve her in two ways, which would both be painful but necessary. She trades her mother's malmmer and gets it back and uses it to disguise herself using glamour magic to help her find Eluin's diary. Khan goes to investigate why Re has arrived in the burn and finds out that Tyroth sent him to look for his missing daughter, Princess Khazari. Wreck also brings his damaged Moonplume who Khan adopts because he was abusing her. And Ravees her time, sitting this confrontation out because everyone thinks she's dead. But after they leave, she scales the cliff and bonds with Liry. They heal her and then Khan lets Rave go so she can follow Wreck into neutral territory to kill him. Veya uses her Bengal to glamour herself to look like a servant who just so happens to be Tyro's mistress carrying his secret baby in order to find Ra's journal. She does and discovers that Kazari is Khan's child and Eluan did everything to save them all. Meanwhile, Princess Kazari is being held in a dungeon by the Scavenger King, the secret half-brother of the Vagores, who wants his revenge and rightful claim to the burn throne. Guys, jeez, dude. Okay, so that's everything that's happened present day. So, in order for that to make sense, obviously, we have to know what was happening in Eluin's diary in the past before she died and got taken up into the sky with her moon plume. Okay. 9-year-old Elwin lives in Arthia and is watching her mother struggle to carry the heavy black stone in her crown. She wants a moon plume dragon, but can't have one until she's 18. So, when her brother Hadon wants to travel to Nethrine to steal a moonflume egg, she sneaks into his sleigh to go with him to get her own. Hadon gets his Moonplume egg, but is snuggling with it and can't move his legs. So, Eluan wants to save him. The mother Moonplume is hunting them, and somehow she manages to climb on top of her and bonds, carrying Hadon and his baby dragon back to their home. Her brother will never walk again and his dragon can't fly because they were attacked by other monsters while they were hiding. But she is now revered and can speak to all of the elemental gods. And she is able to start getting her brother's dragon to fly. So, she's got all these powers. That's so exciting. Okay. Eluin is now 18 and the kings want to negotiate a deal to marry her off to one of the Vagore sons. She doesn't want to and her dad actually agrees. So, her entire family is poisoned and killed. But, she was out sleeping with the dragon so she lived. Now she has to wear the diadem with the aether stone. Her parents' dragons burned um their bodies and Hadons took him to the sky and solidified into a moon. Her advisers tell her that the people of her country won't accept a queen weakened by the aetherstone unless she is bound to someone wielding at least two elements and that her fate will be decided by the tri council because she's also too young to rule. And she is captured by Khan's dad. Then she is captured by Khan's dad, King Austern, and is being forced to marry one of his other sons, Tyroth. Her moonflume Siatra follows her to the new kingdom in Dom across the Baltanic plains and goes blind and burns through her wings in the process. But in her insane grief, she meets Khan and Vea and they're kind to her, taking care of her and teaching her combat training at D Academy. She and Khan become close, falling in love, making their secret home in the jungle jungle, and conceiving a child he didn't get the chance to know about. When all four siblings are gone to train, the king threatens Eluin and tells her that if she doesn't do the binding ceremony with Tyroth that he'll kill Vera and Khan and will let her dragon die. And he also tells her she's pregnant. So, she leaves to save their lives, not telling him about the baby, but leaving a note telling them that this is what she wants, to be with Tyroth. And she dies there week from the Aetherstone after giving birth to Princess Kazari, another fire lark.

So crazy.

I like how you're just feeling it. You're just going Not quite as soothing as Con's music. Yeah. Sorry. However, here I'll give you this. Still nice.

That's pretty good. Yeah, that's more like it. It's got a vibe for um the story. For sure. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. Dog, so much happens. So much happens. Good job. Good freaking job. Really? Seriously. Seriously, Liz, thank you for putting into words that chaos cuz it was crazy. Like, I get I get that, too. It's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. It's woven, you know. So, Well, yeah, cuz you're going back and forth and like you're not really sure what's going on for a while. like the first read it's like you obviously don't know that they're the same person in the beginning. So it's like you're like what's going on over here? Who's this lady? Like how is this connected? So yeah, I can see how like going into it knowing that from the beginning it just makes your perspective so much clearer. I think you know. Yeah. I mean I was into it from the beginning when I knew nothing. But I can get how it's chaotic and almost disjointed. But I think once you get to a certain part you're like ah it's all intentional. I think people maybe maybe that's why it's a DNF or a low rating is they don't realize how intentional all of it is perhaps. Maybe. So, I don't know. Just speculating. So, in case that wasn't enough, let's go over a quick character breakdown. I apologize in advance for the pronunciation, but definitely check out that glossery guide if you need some help like me. But here we go. So, we have our main FMC Rave, sometimes known as Liry, aka the Fireark, aka Eloin, Rave, Naven. Elo's original dragon was Slattra. And then we have Hadion, her brother, and his dragon Alam. Then we have Nathi and Akiri, Eloin's parents' dragons. Of course, we find out our MMC is Khan Vagore. And then his dragon's name is actually Ryon. He is a saber. Unfortunately for Khan and most of the people involved, his family kind of sucks for the most part with a couple exceptions. So we have King Austin Vagger that when he died actually is what allowed Khan to be able to become king of the burn, but his brothers seemingly both equally suck. So we have King Fade, which is Koko Vagger, the evil brother that is tribeed. And then we have the shade, Tyroy Vagger, an evil brother. That wasn't enough. We find out about another awful brother, a halfb brotherther, illegitimate brother if you will, that goes by the scavenger king, Arkin Vagor. So, he's somebody to watch out for. He definitely sucks already, but you never know, maybe there's an untold story, but luckily the sister comes in and totally redeems not the whole family, but at least herself. She's awesome. So, we love Vea. She's wonderful. She is not only an amazing sister, but a good friend to Ray. Of course, we find out that Princess Kazari is not just a niece. It's actually Con and Ra's biological daughter. So, I can't wait to see that unfold in the next book. There's a couple other characters. There's a lot. There's a million more characters, but those are the ones that we wanted to touch on. Of course, we have Rake Zoros, bounty hunter with the Moon Plume that he abused, but thankfully, we all know he got what was coming. And then we have some other people that might show up again like the shopkeeper, Ada, which is Tyroth's mistress that's carrying his quote unquote illegitimate child. So, lots of characters to watch out for as well, but those were the main ones that I wanted to make sure we refreshed you on. Overview of the gods. So, we have the aether god Kais, the ground god, Boulder. So, those are the ones that are like opening up the ground and things like that. Then, for water, we have rain. That's definitely the easiest one to remember in my head. Air is clo and fire is ignos. So it is said that rave might be the one that carries all five of those. And as far as we know right now for dragons we have the saber siths which is the burn and gondra. We have molten mos which is the fade and bogeith. This is so hard for me you guys. And then of course one of our favorites moon plumes from the shade and nethin. Hopefully that's helpful as a quick verbal update and character list. But of course, like we mentioned, the glossery is everywhere. If you don't have a physical copy, you can definitely Google the glossery, the family tree, all of that to get a better pronunciation guide and detail than what I can offer. But hopefully that helps. I know it helps me kind of wrangle it all in because it sounds like a lot of information, but I think it'll unfold very beautifully with the next book as well. All right. What about tropes you loved, Ash? Oh, goodness gracious. There were so I loved all the tropes. everything. The one that stuck out to me and like why I love this book, I just feel like she did so well. Hidden identity, it was great. Yeah. So, that's what I put. That was my first one. Chosen one and Secret Identity. Yeah. And so satisfying and like you understand why, you know, and it's hard and it's messy and I love it. And then uh bonded pairs specifically between dragons and humans. I love that. I love that. Like dragons, we talk a lot about dragons already, but like they're they're big, but they're not constantly discussed. Well, they're normalized in their society. I think that's what it is. It's like all the different, you know, the burn, the shade, the you know, whatever. It's like they all have dragons. Like that's the whole thing is there's different depending on what geographical location you live in, you have a different kind of dragon that's obviously adapted to the weather, etc. Um, but it's not uncommon for people to bond with them. It's not uncommon for people to ride them. They're even used in regular commerce and transportation. Um, so I think that's what it is. It's not like they're not rare, but they are very powerful and specific to the region that they're from and important also. And they're intentional and it's not like, okay, here they're giving us a dragon just to satisfy it. No, it's like all part of it's all entwined with the lore. the dragons. The moons are literally the dead dragons. Like everything is connected to dragons, but it doesn't mean that you're constantly you're not hearing dragon monologue, you know? So, it's different in that way. So, I just I just loved that so much. Well, it's a whole world that functions around like the base assumption that dragons exist. So, it's like they even, you know, depending on where you live, they're even dealing in, you know, dragon blood or dragon scales or, you know what I mean? It's like that's the currency. So it's Yeah, it's very like they're a core part of like the whole society. Yeah, for sure. Mhm. So very cool. And then the last one that I put that stuck out to me was just tragic love. Like all those three things are what made that book for me, made me fall in love with it so much so tragic. Yeah. Mhm. So yeah, I mean I put Secret Identity and Chosen One. That's huge for sure. I cannot wait to see where that goes because we do not really know aside from being able to wield the four elements what it means to be a fireark. Mhm. Yeah. Um obviously we know that she passed that down to her daughter. Yeah. Um so we know that Kazari is also a fire lark, but what does that really mean? Um we also obviously have those couple chapters um that are told through the eyes of the other, right? that's what it's called, which is basically like her beast or um like the we don't know yet if that's a metaphor or if it's real like or at least that's how I wrote it where it's like you know she has so much trauma and so many things that she's been through that you know this is the place that she shoves down all of her trauma to keep herself a sane functional person. Um, and she'll black out and this beast will take over and do things like, you know, torture and kill Rexaros, for example. Um, is it actually a creature? Does that have something to do with Is it a possession? Is it a possession? Is it one of the gods gods? Exactly. Is it a split personality as a trauma response? So, yeah. Right. And I loved that because it could be so many more things and ties into trauma healing, which is one of my favorite parts of this book as well, how she and Khan work through that. I mean, Khan again, top tier. I don't know how that like rereading it, I'm like, I don't know how that dude has like still has sane. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so yeah. And then obviously um starcross lovers faded. I think that's what it is. They're enemies to lovers. They're starcross lovers. They're faded mates. Like it's like she's taking all these tropes but then making them all represent the same couple and so they get to go through all these different iterations of their relationship past and present. And it's like cool top tier. And I love that it's an enemies to lovers for her but it's like never enemies for him. And you know, like how hard it would be to not push her to remember, like how jarring it would be to find someone you think is dead, alive and well. They don't remember you, but it's definitely them. And like how you would navigate that. So seeing him and even the sister and the found family basically trying to help her without pushing her cuz that's that they know that won't work either and how painful that would be. My gosh. Yeah, it would be crazy. And I mean I um I put the increments of time in years because it's basically like the same thing. But like so my understanding is that the moon fell 25 years ago, but she was up there for an additional hundred years. Right. Did I get that right? Good luck with me in years. Sorry about that. Um, that's the way that I read it. But, and I even went back and like double checked it because I was like, I feel like I'm having a hard time understanding this timeline, but I'm pretty sure that's what it is. I'm pretty sure that it's like she died 125 years ago, you know, whatever. Or they're equivalent to whatever that is. 125 years because they're fay obviously, so they live for a long time. Yeah. 125 years ago. And that's when um, you know, she died. her moon plume takes her up into the sky, solidifies into the moon. Um, but then it falls 25 years ago because that's when Khan is able to start collecting the pieces. Yeah. To put him back together. So, I think that that's correct. But, you know, obviously reach out, correct me if I'm wrong. Yeah. But yeah, that's just I mean get yourself a man that'll wait 125 years for you while putting together the microscopic puzzle pieces of your fallen dragon to show you later. Yeah. Oh my gosh. What are you? Oh my gosh. Yeah, I know. I know. It's crazy. Yep. Um what was one trope that you didn't like? Good luck. I loved it all. I know. I know. Could you think of anything? I just put power- hungry men always. That's what I put. But it's like we have to have villains here. And in this case, it's Khan's brothers and father. So, it is what it is. But yeah, it's like, of course. Piece of crap. You're a piece of crap. Yeah, for sure. They're the worst. Yep. Um, and then what about a micro trope that you liked or didn't like? Um, different dragon breeds. That was cool. That's so cool. That's one of my favorite parts about it. So cool. And then um the I really liked the lark letters. Like those were so fun. Yeah. Like me the little um Yeah. Like when the freaking letter came to um was it Sea the Sister when she was in disguise and then luckily it was blank. I'm like, "Oh no." Oh yeah. Yeah. Vea. I don't know. My brain switches it. Yeah. That was that I know. I was like, "Oh my god." Oh no. Yeah. Yeah. But also like what's the luck that like out of all the people that you could like glamour yourself as, you end up glamouring yourself as a freaking mistress of the king/ the one carrying his illegitimate baby. I'm like come on. It'll be useful to have that information though. So is it bad luck? I don't know. It will. Also, I remember the first time I read um that first lark that was coming to her and the note would say, "I need you." So like Once you find out who she is and he who Khan is and knowing he was sending those out to her and they were getting to her. Well, see, okay, so that confused me because this is the way that I read it rereading it. The way that I read it, rereading it, is cuz she wrote I need you on it or that's what it says, right? It says I need you. She returned it to send her using its magic cuz she was like, you need to go back to from when once you came. It goes back to Princess Kazari. She gets it in the dungeon when the um Oh, see I already had it planned in my mind. It's the other way. Yeah. Okay. But see, so who sent that? Kazari sent that presumably as maybe just like a therapeutic exercise to her dead mother, right? Like she's thinking like, "I need you." And sends it off into the universe. But Rave gets it because she's alive. Yeah, that's the way that I'm getting chills right now because like is that's the way that I read it the second time and again like I don't know but I'm pretty sure that's what it is. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Literally like so crazy. So unique magical items would be my micro trope that I Your micro trope. Yeah. Yeah. I put elemental powers. I love because we see elemental powers a lot I feel like in fantasy in different ways, shapes, and forms, but the way that it was done in this book, it not only made sense, but it was like um like they can wield those actual elements, but they can also speak with the gods who are creating them. And I felt like that was really cool, too. Yeah. Yeah. It was very cool. So, the elemental powers were definitely one of my favorite like micro trope kind of specifics. Yeah. All right, Ash, what was your favorite part? Pick one. Everything. Everything. I struggled. I sat there thinking about it. I'm like, "Okay, I love this part. I love this part. I love this part." Everything. So sue me. Yeah. So sue me. Do you have anything that you want to shout out specifically? Um, everything we've already talked about, like all the different types of dragons and how they're intertwined into society and they're all intrinsic. Um the moons like how freaking cool like the world building obsessed with the relationships and how they're navigating all of this trauma and freaking um Rave being a badass like everything about it. That's why I it's it's like satisfying when you reread a fantasy and you love it the same if not more than the first time cuz sometimes you think, "Oh, maybe I was delusional." Especially when you hear some people don't like it or people that you have things in common with and they don't like it and you're like well maybe I was a little dulu and I don't know and then I read it I'm like no this is incredible. No wonder I didn't stop thinking about it because I love this. So yeah literally. Yeah. Yeah. I mean I put my favorite parts were revealing her moon plume that he's been putting back together. Yeah. Come on. Um her spending a month in the cabin by herself. Yeah. Loved that. That was so well and also just so important. Yeah. Um because it shows I think along this whole journey, not that he hasn't had a long many years to like think this over. Okay. But Khan being able to let to expose her to the things necessary for her to discover who she really is. he's like leading her there without being, you know, overly intense about it or like overt. And um I think her time in the cabin was really important because it showed that he knew she was there. Yeah. They were aware of where she was and that she was still in his kingdom and he, you know, he let her have her month to herself to literally just live her life for the first time ever feeling somewhat safe and just being able to exist without having to like literally fight for her life on a daily basis. Yeah. Um and I thought and just kind of like heal a little bit. And I think that it showed a lot about his character too and just kind of like his strategy this whole time. And so I loved that. Yeah. Um, I loved her monster. Her freaking biting off Rex Zaros's finger and then wake waking up from her blackout with like his freaking tendon between her teeth. Oh, gross. But like so good. Yeah. Yep. Um, he deserved it. So, hey. Yeah. Um, and then obviously, you know, Vea finding the diary at the end and and realizing that this was a whole plan that Rave had to keep them safe. Yeah, from you know her their evil father and brother. So yeah. Yeah. Top tier. So many favorite. I mean I could go on and on and on and on, but those were the ones that like stood out in my mind to me that I was like that Yeah. There was just like top tier moments for sure. Yeah. Yeah. What about Did you have a least favorite part? Okay. I mean again cuz if we have to say something that sucks. I mean, the Elo's family being poisoned and then she's stolen and has to deal with all of those lies and deceits. So sad, so brutal. Don't love it, but got to have it. Like, yeah. Otherwise, you have no story, right? It's like so important. Yeah. I mean, obviously it sucks, but so important. I put the only thing I could come up with that wasn't like literally just like in like integral to the plot um was I just had a really hard time. It might have been the audio, I don't know. But like when you know they're at the Jakool clan and they're fighting to the death and they're and freaking um Con saws that guy's head off while he's still alive. Yeah. And then holds it up for her. And I was like like I just I was like that was that was I read horror and that was graphic for me. Like I had a hard time with that. But the flip side the flip side of that is that like Sarah Parker's writing is so insanely good that you feel like you're like there watching it. Yeah. So, hey, that's good. But at the same time, I was like, "Oh, that was like that was a lot. It was brutal." Yeah, it was pretty brutal. Yep. I just put here cutting off heads. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Um, is Rave your favorite character? Are you throwing us a curveball here? Um, what did I put? Let's see. Yeah, favorite character. Although flawed, she is a badass. And also Khan. Khan is a favorite character because he's willing at the end of the day to let her go no matter how brutal it is for him. But at least he knows she's alive. You know, I don't think he will let her go, but he but he will do it if he needs to. I mean, he says it, but then he's like, "Well, but I'm not going to let you go, but like I will, but like please don't make me." Well, it's a good balance because it's like imagine if he was just like, "Yeah, okay, whatever." Like that would feel very like but I also don't want him to be possessive of her. So great. Yeah. Great. Well balanced MMC. That's what I put too. It's like Rave for me was likable from the very beginning. Yeah. I mean finding out that she was trained with Veya as a one of the like highest elite warriors makes complete sense now, right? Um yeah. So it's like Rave, love her. She's amazing. Her oneliners, her like the digs she would take at con cracked me up the second time reading it cuz I was like, dude, this guy's got the patience of a freaking saint, man. Like she says the shittiest stuff to him and he's just like moves on past it. You know what I mean? Like clenches his jaw, grits his teeth, and moves on, you know? Y um so yeah, I mean I love Khan as well for all the reasons that you said. He's the perfect blend of, you know, he's this insanely strong, gifted warrior. He wields two elements. He, you know, is the most dominant of this like Jakool clan. He's a king. He d He drives the biggest dragon. He drives the biggest dragon. Drives the biggest truck. Literally like he is like the epitome of masculinity. Yeah. and is yet the most kind and emotionally intelligent human being. Yeah, totally. And the balance there is it's like we were joking about um like funny, you know, things that we could say that that I don't know, just like little sayings or whatever. And um we were just talking about like when freaking Ryan Gosling just says um what does he say? He says superb. Is that what he says in Barbie? I think so. Yes. Superb. Supreme, superb, supreme, supreme. It's like that's what I that's what I want to yell is just like supreme. Like every time it's like he's literally like the best, you know? Yeah. And so I feel like Sarah Parker like took every quality and put it into con in a way that is also not cringy. Yeah. Because he I mean, we're talking about a man that, you know, yearns. Mhm. Not in another dude. No. Yeah. But dude yearns big time because come on, you know. Like big yearns, but like not in a weird way. Not in a cringy weird way at all. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, for that reason, I would say yeah, the main characters both. Yeah. Or my favorite. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. And your least. I mean, it's got to go to Wreck. Obviously the cowboy dragon cowboy dude his accent I that's the thing his accent in the audio book I was like this guy it just it was the worst but at the same time it fits. Yeah because I'm like yeah he's very cowboy. It's very like a light Matthew McConna LT, like a light Matthew McConna voice. Maybe because it's on I was on like two times speed, but it just had that perfect little Mcconn twang, but then I'm like, but don't but I like Matthew McConna's voice, so don't make me like you, but like I was expecting a little bit gruffer. I think I was expecting gruffer, too. But it's almost like we hate Rex so much that it's like, yeah, if he had a stupid voice, it would make perfect sense. So there you go, you know. Yeah, he was terrible for the but as a reread, I delighted in every interaction she had with him or we just had with him of anybody because I knew it was coming to him and I knew how good it was. And it was just as good the second time. It's such a satisfying revenge arc there. Yeah. He gets everything he deserves. Yeah. And more. Fire poker and all. Yep. Fire poker. Yeah. Literally. Okay, Ash. So, do you have some quotes that you would like to share with the group today? Do I ever? Yeah, good luck. Good luck. We'll have to whittle it down, you know, cuz we can't keep them here all day. So, he's fire and brimstone. I'm shattered ice. Our collision is steam and destruction, destined to dissipate, but I'll gladly burn beneath him until the world comes crumbling down

all the time. So good. What do we tell you guys? What do we tell you? This one was a heavy hitter and it was one I didn't pick up in the first read. Okay. And it's like one of Khan's oneliners. And he just says to her, "I'm half dead already, bleeding out at your feet. Can't you see?" Oh. That's when she's like threatening to basically like shive him. You know what I mean? She's like, "I'm going to kill you." And he's like, "I'm I'm dead already." Like I'm like like I read it the second time and I was like, "That's so sad." Cuz he's been waiting for her for so long. Oh my gosh. I know. Well, okay. Survival's funny. Some wear it like a whisper, others like a scream. Mine's a scorch skeleton. A flame forged rage that keeps me upright, keeps me moving forward. Yep, I have that one next. Interesting. Yeah, very relatable, I'd say.

I once knew a female who'd cry when it rained, though she thought I never noticed. He murmurs against my ear, his dense words battling the torrent of mournful cries like a boom of thunder. Her name was Eluin. Yes. So good. I have a similar one. So, it's I don't know what I don't know which one was before or after, but I once knew a female who died tragically whose lifeless body was sailed into the sky by the adoring beast at your back with my tornout heart in her freaking fist. I have a child in the room, so I'm Yeah. He rasps, lifting his hand into a claw that he shakes in my face. Her name was Eloin again. And she laughed with the wind, cried with the rain. She angered with fire and bellowed with the ground.

Just the way the way he talks about her, she's just so revered. It's like Yeah. Chase death moon beam. And I pray your blood lust brings you the same sense of peace I feel just knowing you exist. Exactly. Exactly. Okay, this will be the last one. Okay. I'm done living the life I've been told to live and not the one I want for myself.

Uh, with his beast at my back, so she's talking about obviously Ryun, his dragon. With his beast at my back and this massive, impenetrable male at my front, I should feel small. I don't. He's only ever made me feel vast, mighty even. And perhaps he's right. Yeah. Mhm. Okay. Okay. This one. Sorry. I have to give one more. I have to give one more. That's fine. That's fine. I'll allow it. She's probably picturing me on my knees. And perhaps that should bother me. It doesn't. I'd spend eternity looking up at her if she'd only [ __ ] let me. It's like this man. This man. Come on. If you guys aren't on the con train, what are you doing? What are you doing? Yep. So, speaking of that, Ash, how was the spice? You got anything to say about it? It's very good. It was very good indeed. Good. It was Yeah. Top tier. Top tier spice. You know, this is the only book that I've read by Sarah Parker. And, you know, obviously I know a lot of you guys have read To Bleed a Crystal Bloom and that trilogy, and it just makes me want to read that even more because I'm like, I've been wanting to get around to it forever, and I'm like, come on. I bet the spice in that is excellent, too. And I think that one starts off, if I remember correctly, is almost like a Rapunzel retelling. Oh, I got to get to it. Uh, it's the original indie one is sitting right up there waiting for me. I just saw the new ones in Target recently and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, those are pretty, too." I actually really like those, too. I know. I sometimes I buy the indies just in case they like dole them down cuz sometimes they do. Sometimes indies are better, sometimes the traditionals, you know, republished are better. It's hard to say. It's a risk. Anytime it gets announced, I'm like, "Okay, buy that one just in case." But yeah, the spice was great. This is a perfect example. You know, if you guys heard us um you know, yapping for 10,000 billion years about the Played Prisoner series and about how all the spice is intentionally written to move either to develop the characters in such a way to move the plot forward, to reveal things about the characters, etc. It's like there's so much in the Spice. Um, and it's just beautifully written in general and Yeah, it's great. Yeah. Top tier. Infinity Star Spice. Agreed. Can't wait for more in book two. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And obviously we'll both read the sequels. We'll read anything. At this point, it's like all about time. If like literally if Sarah Parker writes it, I'll read it. I just need the time to do so because all of her books are very long. So, it's like Yeah. Mhm. I mean, it's crazy. Even Chris Broadband, we haven't finished. We didn't start the last one and she's already coming out with another one this fall. And I'm like, "Oh, no. I want to read all the things, but we're on a time issue." Well, it's not just a time issue. It's like we already read more books than most people. It's just that there's only so many things you can read in a month. You know what I mean? It's like it's crazy. Yeah, absolutely. It's like literally just a time game at this point. It's like, "Hey, how about uh I'm on a deserted island with just Sarah A. Parker books. How about that? Yeah. Oh no. Oh no. What about her? Just kidding. Not at all. Yeah. Uh so yeah, definitely we'll be reading the sequels and in anytime we have her other books as well. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, do you have anything else that you wanted to just mention about why this book in particular like stands out, especially as like a quote unquote dragon book? It was It was all those things. So it was all those things. See previous, you know, 194 minutes. Yeah. I feel like it's just Yeah, it was just a very unique and interesting take on dragon lore. Um, while they're very important to the story, I feel like everything else was just as important to the story. It's like the elemental gods piece and like obviously like all of the political scheming piece and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, I feel like there was no I didn't feel like we were slighted. You know what I mean? I feel like sometimes people add dragons and it's like that's what everything becomes about the dragons and it's kind of gimmicky almost. I feel like never did it feel like that. Right. Exactly. Like everything else was top tier and the dragons themselves were like super unique and interesting too. So very happy with all of that. And just to kind of uh dive a little very briefly into the reviews, honestly, this is crazy to me. Okay, listen. I'm bracing myself. Well, it gets a 3.99, which isn't excellent, but isn't terrible. So, very not where it should be in our opinion, obviously, as both of us rated in infinity stars. Okay, so if you like this book, go give it a rating on Goodreads. But yeah, what I was shocked about was not just that. But I was shocked to say there's only 315,070 reviews of Men When the Moon Hatched and it's been out for quite a while at this point. So to me that is not enough ratings of this book. Yeah. Yeah. At all. At all. And so that also just tells me that like not enough people are reading this book. So on Audible it only it also doesn't have a lot. 5,713 ratings gets a 4.3. So, you know, some people don't love the narrators. I will say I really liked the female narrator. Uh Sarah Molo Christensen, if this is the same one that I did, I thought she did a great job. Honestly, I don't love the male narrator for the male characters. Like we talked about Wreck, I kind of grew on me. I didn't love the main main I just darker, gruffer, deeper. I think I would have preferred Oh, sorry. Don't Anthony Palinia in there. Come on. Well, I struggled I struggled with the male narrator because you can tell from some of the other voices that he does that he does have a deep gruff voice and could have made Khan's voice sound like that but didn't. And so I think that's what I struggled with because it was almost like cuz obviously this accent is one that neither of the narrators like they both added it in. I don't think either of them have an accent. Um, and so it sounded a lot more natural on like Vera for instance or Vea for instance, you know, but like with Con, it felt a little bit forced to me and I almost wish that he would have like not played the accent up as much and maybe just made his voice a little bit deeper and more gruff. I feel like that would have balanced it better because we know that he can do that because he did all of the male character voices and some of them sounded that way. Well, this is interesting. I pulled up Ballad of Falling Dragon Audible releasing with the book release. Sarah's still doing the female, but there is also other people cast much like West of Wicked that we just listened to. Oh, yeah. So, he's in there as well as other people. So, we do have four new people added to it. I mean, the same guy is probably still doing it, so we'll see. But, I can hold hope in a pretend world that he made his voice darker and gruffer. Yeah. I mean, you know, honestly, maybe like cuz it's been a while and like I feel like audiobook narrators just like everyone else do evolve based on um experience and feedback and all that kind of stuff because I didn't have an issue with his voice. I liked it. I thought he had a good voice. I just felt like the way that he chose to play Con just didn't match the character fully. So, it wasn't enough to pull me out of the story, but I feel like he could have like played it up a little bit more. So, hopefully he does. Do you have any lore that you wanted to share or any Easter eggs that you wanted to share? Well, I mean, there's probably so much. Yeah. Family lineage. Um, what else did she lose in her memories? There's some spans in there that we can't really account for. Like you said, you're kind of unclear of how long she was up in the sky as a moon. So, there's so much more I think that will be unfolding in the future books. And it makes my head spin in a good way though. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like rereading this there was definitely like a lot um there was a lot of lore for the world that was important just about like yeah how the dragons got up there in the first place. Um how many moonfalls they've had. Obviously there's a lot going on with um Callus. I don't know how you say his name but the god who lives inside the aetherstone. like what's gonna happen with him? Because that's going to become a major issue. Like literally, if the princess is really in love with him and then sets him free, like what is that gonna mean? Obviously, we have everything going on with this secret brother, the secret fourth brother. Like, that's crazy as well. So, it's like, yeah, there's just there's a lot going on because obviously he's holding the princess hostage. She has the aether stone. He wants to take Khan down. Is he going to come back and kill him? like or try to, you know, it's really why do they have to have the aether stone? Are they just suppressing them? Because sure does feel like it, you know. Yeah. Like is he is he entrapped there for a good reason or were they just fed lies? You know, that's what it feels like. Mhm. Totally. So yeah, I mean it says, let's see. Yeah, it literally says that the myth of the Aether Stone has become a scrambled myth passed around campfires or sung to babes to hush their fussing cries. So, it's like this happened 5 million phases ago. So, it's like I'm sure most people don't even have any idea of what like actually happened. Yeah. Um like for real. So, yeah. Like why are the moons falling? Like why did that start? Like what does that mean? Yeah. So, there's just so many unanswered questions. Um, and we get a lot of hints in the form of lore or Easter eggs, but nothing that is um like nothing that's bothering me because it's unanswered. Like it's all supposed to be unanswered. And like we'll hopefully get a lot of those in the next one for sure. Yeah. I think we're going to go into the next book and be like, "Oh, duh." Like, "Oh my gosh." or hear a connection click like you know they're going to be like that's what that was. So yeah. Well yeah it's like does like what exactly is a fire lark other than the fact that she can wield the four elements. Okay, we know that but there has to be more to it than that. Yeah because and not very much has been revealed about it. So yeah, it is it's like just everything all the pieces are like fitting together. I never saw it coming that like there would be the secret brother who's like literally even more evil or is he evil or is there more to the story also? So there's that. Like obviously he shouldn't be keeping the princess in a dungeon but like was he wronged by these other brothers or the dad as well? Like is he going to join the rebellion? We don't know anything. Where's everybody's story is going to unfold. Yeah, we're already getting multiple POVs so we're going to get even more I think. I know. I love it. Buckle up. Buckle up. up. It's going to be a tough one for me, but I love it, so I'll do it happily. Yeah. Happily and gratefully. Okay. Well, do you have any other things that you wanted to bring up or cover like before we, you know, close this chapter and get ready for the next few weeks, the new one to come out. I'm so excited. I'm so glad I did the reread and I just love it. Like I said, the same if not more. Mhm. Oh my goodness, you guys. We hope that this brought you some bit of refresh and recap. And if you still have more questions, if you have time and you haven't done a reread, try the Audible. Even though we didn't love the main guy, like still try it. In my notes, I literally have like you can see right here, that's just the list of characters. So, I don't even know how many that is, but like it's just there's so many moving parts that are going on right now. It just blows my mind. But hopefully I included enough in the summaries to where it's like that can give you guys a refresher if you don't want to do the full thing with all the pertinent information. But yeah, I mean that's a summary that I'll go back to cuz I think there's I don't know how many are supposed to be in this series. But I don't know either. That's a good question. Yeah, I can't reread every single time one of these fantasy books comes out. So that recap re summary, even though I just finished reading it, it even helps me like put it all concisely more so the different timelines. So totally. Yeah. I mean, it helped me when I was going back through and like reading it all. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. So, all right. So, do you have a smash or pass to wrap this up? Okay. I did a dragon theme. So, Mulan has her little dragon small guy. Yeah. Um, pass as like a Smash Smash, but like Smash as a friend. Sidekick and a sidekick. Yeah. Same same answer. Yeah. He's a little annoying kind of honestly. Like I will admit he's like a little annoying, but that's also because I get overstimulated easily. So like the perfect sidekick for me would be more of like on the level of like a Pascal for example. Yeah, we all have a good Pascal. Yeah. Um a little bit less like intense and whatever. But um yeah, no, as a friend and a sidekick for sure. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Okay, so mine is about when the moon hatched because it's about two characters that we didn't talk a whole lot of about, but that I'm thinking are be going to become a lot more important in book two. So, you have to choose between Pyrock, who is kind of like our uh, you know, kind of like our comic relief, right, a little bit, and Grim, who's about to get ready to go out there and hunt his own dragon egg. M.

Let's go with Pyrock. You're going to go with Py Rock. Why? Yep. I'm curious. Because he's chill and Brody and chill. Not Brody, but like big and like, you know, gruff, but chill. Yeah. Mhm. Well, I am going with Grim because surprise surprise, surprise, surprise. Because I love a good mystery man, right? He's a man of so few words that every time he talks his voice crackles and I'm like, "Okay, that's how we know that the freaking audiobook narrator can pull that out if he needs to, right?" Yeah. Um, yeah. loved loved his character, loved his voice, loved that he's like, I've got to do this because you can tell that he's got like a very like tortured past. And I'm hoping that it means that he becomes a really important character in book two, like in a good way and not in like a he turns to the dark side kind of way, cuz I feel like that his character could go either way at this point. Oo, we'll see. We'll see. See if she changes her answer with the next one. I know. Oo. I mean, or is he a villain, but in a good way? I don't know. We'll just have to see. All right. Well, I can't wait either. I'm super excited. I get to dive into Rights of the Starling now, like in like full I get to go fully in since we are also deep diving that soon. So, I'm Yes. And that was crazy to reread also. I missed so much. I feel like I missed less. Not missed, but forgot about. You mean in Shield of Sparrows? and Shield of Sparrows. There was so much I didn't remember. Almost the whole thing. So, yeah, that was great. I'm so glad I reread both of these. It was awesome. Yep. Well, thank you guys so much for tuning in and listening to this When the Moon Hatched Recap, summary, vive chat, all the things. We hope that this was helpful for you. Make sure to like, follow, and subscribe anywhere you like to listen favorite podcast, including YouTube or Besties in the Books podcast everywhere, including Instagram and Tik Tok. And you guys, we will see you next Tuesday. Bye.