Waking the Moon

By: Elizabeth Hand

Narrated by: Carol Monda

A Gothic fantasy set on a college campus from the author of Wylding Hall

Sweeney Cassidy is the typical college freshman at the University of the Archangels and St. John the Divine in Washington, DC. She drinks. She parties. And she certainly doesn't suspect that underneath its picturesque Gothic facade, the university is a haven for the Benandanti, a cult devoted to suppressing the powerful and destructive Moon Goddess. But everything is about to change as Sweeney learns that her two new best friends are the goddess' Chosen Ones.

Rich and engrossing, Waking the Moon is a seductive post-feminist thriller that delves into an ancient feud, where the real and magical collide, and one woman is forced to make a decision that will change the world.

©2019 Elizabeth Hand (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Great imagination here

The blend of realism and the occult is very successful. Best if you are unfamiliar with ancient Mediterranean studies of goddess worship because then there is much to learn here. If you have taken a course in ancient Mediterranean archaeology or religions, you might detect a few errors or blurry places. Author and performer do an outstanding job with descriptive passages that can nearly blow you away. Perfect voice for this novel!

Cult of the goddess crazies

Elizabeth Hand’s Waking the Moon is a fantasy tale focused on goddess cults. A religious university in Washington DC serves as the main bulwark against the reemergence of an ancient goddess cult, dis-covered and nurtured by female archeologists. One young woman who run afoul (including the suicide of a fellow student) of both groups gets expelled and forges a new life. Decades later, additional members from that cohort are dying. At the same time, another student from the group has assumed the mantle of cult leader and is working towards ‘waking the moon; and bringing back the original goddess.

Hand offers an extreme version of feminism as well as a few alternative lifestyle choices. The notion of two opposing groups battling each other over generations comes off as forced.

The narration is mediocre with nonexistent character distinction. Pacing was slow.

This is one her best books!

I've been reading her books for years now, one here and there. I came across this one and we'll love her books. I have to say it will keep you one your toes. I didn't want to stop and if you've read her books you know all about that. Great Read!!

This needs to be a horror movie

I was not sure I was going to like this book when I started listening. I think of myself as pretty open-minded, loving dark humor and wicked delights, but this book had me feeling like a prude. These previously unknown prude-like tendencies were offended left and right. The darkness and depravity in this book were not funny, but they were gripping. I was sucked into this book as I have most of the books that fit into my normal, go-to reading wheelhouse. The characters are out of this world, yet created so well that feel very real.... believable, which made the book almost terrifying. The true terror comes from the story itself. I could see this book being made into a blockbuster horror film, or a sci-fi channel number 1 horror series. Carol Monday did a fabulous job bringing this story and these characters to life. Well done!

Loved This!

This book was great! The narration was really hard for me. She sounded like a heavy smoker? Anyway, story is brilliant and I loved the woman in purple!