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Cleopatra's Moon by Vicki Shecter

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boswellbaxter
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Cleopatra's Moon by Vicki Shecter

Post by boswellbaxter » Wed August 3rd, 2011, 11:29 pm

Anyone game? I'm about halfway through this. I confess that I'm skimming a lot through the Isis parts, and I'm finding the Roman characters awfully one-dimensional.
Susan Higginbotham
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Post by Divia » Thu August 4th, 2011, 4:43 am

I'm game. Mine came today and I'm going to crack it open tomorrow. :)
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Post by Margaret » Thu August 4th, 2011, 3:49 pm

What I especially like about Cleopatra's Moon (my review is up now) is that Shecter keeps the suspense going all the way through the novel. I haven't read Michele Moran's Cleopatra's Daughter, but I did read Stephanie Dray's Lily of the Nile, and found the latter pretty boring except during the fantasy passages when bloody heiroglyphics appear on Selene's arms. It would be a big challenge, I think, to write an exciting novel about someone who (a) is a 10-year-old child through much of the story and (b) is a captive in a Roman household where she is not allowed to do much of anything. Cleopatra's Moon is a YA novel, but I found the main characters more rounded than in Lily of the Nile, which is an adult book. Cleopatra Selene's determination to find some way of going back to Egypt to rule as its queen and her willingness to take big risks along the way gave the plot a lot of momentum, whereas in Lily of the Nile, Selene spent a lot of the novel not doing much of anything other than wallowing in her unhappiness. So while I don't think Cleopatra's Moon is necessarily destined to be an enduring YA classic, I do think a lot of teenage girls will enjoy it and learn some history from it. It's not the kind of book that will turn them off reading historical novels if a history teacher assigns it. It's clearly for girls, though, because of the romance emphasis in the second half of the novel.
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Post by boswellbaxter » Thu August 4th, 2011, 6:38 pm

I would say the plot moves more quickly than it does in Lily of the Nile, but I found the characters in Lily of the Nile and Cleopatra's Daughter to be more rounded than the ones here. Octavianus in particular strikes me as one-dimensional here compared to his portrayals in the Dray and Moran books.
I'm also finding the Isis sequences tedious. It probably doesn't help that I guessed one plot twist (I peeked to confirm my suspicions.) On the other hand, I do like the two love interests, but I'm probably going to bail on this one.
Susan Higginbotham
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Post by Divia » Thu August 4th, 2011, 8:30 pm

YA novels by their nature need to move along pretty quickly. If they don't you lose the teen reader. That's why they typically are fast paced. And I'm liking that. :)
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Post by Divia » Thu August 18th, 2011, 4:02 am

I'm 130 pages in and I would agree that Octavianus is a pretty a bad guy and hes way mean. I'm not so surprised by this.
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Post by Divia » Tue August 23rd, 2011, 10:28 pm

I am starting to understand the comments about those evil Romans. THe kids are running around Rome now just after the triumph. Seems like everyone is out to get them.
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Post by Divia » Fri August 26th, 2011, 6:06 pm

[quote=""boswellbaxter""]I would say the plot moves more quickly than it does in Lily of the Nile, but I found the characters in Lily of the Nile and Cleopatra's Daughter to be more rounded than the ones here. Octavianus in particular strikes me as one-dimensional here compared to his portrayals in the Dray and Moran books.
I'm also finding the Isis sequences tedious. It probably doesn't help that I guessed one plot twist (I peeked to confirm my suspicions.) On the other hand, I do like the two love interests, but I'm probably going to bail on this one.[/quote]

I totally agree with yoru spoiler warning. And it wasnt the first time either. Someone else tried as well if I remember. I'm like :rolleyes: Oh dear lord here we go. I would have been OKay with it if it had happened once but I think it was twice, if not three times in the novel.
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Post by boswellbaxter » Fri August 26th, 2011, 7:04 pm

[quote=""Divia""]I totally agree with yoru spoiler warning. And it wasnt the first time either. Someone else tried as well if I remember. I'm like :rolleyes: Oh dear lord here we go. I would have been OKay with it if it had happened once but I think it was twice, if not three times in the novel.[/quote]

Yeah, the author could have been a lot more subtle.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

Helen_Davis

Post by Helen_Davis » Tue January 1st, 2013, 4:42 am

Think I'll pass this one up.

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