When the Moon Hatched
by Sarah A. Parker

Summary
The Creators did not expect their beloved dragons to sail skyward upon their end. To curl into balls just beyond gravity’s grip, littering the sky with tombstones. With moons.
They certainly did not expect them to fall.
As a valued Elding Blade of the rebellion group Fíur du Ath, Raeve’s job is to kill. To complete orders and never get caught. When a renowned bounty hunter is employed by The Crown to capture a member of the Ath, Raeve’s world is turned upside down. Blood spills, hearts break, and Raeve finds herself at the mercy of the Guild of Nobles—a group of dual-beaded elementals who intend to turn her into a political statement. Only death will set her free.
Crushed beneath a mourning weight, Kaan Vaegor took the head of a king and donned his melted crown. Now on a tireless quest to assuage the never-ebbing ache in his chest, his hunt for a moonshard lures him into the belly of Gore’s notorious prison, where he stumbles upon something that rips apart his perception of reality. A shackled miracle with eyes full of rage and blood on her hands.
The echo of the past sings louder than the Creators themselves, and even Raeve can’t ignore the truths blaring at her from a warmer, happier time.
However.
There’s more to this song than meets the eye, and some truths …
They’re too poisonous to swallow.
My Review
Stopped the audiobook at the 10% mark.
1 star based on the portion I read.
I really wanted to like this one, but it just didn’t work for me, and I ended up not finishing it. I’ve realized that romantasy as a genre rarely clicks for me, and this book reinforced that. The tone and characters felt juvenile, which made it hard to take anything seriously or get emotionally invested.
The writing itself was a major barrier. It felt clunky and distracting, with awkward phrasing that constantly pulled me out of the story instead of drawing me in. Rather than getting swept up in the world or the romance, I found myself frustrated by how unpolished the prose felt.
With how much hype this book gets, I went in with fairly high expectations, but it didn’t live up to them for me at all. Ultimately, this was an overhyped read that couldn’t hold my attention, and I don’t see myself picking it back up.
