The Moth and the Bear II: The Crossing

by Grace O'Hare

Kaelin Belka’s blacksmith father has been missing for many years, but she believes he may be alive somewhere and is determined to find him. She'll need the help of Ruyak, whose older sister may hold the secret. However, as Kaelin waits for her friend to make an appearance, things in her village become more uncertain by the day. As Kaelin struggles with the pitfalls of village life, she finds just as many obstacles rising within her own mind. If and when Ruyak finally comes to meet her, it may be to find her in pieces.

As tangled webs become ever more treacherous, and dark secrets find their way into the light, Kaelin will need to discover for herself the boundaries of her beliefs, her willpower, and her trust.

465 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 27, 2022

About the author

Grace O’Hare is a fantasy writer and artist currently residing in Savannah, Georgia. Born and raised under the Colorado Rockies, Grace loves traipsing through wild places, pointing out every bird and bit of interesting moss to her patient partner. She is enthusiastic about more subjects than she can count, and is fueled by coffee and electronica music.

Reviews

[Syd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grace O’Hares writing just immerses me into a new realm in a way that not many other series do. I absolutely love the world building, the creatures and the character development happening before my eyes. If you’re looking for a unique slow burn, do yourself a favor and read this series!! I can’t for the next book!!

[Kelly Moxom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally read the first book in the series back in 2016, so I decided to re-read the first book in anticipation for the second one and I'm really glad that I did. O'Hare has improved even further with her quality of writing, not to mention the book is much longer too but I breezed through it in the span of about two weeks because I found it so hard to put the book back down!
The book essentially picks up where the last one left off, except some time has past since Ruyak and Kaelin's last encounter together. I really like how this book focused solely on the two main characters, as well as Kaelin dealing with her trauma/PTSD from the events in the first book and how it was prominent throughout the story. I enjoyed reading Kaelin and Ruyak becoming much closer throughout the story, as well as them having disagreements (and Kaelin learning some dark truths about Ruyak's past), however, this book definitely fleshed out their relationship very well and I'm excited to see where it goes in the next book. I also enjoyed the world-building and learning more about Kanai and human relations (namely Vadik and his whole Kanai-hunting thing going on, it was very interesting). I look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

[Samantha Hopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible!
I don’t even know where to start.
The writing was amazing. Vivid, gorgeous, and overall well-done. The characters were the kind that made you want to laugh and cry along with them, and the plot was so hooking I couldn’t put it down.
The only downside is that it definitely dragged in a several areas. Especially toward the first 1/5th of the book. There seemed to be a lot of irrelevant information that caused the eyes to tend to skim paragraphs sometimes.
But overall, I would 100% recommend this series to anyone over the age of thirteen. Five stars 🌟