An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan -- Starting February 1st 2023

[Jenn]

Hunter Yee has perfect aim with a bow and arrow, but all else in his life veers wrong. He’s sick of being haunted by his family’s past mistakes. The only things keeping him from running away are his little brother, a supernatural wind, and the bewitching girl at his new high school.

Luna Chang dreads the future. Graduation looms ahead, and her parents’ expectations are stifling. When she begins to break the rules, she finds her life upended by the strange new boy in her class, the arrival of unearthly fireflies, and an ominous crack spreading across the town of Fairbridge.

As Hunter and Luna navigate their families’ enmity and secrets, everything around them begins to fall apart. All they can depend on is their love… but time is running out, and fate will have its way.

Romeo and Juliet meets Chinese mythology in this magical novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Astonishing Color of After

[Elena]

40%
I don't like the book, narration in particular, so many different POVs and actually nothing's happening.
(view spoiler)[The events are so boring and predictable, I don't even know whether there will be something or not. The whole hate component between families doesn't make sense at all. Also the thing with fireflies is so obvious, I keep wondering, is it supposed to be obvious or not?
The other thing I don't like are characters, it's strange, but I can't feel them at all. Usually I feel something about characters, it might be love, hate, disgust, cuteness, like, adoration, any kind of strong or weak feeling, but here I just don't care.
(hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Oh no that scares me 🥴 I’ll hopefully start soon, just finishing up an ARC

[Danique]

I just finished, I’ll post my updates in a bit. Not completely sure how I feel.

[Elena]

Danique wrote: "Oh no that scares me 🥴 I’ll hopefully start soon, just finishing up an ARC"

Yeah, I get it, after reading something like what I wrote, it's a bit scary :D

[Elena]

Finished
The strangest thing about the book is that I didn't feel anything at all. I'm oddly neutral and don't care about what I just read. And that's the first time I feel that way about the book ever.
(view spoiler)[
First, the set-building, there was none. It could be literally anywhere and won't change a bit. So I didn't care about that part.
The plot... well, is there one? On the Hunter's side all they do is just rumbling around, being afraid of someone chasing them. Nothing wrong with the idea, but there is no development. And at the end this person just asks him, how did Hunter hide? And that's it!
I hoped there will be something with Hunter's brother, but that line was lighten up and faded into nowhere, not interesting, no development.
On Luna's side they obviously did something wrong and that hexagonal sphere was intriguing, yet again somehow the author managed to kill the line too without any proper development... Ok. fireflies are not fireflies, just peaces of the moon, now live with that.
Going further, Luna's parents, wtf? They both are cheaters and poor child yet to discover it one after another. Remember the reaction? It was something like why did you do that and I hate you! And 'You knew and did nothing?' and 'Oh, dad also cheated'. And it wasn't strong or painful as it supposed to be.
Luna and Hunter, they are just having sex occasionally and trying to hide from their parents because for some artificial reason their families hate each other. The idea is fine, but again the narration is so poor and no proper development.
The characters, the story, the language, everything is bland, no events at all and oh so many PoVs. The only something that actually happens is how they shoot to the moon in the end. (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Here are my updates, finally!

P. 56
(view spoiler)[I’m glad the chapters are so short. I absolutely don’t have any clue what this is about again. So when they touched, they made the earthquake happen? Alright so Hunter’s family has run from something, can’t wait to find out what that actually is. A chapter from Luna’s dad seems pretty unnecessary. And now a Cody chapter? Alright. Their parents clearly suck. I’m guessing Cody is somehow involved in the begin story as well (since Luna and Hunter are the stars that fell). Glad Luna & Hunter are slowly inching towards each other, glad Cody likes her too. (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

P 110
(view spoiler)[I don’t really need those parent’s POV’s, I don’t really care?🤣 I am glad though that we now know that they don’t like each other just because of a job, and apparently Luna was really sick as a kid?

Okay so I’m guessing the stone that Lina’s dad took was the thing that hid Hunter’s family or something? Since the Rodney Wong guy is going after them now & they were only now found? Either that or the crack in the earth of their town told him where Hunter was. Ah so the mysterious wind is why he was kicked out of his old school probably, bc he literally can’t control it?

See it was indeed the stone that kept them safe. It was kinda odd that he could breathe around Luna - I guess they need each other to stay healthy or something? It’s also weird that they were/are both sick. The book definitely sounds evil & will probably influence Cody, ngl. Hunter is clearly the archery god that was mentioned yeah. I wonder who Luna will be - the moon goddess or something? We haven’t heard of any others so we’ll see. (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

P 176
(view spoiler)[Ah so they’re on the run because his father stole some sort of medicine for Hunter, odd that that did work? Uhm okay she wanted to eat the stone? Alright then.

The fireflies are clearly stars & she’s probably the actual moon? I feel like too many books are about the moon goddess lately so I already know exactly how this will go - it’s exactly like Daughter of the Moon Goddess in that way, and Cody is probably the rabbit in that story?

Ah so not the medicine but Hunter’s bracelet is what healed him? I’m also now noticing that Hunter’s headers include a sun while Luna’s has the moon, does that mean Hunter has something to do with the sun? I wonder why the wind keeps giving him money, it’s kinda odd.

They kissed woohoo!! So weird that they kinda bruise each other though?? maybe because of the sun moon thing. Yeah so Luna is clearly Chang’e. Okay their sudden fight about Taiwan not being China was insanely random and weird? And now they’re mad for no reason whatsoever, what the hell was that? Ah so Rodney is indeed Huang. (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

P 248
(view spoiler)[Yep she’s clearly the moon or moon goddess bc she can control the tide and such. Glad they made up. I wish we’d get less of the parents & Rodney’s POV bc I don’t really care, I want to know what the deal is with the dark cracks and all that. Apparently Luna’s dad has a deal with Rodney too - are they all corrupt?? I mean I haven’t heard of any scientist dealing in unsavory business but both her dad and Hunter’s happen to do that? Yeah, that’s just unbelievable.

Omg no her mother is cheating? :( Is anyone actually decent in this book??? I can’t believe she’s making Luna keep it a secret, what a bitch. Ah so the dustlight, pieces of moon, is what the fireflies are then. It’s quite hard for me to like any of the parents because they seem insanely petty, their whole reason for hating each other makes no sense? Especially Yvonne is overreacting for sure. Maybe their unnecessary hatefulness is coming from the dark cracks idk.

Hunters family didn’t just steal the medicine then, also the stone? Kinda sad that Luna’s father is the one who - accidentally - revealed the location of Hunter’s family. I feel like the story is finally going to speed up, it’s quite slow so far. (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

P 318
(view spoiler)[Btw quite weird that Luna can warm him, I mean, the moon doesn’t warm? Suns do but she’s not a sun? Yay they had sex! It’s a bit less YA than I thought in that regard lol. Hate that his father immediately ruined Hunter’s high ugh he didn’t even steal the stone.

Her father has known of her mother's cheating all this time?! What the fuck?? Omg and he has been hiding her acceptance letters?! How has he applied for her ‘early-decision’ to Stanford? I don’t get how that works. At least she found the stone.

Rodney feels like such a weird villain, he was introduced like halfway through and I’m just like ok who cares?? Hunter and Luna are cute together though. Also love Jadey, why can I not see characters but I can imagine soft animals🤣 Rodney said he couldn’t see Hunter - maybe the wind is hiding him from Rodney or some shit? (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Finished
(view spoiler)[Yeah I don’t care for Luna’s mothers perspective's boohoo story, she’s cheating and she has been for 2 fucking years, she’s a detestable person no matter what she thinks or says. Omg what the book is Jadey’s?? So she is the moon rabbit then damn that’s cute. Still not sure where the story is going, we’re near the end but there’s still not a really clear problem?? Can’t believe he saved nearly 30000 dollars by the wind thing wtf.

The story about her grandmothers feet - what the fuck I was that?? Who did that to her? It made absolutely no sense?! Can’t believe he gave the money to his parents, they definitely don’t deserve it. We’re FINALLY at the point of confrontation pff. It’s weird that everything’s going to be revealed and resolved in like 20 pages?!

Omg so the nests were the suns that Cody read about! That’s cool. Okay what. So Huang just fell into the ground and that’s it? What the fuck happened there? It seemed like he killed himself or something?? That made absolutely no sense.

And now she just ate the stone and is flying up, and he’s following her?! Noooo what a terrible ending, they’re basically both completely forgotten and can never be together anymore? Shit that sucks?!? I also wanted to know whether Cody’s parents became better, how her parents were doing - would they divorce now that they didn’t have a kid? There are so many things left vague and dammit I hate that it’s not a HEA😭😭😭 man I don’t know how to feel. (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Elena wrote: "40%
I don't like the book, narration in particular, so many different POVs and actually nothing's happening.
[spoilers removed]"

Yes to all of this omg, (view spoiler)[nothing really happened?? It felt as though the cracks would be an important part of the story but it basically disappeared into the background and wasn't important at all. The reason for the hate between the families made absolutely no sense whatsoever, and the parents all seemed like petty children?!? (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Elena wrote: "Finished
The strangest thing about the book is that I didn't feel anything at all. I'm oddly neutral and don't care about what I just read. And that's the first time I feel that way about the book ..."

(view spoiler)[There definitely doesn't seem to be any worldbuilding - it's also just mentioned that Rodney believes in magic, but it is never explained whether magic is an actual thing in their world. I mean, Luna barely seemed surprised about everything so that didn't make any sense then?
There was truly no plot, I expected them to try and solve the cracks, but it was just there and no one really cared.
It seemed like Cody would be an important part, but once again, nope. He just disappeared into the background and Hunter barely seemed to care about him anymore, just said something like 'well, he had to grow-up sometime' wtf.

Her father didn't cheat, but he did hide those acceptance letters from her, which was insane???? How is that legal omg. I hated her mother so much, and I couldn't care less about her chapters - especially after we knew that she cheated. She's truly detestable. I hate that we don't even know what'll happen to them now that Luna's gone?

I know, no one really has any depth. This was such an odd story (hide spoiler)]

[Elena]

Danique wrote: "Elena wrote: "Finished
The strangest thing about the book is that I didn't feel anything at all. I'm oddly neutral and don't care about what I just read. And that's the first time I feel that way a..."

(view spoiler)[
Oh yeah, I recall there was no actual cheating, I guess I just remembered Luna's reaction as if he has cheated (her first thought) and it kinda stuck.
I totally agree with you on the letters part and the fact that he applied for her, I mean it should be illegal.
And the ending made the whole story meaningless. I get your thought about what happened after Luna's gone and the reactions (lack of them in particular), that made the story even more shallow (is it even possible?).
It feels like I've just lost several hours of my life reading it.
(hide spoiler)]

[Elena]

Danique wrote: "Here are my updates, finally!
P. 56
[spoilers removed]"

At that point my only confusion was the amount of PoVs. (view spoiler)[I was also anticipating some proper events to happen. And the earthquake part wasn't really clear at first too. (hide spoiler)]

[Elena]

Danique wrote: "P 110"

(view spoiler)[Didn't that Wong person sound like creepy insane stalker? I had those vibes when he was introduced. And somehow the whole gods part didn't make much sense. Luna and Hunter were not even properly surprised to have some magical powers. There wasn't enough context to get any ideas whether the world is magical at all. (hide spoiler)]

[Elena]

Danique wrote: "P 176"

(view spoiler)[
The guesses were right, I think. To be honest, I didn't guess about Cody at first, but afterwards it became clear.
The bracelet idea felt kinda random till the very end. As for headers, I guess that's because he is related to the Sun and she is related to the Moon? So the hints were already there.
I didn't feel anything when they kissed, it was a bit off alongside with the fight, which happened out of blue and was so exaggerated.
(hide spoiler)]

[Elena]

Danique wrote: "P 248"

(view spoiler)[
Corruption, cheating, stealing, running... quite parents they make and dare to expect something descent from their children. Even scolding them for wrong-doings. indeed makes them so pathetic and petty.
I think the issue was with the stone first, because both families stole it for some reason and the bracelet was some kind of cure? Or a thing to hide Hunter's from the evil Wong?
At that moment I hoped the story will unravel some secrets about cracks, but I think they just happen when two opposites (Sun and Moon) are doing something together, which is forbidden. But again, it's a guess and there is nothing much going on with the cracks and how they might affect the world?..
(hide spoiler)]

[Elena]

Danique wrote: "P 318"

(view spoiler)[
It might sound weird but I think it's an interpretation of Moon taking care of the Sun from asian cultural stories.
Their families are so broken. I get that sometimes academia families might get intense when it comes to children, but those two families are just stupid and crazy, I can't imagine working hard academia on the same plate with that kind of stupidity and craziness.
The villain in this book is like a third leg, doesn't make sense and throwing some random thoughts. No depths at all.
(hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Elena wrote: "Danique wrote: "Elena wrote: "Finished
The strangest thing about the book is that I didn't feel anything at all. I'm oddly neutral and don't care about what I just read. And that's the first time I..."

Oop same here, I was so disappointed

[Danique]

Elena wrote: "Danique wrote: "P 110"

[spoilers removed]"

Uhm yes???? (view spoiler)[I was like who's this dude?? I first thought he was some sort of mafia but he basically seemed to work alone, which was kind of odd?

Yeah, there were no gods mentioned at all, but suddenly they existed and they were like yes of course that's us! I was also SO confused about the fact that they weren't freaking out when they were rising - especially Hunter who wasn't immortal, so I'd definitely think that as soon as you entered space, you'd die horifically???? But apparently he was immortal suddenly too and they were like yup of course once again (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Elena wrote: "Danique wrote: "P 248"


(view spoiler)[Yup, great parents lmao.

Yeah that's possible, it was just so vague? About the cracks, they kept mentioning that there was something 'evil' (or at least an evil/wrong feeling) that lured them to the cracks, but it didn't get explained at all? Even at the end, Luna said she literally saw people of shadow coming out of the cracks, was that just a hallucination of what she thought would happen if she didn't sacrifice herself? Or was it real?? So confusing (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Elena wrote: "Danique wrote: "P 318"
"

Oh I didn't know that, that's definitely it! (view spoiler)[Yes exactly, such a weird villain who wasn't really a villain to the kids anyway, more to the parents. (hide spoiler)]

[Elena]

Danique wrote: "Finished"

(view spoiler)[
Reading your final thoughts I had this question in my head, like 'WTF have we just read?'
Is the book even real? Because it feels like a bad joke.
Actually I don't mind cheating in fantasy and sometimes in contemporaries, but it has to be written out really well and I can't even name any contemporary author except for Paige Toon or Colleen Hoover who did it in a descent manner.

I agree with you on the confrontation point, it started literally in the end and the whole slowness of the story was wrapped up too fast and hectic into several pages and that's what we ended with: the villain has just disappeared, the MCs were just shot to the sky, the families, the friends, the world? Nah, who cares? Let's just end it here.
(hide spoiler)]

[Elena]

Danique wrote: "Elena wrote: "Danique wrote: "P 248" Yup, great parents lmao. "

Confusing indeed! And I think it just wasn't thought out, the author laid out the idea and forgot ti wrap it up.

[Elena]

Danique wrote: "Elena wrote: "Danique wrote: "P 318"
Oh I didn't know that, that's definitely it! [spoilers removed]"

But again, the only thing (view spoiler)[he did was stalking and nothing more. And there was no tension or thrill, only an artificial parent's fear. (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Elena wrote: "Danique wrote: "Finished"

[spoilers removed]"

Yeah it definitely wasn't written out well.. (view spoiler)[Exactly omg, the pacing was so weird and didn't make any sense. (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Elena wrote: "Danique wrote: "Elena wrote: "Danique wrote: "P 248" Yup, great parents lmao. "

Confusing indeed! And I think it just wasn't thought out, the author laid out the idea and forgot ti wrap it up."

I think so too..

[Danique]

Elena wrote: "Danique wrote: "Elena wrote: "Danique wrote: "P 318"
Oh I didn't know that, that's definitely it! [spoilers removed]"

But again, the only thing [spoilers removed]"

I know, it had the potential to be quite creepy, but it wasn't really.. It could also be because the chapters were so short? Maybe this didn't give enough depth to the POV's of the parents/Rodney?

[Elena]

I guess the issue's not only with short chapters and lots of POVs, in general the ideas were great, but they all lack of development. It's fine if it's written in short chapters, but if that's the case, probably the pacing could be faster. On the other hand if the chapters were large, the slow pacing is fine. Though it doesn't matter when the ideas are introduced but never developed and wrapped up.

[Danique]

Elena wrote: "I guess the issue's not only with short chapters and lots of POVs, in general the ideas were great, but they all lack of development. It's fine if it's written in short chapters, but if that's the ..."

Yeah true.. Well anyhow, I had fun discussing it with you! Even though the book wasn't great lol

[Elena]

Danique wrote: "Yeah true.. Well anyhow, I had fun discussing it with you! Even though the book wasn't great lol"

Same here, at least we had a great time discussing it :)