The original setting creates a rich and intriguing world, where magic, a hunt, and gods and goddess struggle to capture one girl. In other words, this one was a very good read.

Orphaned, Anne lives happily on an island with her loving, adopted family. When a man is shipwrecked on the shore, she uses powers she was born with to heal his wounds and learns that he's been searching for her across the globe. He claims she's not only an immortal but a highly-adored, reborn one. And he isn't the only one searching for her. While he is kind and claims to want to bring her back to her sister...a girl she sees in her dreams, others are on the hunt to find her as well. Each of them will do anything to get her, and none have her best interests in mind. She's forced to run but knows her chances of escaping are slim, especially since they are also immortals and cannot die.

I picked this one up on Netgalley thanks to the description. The idea of a girl with powers being hunted down during the time of the Civil War definitely struck me as original. And I'm so glad I picked this one up because it was everything I hoped it would be. This was one of those books, which I couldn't put down until I reached the very last page.

The writing in this one is well done and very much for the young adult audience. The author weaves a rich and intriguing world, which is hard not to get lost in. And I loved all of the aspects thrown in. Anne is raised on an island by a Indian midwife, whose tribe has merely survived and continues to do so because they live secluded on the island. There is a wonderful family bond and so much love and caring, that it's hard not to like them all from the start. It sets the basis for Anne's character nicely—kind, compassionate, naive and curious. I liked her from the get-go. Then, there's the Civil War raging in the background...and this really stays in the background. It's mentioned as she runs with her hero across the U.S., but they only come face-to-face with it when they run into slave hunters. I adored the scenes with an escaped slave girl they meet, and enjoyed the slight addition of tiny bits of history. And yet, all of this was more like a dusting on the side of the main plot.

Action and tension are key in these pages. Anne is running from very dangerous hunters, and everything is at stake. There are sword scenes, injuries and death. And it's impossible to guess what will happen next or if anyone they meet can even be trusted. Or even if her supposed hero is all that he claims to be. It's simply exciting from beginning to end.

I highly recommend this one to young adult fantasy fans, who love a bit of history, strong heroines, tons of action, and even a bit of romance thrown in. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through.
I picked up an ARC copy.

A witching moon occurs when winter solstice and a lunar eclipse happen the same night. It's a night when something special happens... But, I don't want to spoil the surprise!

Anne knows she was taken in (adopted) by Mama Jane, but it happened when she was born (after her mother died), and she has lived with her adoptive family--mama, sister, and twin brothers--as if it was always meant to be.

The remains of a shipwreck are found, and a body washes to shore, changing everything. But secret competing groups have been searching for her since before she was born, and every moment draws danger and violence closer to Anne and her family.

The single mystery of Anne's short life is solved by a young man named Phillip. The visions and dreams she has always had about her echo or other self, is actually a sister, and only Phillip can reunite them.

Anne is forced to leave her family to protect them from her pursuers. Many perils and adventures await, with both villains and heroes to people them.

One thing alone is certain, you will never forget Anne's selfless generosity, or her quest to find the sister she is drawn to.

This book is well sculpted to keep the reader guessing, thinking, and cheering-on Anne and her friends. Even when one event seems inevitable, it could be that you've taken your eye off another. It's a great story where personal and cultural motivations are questioned, but not at the expense of a terrific adventure!

Favorite quotes:
"I would’ve given a hot buttered biscuit for just a few more winks of sleep."

"...squabbling with Ruth was like teaching a wild boar to fly: useless."

The premise and the beginning of this book were really interesting, but unfortunately, the rest just wasn’t for me. The whole book was spent travelling from terrible situation into terrible situation. Poor Anne just had terrible luck overall. She also fell in love quite quickly. At least to me, it felt like she and Philip barely spent any time together. The ending was nice and I liked the writing, but I would have liked to see more of Anne's new life with her sister.

An immersive middle grade fantasy - incredibly well written, with a unique setting - the Civil War. Great characters, plot, and world building.

I said look up reviews before reading the book on Goodreads. Some of those reviews were mixed, but I believe like any book, it's best to experience the book itself.

The book starts off a little slow. I would say that about 30 pages in the beginning leave you feeling confused. But after reading the book, you're experiencing what the main character experience during that time. So it makes sense for the beginning to be a little slow.

Come and get into the good portion of the book where we find out that and is very important. She was born under the witching Moon. This means that she is Immortal and she has the powers to heal other people. So you can imagine that everyone wants her for their tribe and will stop at nothing to get her. This book is a whirlwind of emotions and action and you can't help but continue reading and hoping that and escapes whatever villain approaches her.

I guess this book four star rating. It has the right amount of romance oh, the right amount of action, and the right amount of suspense.

However, i did have some questions after reading this book. What is so important aboit Amaranth? Why did both Rex and Hattori make comments that they wpukd rather die than have an be part of the Amaranth tribe? Also, we know that Aunt has these powers but it would have been nice to see her use that power more within the book. All in all, I enjoyed this book and I hope that there is a sequel that tells the aftermath that's what happened to Anne now that she found her sister and her tribe.

Twelve year old Noelle would have ate this book up. Adult Noelle, eh, not so much. I think Witching Moon is very successful for its intended audience, but it doesn't work as well for the older reader.

All immortals are born under a witching moon -- a rare occurrence when on the day of the winter solstice, the Earth eclipses the moon. As the word immortal implies, these people do not die. If they are severely injured, they come back to life as a new being.

Our story begins in America around the time of the Civil War. Anne is on the beach with her sister, exploring the wreckage of a ship. There they find a young man among the pieces. He doesn't seem to be breathing. But Anne has a secret power -- her touch can heal.

So begins Anne's adventure along the East Coast. She meets many friends and just as many foes as she makes her way to the Atlantic Ocean, learning about her past along the way.

There's a female protagonist, adventure, magic, and a dash of romance. Seriously, I would have loved this story if I read it when I was younger. It reminded me of other books I was reading around that age.
I tried to rate this book as my younger self would have (since this is the target audience).

Thank you to the author, Brandylane publishers, and NetGalley for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I want to first thank Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this lovely book. Please do not be discouraged from the reviews that are on goodreads. I honestly feel like people read maybe the first 5 pages and were like “nope” and there for gave it a bad rating. IF YOU DID NOT FINISH A BOOK, PLEASE DO NOT GIVE IT A STAR RATING!!! I know everyone has different opinions, but I honestly do not know how people could tear apart this book like they did with only reading a few pages. Which also has me confused because in the first few pages I was super into it!

I was already intrigued by the cover and title of the book. It encompasses the book so well and is SO PRETTY. Our story starts with the witching moon, an eclipse that is also on the winter solstice which only happens every 200-500 years. On this day, immortals are reborn. Anne had no idea that this was her past, but when a shipwreck brings a young man to the shores of her island, she soon finds out that her power of healing isn’t the only thing that is different about her. She is apart of a different world where people do not die and if they do by chance, they are reborn under the witching moon. She is now getting flash backs of her old life and is determined to make it back to her homeland to be reunited with her twin sister.

I love this book. I loved Anne and how she came from a small island where she grew up humble and her love for children. I thought her character was built beautifully and I felt not only connected to her, but also to Phillip and the side characters. Anne is such a strong hearted woman and I admire her strength during the book. I also enjoyed the fact that we got a glimpse of the underground railroad since this book is set during the civil war. It brought in a realistic aspect the book that I think the author was trying to show since this is not a full fantasy world. Also, the ship! I LOVED all the different places that our MC found herself in and even though she was in some horrible places, I loved the detail the author provided.

If I had one complaint, it would be that I wanted more. I wanted more world building, more about Anne’s past life and the new life that she will have at the end of the book. I wish there were simply MORE. Even though I wish there were more, I do not think this was a good enough reason to rate this book poorly. If anything, I loved this book so much that I truly hope the author comes out with a second book to explain the universe that Anna finds herself in and the past that brought her death. Her home land sounds beautiful and I want to know what her new role in her kingdom will be.

Overall, I loved this book. I am sad others didn’t because I truly do think it was wonderful. I would rate this more of a middle school read but if the author came out with book two I am sure there would be more details of Anne’s horrific past and maybe in the new love of her life. That could bump this book series up to a YA. I think we just needed a little bit more for it to be considered YA. I highly recommend this book and I am BEGGING for book 2!!!!

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, I didn’t not finish this book. I’ve struggled to connect with the story. I think it’s partly my mistake, since I didn’t see that this book was marked as Middle grade. I think this story has much potential and I plan on trying to read it again. I feel like if I was in middle grade it wouldn’t be that hard to connect with the story, since it has plenty of action and it is fast paced.

The plot/summary of this book got me really excited. You've got celestial events, immortals with long histories, ancient places, prophecies by oracles, and a search for home and one's true self. I was fired up to say the least!

I found that the book itself is set in an interesting time period, during the Civil War. The protagonist goes from one cultural background, and is thrown into many others along the way. While intriguing, I felt like the protagonist herself didn't seem to stay true to her character. There was some speech discrepancies (i.e. slangs, figures of speech, etc) that the character heavily used in the beginning and then it just faded away, but would pop back up at different times during the book.

The book overall was a bit choppy/jarring. It is definitely fast paced in the sense that I feel like the reader moves from one situation or place to another extremely quickly without much finesse. It just kinda "happens" and hits you like, "Now we're doing this. Now we're over here. Now this happens". Instead of a more natural pace or guidance through the story.

I felt like some things almost seemed explained too much while other details or info was mentioned but then got left out or unfinished for the reader to do all this deciphering, but then it was never brought full circle.

For a book of under 300 pages, this one took me about a week to read through because of all of the points mentioned thus far. However, that being said, the story is VERY interesting. I would have loved to have seen this maybe split up into two books or more and add more detail, more time between events. More time getting to know the characters and their quirks. More intimate scenes with them. Story pacing and connection with the characters is so important!

Absolutely beautiful, stunning, and perfect for anyone needing to center oneself. I really appreciated how much love was put into each stitch - and word - in this book. I felt like the author led me through a creative journey that assisted in reflection and mediation through thread and design.

Taking place in 1865, near the end of the American civil war, K.E. Bonner's Witching Moon opens to a young girl rescues a man from drowning in a shipwreck using her extraordinary gift for healing. This rescue leads to Anne having to leave her life and comfort zone of Cusabo Island and venture to find the home she has dreamed about. On this venture, she leads more of the world and her world, grows into herself and her powers, finds friendships and family and discovers what lengths she would go to get where she's been drawn to in her dreams.

Anne is a young woman who grows up on an island, in a place where she can explore barefoot and free, but in her dreams she dreams of another life, another girl and in another place. Anne has compassion, and is smart. While she is learning of her history, she absorbs it all and takes things in stride. She makes friends and uses her compassion for people to guide her in making decisions. Often in her travels, she is faced with difficult choices. While she is young in this life, she is also an immortal and as the memories of her last life are revealed to her, she grows and develops more mature perspective on the world than a mortal teen would have. The other characters in this novel are all part of her story, her past and her future. But each one of them plays their role in her growth and her venture to find that place in her dreams. Phillip is strong and stubborn, Rory is sweet and brave and Rowan is understanding and kind.

While this book is targeted for upper middle grade, I would put it in the young adult section (I suggest readers aged 14-15). This book has violence and shows aspects of what it was like to escape slavery in it. While nothing is said in gross detail, I would want to audience to understand the more serious themes in this book. The pacing and writing were very good. There was ups and downs throughout the novel. I was hoping for more explanation of the magic system. I also was hoping for more lightness in the story. It has a lot darkness to it, while the ending had a lot of light within it, I was hoping some of that light would have been spread throughout the plot. I think the world building was good. I would question though the thought that Anne would have with traveling and the language barriers she would have faced. While I appreciate the lack of complication of that, it is not realistic to expect a young girl who doesn't know how to read or write not to face any challenges with that throughout her journey from Cusabo Island to her ancestral home.

Overall, I think this book is good. While there are some issues I would have liked addressed in the novel, I think that Witching Moon is a great standalone for those looking for an uncomplicated fantasy adventure story they can enjoy as a Saturday afternoon read.

A gracious thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC. In exchange for an honest review.

To be honest, this book was hard to read. The synopsis was strong which made me intrigued to found out more.

The book over all was hard to follow. I couldn’t connect with the main character as much as I wanted. I really liked that she was brave and adventurous enough to tag along on her journey to discovery. What I couldn’t get past is how quickly things too off. I didn’t get a good feel of the characters I was just starting to get to know. I couldn’t understand some of her choices either, maybe it was just a part of her that was drawn to trust so quickly?

Unfortunately I couldn’t finish the book. I do see potential for this and the world building was pretty great!

I received an ebook from Netgalley in exchange for a review. Possible spoilers.

I finished the book, so that's a sign it was at least readable. I kept going in hopes that something would happen. It didn't unfortunately, or at least not much worth mentioning. Basically it was a story of a girl/ woman(?) traveling from one place to another and not a lot happened that was terribly exciting on the way. Of course there were things she had to overcome and people to escape from, but it was pretty blah.

I felt the characters didn't really have a lot of depth to them. I couldn't place the age of the main character Anne, as at the beginning of the book I was picturing her as about 10-11 years old, then a bit later it said she was around 15-16 but immortals age differently, and then at the end it she was somewhat in an adult relationship. It was....odd.

Unfortunately, this book was just not for me. The premise is intriguing and after reading the synopsis I was excited to read the book but I just could not stay interested once I started. This book was DNF. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this eARC for an honest review.

This book just wasn't for me, the synopsis had promise but the book just didn't meet the expectations.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this eARC for an honest review.

Thank you Brandylane Publishers, Inc. and Netgalley for the opportunity to read Witching Moon.

I was so intrigue by the synopsis of Witching Moon which made me request it. It sounds so fascinating, promising and it has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into it and finishing it. The narration is choppy and it failed to capture my attention which left me unable to connect with the characters. It was slow-paced and leaned more on telling rather than showing its readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Brandylane Publishers, Inc. for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you read this book knowing its intended target audience of middle school age readers, then I think it works really well. The writing style/narration style reminds me a lot of "The Chronicles of Narnia" (it probably doesn't hurt that I am listening to those via audio-book currently). It was fast paced with just enough detail to flesh everything out, without going into so much detail that middle schoolers either wouldn't understand or would get bored by. There was plenty of action and I looked forward to picking up this book and was excited to finish the last 100 or so pages to see how everything turned out. I really enjoyed this book now and I think I would have loved it even more at that age.

To be honest, I started out with some trepidation because of some of the other reviews I read. Again, read it knowing it is directed at middle schoolers. It is set toward the end of the Civil War (at least one reviewer didn't know what time it was based in even though it was mentioned a few times), and I have no idea why someone would think this wasn't appropriate for middle schoolers (I have no idea what they thought was "sexy" in this book).

Not every book is for everyone person but it worked for me.

I had a hard time getting into the storytelling of this book. It was an interesting enough plot but the way the story was told was choppy and not very engaging. The chapters seemed to end on random notes. The characters weren't very memorable, even the main character Anne, did not get very interesting until more than halfway through the book.

It was as bewitching as foretold. Through the trials and frights, true strength shown like the stars on a dark night.

A gracious thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC. In exchange for an honest review.

The synopsis sounded very promising, and it’s what made me want to read it. Stories about witches and magic are very popular at the minute.. Unfortunately for me it just didn’t have that capturing spark.

I feel that this is not really a YA book. The language and use of narrative seemed too young and clunky, for the aimed audience. Having said this the elements weren’t bad, it just didn’t capture my attention for a long time.

I do wish however the writer every success and wishes for the future. This is a hard industry to be in, never give up.