I love the writing of Glendy Vanderah and the way she incorporates nature and the outdoors as characters in her books. The healing power of nature is real for her characters and for the readers as well.

I loved the premise of the book, the setting and the characters but have to say that I found some of the plot to be a little hard to believe.

The book really works for me when there is joy in the simple things and in the support of the family. Although a compelling and enjoyable read that I flew through, the deep emotional resonance I felt with her previous novel just wasn’t present in this one.

Thank you Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for a chance to read and review!

Glenda Vanderah - amazing writer. She is a thoughtful, precise wordsmith who weaves thoughts into a painting of relationships blended into nature. She is a spinner of images, she is a story teller extraordinaire. This is a complicated story with diverse and interesting characters and personalities and switchbacks between them. We are told that there is magic and bits of stars in the dirt and it translates into the stories - you can smell it and see it. “The sky was a deep drink or black cola, an effervescence of stars that tingled all the way down.”

Vanderah writes about damaged people. She writes about abuse and neglect but also about support and kindness. She swivels the mirror from the the ugliness to the beauty and back again. She never lets the reader forget that there are damaged people who are trying to heal and find their way. Much of the backstory is about the abusers and the protectors who propel those in the here and now to perfect their cover. There is an “age-old battle of good and evil” that persists throughout the story.

This story is so well conceived, plotted, planned and executed the hurt is all the more powerful. Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a copy.

This was a complicated and interesting story about living with hurts and lies. It is about family and forgiveness. The characters are unique and so very likeable. This book shows what moving on and not dwelling on negative things from the past can do for the future. I highly recommend this story.

With thousands of ratings and reviews, I don't have anything new to add. So I'll just recommend it to Contemporary Lit fans.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

While I enjoyed this story, it didn't come with the same emotional punch as I've grown to expect from Vanderah. That being said, I LOVED the setting and the touch of magic!

Big fan of Glendy and love how their books always revolve around nature somewhat. They really know how to paint natural scenes and it’s refreshing for someone like me that reads book set in cities. There’s a little fantasy element that I didn’t expect as well. I liked it and look forward to their next book.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. This book is well written but I couldn’t get into it. I will try again later. Some times in life a book doesn’t keep one’s interest. However, at a later time it will.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for an advanced copy of this book. I loved Glendy Vanderah's first book, Where the Forest Meets the Stars, so I was incredibly excited to read this one. I loved this one as much as the first. The author has a real talent for incorporating nature into a fantastic plot. I loved the characters and the story. Although parts of the story were predictable, it was a comforting read that ties up nicely. Glendy Vanderah has cemented herself as a must read author.

After the initial pages, I found myself not connecting with the story or characters, so I decided to pass on this book. Did not finish

The Oceanography of the Moon has catapulted Glendy Vanderah near the top of my list of favorite authors. Her writing is incredibly rich and never fails to transport the reader right into the middle of the story. In this book, the main characters, Riley and Vaughn, are not particularly likeable. But Vanderah's writing is such that you forgive them their flaws and faults. The supporting characters are fleshed out surprisingly well and are generally much more likeable (my opinion) than the main characters. The story itself is fascinating but can't easily be summed up in a few sentences. The author does a good job of filling in the back stories of Riley and Vaughn which is one of the things that makes this book work so well. For me though, the star of the book is the writing itself. The prose flows effortlessly and the descriptions of the settings are described in great detail. Glendy Vanderah has, once again, penned a book in which I can lose myself completely.

Following the deaths of her mother and aunt, Riley’s cousins in Wisconsin took guardianship of her, and she’s been living on their farm ever since. With no idea for his next novel, reclusive author Vaughn Orr escapes to Wisconsin in hopes of buying a property and finding some inspiration. He stumbles upon Riley and her family, discovering that both of them have spent years keeping secrets about their pasts.

This novel encompasses Vanderah’s lyrical writing with a unique story centered around nature and trauma, and an eclectic cast of characters. However, this book did grasp my attention like Vanderah’s previous novel, The Light Through the Leaves. I struggled to connect with the characters and feel invested in their stories. While Riley and Vaughn are only eight years apart age-wise, at twenty-one and twenty-nine respectively, to me Riley seemed more like a teenager, and Vaughn more like someone in their 30s/40s, making for an odd dynamic between the two. I wanted to love this story, but unfortunately this was was not the book for me. However, with an average rating of 4.29 stars on Goodreads, my opinion is clearly part of a very small minority, so it’s worth a chance for yourself.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for my gifted copy.

Thank you for NetGalley for providing me with this book for review.
This is an heartfelt read, one that will stay with me.

I was drawn to this book by the cover and the title but am finding it tricky to put my thoughts on it into words.

There were bits I really enjoyed and I thought the writing was really lovely. The story seemed to take a while and then lots of happened at the end and some of it was a bit too much I felt. At times I felt Riley came across as too young even though she is 21.

I liked the characters Alec, Sachi and Kiran and think it might have been nice to explore the magic of the farm a bit more.

This was my first read of a Glendy Vanderah book and I will definitely add her other books to my to be read list.

Thank you to #NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

In September last year I read and enjoyed Glendy Vanderah's 2019 debut novel <i> Where the Forest Meets Stars</i> so when I saw she had a new release I didn't hesitate to request it.    Turns out this latest novel <b>The Oceanography of the Moon</b> is her third title but it was equally as enjoyable and contained many of the elements I appreciated in her first novel.    For example each had characters who had experienced tough times, in this case both Vaughan and Riley had issues they'd been working through for almost a decade.   Each of the novels had a quirky child character, in this case Kiran was an eight year old boy who preferred dressing as a girl and was home schooled as he was mercilessly teased and bullied by other students at a regular school.    Each of the novels contained strong nature themes and they had what might be considered a fantasy element.    In this case there were many references to magic and magical powers.  I don't tend to gravitate towards this kind of book yet this author does it so well it just blends right in and wouldn't be the same without it.   Finally, whilst each of the books had a romantic thread, this one moreso than the first, they had great plots and I didn't predict how either of them would end.    I especially liked the twist which explained how Vaughan and Riley's stories merged.

I enjoyed this book and am certain I'll be reading her second book <i>The Light Through The Leaves</i> before too long.   My thanks to the author,  to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review which it was my pleasure to provide.

I was very excited when I got sent an eARC of this book, I haven’t read from Glendy Vanderah before but the cover, title and synopsis of this book captivated me instantly and I just had to read it.

The oceanography of the moon centres around Riley a naive 21 year old who went to live on her cousins farm after the untimely deaths of her much beloved Aunt and down on her luck Mother just months apart when Riley is 11.
A decade later Riley is still battling her grief, with feelings of guilt and not wanting to follow the same route as family members.
Vaughn Orr is a best selling author from New York who finds himself at Riley’s family’s farm when he is looking for property in Rural Wisconsin and immediately there is a kinship between them.

This book has some fantastic gender fluid rep in the form of 8 year old Kiran, who loves vintage dresses and is allowed by his family to be who he is freely.
Kiran is a fascinating character overall with the magic he makes with clock gears and fossils and sensing when things will go wrong, he is a very sensitive child and I love seeing that the family listen to him and don’t dismiss him just because he is a child.

I would like to have seen more character develop from Riley in this book, by the end of the book I still saw her as very naive and maybe a little too quick to forgive and see the best in people.

Overall this book was a great read which touched on some very important subjects and made me think without being preachy. I’ll definitely be reading more by this author in future.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the chance to read this advanced copy.
All views and opinions are my own and have been given freely

I really enjoyed this book and just wanted to keep reading. This novel is about the meeting of two broken characters: Riley Mays and bestselling author Vaughn Orr. It is a character-driven novel that touches on secrets kept, ignoring or facing the past head-on and even a little magic. Glendy is a scientist herself and is great at weaving her knowledge into her novels. I really enjoyed Where the Forest Meets the Stars and am eager to also read The Light Through the Leaves.

I enjoyed getting to know the characters and their secrets, guessing how it would all tie together in the end and the bits of science throughout. There were parts that felt a bit drawn out, but it's a solid 4 star read for me. I found it to be a little more romantic than Where the Forest Meets the Stars, which was a plus! It reminded me a lot of Colleen Hoover's writing style, so if you enjoy a good CoHo book, you should pick this one up!

This was the third book I've read by Glendy Vanderah, following Where the Forest Meets the Stars and The Light Through the Leaves. This story is told from two points of view: Riley Mays, a 21-year old who lives with extended family in a remote area of Wisconsin, and Vaughn Orr, a celebrity author who decides to take a trip to Wisconsin to get away from the bustle of New York City. Riley and Vaughn both have secrets and tragedies in their pasts and the book follows the development of their relationship after Vaughn runs out of gas outside of Riley's home. I enjoyed the unique characters and the beautiful, magical descriptions of nature I've come to expect from this author. I did not necessarily feel that the characters had the chemistry the book wants you to believe they have, but I felt invested in uncovering the secrets they held and the story was resolved in a satisfying way.

Guilt permeates this story and magic becomes the saving grace of Vaughn and Riley as they navigate their paths in life. Burdened with unspeakable childhoods and memories they try desperately to never bring into the open, this couple searches for redemption and forgiveness as their bond grows stronger.

A beautiful setting, wonderful multi-dimensional characters whom you will love and a parallel storyline that draws you in. You can’t miss with this one.

Do you believe in magic?

2.5. There is quite a lot going on in here and some of it feels flat wrong. I wasn’t sure if I would stick with this one but it flipped to a need to know scenario quickly. I cannot believe how it all went down. I said “I can’t believe this” multiple times while reading it

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

The Oceanography of the Moon

After the untimely deaths of her aunt and mother, young Riley Mays moved from Chicago to her cousins’ Wisconsin farm. Here she found solace in caring for her extraordinary adoptive brother, exploring the surrounding wild nature, and gazing at the mystical moon—a private refuge in which she hides from her most painful memories. But ten years later, now twenty-one, Riley feels too confined by the protective walls she’s erected around herself. When a stranger enters her family’s remote world, Riley senses something he’s hiding, a desire to escape that she understands well.
Suffering from writer’s block, bestselling novelist Vaughn Orr has taken to the country roads when he happens upon the accommodating, if somewhat unusual, Mays family. He’s soon captivated by their eccentricities—and especially by Riley and her quiet tenacity. In her, he recognizes a shared need to keep heartbreaking secrets buried.
As the worst moments of their lives threaten to surface, Riley and Vaughn must find the courage to confront them if they’re to have any hope of a happy future. With the help of Riley’s supportive family, a dash of everyday magic, and the healing power of nature, can the pair let go of the troubled pasts they’ve clung to so tightly for so long?

This is a book about people who have tragic secrets and a real need to process their experiences and heal. Both farm dwelling Riley and writer Vaughan have a similar need to disappear and escape from their physical four walls and the boundaries of their minds. Both are affected by trauma and really need to face it rather than avoid it, if they want to recover. Perhaps these two people with secrets in their past could attempt a slow recovery together. As is the norm for this writer, healing comes from nature, nurture, friendship, family and understanding.

The book is so beautifully written it’s easy to become mesmerised by the language and it’s this that first pulls into the novel. I love atmosphere and description so this lyrical start was perfect for me. It’s a slow burn novel, but the sense of place and emotion is hypnotic. She plays with ideas of darkness within people and how we see ourselves - do we ever see ourselves as we truly are? People who’ve experienced trauma might find it hard to be their authentic selves, because how they feel can be dark, sad and fearful. Riley and Vaughan seemed to have embraced that darkness as part of their identity, when actually theres so much about them that is lightness and joy. It’s easier to say you love darkness than it is to cast it off. This is mainly that personal journey, moving towards the light with the help of family, nature and a little touch of spirituality too.

The moon imagery is interesting, because there is something magical about it. There is also it’s pull on the earth, the seemingly magical way it controls tides and perhaps even moods. There is an otherworldly feel to the author’s imagery that takes us into a world that is ours with some interesting quirks and a touch of surrealism. Here the love of the family is connected firmly to nature, space, and the galaxy. I didn’t need to believe this, I just went with it and enjoyed the journey. I was also touched by a couple of minor characters, Sachi and Kiran. Sachi has such a passion for Indian food and surrealist art and I love people who are passionate and excited about things. She is open hearted and happy to take in anyone, which she does with Riley and Vaughan. There’s an earth mother element to her nature which I loved. Kiran is only eight years old, but is an outstanding little fellow with so much character packed into his meagre years. He feels more comfortable dressed in girl’s clothing, collects fossils and takes apart clocks in order to make magic! 

Around her love of nature and spirituality, Vanderah weaves the story of two strangers who somehow understand each other deeply. The author takes the reader on a lyrical journey from the very depths of their tragic childhoods towards a place of healing; a healing that comes from the consolation of nature, the love of family, the nurturing of self-worth and the understanding that they deserve full and happy lives. I love description, atmosphere and characters who are unique and full of depth, so this story of emotions, regrets, and haunting memories, not to mention the glimpse of hope, was bound to capture my heart.