Everything I wanted out of Lessons in Chemistry but better. A thoughtful speculative portrait of a woman who wants more than what societal restrictions allowed for at that time.

Summary: Intelligent but isolated recent physics graduate Annie Fisk feels an undeniable pull toward space. Her childhood memories dimmed by loss, she has left behind her home, her family, and her first love in pursuit of intellectual fulfillment. When she finally lands a job as a NASA secretary during the Apollo 11 mission, the work is everything she dreamed, and while she feels a budding attraction to one of the engineers, she can’t get distracted. Not now.
When her inability to ignore mistaken calculations propels her into a new position, Annie finds herself torn between her ambition, her heart, and a mysterious discovery that upends everything she knows to be scientifically true. Can she overcome her doubts and reach beyond the limits of time and space?
Affecting, immersive, and kaleidoscopic, Shoot the Moon tells the story of one singular life at multiple points in time, one woman’s quest to honor both her head and her heart amid the human toll of scientific progress.

Copy provided by @netgalley in exchange for honest review.
Likes: Crazy smart female mathematician/scientist which was a breath of fresh air, plot twist that I didn’t see coming but in the end I really liked, by the end I really developed an enjoyment for the author’s writing style.
Dislikes: I wish the plot twist had more of a resolution and the pacing of the story was uneven.
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I can’t believe I forgot to post my first read of the year!

It took me a bit to get into it, but once the story started coming together I couldn’t put it down. Part historical fiction, part science fiction, Shoot the Moon contained several different love stories and heartbreaks.

Perfect if you want a story about women in STEM in a time where it was a male-dominated field, with a little time travel thrown in…

There was only ONE part I didn’t like but I can’t mention it because it won’t ruin the ending. But overall it was so good and made me think the impossible is out there just waiting for us to find it ✨🌑

I thought the story here was fantastic. I’m all bout a woman getting noticed for her abilities and not her gender.. Kudos for this! Parts of the story I didn’t like, I’ve never been a fan of love scenes, there are only a couple but I wanted back in the story not the bedrooms. I give this four stars because of girl power!!!!

This book was just “meh” for me. I felt like I was reading it because I had to finish it instead of reading it because I wanted to finish it. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was.

Isa Arden’s debut novel ‘Shoot the Moon’, was an enjoyable read with many twists and turns. She incorporates the Trinity nuclear project, the Apollo space landing and time travel through wormholes resulting in quite interesting story. Kudos Ms. Arsen.

Starts as one kind of story, pivots (pleasantly) partway through. Annie is a great character and I'm glad I got to meet her.

I appreciate how we travel through time here. I could see through the young protagonist's eyes - ahead of her times, a young woman into NASA and space exploration. Intriguing premise for a novel. <3

This debut novel hit the mark in a number of ways, including the historical and scientific elements. If you're looking for something suspenseful with a strong female lead, I highly recommend!

Shoot the Moon is the story about Annie Fisk, the daughter of a physicist. It follows her from childhood through her career at NASA in 1978. It is well written and is a fascinating read that I absolutely loved and highly recommend. An advance reader copy was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks, NetGalley and G.P. Putnam Books, for the Digital Review Copy.

“Intelligent but isolated recent physics graduate Annie Fisk feels an undeniable pull toward space. Her childhood memories are dimmed by loss; she has left behind her home, her family, and her first love in pursuit of intellectual fulfillment. When she finally lands a job as a NASA secretary during the Apollo 11 mission…Annie finds herself torn between her ambition, her heart, and a mysterious discovery that upends everything she knows to be scientifically true.” (GoodReads)

Not any one genre, this mash-up was a perfect blend of several. If this is Arsén’s debut, I commit to reading everything else she writes.

This was a unique and unexpected genre-melding story! It starts out as historical fiction with tiny hints of science fiction, so subtle they were easy to forget or overlook as the rest of the story developed. It builds into a compelling story of an ambitious physicist finding her footing at NASA in the 60s (it would pair nicely with HIDDEN FIGURES). There’s even some romance, and it was all shaping up to be a solid story of love, vulnerability, and following your dreams when … WHAM! We take a hard left turn into solid sci-fi again! But it’s believable and approachable science sci-fi (think Andy Weir and Blake Crouch) with one of the coolest explanations of wormholes I’ve read. It was all wrapped up with an ending that made sense and was tied together logically. In fact, the last two chapters were so satisfying (both emotionally and technically) that I bumped it from 4.5 to 5 stars.

If you’re willing to take a chance on an emotionally intelligent Historical Fiction/ Sci-Fi/ Sapphic Romance, you need to pick this one up.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is more literary sci-fi, leaning heavily on the historical and romance parts of its plot, with the sci-fi portion showing up only in the second half of the story. I normally prefer hard sci-fi or sci-fi fantasy more than this "lighter" sci-fi, but I still enjoyed this book overall.

Annie was a compelling protagonist who is easy to root for. I was especially interested in her relationships with her father and mother and how they changed throughout the story.

Overall, the structure of this book was an impressive feat of writing. I personally did not have trouble following the mixed up timeline at all and found it added to the story. I will definitely pick up more of Isa Arsén's books in the future!

I also think this book would make a GREAT sci-fi movie and hope it is optioned soon!

Overall, this was a really fantastic book. I loved Annie and getting to watch her go through life. I just wish that the book had been in pure chronological order because I had a really hard time keeping everything straight. I understand thematically why it was done this way, and it's purely a personal issue because I'm so bad at numbers and dates, but I felt like it would have flown so much better chronologically. It took me weeks to get through the first half of the book, and then the second half in about two days.

Shoot the Moon by Isa Arsén is an intriguing novel. This book takes place at a pivotal moment in history and takes the reader on a journey written with such a unique voice. I think readers of artistic historical fiction will enjoy this book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely mine.

"Shoot the Moon" by Isa Arsén is a Blend of Historical, Science, and Romance Fiction!

This debut novel has completely taken me by surprise. And, as far as surprises go, it's up there close to the top...

"Shoot the Moon" centers around Annie Fisk, who narrates this story in a first-person voice sharing her dreams of space exploration, two love relationships, and a discovery that became the best and worst of both.

Annie is a well-rounded and likable character who idolizes her scientist father and struggles in her relationship with her mother. Highly intelligent, she earned her degree in physics, just like her dad, and is driven to succeed in a career where few women did.

As the protagonist and primary character, Annie has a strong backstory. However, the same can't be said for the secondary characters. Annie's parents and her two love interests feel underdeveloped and I wanted more substance and history about each of them.

Initially, I found the writing a bit overly descriptive, but soon, I fell in love with the author's lovely prose and creative story. The first and last chapters wrap the story together perfectly, which took me by surprise. How did I not see that coming?

The audiobook is narrated by Kristen Sieh, whose voice feels like Annie's first-person narrative. Her gender voicing of all characters is believable and distinguishable. Although I prefer audiobooks, I find it hard to choose between the digital copy and audiobook, as both are equally satisfying.

"Shoot the Moon" is a book I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did but I fell in love with the author's incredible writing style and imaginative storytelling and I believe Isa Arsén is an author to watch. I highly recommend her debut novel to those who enjoy a unique blend of Historical, Science, and Romance Fiction and I'm excited to discover what's she comes up with next.

4.5⭐

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons, Isa Arsén, and Shelf Awareness for a DRC of this book through NetGalley. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review. The audiobook is from my personal library.

Shoot The Moon is historical fiction set in the 1960's. Annie Fisk is working as a NASA secretary when she notices an error in important calculations for the space program. There is also a romantic storyline.

I wanted to read this novel because I am fascinated by the 1960's space program. I loved those details, particularly, in this book. The historical details were rich and helped set the time and place.

Annie is a character to pull for in both her professional and romantic stories. I enjoyed this book and found it a quick read, thanks in part to the short chapters. I recommend Shoot the Moon for other fans of historical fiction, and especially for anyone interested in the 1960's space program.

This book was enjoyable, and the style of writing was nice, other than the timeline. I found myself very confused at times with the alternating timeline. This made it hard to get into at the start because of this. Overall, this book was good and enjoyable!

SHOOT THE MOON is a historical fiction novel with a sci-fi twist about Annie. We follow her throughout her life in a non-linear manner as she grows up and works toward her goal of working in NASA, but when she discovers something unusual, it threatens to upend everything she’s worked for.
I enjoyed the first half, but I wasn’t wowed. It’s a lot of set up as Annie grows up and learns about science. It was a little as you’d expect, dealing with sexism and the like, with the thread of Annie’s father having worked on the atom bomb. The second half is where everything tied together with the sci-fi element explaining why the book was written the way it was. It’s a truly impressive use of structure to tell a story. Also helping the story is the absolutely gorgeous writing throughout.
Annie’s character arc was the stand out throughout. She has a lot of baggage from her childhood that, combined with her thirst for discovery make her a compelling character. Also, as the summary doesn’t mention this, Annie is bisexual! There are a lot of casual conversations about how queer people existed in the 1960s, which was nice to see.
I rated this book 4 stars! The ending raised some questions for me, but I really enjoyed seeing this story come together in this unique way. I would recommend this book, especially for people who want to try to get into more “literary” books, but still want that speculative element.

Heartfelt and emotional, this story brought its characters to life within the moving scope of a life as seen with the angling of hindsight. I was particularly drawn to the enduring quality of love and its many forms, and the way that love can fill in the gaps of personal failings.

The sci-fi nature of the mainstay plot was a touch far fetched and bizarre for me, as it never felt totally well explained for my liking. Even so it was used effectively to tie the story together without getting lost in the fantastical elements it introduces.

This book wasn’t for me sadly ☹️ I didn’t feel engaged by the storyline or characters at all and decided to DNF by chapter 7. I thought the premise sounded interesting but it just didn’t work for me. Thanks anyway for the arc.