23 February, 2017

REVIEW: THE INVISIBLE HAND: SHAKESPEARE'S MOON Act 1 by James Hartley



Title: The Invisible Hand: Shakespeare's Moon 
Author: James Hartley
Series: Shakespeare's Moon #1
Genres: YA, Histoical Fiction, Classics
Publisher: Lodestone Books
Release: February 22, 2017
Source: Paperback
Pages: 152

// Goodreads / Amazon //

BLURB: The Invisibl Hand is about a boy, Sam, who has just started life at a boarding school and finds himself able to travel back in time to medieval Scotland. There he meets a girl, Leana, who can travel to the future, and the two of them become wrapped up in events in /Macbeth/, the Shakespeare play, and in the daily life of the school. The book is the first part of a series called Shakespeares Moon. Each book is set in the same boarding school but focuses on a different Shakespeare play



EXPECTATIONS: I received this book for an honest review from the publishers. Thank you so much for sending me this beautiful creations

THE WORLD: In this book, we have two worlds. The present time - where our characters go to school, do homework, have friends, play games and so on. It's just an ordinary world. And then we have medieval Scotland in a 'vivid dream' illusion, where our main characters go and live different lives. The Scotland is built in terms of Macbeth play.

CHARACTERS: Our main character is named Sam, when we meet him he is rather the new kid in a boarding school. At first it seems that Sam is an ordinary boy with family drama, but it turns out that he has the ability to travel back in time to Macbeth Scotland where he takes place as one of the main characters in the war going on in Scotland at the time. In Scotland he meets a girl named Leana, who works in the King's castle. Sam of course thinks that he is only dreaming of this strange place simply because he is reading Shakespeare's play 'Macbeth' in literature class until one day he sees Leana in school. And she is carrying a big secret!

I did enjoy both Sam and Leana. They were both smart and I liked the Scottish side of Leana and the dynamic they had when they tried to figure out why they were experiencing these strange dream-realities. 

I also enjoyed the other characters both in the today world and in the medieval Scotland, it kind of reminded me of Outlander folk and I was really happy to see the old language again :)


ROMANCE: There is a little love feelings between Sam and Leana, but honestly, I didn't feel like love or romantic feelings took a big part of the book.

GOOD: The idea of the book itself. Today when there is so much bad books and so many modern or YA books, where fantasy is the main genre classics are kind of forgotten. Especially with the younger group. I think to have this book where modern meets the classical is amazing. I do believe that the age rate for this book is a little younger than I would be. It would be perfect for someone who is between 14 - 18, when you're still in school and just learning about Shakespeare and his plays. So in my mind this book is teaching about the Shakespearean drama, but in a more modern way.

Also I enjoyed the language. The passages with Macbeth's Scotland, the language was very beautiful, Shakespearean with a Scottish twist. 

BAD: I actually had a little trouble understanding why the life in dream was happening and what made it happen but I believe towards the end everything was pretty much clear.

OVERALL: I did enjoy it and I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequels, especially the Romeo and Juliet one :) ! I would definitely recommend it :)

What do you think about THE INVISIBLE HAND: SHAKESPEARE'S MOON?