I absolutely loved this book. A beautiful love story during a brutal time in history, Beyond the Moon went beyond my expectations. I learned details about World War I and women's roles that I had not known before while coming to know the main characters, Louisa and Robert. The time travel aspect added interest. If you are a fan of Outlander and historical fiction, this one is a must read.

3.5 stars

I had trouble rating this one because while I liked it, I wasn't quite so clear on how the whole time traveling thing was working and also the ending seemed a bit uncertain. I think the author may have left it that way on purpose, but I was hoping for a slightly more satisfying conclusion. Without revealing any spoilers, I wish she had been completely open with him about who she was. Perhaps it didn't matter in the end, but since we didn't really understand the way the time traveling thing was really happening, it felt like the ending could still be taken away at some future date. I think it's quite good for being the author's first book and I think she shows a lot of promise. I look forward to seeing what she will produce in the future.

A wonderful historical/time travel novel! Louisa was in Coldbrook, a mental hospital. She finds a portal to 1917 through a condemned wing of the hospital. She meets Robert a soldier in France and becomes Rose, a nurse. They fall in love. Very moving and interesting book. Complex and interesting characters and events. I truly loved this book.

When a tumble down an eroding cliff face in the dark of night lands Louisa in A&E, the doctors determine that she is a danger to herself and admit her to Coldbrook Hall, a psychiatric facility, and put her on suicide watch. 

Louisa is a former medical student and so hopes that if she can show them that she is not a risk to herself, that there has been some misunderstanding then she will be released. When she realizes that no one is going to believe her and the facility is too understaffed to care about individual patients, she knows that she has to keep her wits about her and her head above water.

When she learns there is a way to sneak away and into a closed and condemned ward of the hospital, used during the First World War for recovering British soldiers, she somehow stumbles upon a soldier recovering from his injuries. She is confused and shocked, but no more so than when she tries to show her friend ony for there to be no evidence of him ever having been there.

Her days then revolve around getting away and spending time with him. They gradually get closer, but how can they ever be together if she is only ever a visitor in the past, real only to him?

What follows is a beautiful and complex love story and an insight into the horrors of the new kind of war that soldiers had to face during World War I.

_________

This book, my god. I learned about this book in a recommendation email from NetGalley and I am so glad that I received the email. This is one of the most unique books that I have read for quite a while.

This book is told from two seperate first-person narrations, Louisa's and Robert's. Two life stories being told simultaneously and coming together. Sometimes dual narrations can make a story clunky, but it really worked for this book and truly the only way I think this story would have worked.

The author has a great voice and did such an amazing job with descriptive detailing that the parts of the story taking place in 1917 felt just as real and tangible to me as the parts of the story taking place in 2017.

I'll be completely honest I almost called it quits on this book when Louisa and Robert lost contact at about the midway point because I was worried that the rest of the book was just going to detail the seperate tragic endings for both of them. But I decided to have faith in where the story was taking me and keep reading. I'm so glad I did because the time apart and the journeys they both had to endure made the story so much more powerful. I loved this book more than I can express. I am astounded that this is the first book that Catherine Taylor has published. I am looking forward to more books from this author.

I saw some people comparing it to Outlander. And although it does involve a woman capable of traveling forward and backward through time, I found Beyond the Moon and the Outlander series to be quite unique from one another. They are both lovely and have a completely different voice from one another.

Many thanks to NetGalley's AuthorBuzz and The Cameo Press Ltd for recommending this book to me via email and sharing an electronic copy with me for reviewing purposes. I voluntarily read this book and this is my honest review.

The story is set in WWI. Lieutenant Robert Lovett is recovering from war related injuries in Coldbrook Hall hospital. Meanwhile, one hundred years in the future in 2017, a young woman is sent to Coldbrook Mental Hospital falsely accused of a suicide attempt, when in reality, she fell off the cliff by accident. I enjoyed the details of WWI, an era of history quickly being forgotten. The author did a thorough job researching the WWI era and presenting the workings of the mental hospital in a way that I felt the stark reality of life in a mental institution. While very well written, this is a time travel story which doesn't interest me as much.

Get ready to be drawn into a story that jumps through time and keeps you riveted the entire time. I couldn't put this book down. The author is very descriptive in her writing so that you can picture every scene with clarity that then lends the story to be so believable. Louise(Rose) and Robert's love for one another despite the obstacles that are between them was such a beautiful thing to read.

This story kept me on my toes and any theories I formulated were surprisingly squashed with an even better tale. I wanted Rose to tell Robert about her real past, but I understand why she didn't.

At times the story becomes a little graphic as Rose is learning to be a VAD nurse and tending to war wounds and diseases. I actually found it fascinating and thought here reactions to each situation leant a natural human response that all readerscould relate to.

Thank you Netgalley for sharing this title. It was such an intriguing tale and I hope it has great success.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

Beyond the Moon by Catherine Taylor

I am shocked, shocked (!) to see that this is the author’s first book. She writes like a seasoned novelist. Her fabulous story and writing style will have you turning pages at top speed to see what happens next.

In 2017 young Louisa Casson finds herself wrongly placed in a mental institution in England after the death of her only loving relative, an aunt.She is determined to get out.
Without spoilers, I will say that this portion of the story gets seamlessly knitted together with another part which is taking place in WWI. Some war and hospital scenes are graphic, but well researched. Reality and fantasy merge. Or do they?

It seems incongruous that these two themes could mesh to make one complete story, but Catherine Taylor has done just that. This book is a delightful, exciting tale that most readers will find a real treat.

Alternating between 2017 and 1917, Beyond the Moon tells of an unlikely romance between Louisa/Rose and Robert who meet somewhere out beyond time. The portion of the story that takes place in 1917 is well researched and very realistic. You can almost hear and see the bombs exploding as well as picture the horrors of the soldiers’ injuries and the extreme conditions of the WWI field hospitals. On the other hand, the description of Coldbrook Hall psychiatric hospital in 2017 was not believable. It was too over-the-top outrageous . . . from the way the patients are treated to the physical layout of a decaying building.

I was intrigued by the premise of this romance. It kept my interest throughout and I found myself on edge waiting to discover what happens to Robert after he returns to the front in 1917 and wondering if Louisa and Robert will ever meet again. There are several unexpected twists in the story that are plausible and that add to the suspense. I found it hard to put down once I got to the parts of the story that take place in 1917. An intriguing variation on time-travel romance.

Narrated in two voices from two very different times, the story follows Louisa Carson in the present day: heartbroken after her grandmother’s death, she’s fallen down a cliff face and the doctors fear she is suicidal. An admission to Coldbrook Hall, a psychiatric facility follows, and we see the chaos, the cruelty and the hopelessness of the patients / residents where control is not their own and staff ranges from wanting to be helpful to simply wanting a peaceful shift. Not truly suicidal or with a tentative grasp on her own emotions, Louisa spends much of her time exploring the old manor house, particularly the abandoned wings. Here she meets Robert – a blind young man, wounded in a World War I battle. Robert has been bereft and struggling with the loss of sight and all that will mean to him on his return to home and family. But the intriguing moments with Louisa are some he can’t forget, and she’s worried if perhaps, they weren’t right to commit her. Through multiple visits Louisa and Robert develop a bond, one that could mean danger for them both.

So- initially the premise is what got me intrigued after a note from NetGalley suggesting the title. And it has made the shortlist for a write your own love story competition. But, while Louisa and Robert were both solidly drawn and engaging characters, and the moments where he was speaking of his war experience were both honest and gruesome, the connection – the HOW she slid into the past, and just how she’d be able to slip away and visit so frequently, and get so involved in his story just missed me.

The author has a solid way with prose, and she’s created a lovely premise – but the story didn’t reach up to meet the premise in ways that I was hoping for – and a solid creation of the how the travel happened (there were no stones), and the backstories were alternating between too detailed to rough sketches of moments that needed more, It was a story that I put down frequently and needed to hop back a few pages to ‘refresh’ my memory of the events before I moved onto reading it again. An interesting and promising debut, while not perfect, it held enough interest in the solidly presented parts to keep me reading on.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-aul/” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with Beyond the Moon by Catherine Taylor. I was a little concerned after seeing the comparisons made in the description and in several reviews to Outlander - a book I was unable to finish as it was much too explicit and quite unnecessarily so at that! Happily this was not the case. There is a scene with some intimate details but fortunately it isn't too graphic and can easily be skipped if one desires.

Beyond the Moon is a romance in that the main characters fall in love, and rather quickly and sweetly, but it is so much more than that label might suggest. I am not a romance reader but do not mind it when the romance plays second fiddle to the main storyline. It is a unique story of time travel, there are elements that make it unique that I won't share as it would spoil the unfolding of the story. Suffice it to say, it is an interesting spin on the usual time travel fantasy.

The author has done a lot of research to provide the details that make one feel they are in the World War 1 time period and it is very affecting. She has made it easy to immerse yourself in that world. In one review I read, someone felt that the modern hospital did not seem realistic, I disagree, it felt all too realistic in my opinion. The uncaring, often cruel treatment of patients is something we read of in the news, it saddens and angers me but unfortunately, it happens. It isn't just in mental hospitals but in all institutions and daycare settings for all ages and developmental abilities.

I would recommend Beyond the Moon to people, like me who enjoy actual historical fiction (as contrasted with historical romance fiction). Romance is there, yes, It drives the time travel but there is so much historical detail, a seamless immersion into the past that it doesn't overpower the story. The historical details are written so well, so "matter-of-factly", not as a random collection of facts just thrown in but as a natural part of the writing that I am sure many readers will find enjoyable. I was unable to put this book down and read it straight through in one day.

More Than I Could Have Wanted!
I found this read to be really good and filled with so many emotions keeping me intrigued and a bit on edge to keep turning the pages! Intense at times yet riddled with excitement and daunting suspense. Well put together and unfolds at a nice pace. Lifelike with amazing chemistry. A first for me by this author and most likely will read more of her work.

I just couldn't get into this story, and had to give up on it. Life is too short, and there are too many books out there to read to linger on something that doesn't agree with me.

A WWI Romance with a Twist
I loved this book it was very good.

Cassie's story tells of her being placed in Coldbrook, a privately ran mental hospital. She talks of the horrible conditions and the uncaring staff. It is a sad part. You can sympathize with the patients and wonder how such things could actually happen in the year 2017.

Cassie finds a portal to 1917 through a condemned wing of the hospital where she meets Robert an injured Soldier and they fall in love. After Cassie falls through the floor into 1917 she becomes Rose, A VAD nurse at a British Field hospital in France. She describes in great detail the sad conditions in the hospital. Shortage of Staff, Supplies and equipment. The horrible injuries to the soldiers and the deaths. It is so realistic you feel as if you are actually there. Quite sad.

You have Robert's story. He tells of his injury and when Cassie visits through the portal he falls in love with her. Then he goes back to his unit in France to fight in the war. While fighting in the trenches on the heels of the German Army he is captured and taken to a German P.O.W. camp.

Robert's part of the story tells of the front lines, the trenches, the injuries and the death of his fellow soldiers. He tells of his inner feelings. It is a very good depiction of the fighting soldier's life on the front lines. After he is captured by the German's he details what it is like to live as a prisoner in a German POW camp. It is also written in such a realistic manner that you feel as if you are there with Robert.

I love the characters, I love the story line and the ending is fantastic. If you want to find out how it all came about, if Robert survives the POW camp, if Rose and Robert ever get together again, than you will have to read the book. Warning....Once you pick up this book and start reading you will not want to stop until you are finished.

Excellent story weaving the past and present. Strong character development, and especially good treatment of the WWI scenes/time period.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Sadly for me this book just wasn't up to my expectations. I had a hard time reading it, I realize not everyone enjoy the same books. I would find it hard to recommend this book to others.

Thank you NetGalley and The Cameo Press for the eARC.
This is a good book going back and forth from WWI and 2017. The chapters on WWI were horrifying and poignant, it made me feel the terrifying and claustrophobic chaos those poor soldiers must have endured; they were well described. The scenes in the psychiatric hospital were painful, I can't believe hospitals like that still exist in our times...hopefully not!
The time travel angle was interesting, I do like the premise of that.
All in all an absorbing love story that takes you out of yourself. Recommended.

In very graphic detail the author gives us a firsthand feel of the horrors of war — the trenches, the battles — along with the horrors of war injuries — the wounded, the maimed, the rotting dead.

Beyond the Moon is the story of Louisa in 2017 who somehow finds herself in 1917 as Rose. She meets Robert, a captain in the British army fighting in France in World War One.

The story continues as Louisa/Rose slips back and forth between the two centuries. When she was Rose I felt like I was back in 1917. The language used, the descriptions of dress were very authentic. 2017 was very believable as well. Time travel was expertly achieved and extremely plausible.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I enjoyed it immensely. Well done, Ms. Taylor.

Thank you to Net Galley for a copy for an honest review. It was good. It kept my attention. I’d recommend reading this if you’re a fan of the Outlander series.

Excellent time-travel romance, with a lot of WWI realism that gives the story additional grit. Not for the queasy, but I liked the authenticity of it. Recommended!