I just reviewed The Oceanography of the Moon by Glendy Vanderah. #TheOceanographyoftheMoon #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for my electronic ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book was published March 22, 2022.

This is my third book by this author and they all have nature as an important character.

The book explores the lives of 21 year old Riley Mays and 29 year old best selling author Vaughn Orr. Their paths intersect in an unexpected way.

It started off good, got a bit slow in the middle but really picked up the last third. I’m glad I stuck with it.

Themes include nature, family, secrets and ultimately guilt. Plus you’ll want to meet Kiran, the boy who takes apart clocks, loves fossils and wears dresses.

📚 Book Review 📚

If you have ever read a Glendy Vanderah book, you know she can draw you in with her writing. Her descriptive writing teleports you right into the book. Her love of nature is portrayed so vividly that you develop a love for it.

The Oceanography of the Moon is the story of Riley Mays, a young girl who came to live her with cousins at a young age due to her mother and aunt passing away. One day, Vaughn Orr, shows up at Riley’s farm because he has run out of gas. Vaughn, a well-known author, is trying to find a private life. Vaughn is captivated by the family. Through the relationship he creates with Riley, they both find courage within themselves.

What I liked:
🌖 The relationships were well developed in the book and allowed the reader to feel the love, tension, and emotion portrayed in the book.
🌖 I cared about the characters as I read about them.
🌖 I thought I had it all figured out - but there was a twist at the end that captivated me all over again.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Publishing Date: Out now!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Since reading Where the Forest Meets the Stars, Glendy Vanderah has been an auto-read author for me. I love the way she weaves together loss, secrets, and found family into beautifully written and hopeful stories with such a strong sense of place. The Oceanography of the Moon did not disappoint! When they first meet, Riley and Vaughn seem as different as night and day: a sheltered young woman who rarely leaves her Wisconsin home and a bestselling author. As the story progresses, we learn that they have more in common than anyone could have guessed, and each holds secrets that could change everything. I was so captivated by their stories that I could barely put the book down! The characters are all really well written and complex, even the secondary characters. I especially loved Riley's cousin Kiran, a young child so loving, magical, and unafraid to be himself. I highly recommend this one! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for early access in exchange for my honest review.

I am a gigantic fan of Glendy Vanderah! The Light Through the Leaves was one of my favorites from last year, so when I saw she had a new book coming out, to say that I was excited would be quite an understatement. Oceanography starts off strong and I was fully immersed in the story and the characters, but about a third of the way in I was struggling to turn the pages and desperate for something to happen. The ending is fantastic and brought it all together in the special way Glendy combines her timelines. The book has some similar attributes, like magical realism to her first novel, Where the Forest Meets the Stars, but this one the magical realism just isn’t as great as it was in that book. The book has beautiful themes of love, loss, forgiveness, and childhood trauma. Vanderah is a fabulous, creative, and imaginative writer and someone I will always read what she puts out, but for me this one just didn’t sink it’s teeth into me like her other two books did.

3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this arc.

4.5/5

Leave it to Ms Vanderah to talk about passionate subjects without condescension or pedantry, and while different from her two previous novels, this one is amazing in its own right. So no more pleasant surprises from this author, she is now three for three, and I expect to always enjoy her work. No pressure though.

Thank you for this opportunity.

*In Readerly, the gist by invisiblemonster is mine.

MESMERIZING . COMPELLING .  MAGICAL . MELANCHOLIC . HAUNTING

A book about people with tragic secrets in their past who come together in a slow recovery thanks to nature, nurture, friendship, family and understanding. I was pulled into this one from the first sentence!
This book is beautifully written and explores the ideas of darkness in people who don't quite seem to realise that they are actually the light! There is a line in the song that I want played at my funeral: "you sadly believed every word I didn't mean, about loving darkness" - and that is how I felt about Riley and Vaughn.
This is a weird one because not much happens but I was enthralled by the characters from the very beginning - including the side characters. Kiran is an 8 year old boy who collects fossils, takes apart clocks to create magic and feels more comfortable in 'girls' clothing. The amount of things his character taught me about myself was astounding!
This story is highly descriptive but not to the point of being boring/distracting and it is definitely a slow burner but worth it for me. 

All that being said, I did find certain tropes extremely frustrating, especially as they have been done to death and cause annoyance more than anything - that being where people have secrets/things they need to share with the other character and just allude to what they need to say (oftimes making things WORSE because it gives the other person the wrong idea) rather than just being straight up. The whole 'emotionally pained to the point of destruction while claiming not to want to spread your darkness, when in truth, that's the one thing most of us who live in darkness want to do' thing is only ok for a certain amount of chapters. When it spans the entire length of the book in order to create "mystery and intrigue", I find myself losing interest.
I would absolutely recommend this but not to everyone.

The Oceanography of the Moon is the third book by Glendy Vanderah I have read in the last couple of years and while it was still an enjoyable read, it is definitely my least favourite of the three.
Riley had a traumatic childhood in Chicago but moved to her cousin's farm in Wisconsin following the murder of her mother when she was just ten years old. At first she is isolated and uncommunicative but eventually there is a breakthrough and she finds a real family in her cousin, his wife and eventually their child Kiran, who becomes an adopted brother. As the years pass they become a tightly knit family unit and it is clear that they accept and support each other and care very deeply for each other.
When best selling author Vaughan Orr arrives in Wisconsin a decade later looking for a property and hoping to clear the writer's block that has plagued him since the release of his last book, he stumbles upon Riley and her family and is captivated by their eccentricities and unusual dynamics. Increasingly he finds himself drawn to Riley, but falling in love with her could be disastrous because Vaughn is hiding a secret, and once it comes to light both their worlds could be shattered.
I really liked the characters in this book, and most of all how their relationships to one another were portrayed, particularly the bond between Riley and Kiran. There was a real warmth to their story that kept me reading. Unfortunately what didn't really work for me was the plot, particularly in the last third or so of the book. It felt very contrived and quite unbelievable, especially the neatly tied up with a bow ending. I also struggled a lot with the relationship between Riley and Vaughan, it seemed very imbalanced, especially given the naivete of Riley's character. who seems much younger than her stated age, and the obvious wealth and experience displayed by Vaughan, not to mention the secret that he has been keeping from her.
I kept reading, hoping for some of the magic that made me love her previous books, but I did not find it here.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher.

Two sad and lonely people encounter each other. They would like to begin a relationship, but both feel they can’t because of their secret. They spend the first 75% of the book being sad and lonely lamenting their secrets.

With 25% left, the secrets start to come out, and they make for some pretty incredible plot twists. Then there’s an extremely tidy ending.

Despite the hard time I had getting through this book, I did enjoy the writer’s prose and descriptions of nature.

Riley is healing from a traumatizing past. She is used to living in her own private, often magical world. When Vaughn blows into town, she’s not sure what to think. But the more time they spend together, the more she’s drawn into him. He might not believe in their special brand of magic, but he will, soon enough.

This was a special read. I had just finished The Light Through the Leaves when I saw Vanderah had a new book coming out, so of course, I raced to snag it because I love her work. This one feels different from her previous work, and that’s okay. I love that Riley is healing, and I love her little family. They envelop Vaughn into their fold readily and seamlessly. What stopped me from 5-stars is that I didn’t adore the ending, though I cannot discuss it without spoiling anything. Overall, this is a touching read about healing, acceptance, family, and so much more. Thank you, Lake Union Publishing, for sending this along

The Oceanography of the Moon
by Glendy Vanderah
5 stars
Riley moves to her cousin's house after her aunt and mother pass, Riley holds on to secrets of her past and is worried about what will happen if she shares it and let it be free.
Vaughn Orr is also hiding secrets from his past that he's worried about coming to light but he also doesn't want to let them free afraid of what will happen.
Vaughn is suffering from writer's block and decides to take a trip and try to find land somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, when he finds Riley his world is turned upside down and they find everything they need together it takes a while for them to be open with each other and let their secrets come to light.
I loved this book her writing is so good and touching she has a way with words. The ocean of the moon was a wonder I have never read anything like it. Thank you, Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC for an honest review.

The Oceanography of the Moon is the latest book from Glendy Vanderah.

“After the deaths of her mother and aunt, young Riley Mays moves from Chicago to rural Wisconsin to live with her cousins on their farm. She’s hiding a terrible secret in her memories of exploring the seas of the moon.
Vaughn Orr is a famous author. He has writer’s block and heads to Wisconsin to find a place to clear his head. He also has a terrible secret.
When their paths cross there is a pull between them. They must find a way to let go of their secrets for there to be any future. But some secrets may not be forgivable…”

Lots of the wonderful writing we’ve come to expect from Venderah. The last third of this book feels almost like a thriller with all of the unexpected connections. And there are plenty of surprises. Lots of “Wait…What?!?” moments.

There is a lot of climate change discussion that borders on preachy. The author is passionate about it so the characters are also.

This book is about the weight of secrets, forgiveness and the importance of family. Venderah’s characters carry some terrible burdens but there’s hope in the end.

More great fiction from Vanderah. Great pick for a mountain hammock read.

Suffering from overwhelming grief over the death of her Aunt Julia, a woman closer to her than her own mother, Riley retreats into her own mind in visions of the moon seas her Aunt taught her about. After her mother is also killed months later, Riley is sent to the Wisconsin countryside to live with her mother's cousin. They try everything to help her heal, but it isn't until her cousin Kiran is born that she comes out of her shell. Now it's ten years later and Riley is starting to feel confined by the boundaries she put up that have kept her from the outside world. When a stranger appears on the farm one day, she feels an instant connection with this man and the secret pain he hides, for she feels that same pain and guilt every day.
Vaughn Orr is a bestselling novelist living in New York that longs to see the moon and stars. He's chosen Wisconsin as the place to retreat and heal his writer's block, but when his car runs out of gas, he finds the enigmatic and welcoming Mays family. There's just something about Riley that draws him in and soon he can't imagine leaving. But Vaughn is harboring a secret that could destroy everything.
Vanderah has a unique ability of bringing out the magic of the natural world through her writing. The characters are so vivid and realistic, I could feel their pain. From beginning to end, I just couldn't put this book down! I have read and loved every one of her books and I can't wait to read the next.
Thank you to the publisher for this complimentary advance reader copy. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

Don’t let the mention of magic in the blurb fool you. There is no fantasy magic in this book, just the magic of hope, love, and family.

Both Vaughn and Riley have deep, deep secrets that they carry. Both had abusive parents. Riley, at least, also had a loving adult in her life, in the form of her Aunt Julia. Riley doesn’t realize it, but she and Vaughn are connected in ways that could destroy both of them.

Due to her traumas, Riley has lived a sheltered life, adopted by a second cousin and his wife. She has been homeschooled, though she does attend college courses now. She is fragile—and simultaneously strong. As the book progresses, it is she who takes charge of her relationship with Vaughn. And eventually, it’s her strength and love that enables both of them to heal from the past.

The prose in this book is beautiful, with atmospheric descriptions of the farm where Riley lives. There’s maybe too much hinting at “dark secrets,” but it works in the end—both Riley and Vaughn have explosive revelations to share.

The side characters—Alec, Sachi, Keerin, and Colton—are all fully realized people, not just there as set dressing.

Possible Objectionable Material:
A boy wears dresses. There is sex, though it is not described in detail. Death. Mental illness. Abusive parents.

Who Might Like This Book:
Those who like stories where people heal, and overcome their pasts, on the way to finding love.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my opinion.

This book also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2022/03/love-in-its-many-forms.html

Once again I find myself at loss for words when I need to talk about my thoughts of Glendy Vanderah book. I fell in love with her writing with Where the Forrest Meets the Stars and with every new book she writes she manages to keep me under her spell. Who knows, maybe she possesses some of the magic she so often writes about :).

Just like her other books, The Oceanography of the Moon gives us the story about two emotionally damaged people, running both from the world and from themselves, searching for solace in the beauty of nature. It is impossible not to lose yourself in the excellence of her writing, and not to value the amount of research she must've done to make this story work. Its magical, its inspiring and lyrical - its a story about love, redemption and believing of the good in people. Even though I didnt find it as heartwarming as When the Forrest Meets the Stars or as captivating as The Light Through the Leaves, The Oceanography of the Moon has definitely confirmed Vanderah as one of my auto buy authors with a special place on my shelf.

Big thnx to @netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange of my honest opinion.

This was a beautiful story. I loved the quirky characters and fell in love with the setting. Will absolutely read a book by this author again!

This is one of those books that evokes all sorts of emotions - all the feels, as they say! I found it hard to define.

Riley has had a very difficult early life and she ends up living with her cousin in Wisconsin after a series of tragedies. She is very damaged but living with her cousin and his wife and child, she slowly starts to heal. By the time Vaughn, a famous author, lands on their doorstep, she is 10 years older and slightly wiser but still quite naive. Vaughn has his own past that he is trying desperately to hide and the two of them connect on a deep level, almost instantly.

I have to admit that my favourite part of this book was the relationship that Alec, Sachi and Kiran had with each other. Sachi in particular was such a warm, earth mother type of person that I wish I knew someone like her in real life! I also loved that Alec and Sachi allowed Kiran to be his own person, that is really pretty rare. I loved Riley as well, although I think she was more forgiving than I would have been! I know that Vaughn had had a hard time, but I didn't have a whole lot of sympathy for him, there were some of his secrets that I really struggled with. Aunt Julia was one special woman :)

The ending of this book had me holding my breath, I wasn't sure that it could possibly come good but somehow it all worked out the way it was supposed to.

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing.

After finishing Where the Forest Meets the Stars back in December, I knew I wanted to read Glendy Vanderah's other novels, including her third set to publish this March. Which is why I was thrilled to see that Netgalley had it available as a Read Now option, so I downloaded it immediately!

In The Oceanography of the Moon, 21-year-old Riley Mays is suspicious when New York City author celeb Vaughn Orr shows up on her rural Wisconsin family farm, saying he is looking at properties and has run out of gas. But for some reason, the two are almost instantly drawn to each other, perhaps because they both harbor dark secrets from a troubled past. But as their relationship develops, those secrets become harder and harder to keep buried, and before long one or both of them will surely pop.

There's no questioning that this novel is written by the same author as WTFMTS; it covers a lot of the same themes and uses some of the same devices: the focus on the natural world, the quirky characters with complex histories, childhood trauma, secrets and violence, complicated romance, and easy, compulsively readable text (sometimes a little simplistic?). While I still had a hard time putting this book down, what didn't work for me quite as well in this one was the intensity and oppressiveness of the secret keeping. Not only were the characters keeping secrets from each other for the majority of the book, but they were keeping secrets from the reader as well, all well constantly referring to them. It got tiresome. Come on and tell us already! However, it didn't prevent me from speeding through this one, desperate for some answers, and the answers that were eventually provided were sufficiently surprising and interesting. Also like her debut, this book is filled with characters you root for and felt at home for me in its midwestern setting. I will definitely still be reading her second novel, The Light Through the Leaves, which I already have downloaded to my kindle.

Reviews are now published on my blog and my bookstagram.

Vaughn Orr is a successful author with four best selling novels and two movie deals under his belt and all before turning 30. He's struggling immensely, however, with trying to write his next book. With the need to see stars and the moon as his driving force to get out from under his crushing writer's block, Vaughn abruptly leaves NYC for Wisconsin, where he hopes to find his creativity again. Instead he finds Riley, a young woman with a troubled past and secrets that also draw her into the folds of the isolated and magical countryside of Wisconsin. They find their paths were not drawn together by accident and share much more than they first realize.

Okay I was in quite the reading slump before picking this one up and with a slow start, I was feeling like my slump wasn't in jeopardy. Not was I wrong. It picked up pretty quickly and from them on, I was enchanted. I loved the magical realism, the mysterious underpinnings, the fascinating secrets that unraveled slowly throughout. I savored each character and the richness each brought to the story. This book was like soft velvet on a warm moonlit summer night.

This was my second book by this author, and I enjoyed this even more than Where the Forest Meets the Stars. I LOVE how this author uses nature as a character in and of itself in her works. I highly recommend this lovely compelling book

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review. I absolutely loved it.

The Oceanography of the Moon is as magical and charming as the title sounds. It is grounded in childhood tragedies and floats with the imagery of the Wisconsin countryside and the surface of the moon. The dichotomies of escaping and being forced to deal with reality, ecological, scientific truths and fantastical thoughts, tenderness and evil . . . are themes throughout the novel and wrapped up with a bow at the end. I enjoyed reading this and am thankful to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC.

My Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Glendy Vanderah is an author I’ve been proudly championing from day one. Her debut Where the Forest Meets the Stars remains among my all-time favourites, and with her sophomore novel The Light Through the Leaves she proved herself to be more than a one-hit-wonder. The Oceanography of the Moon is her third release in as many years, and unfortunately my least favourite in the line. Although still a compelling and enjoyable read that I flew through, the deep emotional resonance I felt with her previous novels just wasn’t present in this one.

We follow 21-year old Riley Mays, living with her cousins on their Wisconsin-farm since a series of horrible events ten years ago took the lives of her mother and aunt. She now spends her days caring for her extraordinary adoptive brother Kiran, and indulging her personal fascination with nature, the moon and lunar oceans. Her fragile life’s balance is disturbed when a broken down car leaves best-selling novelist Vaugh Orr stranded just outside their property. Offering him a temporary place to stay, Riley and Vaughn quickly get to know each other, and it soon becomes clear that both are keeping secrets. Was it truly a coincidental car-breakdown that lead Vaughn to her property? Or have their lives crossed paths long before already…?

Clearly constructed from the same building blocks as her previous works, The Oceanography of the Moon offers much of what I’ve come to expect from a Vanderah novel; a melancholic yet hopeful story of family bonds and tragedy, carried by a cast of livid characters, and sprinkled with a little dash of mystery. The authors fascination with biology, nature, genetics, and themes of nature-vs-nurture that made me love her books so much, also make a reappearance here.
The final structure that came from these building blocks however, didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Vanderah’s novels are all about that deep connection with-, and love for, her protagonists to me. All of them have complex and troubled pasts, that may not be obvious from page one, but their stories never hinged around the mystery of that. The Oceanography places the mystery-aspect much more central, and sacrifices some of the character work to do so. Characters would go out of their way to speak in vague terms about certain events even within their private thoughts, as if aware the reader was listening. It felt painfully clear that this was for the benefit of preserving the mystery for the reader, and it often shattered my immersion. When thinking back on Where the Forest Meets the Stars, I could almost forget that Joanna and Gabe are characters in a book, and picture them as real people. Riley and Vaughn’s voices seemed so scripted and aware of the reader that they never reached even close to that level.
Their lack of real-ness bleeds over into other aspects of the novel as well. The plot was very contrived yet still somehow predictable. Dialogue felt overwritten and at times cheesy, which all added to my ultimate inability to feel for the protagonists, or be on board with their romance. Where the authors previous written relationships felt very mature and came from a place of support and emotional healing, this one did not. There was a feeling of inequality about it that I couldn’t shake, and left me feeling a bit uncomfortable. *for more details, see the spoiler section below.

Overall there were many potentially powerful themes, metaphors and messages included in Riley and Vaughns story. Unfortunately, the level of polish and development I know Vanderah is capable of wasn’t there. Too many mixed metaphors and motifs that needed more depth lead me to speculate that perhaps there was some publishers-involvement pushing for a one-book-a-year-schedule. The core of greatness was present, and I’m sure that given adequate time, her next novel will be another favourite.

Many thanks to Lake Union Press for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review. The Oceanography of the Moon is out on March 22nd.


*Mild spoilers below:

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Many aspects of Vaughn and Riley’s relationship felt very inequal to me. I don’t have a problem with age-gaps (21 vs 29) when both parties feel evenly matched. However Vaughn read much older, and Riley much younger than their actual age, emphasizing the difference. Then there is the inequality of information (Vaughn lying and withholding information from Riley), and the fact that he happens to be rich, famous and much more sexually experienced than her. That's where the whole thing becomes really uncomfortable for me. The reveal that the older party knew the younger party as a child however is where it truly becomes creepy to me, even if there were absolutely no feelings present back then.