Blue Moon by Hila Feil

Plot:
Written in the form of a journal, this is the story of 16-year-old Julia's summer as an au pair on Cape Cod. Her first impressions of her charge Molly, Molly's stepmother, and their spooky old house are not reassuring. Molly seems obsessed by her mother, who died some years earlier, and eventually Julia herself begins to sense a mysterious presence both in the house and in a drowned village nearby. At the same time as she must deal with these phantoms, she must cope with the very real presence of Sean, a local artist, who shows a disturbing but not unwelcome interest in her. Finally, as summer draws to a close, she must resolve both influences and return to life in the city.

Review:
Blue Moon qualifies as probably the most cleverly written book I’ve ever read. It’s one of those reads you don’t fully understand until you’ve completed it and it’s sticking to your brain, still making you think. Like an intricate movie that more so connects the dots the second time you watch it (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for example). Young Molly’s mother was not only disturbed, but mentally ill. The fact is that Molly didn’t know anything was wrong with her mother since that’s all she had been taught since birth. Her mother’s way were the only ones she knew. And because of growing up in such a cryptic dark minded environment produced by her mother, Molly can only believe her mom’s unreasonable stories and ways. So when outsider Julia steps into the picture, the realization of Molly’s need for psychological help is present. This book took me more and more by surprise every step of the way through it. It was creepy, interesting, mind wracking, and just plain clever. If you’re looking for a read that makes you think and is lyrically cool at the same time, you’ve got a winner in Blue Moon.


Rating:
4.0
Read again?
Possibly.