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65 pages 2 hours read

Sarah A. Parker

When the Moon Hatched

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

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Themes

Healing From Emotional Scars

Healing from emotional scars is an important aspect of the novel. Not only must Raeve face her suppressed emotions if she wishes to heal, but Kaan must also reconcile the woman he once knew and fell in love with and the woman she’s become. Raeve buries her feelings deeply, creating a protective barrier against potential pain. Her journey involves facing these emotions, acknowledging her past as Elluin, and understanding that healing requires embracing vulnerability and overcoming the traumas of her past. In this early installment in the Moonfall series, Raeve’s healing process remains largely in its preliminary stages. The imagery of Hae’s Perch, her favorite moon, reflects her yearning for beauty amid tragedy and imperfections. Reave’s desire to avoid the moon’s potentially tragic story mirrors her reluctance to face her own painful history at the beginning of the novel. Yet the moon’s existence is a testament to resilience and the potential for joy even in dire circumstances. These are lessons that Raeve will learn and keep in mind during her own healing journey.

In contrast with Raeve’s guardedness, Kaan openly expresses his emotions and is unafraid to address them. Kaan must put aside his past with Elluin—and the pain and confusion he felt when their romance ended—to learn to love the woman Raeve is now. His acceptance of this challenge is evidenced in his internal monologue as they dance together at the Great Flurtt, with Kaan knowing that Raeve plans to erase him from her memory as soon as the sun rises: “I don’t want the perfect goodbye. I want to say hello to Raeve—whoever that is. Whoever’s tucked beneath that hardened exterior, I want to know her. Be around her. Love her” (595). Kaan demonstrates the complexity of healing and acceptance when he learns to love Raeve for the new person she’s become rather than the memory of who he loved previously. Kaan also struggles with his own emotional traumas. His father and brothers were cruel and abusive, and he lost his mother at a young age. As Veya tells Raeve, “Kaan was brought up constantly being told he’s not good enough. He’ll never admit it, but in his mind, he doesn’t deserve the honor of [his málmr] being around [Raeve’s] neck” (427). Kaan’s character growth will come from accepting that others’ treatment of him in his past is not a reflection of his own worth and shouldn’t determine what he believes he does or does not deserve.

Rebellion and the Pursuit of Social Justice

In The Fade—Raeve’s home world—social life is governed by a strict hierarchy. Those who cannot hear the songs of the Creators are treated as second-class citizens, kings wield absolute power, and any dissent is punished with torture and public execution. In this context, rebellion and the pursuit of social justice is a pivotal theme throughout the novel, illustrating the characters’ rejection of tyranny and the fight against it. Raeve, having recognized the “drowning amount of injustice [in her] kingdom” (101), works as an Elding Blade assassin for the Fíur du Ath—an underground resistance group—in pursuit of her goals of equality and safety for all. The rebel group strives to subvert the oppressive systems of the King’s cruel reign and liberate those already suffering the effects of this oppression. Much of the novel’s world building, especially in the early chapters, focuses on revealing the systematic injustices such as conscription and forced compliance and execution by dragons, which are common occurrences in Raeve’s society. These injustices are met with resistance by morally driven characters such as Raeve and Kaan.

As she works with the Fíur du Ath to intercept transport vehicles carrying children who will otherwise be forced to fight each other for the amusement of wealthy patrons, Raeve realizes that the group’s work, while valuable, will never be enough. Every time the rebel group intercepts a transport carriage full of young elementals, they are saving lives, but it’s also “a bandage on a much bigger problem” (97). As Raeve points out, “So long as the King continues to rule, there will be more carriages. More bounty hunters. More death and suffering” (97). Her dramatic, yet true, statement highlights the importance of the rebellion and staunching the moral injustices occurring in her kingdom as soon as possible. While Raeve is proud of the small changes she’s made in the lives of individuals, she recognizes a need for the lasting, systemic change that can only come from challenging the current King’s authority and dismantling the structures that enable his brand of tyranny.

When Raeve witnesses a public execution by dragon, she thinks,

They’re others like me, caught masquerading as nulls. They’re folk who speak out against the King, or parents of gifted children who try to keep their young from being forced through the painful screening process required of every offspring. From being shaved. Pierced. Ripped from their homes in exchange for The Crown’s prescription bucket of bloodstone—gratitude for their great contribution to The Fade’s swelling militia. A paltry bandage for a wounded heart (109).

Raeve’s inner monologue in this passage during this particular event illustrates the widespread impact of the King’s rule. Families are torn apart by conscription, and people are forced to hide their true identities out of fear. Raeve’s rebellion is not just personal, it’s a collective fight for freedom for people of all backgrounds.

Fear of Love

Raeve’s fear of love controls her character more than anything else. So many of her loved ones have died that she has begun to blame herself. She avoids forming close bonds both to protect others from harm and to protect herself from the pain of losing them. When her friend Essi shows concern for her, she feels the need “to close the cover on it and flip a new one—a normal one—where folk stop voicing their concerns for [her] well-being and calling [her] family. [She] doesn’t get nice things like that without a price tag too heavy for [her] to pay” (121). However, it is Raeve’s fear of love that she regrets most when Essi dies in her arms. Even though she never tells Essi that she loves her until she is dying, Raeve realizes she had not done as good a job at protecting her heart as she first thought. After Essi’s death, Raeve feels a pain so deep that she believes the “hard segments of [her] heart aren’t going to shift back together and protect the soft core that feels too much” (144). The pain of Essi’s death only leads Raeve to close her heart off even more completely.

From Essi’s death, a false belief emerges. Raeve believes that her beautiful friend “lost her life because [Raeve] loved her” (152). While, technically, this is true—Rekk Zharos did hunt Essi down specifically to target Raeve—Raeve applies it to every person in her life whom she might potentially love. With her newfound belief that her love puts people in danger of death, Raeve dedicates herself to not allowing it to occur ever again. This promise to herself creates an unnecessary struggle when Kaan enters her life again and threatens to disrupt everything she’s built in the past 23 years.

Raeve’s fear of love goes beyond people. She is hesitant about connecting deeply with the city of Dhomm, too—“this inviting, wholesome city where folk are too easy to be around. Too easy to want to be around. Too easy to grow attached to” (442). Raeve avoids any emotional connection to people, places, or things because of the belief that,

life doesn’t pat [her] on the head and praise [her] for making connections. It thunks arrows through hearts. Stabs bellies. It makes damn fucking sure [she] know[s] loneliness is the only acquaintance [she]’ll ever have, waiting until the roots of connection bore deeper than [she’d] like to admit before it rips out flesh and bone. Sheds blood. Stops hearts. Hardens [hers] with another calloused layer of disconnect (466).

This passage emphasizes that Raeve’s fear of love is well earned. Nonetheless, she must overcome it and allow herself to love again if she wishes to grow.

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