2 out of 5 stars
I would like to thank Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion Publishing for providing me with a free – temporary – electronic ARC of this book, via Netgalley. Although I required their approval, the decision to read this book is my choice and any reviews given are obligation free.
Great new! This is a book I’ve actually just spent the last week reading, rather than it being one I read months back and am just reviewing now. Not so great news, I wasn’t exactly a fan of ‘The Moon Fix’ and so there is going to be a lot of constructive criticism within my review. PLEASE don’t take it personally Ms Cheung; I’m simply trying to provide an open and honest review as to why this book wasn’t for me. I’m not saying it was necessarily a bad book, just not a book I found enjoyable.
I’ll start with the positives. I did feel the author’s true spiritual connection with the moon. And I did find the brief information on moon phases and astrological sign’s connection interesting. And there was a tonne of good, inspirational belief work within the book too. Lots I could see as a good reference book for later. So, please realise the information is there.
I personally just didn’t connect to the book. And when it comes to faith based information, I really need to feel a connection to feel I can get something positive from it. And the reason I didn’t connect really comes down to a few things.
Firstly, I found the writing a little too preachy for me. It came across, to me, as if Ms Cheung was lecturing me as to how I should feel, act, and do things in relation to the moon. I’m a solitary and, although I seek guidance and inspiration from others, I don’t respond well to being told how I should follow my faith. So this condescending tone was just a little too jarring for me.
Then there were the pictures. They weren’t really photographs, as they were so completely over edited. So let’s call them arty pictures. I found them very fake and artificial, and so again felt disconnected from the teachings of ‘The Moon Fix’. When you take a photo and over edited like that, it looks fake. And if you’re trying to teach a spiritual thing to someone, the last thing I want to do is be surrounded by fake.
Finally there was just the stark, aesthetic layout. Smallish pictures, huge stark white backgrounds, blocks of words. To me, this gave the book a very sterile and harsh feel… not something I’m looking for in a book of spiritual connection and belief.
And that’s basically it… ‘The Moon Fix’ has some potentially good, and useful, information that I would otherwise enjoy learning, trying, and incorporating into my personal beliefs and routine. But its formatting, layout and overly fake looking pictures just failed to help me to connect and want to learn from it. I’m sorry, I’m sure there are people who prefer to learn with this style, and good on them. At least they are learning something positive and self-healing. But, for me, I just could not connect, could not let my spiritual side get inspired by it all.
Would I recommend this book to others?
Sadly I wouldn’t. ‘The Moon Fix’ comes across as a sterile and stern book that isn’t about letting people learn how to connect with the powers of the moon, but rather be told how they should do it.
Would I buy this book for myself?
No I wouldn’t. If I don’t connect with a book of this type, I just can’t see myself needing it in my life or in my book collections. But I really want to emphasise that this is a personal choice. Just because ‘The Moon Fix’ wasn’t for me, it doesn’t make it a bad book. It just means it was not the book for me.
In summary: A book on how to make a more spiritual connection with the moon.
Janis's Journal 