Every Sunday we are taking a look at the world of books. I read a lot and always want to share my opinions on what I read, so I thought it would be fun to write reviews. Today we are going to look at a short story by Kate Quinn.

Signal Moon: A Short Story  (2022)

Kate Quinn

Synopsis

Yorkshire, 1943. Lily Baines, a bright young debutante increasingly ground down by an endless war, has traded in her white gloves for a set of headphones. It’s her job to intercept enemy naval communications and send them to Bletchley Park for decryption.

One night, she picks up a transmission that isn’t code at all—it’s a cry for help.

An American ship is taking heavy fire in the North Atlantic—but no one else has reported an attack, and the information relayed by the young US officer, Matt Jackson, seems all wrong. The contact that Lily has made on the other end of the radio channel says it’s…2023.

Across an eighty-year gap, Lily and Matt must find a way to help each other: Matt to convince her that the war she’s fighting can still be won, and Lily to help him stave off the war to come. As their connection grows stronger, they both know there’s no telling when time will run out on their inexplicable link.

– from Amazon

Positive Points

Even though it is a short story, Kate Quinn has managed to fit in a really descriptive and engaging narrative. It is well written and paints a vivid image in your head. It is obvious that Kate knows a lot about the history as it is strong and prominent in the book. I am not a fan of the short story but this one is in depth and keeps you engaged that it is very different to many others.

Negative Points

Personally, I am not really a fan of time travels stories like this so personally this is not a story that I enjoyed that much. However, I feel that there is a lot of context here to make this story a lot longer, I felt that whilst it was a well rounded read, it could easily have a lot more pages, 57 is not that many. Also, there are some popular reference culture references that are not really needed but I guess it is to relate to the modern reader. I didn’t enjoy the fact the pandemic of 2020 sneaked into the narrative it was really not needed.

Overall Review

I have some mixed feelings about this book but I will praise it for the fact it is a well written short story, whilst there are elements of the book I did not personally enjoy, I am sure others will. Also it is a short read so if you want a quick book to engage with you can for a cheap price of £1.99 (price at time of writing).

Rating : *** 3 Stars