Rieden Reece and the Broken Moon (Rieden Reece #1) by Matt Guzman

What worked:

This book requires readers to think. Rieden is super-smart and he believes his intelligence allows him to predict the future. It doesn’t explain how he fails to foresee the moon splitting and an alien named Rozul climbing through his bedroom window. There’s a problem between the two characters as Rozul says the English language limits humans’ abilities to express what they actually mean. Ri is told he must find something he’s lost but he has no idea what that might be. Rozul isn’t much help and his misunderstanding of Rieden’s questions and figurative language doesn’t make things better. Their interactions frequently include elements of humor. Rozul has apparently come from Ri’s future and Quantum physics is involved. Some complicated dialogue ensues so readers will need to use their brains to understand what’s happening just like Rieden.

The characters are very peculiar and add to readers’ curiosities. When the moon splits, the heads of all adults are replaced by dark orbs that appear to contain black holes. This even affects Rieden’s mom so he’s determined to save her from this fate. His teachers and a bartender communicate by pointing and the librarian turns out to be a GI, a Guardian Inspector. A silver secret agent toting a laser cannon pursues Ri and Rozul and readers will never know when it might show up. Rieden begins to have memories of an unknown boy who’s making shady deals with a giant rat named Belez. This name concerns Rozul but readers won’t learn why until later.

Rieden is a complicated character. You know how most books have an endearing main character who is kind and compassionate so you just have to root for them? That isn’t Rieden. He knows how smart he is and doesn’t have patience for stupid people. Even though Rozul has come to this dimension to help, Rieden has little tolerance for uncertainty or mistakes and constantly insults the “amnesic clown”. However, despite his attitude, Ri wants to rescue his mom, repair the moon, and save all of the humans on Earth. He displays bravery in life-threatening situations so I guess you need to cut him a little slack. You still need to applaud the guy for doing his best to save the world and he eventually transforms to become a bit “warmer”.

What didn’t work as well:

We know Rieden is trying to recover his memories and save the moon but it’s not clear exactly what he needs to do. He’s helping Rozul save his sister and the thought is the siblings will be able to combine their powers to save the day. The only problem is they have no idea where the sister is being held captive.

The Final Verdict:

I have mixed thoughts about this book. The first half is a little hard to follow as the characters try to figure out where they need to go and what they need to do. The second half events bring some clarity and the author saves a huge surprise for the end. Overall, this book may not appeal to everyone but I still recommend you give it a shot and find out for yourself.