Picture source: Goodreads |
Title: Graffiti Moon
Author: Cath Crowley
Series: no
Published: 2010 by Pan Macmillan Australia
Where I got the book from: the library
Synopsis from Goodreads
"Let me make it in time. Let me meet Shadow. The guy who paints in the dark. Paints birds trapped on brick walls and people lost in ghost forests. Paints guys with grass growing from their hearts and girls with buzzing lawn mowers."
It’s the end of Year 12. Lucy’s looking for Shadow, the graffiti artist everyone talks about.
His work is all over the city, but he is nowhere.
Ed, the last guy she wants to see at the moment, says he knows where to find him. He takes Lucy on an all-night search to places where Shadow’s thoughts about heartbreak and escape echo around the city walls.
But the one thing Lucy can’t see is the one thing that’s right before her eyes.
It’s the end of Year 12. Lucy’s looking for Shadow, the graffiti artist everyone talks about.
His work is all over the city, but he is nowhere.
Ed, the last guy she wants to see at the moment, says he knows where to find him. He takes Lucy on an all-night search to places where Shadow’s thoughts about heartbreak and escape echo around the city walls.
But the one thing Lucy can’t see is the one thing that’s right before her eyes.
My thoughts
This time I’m reviewing a little differently – I loved Graffiti Moon so much I’m going to make
a list of reasons why you should read it!
This is something that will always capture my attention
in a book synopsis – there’s something really special about a story that
focuses on one day/night that is unforgettable for the protagonist and changes her/him
in some way. Graffiti Moon takes this
concept and makes it really work! I could sense the development of the
characters so well.
I swear, all of the three POVs (Lucy, Shadow, Poet)
successfully give out a fresh, unique perspective on art and how it affects
their lives. The graffiti, the glass-blowing, the poetry… It’s such an exotic
and fascinating combination that really grabbed me as a reader.
Graffiti Moon
succeeds in characterization outstandingly. Through Lucy’s and Shadow’s POVs
the reader is truly in their heads, faces their bared souls and comprehends who
they are and how they became that. Poet’s POV, simply poems he has written and
nothing else, is a unique way of showing what he is like, complemented by Shadow’s
remarks and the way he views Poet. I enjoyed reading about the other characters
too – Lucy’s wacky parents, Jazz, Ed’s boss Bert and the rest.
4)
The emotions are tangible.
Crowley is skilled with layering each sentence with
emotion – present are feelings of yearning for connection, fear of exposing
your complete self and uncertainty about following dreams. Through the one
night relationships slowly build or strengthen themselves. I especially loved
Ed and Leo’s tight, brotherly friendship and the way Ed and Lucy slowly find
out that they have a lot in common.
Especially the interaction between Lucy and Ed is great –
it’s feisty, arty and feels very authentic. The three girls also have good
conversations that are humorous and speak volumes about them.
Is there anything I don’t
like about Graffiti Moon? Um, no.
In short, it is just perfect.
Similar books: Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
-Eve
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