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February 05, 2012

Review: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley - Juhina

Graffiti Moon
Title: Graffiti Moon
Author: Cath Crowley
Publication date: February 14th, 2012 (US release)
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary)
Challenges: YA Contemporary, SARC, A-Z Title, Book Blogger Rec
Source: NetGalley
Format: 
Ebook
Pages: 272
"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.
Graffiti Moon is set in a 24 hour period, but the story really kicks off at night, the day Lucy graduated high school. Lucy and her friends decide to stay all night and celebrate! however all Lucy is thinking about is finding Shadow, the graffiti painter she has been fantasizing about for months and believes is her soul mate. She's an artist, and so is he; through his art he seems different from all the guys she's met, including Ed, the guy who grabbed her butt on their first date two years ago.  Her friends obviously think this is absurd, but when her friend's boyfriend declares he knows Shadow. The night journey to find Shadow begins. 
I am a huge fan of books that are set in a 24 hour period. I feel as if I am with them, reading every one of their thoughts, seeing everything through their eyes, even the little stuff. It's as if I was put in the shoes of the protagonist for a whole day and experience everything he/she experiences. 
However one thing that I couldn't connect to the book is the whole artistic aspect of it. I'm an engineer, it's math and science all the way, while I do love photography, I didn't get half of the revelations that occurred through their art. I was like.. ok you blow glass, how does that hold your memory? This is definitely a case of "It's not you, it's me" situation. Graffiti Moon is all about the art of Lucy and Shadow and the stories behind them. I loved finding out the story behind each, even though I didn't get the connection, i still felt their emotional turmoil, pain, and memories through these stories. As the hours go by, you get to know a bit about Lucy and Ed, yes the butt grabbing guy. It is told from both of their points of view and sometimes a scene would be repeated twice from each of their POVs. This was great for me since in a specific scene I always want to know how BOTH ends of the spectrum think.   
Overall Graffiti Moon was an exhilarating and exciting ride, where Lucy must outrun the night in order to find Shadow. The contemporary overall was thrilling, without a dull moment when the journey begins.  
four musical notes!

9 comments:

  1. I'm reading this one next week I'm really looking forward to it! I'm not much into art either though so I'll probably have the same non-connection with it as you.I still think it sounds great!

    Giselle
    Xpresso Reads

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    Replies
    1. it was! let me know what you think after you read it!

      - juhina

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  2. I've been wanting this book since last year. I never read a novel about art before, so it'd be nice to see what it's all about.

    Amna
    StoryLoverX

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    Replies
    1. then its definitely a book you would enjoy! :D

      - juhina

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  3. This sounds interesting, and I agree with you - I like books set in a 24 hour period. It kind of forces the story to move.

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  4. I've read so many great reviews for this book lately, it's kind of making me regret not reading it when I had the chance. I'm glad you liked it! :) Hopefully I can get round to it again soon, but my TBR pile is crazy right now...I'm going to have to squeeze it in somewhere, I think. ;)

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  5. This is the first I'm hearing of this! Sounds good. I just read The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and I loved how it took place in such a short time, maybe I'll enjoy that aspect of this one as well. Thanks for the review.

    Britta

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  6. i soooo sooo can't wait 2 read it
    so glad a friend gifted my a order of it ^_^

    fab review juhina

    you rock girls

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  7. Graffiti Moon is one of my favourite YA books and I was lucky enough to hear Cath Crowley give a talk about her writing late last year (which was amazing). I'm glad you enjoyed it. Good review.

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