"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.
Book Review
Title: Graffiti Moon
Author: Cath Crowley
Publisher: Knopf Books
Publication Date: February 14, 2012
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
| Graffiti Moon is one of the most stirring novels I've read all year. At times brilliantly clever, at times touchingly poignant, at times achingly funny, Graffiti Moon is so captivating that I blew through it in one sitting. These characters breathe and the imagery of the art feels palpable. And WOW that is some gorgeous prose. I could pull dozens of lines from this book that made me view the world with whole new eyes. It's brimming with these beautiful, tragic metaphors and images and descriptions that create such an emotional atmospheric presence. I've been awaiting Graffiti Moon's journey to the States for months after hearing so many rave reviews from Australia, and Cath Crowley did not disappoint. The quirky, artsy vibe and alternating points of view reminded me of another Aussie novel, Beatle Meets Destiny (but minus the cheating part). After reading over 100 YA novels a year, I find the tropes and cliched plots and cut-out characters seem to blend together, which is why the whimsy and quirky and cleverness of Graffiti Moon is so refreshing. Crowley creates the imagery of Ed and Lucy's art with such a vivid, skilled hand that these words feel tangible. I think the narrative would have worked better without Leo's poetry interspersed throughout, but alternating between Ed and Lucy is the perfect way to tell this touching story. To the folks at Random House, thank you for bringing this Aussie gem to the states. Content: Because of the seriousness of some of the subjects and the characters' propensity for strong language, this book may be more appropriate for older teens and adults |
No comments:
Post a Comment