Review: Cath Crowley - Graffiti Moon

Cath Crowley - Graffiti Moon

• Pub Date: February 14, 2012
• Publisher: Listening Library
• Format: CD 6hr 9min
• Age Range: Young Adult

"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.

I checked this audio book out from my local library. Here is my honest review:

What a great book! I read a review before writing this that compared this book to Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, saying that this book is what that book should have been. That's 100% true. I won't go on about how disappointed I was with parts of Nick and Norah, so let me go on and on about why I loved Graffiti Moon!

The audio book was fantastic to listen to because it really gave the Australian feel to it that I wouldn't have felt by reading the words on the page. The accents were authentic for all three main characters. I do wish that the voices for the side characters were more distinctive, though. The voices never changed, really.. so it was hard to tell who was talking sometimes. Other than that, I really enjoyed listening to this one.

Graffiti Moon is a touching, frustrating, wonderful read. While reading it, you know the whole time that Ed is Shadow, the perfect graffiti artist that Lucy is looking for. Lucy used to date Ed until the date went dangerous, and they haven't spoken in 2 years. She has no idea that he's Shadow. She thinks Shadow is smart and sexy and mysterious and perfect. Ed dropped out of school, can barely read, and lost his job. He knows she'll be disappointed when she finds out. What a premise.

Lucy is so open and spunky, even if it's a bit understated. She stands up for what she believes. She has great friends in Jazz and Daisy. They make some parts of this story down right hysterical. I laughed quite a bit when Jazz was talking. Then there's Ed, Leo, and Dylan. Leo is Ed's graffiti PIC, writing the poetry for their walls. He has quite a bit to hide though, and it makes things tricky for the night that this story follows. Dylan is dating Lucy, but he forgot her birthday so chaos ensues. It's humorous.

I just really enjoyed the lightness and seriousness blended together to make this novel. It has won awards and certainly deserves them. While this one is slightly predictable, it's a great story that will keep you turning the pages long into the night.

Bottom line: Definitely check this out as soon as you can get a copy!

Rating:

4/5 book sharks!