Review: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crawley

The Story: 

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 if the one thing that's right before her eyes. - From the book jacket.

My Thoughts:

I don't know why I've been so blind to the enormous talents of Aussie writers but I'm so glad that I took up the Aussie Author Challenge and got to discover little gems like Graffiti Moon. Written in the dual perspectives of Lucy and Ed and peppered with short poems by Poet, Shadows constant companion, Graffiti Moon is the perfect sweet summer read.

        The story follows Lucy and Ed's adventure to find the elusive graffiti artist Shadow and it happens over just one night. The plot is fast paced and the story is both engaging and thought provoking and very easy to read. Lucy and Ed are complete opposites in most ways and it seems almost impossible for the book to have a happy ending at first. It's hard not to give away any spoilers because the book is quite short and there is a pretty big reveal to the reader almost straight away. This is part of the charm of the story. Even though we know the truth, it's fun to go along with Lucy and Ed on their quest and spectate as they discover truths about themselves and about each other.

        I've mentioned before on this blog that I am very much a character driven reader and Graffiti Moon didn't disappoint in this aspect. Lucy is everything I could ask for in a heroine. She's naive but surprisingly tough and some of the things that she does in this book had me wishing I had someone around to high five. Ed is that rough but sensitive guy who lady luck seems to like messing around with and I loved that he didn't let it turn him into one of the bad men. There are a cast of supporting characters in Graffiti Moon, all of whom make the story richer. It's not hard to see why this book has won a stack of awards.

Rating:

10/10

* I read Graffiti Moon as part of my 2011 Aussie Author Challenge.

Review: Raw Blue by Kristy Eagar

The Story:

Carly has dropped out of uni to spend her days surfing and her nights working as a cook in a Manly café. Surfing is the one thing she loves doing ... and the only thing that helps her stop thinking about what happened two years ago. Then she meets Ryan and Carly has to decide. Will she let the past bury her? Or can she let go of her anger and shame, and find the courage to be happy? - From the book jacket.

My Thoughts:

Raw Blue was a really difficult read for me at first. It deals with a lot of heavy topics such as rape, drugs and broken people, but I can handle all that. It was all the surfing jargon that really got to me. I almost stopped reading because of it. I understood that it was Carly's escape and the one thing that made her happy, but seriously, I just didn't care about the swell, the foam or the seagulls. Yes, I know that's a bad reason to get annoyed at a book but I couldn't help it. Thank goodness I decided to skim read instead of putting the book down altogether because I would have missed out on one of the best reads ever.
       Raw blue is a poignant and powerful story that explores the life and struggle of a young girl after being victim to a heinous crime. I thought Kristy Eagar dealt with this delicate topic superbly and though some of the scenes are a bit sexually graphic, I don't believe they were overdone. Needless to say, this book isn't really for younger teens and if you're still intending to read it, let this be a warning to you.
       As I'm finding with most Aussie author's recently, they have a way of creating characters that stay with you long before you close a book. Carly is shattered in more ways than one, and even though she prefers to keep to herself, many of her actions are involuntarily caring towards others. Like the way she always sets her cook's knife down in a certain spot so that no one can accidentally get cut or the way she is always trying to get anorexic Kylie to eat.I really liked her and thought she was very sweet for someone whose been through so much.
       Then there's Ryan. He's by no means a cookie cutter YA guy. Ryan is a surfer and ex-drug dealer whose done time in jail. Told you he wasn't typical. If you're starting to pull away at this point, don't. Trust me. Ryan's made mistakes but what I love about him is that he's actually learned from them and is trying to improve himself. He's not just impossibly perfect to begin with. And he never gives up on Carly, no matter what. I think the bit that sealed the deal for me was when, after they'd been intimate, Ryan still called Carly 'mate'. Totally an Aussie thing to do!
       I'm not sure how else to convey the brilliance of this book so I'm going to add two quotes that really spoke to me:

He pats the deck beside him with his hand. I sigh loudly and sit down with a thump. He takes my right hand and places it palm down on his chest. Then he traces around it with the pen, craning his neck to see, giving himself double chins.

       'What are you doing?'

        He shifts my hand away and starts scratching out letters on his skin. 'I worked out a tattoo - if I had one.'

        I look at what he's done. He's got the outline of my hand over his heart and in it he's written, Her.

        I want to tell him that he's blown me away, but I think he knows.

AND:

Whenever Ryan comes back it's great, then when he goes back to work it's awful...We've got rules for when he's away. If he's short and terse on the phone I have to know that it's nothing to do with me...and if we fight on the phone I can't just hang up. We have to sort it out that night because leaving an argument to fester is too cruel when you're away from each other. Some phone calls he doesn't say much and I know he's called just to hear my voice.

Rating:

10/10 (surfing crap and all)

*There's a lot of Aussie slang in Raw Blue so if you do end up reading it and need some translation feel free to drop me a line!

** I read this book as part of my 2011 Aussie Author Challenge.

Review: On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

The Story:

Taylor Markham is leader of the boarders at the Jellicoe School. She has to keep the upper hand in the territory wars and deal with Jonah Griggs - the enigmatic leader of the cadets, and someone she thought she would never see again.
         And now Hannah, the person Taylor had come to rely on, has disappeared. Taylor's only clue is a manuscript about five kids who lived in Jellicoe eighteen years ago. She needs to find out more, but this means confronting her own story, making sense of her strange, recurring dream, and finding her mother - who abandoned her on the Jellicoe Road. - From the book jacket.

My Thoughts:

I stayed up past 3am last Saturday night to finish reading this book because I just couldn't go to bed without knowing what happened next. On Sunday morning I was left with two lingering emotions. Envy and anger. Envy that one person can have so much talent, and anger that this book isn't immensely more popular.
          On the Jellicoe Road took me on Taylor's journey of self discovery and I relished every second of it. The writing, as always for Marchetta, is phenomenal. The pacing is quick and  though you're dropped right in the middle of the action, it doesn't take long for the story to ensnare you. Jellicoe is told through two different perspectives. Taylor's point of view, and a narrative of the five kids who used to live in Jellicoe written by Hannah. The narrative isn't shown in sequential order and it's interesting to try and piece the whole thing together just as Taylor tries to do.
          Based on the description on the book jacket, I was ready for a novel full of physical confrontations mixed in with a bit of mystery. Instead I got a coming of age story that tested the boundaries of friendship and made me yearn for my high school camping days. Jellicoe is laced with themes of loss, drug addiction, suicide and abandonment and yet somehow left me feeling uplifted and hopeful.   
          In the last book I read as part of the Aussie Author Challenge I didn't particularly like any of the characters. I had the opposite reaction with Jellicoe. I can honestly say that I loved every person in this book. Including Taylor's mother and the pretentious Richard who seeks to usurp Taylor's position as leader of the Jellicoe boarders.
         You know those characters you instantly connect with and want to protect from something you can't really understand? Taylor was that for me. She was so strong and self assured, yet vulnerable and detached from those around her. Being abandoned by her mother has obviously scarred Taylor emotionally and she kept everyone at a distance but that doesn't stop her from caring about the kids she was in charge of. By the end of Jellicoe, you find out just how well Taylor has coped with her circumstances and understand why she is too afraid to be close to anyone.
         Jonah Griggs and Chaz Santangelo are the tough guy leaders of the two other groups involved in the territory wars. Jonah is a cadet, the group of military kids who make camp in Jellicoe for six week every summer. Jonah comes from a broken family and a troubled past. Chaz is the leader of the townies, the kids who live in town and go to Jellicoe High School. In Taylor's words, he is too good looking for his own good. Though they appeared to be bitter enemies ready to come to blows at the blink of an eye, both boys mature beyond words over the summer of the territory wars and I honestly couldn't figure out who I was more in love with.Their friendship is fleeting at first, thrown together by their mutual protectiveness of Taylor and her friend Raffy, but it soon becomes a natural bond that I could see lasting forever.
       There are no vampires or werewolves or love triangles in Jellicoe. Just fantastic writing and beautiful, beautiful characters. I cannot speak highly enough of it and recommend that everyone gives this book a go.
        

Rating:

10/10

*I read this book as part of my 2011 Aussie Author Challenge

Miscellaneous Monday: 2011 Aussie Author Challenge

I've been feeling as if my blog is a little aimless lately, so to remedy that I'm going to start doing a few personal memes to keep me on track. Miscellaneous Mondays is the meme where I can write about new books I've borrowed/bought or cool book related things I've stumbled upon. There will be other memes as the week goes by but that's another story for another day.

To kick off the first Misc Monday (as it will now be known because typing miscellaneous is a pain in the ass) I've decided that I don't read nearly enough books by Australian authors and I'm going to rectify that by participating in the 2011 Aussie Author Challenge hosted by Booklover Book Reviews.

The idea is to read and blog about Aussie books and share your reviews with other bloggers be they Australian or International. As an Aussie I will be participating in the True Blue category, which means I am going to have to read 12 books by at least 9 different authors! I've worked that out to be roughly 2.4 books a month. That seems doable....

So far the books I have chosen are:

1. Good Oil by Laura Buzo.
2. Graffitin Moon by Cath Crawley.
3. On The Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta.
4. Burn Bright by Marianne de Pierres.
5. Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar.
6. Solace and Grief by Foz Meadows.
7. The Outcast by Patricia Bernard.
8. Wolfborn by Sue Bursztynski.
9. The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta.
10.My Big Birkett: The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly and Completely Lost It by Lisa Shanahan.
11. Madigan Mine by Kirstyn McDermott.
12. Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody.
This is all I can think of so far. The list might change depending on whether I enjoy the book. My policy of not forcing myself to read a book I don't like still stands. Wish I'd thought of doing this sooner because I could have included Thyla by Kate Gordon and Mercy and Exile by Rebecca Lim which would have knocked off three books!

Better go get reading!

*** THIS CHALLENGE HAS BEEN COMPLETE ***