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.

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 ***