Review : Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Summary (from Goodreads)

"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.

Personal Thoughts

I was really hyped to read Graffiti Moon since it had amazed many of the reviewers I follow on Goodreads. I've been wanting to read it since a very long time. I liked the concept and I found the cover very pretty, so I was excited to start reading it.

I'll admit that the book lives up to its hype. To be honest, it blew my mind away !

We are introduced to Lucy. She is out of school and has only dated one guy from her school. On top of that, she broke this guy's nose on their first date. Lucy is tired of the boys at her school. She wants to meet her soul mate. She wants a big romance. When she comes across Shadow's graffiti work, she instantly knows that they belong together.
Lucy was a very likable character. She is smart, artistic and isn't afraid of to stand up for herself.  I immediately took a liking to her character for these particular reasons. Also, she is a dreamer and aims to achieve high.

Ed was the love interest in this book. He was a high school dropout for reasons which are explained. Ed is in fact Shadow, as we learn upon reading the first few pages of the book. He appeared to be the bad-boy kind of guy, with all the graffiti works of his, but beneath all that he was simply sweet, caring and artistic.
I really liked Ed as a love interest. I liked how much he cared for his mother. His interactions with his late boss were so believable. Those scenes were probably among my favorites and I was smiling the whole time.

The secondary characters aren't as developed as Lucy and Ed, but the little information we do get about them is indicative of how great they were.

The romance in this book is the kind that is rushed. It actually takes place over a few hours. Usually, I'm not a huge fan of that kind of relationship. Somehow, this one worked for me.
That's probably because we get to learn a lot of things about both characters. We get to see why they might be falling for each other.

Overall, though I found the romance sweet and utterly adorable!

What I liked mostly about this book was the writing. It was simply beautiful. There were tons of imagery and poetry that made it so beautiful. You can see, upon reading this book, that the author is a very creative and talented writer.

I also loved the information we get about art. I am basically clueless when it comes to art, but this book tells a lot and I really enjoyed it.

Also, the book is told in the POV of both Lucy and Ed. In that way, we get to see both of them through each others eyes. You learn a lot from their way of thinking. I think that that the author did a great job at giving them different personalities, which is often a big risk when it comes to dual narration.

Overall, this book was highly enjoyable. I don't hesitate recommending it to fans of YA contemporary books. With it's mix of creativity and romance, this book will definitely fascinate readers.

Rating

Cover : 4/5

Plot : 4/5

Characters : 4/5

Writing : 4/5