Review: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley (Flashback Friday #4)

Flashback Friday was originally an idea I came up with - or thought I came up with at any rate. Since I'm a new book blogger with dozens of reviews on GoodReads, I thought Flashback Friday would be a great way to feature some of my older reviews on my blog. However, it turns out that there are tons of different bloggers out there who feature a Flashback Friday of their own. So, I am taking ideas from two such bloggers - Clean Teen Fiction and Skyla11377 - and meshing them together to create my own version of Flashback Friday - a version which features some of my favorite books from the past year and provides a review for them. You don't have to be a new blogger to participate in Flashback Friday though. This is simply an opportunity to showcase novels we've read in the past and enjoyed, even if there is no written review for it, so feel free to grab my button or make your own and participate! :)

Today's Flashback Friday Pick: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley 

Title: Graffiti Moon 

Author: Cath Crowley

Rating: 5/5 Stars

The only mistake I made in picking up Graffiti Moon was to start it nearly at midnight. I was planning to quickly read a few chapters and go to sleep, but I found myself unable to tear my eyes away from the pages and by the time I was done, it was well past two in the morning. Needless to say, I found myself dreaming about warm cozy beds for much of my day, but Graffiti Moon was totally worth the late night (or should I say early morning?) read.

Graffiti Moon is told in alternating perspectives, shifting from Lucy, Ed, and occasionally Leo's point of view. The story starts out with Lucy pedaling on her bike as fast as she can to see Shadow, a graffiti artist whose work she loves and, who she believes, just may be the guy of her dreams. When Lucy misses Shadow by five minutes, she is forced to meet with her best friends Jazz and Daisy and watch as Jazz decides to hook up with Leo and Daisy with her boyfriend Dylan, leaving Lucy with Ed, the guy whose nose she broke in tenth grade. Just as Lucy is about to regret her all-nighter decision, Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow. What follows is a late-night adventure and blooming romance, but Ed may not be the guy Lucy thinks he is - he may be more.

I absolutely fell in love with the story of Graffiti Moon. Crowley's writing is flawless and sucks you in so that you feel as if you, not Lucy and Ed, are walking the streets of Australia. The perspective shifts are done with ease and although some scenes are re-told from either Lucy or Ed's POV, the story-telling never becomes cumbersome. One of my favorite things about this book were the poems that were scattered in between Lucy and Ed's thoughts. They were not only beautifully written, but gave a remarkable amount of insight into Leo's mind in a unique and perfectly presented manner.

Still, the thing I loved most about Graffiti Moon was it's love story. Ed and Lucy are both unique characters and their thoughts flowed with such ease and honest simplicity that it felt as if I myself was thinking them opposed to reading them on the page. Furthermore, their love story grew through conversation, a deep appreciation of art, and a special understanding and acceptance of each other. Despite their rocky past, they managed to move on, learning not only from their mistakes, but learning about each other. Surprisingly, theirs was not the only love story in this novel. Jazz and Leo, Daisy and Dylan, Lucy's eccentric parents, Bert and Valerie - I found myself inexplicably in love with all of them and rooting for their romances just as much as I was rooting for Lucy and Ed.

Perhaps the best part of this book is that the romance never took away or overshadowed the serious issues of acceptance, belonging, and family that were prevalent throughout the novel. Graffiti Moon made me laugh, made me scream in frustration, jump for joy, and made me fall completely in love with it. If you chose to read just one contemporary Australian book in your lifetime, let it be this. You'll be utterly sucked in to the story, fall hard for the characters, and I'm sure that you will glean something new with every re-read. It can be said, without a doubt, that Graffiti Moon is one of my favorite novels this year - and perhaps - ever.