A Graffiti'd Moon

Synopsis (Goodreads): Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He's out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy's stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they're suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.

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I've decided I am moving to Australia to become a writer. Apparently there's something in the air (or maybe it's the dingoes...) that makes you a fantastic writer. 

Think about it. There's Melina Marchetta (my Goddess), Jessica Shirvington (LOVE her! Also, PHOENIX, PHOENIX, PHOENIX!), and now there's Cath Crowley (you little minx, you!) who has worked her way into my heart through the novel Graffiti Moon.

This book...This book! I can't even begin to express my love for this book.

Now I love a good contemporary, especially one where teens are accurately depicted. But who can blame me? I've been there, done that. I get that we're confused, misunderstood and sometimes just a little messed up, but Crowley manages to cleverly encapsulate that. She beautifully, and hilariously, depicts that in-between stage where innocence gives way to growing up.

I found myself highlighting every other paragraph. I wanted to capture every thought, every emotion, and every bit of story that made me laugh out loud. There were a lot of those. Crowley added such vivid and unique descriptions to her characters and settings that it would have been damn near impossible not to.

The story, which was told through alternating points of view, offered readers wonderful little peeks into the minds of the novel's lead characters. While I get that some book lovers don't enjoy the back and forth of it all, it totally worked with this novel. It was hilariously entertaining to see certain scenes and conversations play out through each perspective. Their voices -- their personalities -- just shined through the page. I couldn't get enough.

Graffiti Moon with its gripping honesty could not have held a more perfect message.  More than just YA contemporary, this was a story about new beginnings. A tale of renewed hope and self-discovery. It was everything I hoped for and more. 

Much more.