Review Detail

Within a few lines of Graffiti Moon, I knew I was going to love this book. I love, no—absolutely adore lyric prose. If a novel is written in a style that’s almost like a prose poem, I’m a goner. Cath Crowley has it. That beautiful turn of phrase that seems so unnassuming but says so much underneath its obvious meaning.

From the first chapter: “I’m so close to meeting him and I want it so bad. Mum says when wanting collides with getting, that’s the moment of truth. I want to collide.”

So once I’d been fully hooked into Graffiti Moon, I was surprised to find out that I didn’t mind the slightly unoriginal storyline.

Lucy is in love with Shadow, a graffiti artist she’s never met. After finishing Year 12, she and two friends go out to celebrate all night. They run into Lucy’s friend’s boyfriend and two of his mates. One, named Ed, had a disastrous date with Lucy when they were 15 and he’s been pining for her ever since. Naturally, Lucy doesn’t know that and hates his guts, too caught up in her ideal romance with Shadow.

That sets the stage for an all-night crazy fest, and though the plot is completely predictible, Crowley presents a unique twist on things. Lucy is a glass blower and Ed is a drop-out who can barely read. Two characters that have “unique” written up and down their foreheads.

Writing a book that takes place all during one night is a set-up that isn’t done often enough, in my opinion. I can think of a few good ones, but there really need to be more. Because of the short timespan it covers, Graffiti Moon is full of teenage adrenaline and endearing mixed messages. Did I believe, at the end of this, that Lucy and her love interest were madly in love with each other? No. But that’s okay, because Cath Crowley didn’t try to pretend they were.

My only disappointment was how, as the novel progressed, I felt that the book became less beautiful. Crowley’s prose lost its poetic quality and, honestly, the way the characters turned out didn’t wholly satisfy me.

Altogether though, I thought Graffiti Moon was fabulous.