One Night Only • Graffiti Moon

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 14, 2012
Source/Format: Netgalley || e-galley
[I received this book from the publisher. This in no way affects my review.]

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. 

There was a bit of hype about Graffiti Moon from some of my fellow bloggers, which had me very excited to read it when my NetGalley request was approved. And let me just say - Graffiti Moon is just as brilliant a novel as everyone says it is!

From the very start, I was drawn into the little world that was depicted for us - a world where two graffiti artists Shadow and Poet create some of the most amazing artwork in the city. Though I'm no artist (I honestly cannot draw to save my life), I always enjoy reading stories about artists - and this one had three: a graffiti artist, a poet and a glassblower.

Crowley does a brilliant job describing the works Shadow does, inserting poems here and there by Poet and also mentioning details about some incredible glassworks. I adore visualizing creative outputs like that in my head and the pictures she painted came out so wonderfully vibrant and beautiful.

And the characters! I loved Lucy from the beginning. Her dogged determination in finding this boy who seems ideal for her in very way, her creative nature, her concern and empathy for other people - all of these things are easily relatable, which makes her so easy for me to care about. Ed earned a spot straightaway in my heart as one of my favorite contemporary YA characters. He's got rough edges but a soft heart and incredible vulnerability underneath them, which I adored. And the way he feels about Lucy? Heartwarming indeed. Another character who I believe deserves recognition is Leo, who is funny, quirky, well-meaning but often unsure of himself. I thought he was well-written for a secondary character - written so well in fact that I came to love him as much as Lucy and Ed!

I loved the way the story unfolds, the events of a single night perfectly demonstrating character and relationship development. It was just plain fun to read; once I started, I simply couldn't put it down. Graffiti Moon was brilliant, funny and heart-warming. Fans of YA contemporary will definitely enjoy it. I can't wait to get an actual copy to add to my collection!