The cover first of all doesn't strike me as a book that is screaming to be read immediately. I am a sucker for covers which hurts, but the can on the cover just looks too simplistic. Why not have a wall of graffiti or something? Oh well! Put aside the cover, I have been hearing so many great things from Australian bloggers and in store, how great this book is. Not just because it is Australian, but that Cath Crowley's writing is simply beautiful. And well, it sure did live up to my expectations. 
 I love poetic, flowing and descriptive writing styles and Cath Crowley's is surely one to keep an eye on from now. She has this way of shedding light and colour into your imaginings, placing yourself right in front of whatever she is describing. There's one of Shadow's pieces, a painting on a crumbling wall of a heart cracked by earthquake with the words: Beyond the Richter scale written underneath. It's not a heart like you see on a Valentine's Day card. It's the heart how it really is: fine veins and atriums and arteries. A fist-sized forest in our chest. It was a complete joy to visualise the artistry of Shadow because unlike so much tagging or just terrible graffiti around the city it just makes me want to repaint a wall and bring someone in to physically paint whatever was described in the book. Each graffiti of Shadow's has a compelling story to tell as much of art today does. 
 Melbourne was an extremely believable setting for these characters and this novel. As I said, there is so much graffiti around the city that it is hard to really find a desire to look at it or admire it because much of it is really tags, writings, weird images that show no emotion whatsoever. Practically a criminal's work. After going to Japan and seeing the cleanliness of Tokyo where there is not a smidge of graffiti in sight, there is a part of me that wishes Melbourne was like that. Travelling everyday back and forth across the city on the trains, or walking past buildings, fences and houses where there has been vandalism, just makes me want to slap those who do it. On the plus side some of the better pieces of work do brighten up my day with the vibrancy of the colour or just the creativity that some put into their work. I just wish I could see more of what I read about in Graffiti Moon. This books brings a new light to the term 'graffiti' defining that line between 'art' and 'vandalism'. Also reading some recognisable locations of Melbourne really brought me into that picturing thought. 
 Graffiti Moon was told through a dual narrative where we know about the feelings and desires of both Lucy and Ed. Both these characters were believable. Lucy was an innocent girl who has this desire to fall in love with Shadow, the most-talked about graffiti artist in town. She's a dreamer and I felt really connected to her simply because I dream too. I dream about being a with a girl friend but I know that I will never actually get to that point in the relationship, no matter how hard I try. Lucy strives to meet Shadow and believes that they will naturally fall in love straight away. Her passion for art is evident and she wants to live in a world full of it. Ed on the other hand has this burning desire to tell Lucy about something but can't build the courage to do it. On the top he is a troublemaker along with friends Leo and Dylan, and his foes, but underneath he really is a sweet, emotional guy who doesn't know the potential he has if he uses his beautiful and artistic soul along with his graffiti art the right way. The chemistry between both these characters was believable as well, and both discovered their flaws and potential within one another. 
 There were many side characters which didn't take away from the true essence of Lucy and Ed's quest to find love. Each character brought an additional motif to each of their quests whether it'd be Lucy's parents who seem to be on the brink of divorce, or Ed's boss who had an unexpected death and believed in his true potential. 
 Overall this was an exceptional read. Somehow I wanted a little bit more in the end, but what more can i ask for after reading this? It is a true depiction of Australia YA Literature and gives us insight into Australia's art world, and hope that what we desire can become reality. 
 [IMG TO COME] 
 5 FLASKS 
 Throw in one of the brick wall's that Shadow had pimped out with emotion into my YA Concoction, because each and every one of us needs a little art in our lives.