Review: Moonrise by Sarah Crossan
SYNOPSIS:
‘They think I hurt someone.
But I didn’t. You hear?
Coz people are gonna be telling you
all kinds of lies.
I need you to know the truth.’
From one-time winner and two-time Carnegie Medal shortlisted author Sarah Crossan, this poignant, stirring, huge-hearted novel asks big questions. What value do you place on life? What can you forgive? And just how do you say goodbye?
REVIEW:
*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*
I am feeling pretty lukewarm about this book at best. So the entire book is written in verse, which is just a disclaimer because you don’t find out until you actually start reading. While this provides brief, quick chapters, it also prevents any character development. There were a lot of awkward moments, minimal conversation, and overall it is just a sad story with a sad ending.
Allow me to explain, while Joe is visiting his brother Ed in Texas who is on death row, he meets a girl named Nell. They have minimal conversation but he is drawn to her, and this whole sub-plot romance is uncomfortable. It’s not fluid, it doesn’t flow from the poetry, it’s just a distraction and an attempt to fluff a depressing story line. Descriptions of characters are non-existent, and descriptions of Ed’s surrounds are minimal at best. I was attempting to paint a picture in my head with essentially no descriptions to go on. Which brings me to the only reason I kept reading was because I wanted to know if Ed was actually going to die or not.
The title, Moonrise, I feel does not fit the story line at all, it is not part of a critical line in the story or significant to the story in any way. It felt very random, sort of like how quickly the book wrapped up. I guess what I am saying is that the story is boring, sad and meh. While it was most certainly a quick read, I didn’t love or connect with these characters, and I found the plot boring and far too weak to sustain an entire novel, especially with the vague descriptions and minimal conversations.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble
