ARC, 400 pages
Release Date: May 8, 2018 (Re-release)Published by: Bloomsbury Childrens
Read from: April 29-May 1, 2018Stand-aloneSource: TxLaFor fans of: Verse Novels, Tough Subjects, Poetry, Romance, Family, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Grief,YA‘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?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I’m not a huge fan of poetry or novels in verse, but sometimes you read them and they just stick. Moonrise is one of those books. It will tug at your heart strings and make you hurt for the bad guy. This book does all that and more.
“Newscasteres love revealing the beauty of the victims- / like they’re the ones who got slammed.“pg. 36
Joe’s brother Ed is on deathrow. Joe has exhausted all his resources to go in see his brother in his final days as his lawyer fights to slow down his execution.Ed swears he is innocent, so they must do everything they can to get everyone to change their mind about him and give them a chance.
“Guys on the row must lie all the time.“pg. 57
I have to be honest, when I first added this I did it because of the place where it’s set. I heard “death row” in Texas and I immediately thought of Huntsville, Texas, where I attended college. But instead it was set in Wakeling, a place very much like Huntsville. (Outside of the college ring) People only go there if they have someone “at the farm.” That’s definitely how it is at Huntsville too, so I could really see that happening. It made the story feel a bit more real. And that was welcoming, because I don’t always connect to a story in verse because it doesn’t have as much back story or depth as a regular story. It made me feel more connected to the story.
“Justice is a joke.“pg. 149
However, as usual I felt like I didn’t really connect with this story. I knew the emotion was there, but it’s hard for me to really CONNECT with characters in a book told in verse. It’s really a “it’s not you, it’s me,” type of thing. I’m sure others may have read this and cried their eyes out, but I read it and barely felt sorry for the guy. (But then again, he didn’t do a really great job at convincing me that he didn’t do it, jus that they didn’t have enough evidence to prove he did……) I don’t want to sound heartless, because I didget sad for him, but normally with a plot like this I would feel SOMETHING for the characters.
“Time’s measured in moments, man.“pg. 246
Novels in verse and me just don’t get along. Some I connect with, others not so much. This one is the perfect blend for me. If you love novels in verse and poetry, give this one a try!
Overall, I give this
Great review! I like novels-in-verse, but I don’t read enough of them. This one got my attention because of the death row setting. It sucks that you didn’t love it. Maybe I’ll have better luck with it.
Aj @ Read All The Things!