Rating:
This
book came so close to being an all time favourite, which is weird
because a) I hate contemporaries with a passion and b) only a handful of books sit on my ATF shelf (actually, they're two). But I would have gladly handed a five star, gushing review, had it not been for the ending.
You see, this books is me. It has me written all over it, and it's the kind of book that a certain type of people will obsessivly relate to. Even though Lucy, the MC and I are so different, I could see part of myself in her that rarely any book can portray well.
Lucy is a dreamer. She falls in love with ideas, not people, and she'd escape any touch of reality in a heart beat. Only difference is that this book shows you that both dreams and reality can be sort of mixed together. The book starts out with Lucy looking after the artist by the name of Shadow, one who paints creative graffiti on walls. As any person with a mind like that of Lucy's, she made up an entire character and personality to go with this artist she'd never met. And just like in real life, that idea she has couldn't be more wrong.
Except this time, the author does it beautifully.
Enter: Edd. Gosh, I don't want to fangirl. I really won't, but let me just quote Lucy here (this is NOT a spoiler by the way. It's revealed in the second chapter):
An artist who paints things like that is someone I could fall. Really fall for
Back to the I-Hate-Contemporaries shenanigin. Let's see.. we've already established that I hate them. Then why did I pick up this book? Basically, I wanted to read this book as a sort of art practice. I'd promised myself I'd draw every graffiti piece mentioned, and naturally.. I ended up doing only one..
There's one of Shadow's pieces, a painting on a crumbling wall of a heart cracked by an 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-size forest in our chest.
With all it's beauty and fun and humor (emphasis on humor), I deducted a star because of the ending. It fell flat and anti climactic for me. In my opinion, it could have been done better. Still though, if you are a non-believer in contemporaries like myself, read this book. Worse case scenario: you'll find it a fun, joyous ride. Best case scenario: You'll fall in love with the words and the descriptions of art.
Final Words: Aussie authors are wizards in disguise. They're too good to be true.
Okay I clearly need to reread this book, because I read it quite a while ago, and gave it 2 stars....I can't even remember anything about it though...
Did you draw that heart yourself?! OMG that's so awesome!! I have to do some anatomy type work in my uni course, and whenever I'm drawing stuff on the board, they end up looking like blobs. Zero artistic talent haha.
I feel kinda kind of bad that I haven't heard of this before, especially if it restored your faith in contemporary! Definitely checking this one out, great review! :)
Aha! Now I can see why this book won so many awards. I'm not a fan of contemporary either, but I'm slowly starting to like the genre because there really are some brilliant ones out there (like THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE by Leila Sales), and I'm always on the lookout for more.
Lucy sounds interesting, though I still don't really get her character much. Me, I'm not much of a dreamer, but I fall in love with ideas as well. Like, I'd be watching a movie, and once the full plot is revealed in the climax or ending, I'd think to myself, "Wow. That's one hell of an idea. I wish I could've written that." And, as a reader, I'd want to escape reality in a heartbeat as well! So I guess I'd be able to relate to her in that way. I also like how different she seems from other girls. "She falls in love with ideas, not people" -- Ooh. Such a refreshing change from the girls who fall in love with any bad boy they meet. Pfft!
And ahhhh!!! REEM. HOW MANY SECRET TALENTS DO YOU ACTUALLY HAVE?! First writing, and now drawing?! Gurrrlll, I want your skills so badly! Ahem. I really liked that drawing of yours. Maybe my comment will convince you to draw more of the graffiti featured in the book? :D
I wasn't planning on reading this at all, partly because the title didn't make sense, and -- this is going to sound weird and horrible at the same time -- I have this strange thinking that books with awards are more often than not BORING. Yep. Can you believe that? So thanks for this lovely review! I'm still not sure if I'll check it out, but rest assured that it's going on my to-read list now. :)
Wow! I can never totally forget what a book is about, no matter how hard I try :P but you're lucky though, that why you can reread books :D And yeah, I did using a refrence photo. Drawing anatomy is not my favourite thing in the world, to be honest. It's.. messy. But thank you nonetheless <3
Yaay! I really hope you like it. Be sure to let me know if you ever get to reading it, Shelly!
Yup, I was really curios about that too! I mean, it's a short book, and it looked really.. teeny and you know, shallow. Gladly, I was wrong.
And I REALLLYY need to check out TSWSYL. Many bloggers have been raving about it on Twitter last week (was that you? :p).
Her character is really confusing. I mean, she's part dreamer, part fiesty, and an idealist. I didn't really like her at first, until I realized we were too much alike.. and things got awkward :p And yes! I do the same thing! I can't even begin to list the books I'd wish I had written :p
Hahaha!! Here's another: I'M BATMAN!
Seriously, though, thank you <33 I'd promised myself I'll do drawings inspired by books every week or so, because my Drawings page has been really lonely for a while (The Book Thied might be next!).
The title still doesn't make sense, lol :p I mean, I understand the graffiti part, the moon... not so much. And yes! I agree with you. Whenever I see a book with too many awards, I'm like... this is gona be all artsy and boring and pretentious. Sometimes that is true (Seraphina was kinda dull for me), but this book is really interesting. I mean, like I said, it's pretty short, and there's a lot of banter and humor in it.
Don´t judge book by the cover - old and truthful advice that I obviously ignored. Luckily I was curios and after adjudging this book when I first saw it I read your rewiev and fall in love! ;)
Yaay! I hope you get around to reading it Viktoria!
I will definetly read it - the question is when. I had so little time lately and my to-read self is stuffed =D but I already have it so it is really just a matter of time =).
Be sure to leave me a link to your review if you ever get to it :D
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/745969194 here it is - and to explain myself, I normaly gave 5 stars or none at all but just few books are The Top