Review: Moonrise by Sarah Crossan

They think I hurt someone. 
But I didn't. You hear?
Cos people are gonna be telling you
all kinds of lies.
I need you to know the truth.

Joe hasn't seen his brother for ten years, and it's for the most brutal of reasons. Ed is on death row.

But now Ed's execution date has been set, and this might be the last summer they have together

Review: I read this book both on eBook and on audio book but I would still really love to read the hardback because I imagine it is beautiful. The reason I imagine this is because Sarah Crossan's writing is beautiful. She can take serious issues, such as those explored in this book and write about them so beautifully, you almost forget the issues that the characters are going through!

This book, like Sarah's last, is written in verse so each chapter and therefore each page is quite short. The audio book that I listened to was just under 4 hours long and yet the book has 400 pages, this gives you an idea of how the layout effects the length and the flow of the book. Some chapters have only a few words and some pages the same. This means that, yes it is quick to read, but also it means that you have time to take everything in and explore the enormity of what Joe is facing. 

Now the subject matter of this book isn't easy and so you really do need to think about whether a book a about a boy who is facing the fact that his brother has been sentenced to death is your cup of tea or not. But if you are in any way on the fence then let me try and help you by stating that never is the issue forced upon you, this doesn't feel like and issues led book, and also the structure of the writing turns something completely terrible into something you can see as beautiful and in fact life affirming. 

There were some points in this book where it felt fairly slow paced and I may have skimmed a few of the chapters but overall I enjoyed getting to know Joe. I wanted to rescue him and his family and somehow change their situation but alas, I can't jump into the book with them! As I say, consider the subject matter before picking this book up but let me reassure you that this is truly a beautiful read. 

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