Beautiful and heartbreaking, all at the same time.It forces you to think about and question the justice system, which is rife with injustice.

this was so....sad. i feel like someone has punched me in the heart and drained all my energy. these kind of books really make you think, man. time to go cry, bye.

All of the characters in this felt so strong and unique, even though you were only reading about them in around 150 word bursts! The plot really worked with the verse form, and the shift between past and present events was well managed.

Reporters don’t give a damn about our family.We’re not a story. We’re dirt.Although,I guess that’s a lot easier than having to admitthat by killing our brotherthey’re just pummeling more people. Sarah Crossan has done it again. Moonrise is a heartbreaking YA novel written in verse dealing with a very serious issue - the death penalty. Focusing on the family of the guy on death row, we're enlightened to the impact of capital punishment on those who weren't sentenced. The issues of poverty, p

Stunning book. I didn’t expect to get so invested in it to be honest, it’s not my usual kind of read. But I couldn’t put it down. Super short chapters give a sense of urgency to the story and it really draws you in. Just beautiful.Moonrise was one of the December book club choices in Rick O’Shea’s Book Club over on Facebook, so naturally I was curious enough to download this from my local library and see what it was like. I wasn’t expecting it to be so good!As the blurb says, Joe hasn’t seen his...

Actual rating 4.5/5 stars.A coherent review is impossible to write through the tears in my eyes everytime I think about this book!Through one individual's experience, the reader is invited to judge and to process the American legal system and how it still allows individuals to die, under the name of the law. The book does not advocate for or against death row, but it does allow the reader to evaluate the implications of such a system and how the death of one individual, and advocating for death

Review to come. This was my first novel in verse, but after a while I stopped noticing. I also spent probably the last 25% of the novel crying, so, you know, bring tissues.

Sarah Crossan doesn't shy away from tough subject matter and that is certainly the case with Moonrise. Joe Moon is dealing with the fact that he has only a few short weeks left with his brother, Ed. Ed is on death row for a crime he did not commit. I'm struggling to decide how I feel about this book. Like most of Crossan's work that I have read, I thought she had an interesting subject matter. However, I really struggled to connect with the characters in this one. And while this book is written

Edward Moon was coerced to sign a confession of homicide at seventeen years of age, legally binding and convicting the innocent young man. Moonrise is a poignant and provoking narrative of seventeen year old Joseph Moon and his brother who is scheduled to be executed in Kirkland Texas.As children, Edward, Angela and Joseph were often neglected, their mother a verbally abusive alcoholic. Parental responsibilities are entrusted to Karen, their mother's single, Christian sister. At seventeen years

Moonrise is quite simply a heartbreaking read. I have only ever read Crossan's ya dystopian books (Breathe and Resist) which I really enjoyed and hoped this would be another winner. It was.Moonrise follows Joe Moon who travels to Texas from New York to see his older brother, Ed, who is on Death Row. This book is written entirely in verse which makes the story punchier and hard-hitting, and works really well with the subject matter discussed. Honestly, this book made me feel an array of emotions

'They think I hurt someone.But I didn't. You hear?Coz people are gonna be telling youall kinds of lies.I need you to know the truth.' Oh my god. Sarah Crossan has hit it out of the ballpark yet again with this beautiful story of Joe Moon who travels to Texas from New York to see his older brother, Ed, who is on Death Row. But it's also a book about love in all its forms, and about life and injustice and hope in hopeless situations.I don't know how she does it, because I am agressively opposed to...

this is a story that will make you think, thats for sure. as an american living abroad, ive heard all sorts of opinions about the US legal system. i dont disagree that it needs fixing, and this story is one of the many examples why, specifically regarding the death penalty. while the subject matter is mentally and emotionally evocative, i think the brevity and wistfulness of the writing doesnt do the heaviness and seriousness of the content enough justice. i feel like a different writing style w...

This was a very emotional read! I have to say, Sarah Crossan is killing it with these kinds of books. She manages to capture so many emotions while saying so little, it's so impressive. Sometimes it's nice to read a book where the majority of descriptions are left out and what's on paper is just the core of the story. I would 100% recommend this because it's wonderful, powerful and beautiful. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"it was all about how things looked from the outside; what other people tho...

There aren't many positives to 2020 but the fact that i discovered Sarah Crossan's novels is definitely one of them. Moonrise is perhaps my favourite so far, written in verse this tells the story of a young boy grappling with the fact that his brother is on death row and the execution date has now been set.

Read this as part of the local library's YA Book Club!Reading this verse novel came quite naturally to me, as I write in verse form myself. The emotional story of two brothers: One who is on death row, the other struggling with a different family upbringing and coming to terms with serious life changes. With tough subject matter, I was feeling a little nervous before I started reading. By the 50% mark, the nerves had gone. Sarah writes really well and creates a good range of characters for the r...

3.5 starsThis book was very very sad. I think it was the whole point of the story, having this sadness looming over the characters because the date was getting nearer and there was nothing they could do to stop it. This novel made me think a lot about the prison system in the USA which is something I don't know a lot about.I would recommend going into this book without reading the plot beforehand in order to appreciate it more.

Review can also be found on my blog .Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this early.​This was so sad. I cried. I wasn't expecting to, but I just had to.Ugh, even though it was short and told in verse, it was so powerful. Sometimes authors make the mistake of going way over-the-top with their writing, and it just comes across as fake and forced and forgettable. This one proved that sometimes simple words hold more power than purple prose. You could feel the emotio...

I finished this title yesterday morning and cried into my coffee for about fifteen minutes. The author is a fabulous storyteller, plain and simple. It's written in verse form, but I had no problem with it. In fact it was a quick smooth read. It touched on many current socio-economic and sociopolitical issues. I liked it because the "race" of the MC wasn't apparent for a good portion of the book. It shows the reader that the poor aren't inherently lazy and/or unintelligent, and how the negative p...

"we aren't the worst things we didor the worst things that happened to us. We're other stuff too.Like.. the times we made cereal or watched Buffy the vampire slayeror helped an old lady off a bus. We're the good, the bad, and the stupid."I missed Sarah Crossan writing so much. This is a story about unfairness and life. About how much is fucked up the system.This book actually made me think about my idea of death penalty. "Moonrise" is a realistic story of life and death. It is a book that it wil...

This is a sad YA novel about a teenage boy who travels to Texas to hope against all hope that his older brother won't be executed for a crime he did not commit. I liked it, it was a quick read, but nothing special. Meaning, it was good for a YA novel. I would probably rate it 4 instead of 3 stars for the appropriate age group. I read the German translation of it, and I really can't recommend that one. One whole chapter is only one sentence that, I suspect, read "He is gone" in English. That's, u...