There are times when I read a book without knowing much about it and having little to no expectations, then I get caught by surprise. I’m so glad to say Blood Moon is one of those times! I was intrigued by this book, but I didn’t know exactly what to expect from it, especially because it’s a debut novel. However, this YA feminist novel in verse was able to knock me off my feet and wow me with its simplicity and its powerful take on the sexualisation of women and going viral.
Blood Moon’s plot follows Frankie as her relationship with Benjamin sparks. Though we see her enjoy the beauty and excitement of her first relationship, her first time with Benjamin ends up bloody. She gets her period while they are being intimate and what follows then is a flurry of events that leaves Frankie harassed and ridiculed, her friendships hanging by a thread, and her feeling like nothing in the world will ever go right.
I like Frankie enough; her voice, her character, and her development and how she resolved the matter in the end (though it was definitely not an easy one). However, this doesn’t mean that she’s the perfect main character. She was quick to judge her friend and she let that judgement take over their friendship, as well as her friendship with other girls.
When it comes to the writing style, I’m conflicted. Blood Moon is a novel in verse, which is made up of poems and verses and this excited me in the first place since I have a fondness for poems. While I believe the author did a good job, I still feel like it lacked somewhat. It wasn’t altogether gripping as I had hoped it would be. On one hand, there are a couple of beautiful lines and entries that just took my breath away and resonated with me. There are times when I could feel Frankie’s thoughts and emotions as if they were my own and I loved that! On the other hand though, there are also times when the whole thing felt off, like the dialogue and sentences were roughly chopped up and as a result, it’s not invoking any thought or emotion whatsoever. For me, these ruined the harmony in the book and stunted my enjoyment as a reader.
Despite this, I commend the main message Blood Moon was trying to send to the readers. With these poems and with Frankie’s journey, the author was able to show the nuances of being a girl, of being a woman. From being objectified sexually due to something so simple as period, from being targeted more than the guy in a scandal, from being ridiculed and discriminated against for going viral due to all the wrong reasons－it’s all here. I especially liked the fact that the author chose to focus on menstruation and emphasised how it’s such a taboo even to this day (and how it really shouldn’t be). Of course, this also showed the ugly side of the online community－how quick it is for people to go viral these days and how quick people judge others without knowing them or their stories. I loved all these things and the author did such a good job highlighting and tackling these issues!
My favourite thing about this book as a whole is that, though it seemed simple (writing style-wise and plot-wise), it’s so powerful. It’s powerful because the issues tackled in this book are happening in real life and are being experienced by girls and women around the globe. It’s harmful and unnecessary, but just like Frankie, we must learn how to squash these kinds of thinking and stand up to the prejudice all around us.
Overall, Blood Moon is a great feminist YA novel perfect for young women and men alike. It’s relatable, memorable, and absolutely significant.
Blood Moon is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of July 2nd 2020. The US version releases on September 1st 2020.
Will you be picking up Blood Moon? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
A timely feminist YA novel in verse about periods, sex, shame and going viral for all the wrong reasons.
BLOOD MOON is a YA novel about the viral shaming of a teenage girl. During her seminal sexual experience with the quiet and lovely Benjamin, physics-lover and astronomy fan Frankie gets her period – but the next day a gruesome meme goes viral, turning an innocent, intimate afternoon into something sordid, mortifying and damaging.
