Saturday, July 14, 2012

Night of the Purple Moon by Scott Cramer

Space germs wipe out virtually everyone who has passed through puberty.

Abby Leigh is looking forward to watching the moon turn purple. For months, astronomers have been predicting that Earth will pass through the tail of a comet. They say that people will see colorful sunsets and, best of all, a purple moon.

But nobody has predicted the lightning-fast epidemic that sweeps across the planet on the night of the purple moon. The comet brings space dust with it that contains germs that attack human hormones. Older teens and adults die within hours of exposure.

On a small island off the coast of Maine, Abby must help her brother and baby sister survive in this new world, but all the while she has a ticking time bomb inside of her -- adolescence.


This is definitely the type of book that I enjoy reading. It has a post-apocalyptic setting that is wholly unique and completely frightening.

Something that really caught my attention from the beginning was the stark writing style the author has. It goes straight to the point, giving the story a good sense of urgency that really helps to set the right mood. This doesn’t mean that the story is lacking in imagination in any way. On the contrary, the plot is fun and different enough to stand out from the many, many dystopian books out there at the moment.

The characters are as complicate as you’d expect a bunch of teenagers to be when they’re thrown together to try to figure something out. Conflicts arise, personalities clash, and all written in a convincing manner with well-written dialogue. Surprisingly, this is one of the things that get a lot of young adult writers in trouble. The dialogue. Sometimes it seems forced, as if the author is trying too hard to be “cool”. It’s not the case in this book. The language the characters use feels appropriate for their age and situation.

I do recommend this one to all lovers of dystopian fiction and even to all of you who are just looking for something different to read.




No comments: