Book Review | Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Title: Moonglass

Author: Jessi Kirby

Pages: 232

Format: Paperback

Goodreads Rating: 3.81

My Rating: 8/10

Synposis

I read once that water is a symbol for emotions. And for a while now, I've thought maybe my mother drowned in both.

Anna's life is upended when her father accepts a job transfer the summer before her junior year. It's bad enough that she has to leave her friends and her life behind, but her dad is moving them to the beach where her parents first met and fell in love--a place awash in memories that Anna would just as soon leave under the surface.

While life on the beach is pretty great, with ocean views and one adorable lifeguard in particular, there are also family secrets that were buried along the shore years ago. And the ebb and flow of the ocean's tide means that nothing--not the sea glass that she collects on the sand and not the truths behind Anna's mother's death--stays buried forever.

Review

This book is a great blend of happy and sad moments. It's a story about a father/daughter relationship, about fitting into a new place and making new friends, about falling in love, and about coming to terms with losing someone you love.

For me Moonglass had all the emotions and charms of a Sarah Dessen novel, which I am a huge fan of, but in no way did it appear as a copy of Dessen's style. In this book Jessi Kirby develops a very real, very emotional voice for her main character, one which pulled me in from start to finish.

There were moments when I was on the brink of tears, because the emotion was written into the pages so well.

I loved all of the characters, and the storyline was perfectly paced to keep me wanting to turn the pages and dive right into this story.

It's a quick read, with an emotional heart to it that really got me.

The one downside that made it lose marks for me, was simply that on a few occasions I felt like things were left out, that really ought to of been in. For instance, the character of Joy was introduced, but after the initial meeting, and then a small interaction later, there was nothing further, and I felt like maybe she should have played a bigger role, or been left out entirely. That's just a small thing though, and on a whole this book was fantastic. I highly recommend it.

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