Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew

This was gifted to me for an honest review from Walker Books via Netgalley

This is one of those books that you won't ever forget reading!

This book is an important read. It is the type of book that should be read by every teenager. It looks at how females are ridiculed and made to feel dirty about having periods.

Written in verse, the author tells the story of Frankie, a teenage girl, obsessed by astronomy and not as into boys as her friends are. Until she meets Benjamin. After her first sexual experience with him, her life turns upside down when a meme about her goes viral.

The book is told in verse in a similar style to Sarah Crossan and I really think the author has done an amazing job of establishing herself in this niche market. Every word matters. Many are hard hitting and many make you feel really uncomfortable as the situation escalates and Frankie feels like there is on no where to turn. In an era where online bullying is so rampant, this is a book that should be taught in school.  

When I think about what I came away with from this book, there are a few things. 

1) Don't believe everything you read online. You can never know the full story from one person's point of view, especially if that person is talking about it secondhand. Unless you see it for yourself, don't alway believe it and certainly don't gossip about it. 

2)  It is just blood, folks, nothing else. Blood that can create a new life. Every woman has periods, so why so much disgust and hate about them among teenagers.  Get over it!

3) Nothing has changed since I was at school. The obsession with sex which seems to start as young as eleven, if not before in some cases, is still going strong. It often feels like there is a competition on who can have sex first and anyone left behind will have to wear a bell to warn all they come in contact with. 

If I could, I would buy hundreds of copies of this book and stand outside school, giving them out to both boys and girls. We all have done stuff we are ashamed about, but that doesn't give anyone else the right to spread rumours about it. 

As you can guess, I absolutely loved this book and I really hope it goes on to win many awards. Mainly because then I will know that it is getting into the right hands of the kids who have to deal with this kind of abuse in real life and hopefully they will come away with the realisation that there is no shame in these matters.