Review: Night of the Purple Moon by Scott Cramer

Genre: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic
Format: eBook
Published March 25, 2012 by Train Renoir Publishing
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Find the book: Goodreads // Amazon
Rating: 4/5 Stars

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. - Summary from Goodreads

My Review

This book is one of those crazy 'what if' moments I knew I just had to read. What if virtually all adults in the world died overnight? What would humanity look like then? Night of the Purple Moon will answer all of these post-apocalyptic curiosities in an extremely haunting and realistic way. Be prepared to not be able to look away from the world Scott Cramer has created.

The characters are the very heart of this book, as the story is very character driven. At the ages of 13 and 12, the main characters Abby and Jordan along with their baby sister are suddenly forced into this mature role of caring for younger children on the island and finding efficient means of survival. You can plainly still read their innocence, but with each passing chapter you watch them grow up and the reader becomes genuinely invested in the success of the children. That's definitely my favorite part of this book.

Some readers may have trouble with the graphicness of this story. While the characters aren't exposed to much violence, they very often discover the aftermath of the new world. If you are vehemently against dead bodies, you may want to skip this one. It was a bit off-putting at first, but I'm glad I read something out of the norm for me in that sense. It's just plain realistic that those sort of things happen in a post-apocalyptic sort of situation.

The gruesome aspects of this book, partnered with its shorter length really create a great story. The writing style and plot get straight to the point. Not everything needs to be a 500 page novel. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys this genre. It may only take you a day or two to read, but it will stay with you much longer than that once you've put it down.

Enter a *GIVEAWAY* to win one of five copies of Night of the Purple Moon and read my interview with Scott Cramer!