Night of the Purple Moon (The Toucan Trilogy (Young Adult Dystopian)) [Kindle Edition]

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.

Night of the Purple Moon is a post-apocalyptic young adult début from Scott Cramer that forces you to question how you would cope if your parents are taken from you, in a world where each step into adolescence brings you closer to the disease that will cause your death. As families gather to watch the unusual purple moon created as earth passes through the tail of the comet Rudenko-Kasparov, an event that will tinge the skies in beautiful shades for weeks, they are blissfully unaware of the lethal space dust emitted, fatal to all but those who have yet to go through puberty. Now 13-year-old Abby, her younger brother Jordan and baby sister Toucan are all alone in a world of children, defenceless on Castine Island and desperate for a cure so that Abby won't suffer the same fate as their parents.

In an already crowded genre of teen fiction, it is difficult to create a unique post-apocalyptic premise. Night of the Purple Moon is intriguing as it blends pure science-fiction (diseases from outer space) with teen drama and effectively manipulates the reader's emotions so that we want to protect these children from the same fatal end as their parents. There are a few inconsistencies in the book that require a reader to suspend reality, such as why would adults die instantly from the dust, yet the elderly and newly adolescent suffer a slower demise? Likewise, the alacrity with which the children pick up skills like driving and social structure can seem a bit far fetched. Later on in the novel we are introduced to children who have been struggling to survive on the mainland and they provide an poignant, anarchistic contrast to the experiences of our protagonists, which I thought was a nice touch as it gave the reader some insight as to the scale of the epidemic....

Although the majority of characters featured aren't much older than thirteen, I would say that Night of the Purple Moon is written with an older audience in mind and contains some scenes that would perhaps be unsettling for younger readers; 13-15 year olds will keenly remember or be experiencing the turmoil of puberty and Scott Cramer's book will resonate strongly for them.

Well paced and gripping, I enjoyed reading and think that Night of the Purple Moon would be a good choice for fans of Michael Grant's Gone series or anyone looking for another dystopic fix after The Hunger Games. Read more ›

I liked this book a lot. The concept was interesting (see other reviews) and the writing engaging and easy to read. A good combination of lightness and darkness - with enough exciting moments to keep you turning over to read the next page. I finished it in two sittings - on the beach, which was a perfect place to read it. In fact I would have liked it to been a bit longer - so I could have heard more about the group that was left behind when Abby went in search of the vaccine. Great read for most ages, but particularly for 11-15 year olds.

Everyone has been excitedly looking forward to the arrival of the comet that will bathe the Earth in its tail of purple space dust. None more so than Jordan and Abby who stay up with their father to watch the moon turn purple.

Fast forward twenty four hours and it's a very different world. The space dust has brought with it a terrible virus which kills adults and older teens almost immediately.

Bereft of adults but relatively secure in their Maine island seclusion, the surviving local kids more or less form a community.

With the threat of puberty bringing death, a cure can't come quick enough for the older teenagers.

When they are forced to strikeout to the mainland their already dark existence, becomes much, much darker.

This is, quite simply, one of the best books I've read all year and is a fine example of post-apocalyptic fiction, suitable for the YA market. Perhaps a little too much for children younger than eleven or twelve.

Absolutely recommended. I'm looking forward to more from this author.