5 Reasons to Read: Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew ⋆ Wonderfully Bookish

After school one day, Frankie, a lover of physics and astronomy, has her first sexual experience with quiet and gorgeous Benjamin—and gets her period. It’s only blood, they agree. But soon a gruesome meme goes viral, turning an intimate, affectionate afternoon into something sordid, mortifying, and damaging.

In the time it takes to swipe a screen, Frankie’s universe implodes. Who can she trust? Not Harriet, her suddenly cruel best friend, and certainly not Benjamin, the only one who knows about the incident. As the online shaming takes on a horrifying life of its own, Frankie begins to wonder: is her real life over?

Author Lucy Cuthew vividly portrays what it is to be a teen today with this fearless and ultimately uplifting novel in verse. Brimming with emotion, the story captures the intensity of friendships, first love, and female desire, while unflinchingly exploring the culture of online and menstrual shaming. Sure to be a conversation starter, Blood Moon is the unforgettable portrait of one girl’s fight to reclaim her reputation and to stand up against a culture that says periods are dirty.

Title: Blood Moon
Author: Lucy Cuthew
Publisher: Walker Books
Date Published: July 2, 2019
Genre: YA Contemporary, Poetry

Date Read: April 23, 2020
Format: eBook (early copy provided by the publisher)

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5 Reasons to Read Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew

I read this whole book in about 2 hours because I couldn’t stop reading. I loved it!! Not only is it a verse novel (which I love), a book full of great friendships and women empowering each other (which I also love), but the main character is also into physics and astronomy. Whaaat?! (If you look at my blog, you’ll tell I’m into astronomy too.)

I thought for this review, I’ll share 5 reasons why you have to read Blood Moon…

1. It’s a verse novel (I love a good verse novel)

I honestly think everyone needs to try reading at least one novel written in verse. I have a whole post about it here with a whole load of recommendations. But if you’re not sure where to start, start with Blood Moon! It’s a powerful, positive story that grips you and you soon forget you’re even reading a novel in verse.

2. It breaks the stigma surrounding periods

Unfortunately, periods are still something that are embarrassing to talk about, despite the fact that literally half of the world’s population have them. People who have periods deal with them every single month for the majority of their teenage and adult life. So why are they still embarrassing to talk about?

In school, teenagers don’t talk about them (even though we’re all having them) for fear of boys being mean or thinking they’re disgusting. People have to smuggle period products in their bag so people don’t see them, and god forbid one falls out. There are often even complaints at adverts on TV that show tampons or talk about how they work.

It’s ridiculous—but books like this are changing that.

If teenagers (or adults!) read this, I hope they’ll learn they’re not shameful. They shouldn’t be embarrassing. They’re a natural thing that we’re all going through, and not talking about them potentially makes them harder to deal with, especially if you’re a younger teenager who hasn’t had a ton of experience with them yet.

3. It features great friendships & wonderful parents

This is one of my favourite things!! I love, love, love YA books that have great friendships that stay strong through anything. I’ve always been someone who doesn’t have a ginormous group of friends, but the friends that I do have are very special to me and I love them a lot. (Quality over quantity, right?!) So when I see truly encouraging and supportive friends in books, it makes me very happy.

The same goes for great parents. I’ve always been lucky to grow up with the best family – whether that’s family by blood, or by marriage. (Not my marriage, lol. I’m not married. I mean step-parents.) There are so many books, especially YA books, that have broken family relationships or parents who aren’t around anymore.

And while that’s great for representation and it’s good that people might be able to see themselves or their own families reflected, I love reading about close families with supportive parents. The main character’s parents in Blood Moon are just that: incredibly supportive, and they try their best to understand the situation their daughter is in, even if they’re not immediately happy with the situation.

4. It shows the importance of girls supporting girls & owning your embarrassing moments

Related to my previous point (great friendships), this one is specific to female friendships. Girls supporting girls is my JAM. I love to see girls coming together to lift each other up, and this book is all about that. Without giving any spoilers, there’s a perfect moment where all the girls come together to support a mutual cause: ending period shame. They show that if you own your embarrassing moments by openly admitting them and talking about them, no one needs to be ashamed. It’s so liberating!

5. It does a great job at exploring the effects of going viral in today’s internet-crazy world

Not many of us know what it’s like to go viral, especially not in a negative light. In Blood Moon, Frankie faces a whole barrage of abuse and cyber-bullying for an incident that went down regarding her period. What follows is a whole series of events that make Frankie have to face a big dip in her mental health, and she needs to deal with what’s happening despite wanting to hide in a hole forever.

It really shows how tuned in to the internet everyone is today, especially teenagers in high school, and how one slip-up can make everything come tumbling down. It’s terrifying—but the Blood Moon also shows how Frankie rises above it by having a supportive network of awesome women around her.

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