Harvest Moon's First OFFICIAL Review Is In!!

Bookishtrish rated a book 4 of 5 stars Harvest Moon by Megan McCooey (Goodreads Author) read in April, 2013

Are you the strong, silent type? If so, I guarantee that you will identify with Lexie. She has to cope with some major tragedies in her life and her way of dealing with issues is to pretend they don’t exist.  Initially I wasn’t sure if I would like this book as it took a while to warm up. The first few chapters felt heavy on melodrama and low on engaging me as I felt inundated with facts and back-story. And there were a few typos that I found distracting and always take a bit from the book for me.  But then slowly and very surely, I started to feel for Lexie. What she has to cope with is far beyond what any teenager should ever have to deal with and her denial and secrecy started to ring bells with me. I always think you bring your own personal life and your own experiences in to a book with you. And I have to admit, I’m very like Lexie. No matter how close friends are, I find it difficult/impossible to really share hard, emotional times while I’m going through them. So what could frustrate other people about Lexie, I get. I have been there not letting people in and I’m an ostrich too with my head and neck well and truly buried in the sand when I feel unable to cope with something. Thankfully I have never had to deal with any of the issues Lexie is going through but I know how I would react so I can believe her actions or lack of them. Lexie has 3 best friends and again I believed in all of them. In fact, it was when I saw Lexie around her friends and Ben that I really warmed to the book. And once, I warmed up, I really enjoyed it and it was quickly bumped up to a 4 star rating for me. I loved her relationship with Ben and their first kiss was hotter than hot. There were two suspenseful scenes near the end of the book, that had me chewing my nails, sitting on the edge of my seat, half afraid to read on as I was so scared of what might happen. And the end of the book was really well done, not a cliffhanger but it leaves you wanting more. I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series to see what happens next. Highly recommended if you are looking for a contemporary YA/NA book with authentic characters in very challenging circumstances. Thanks to the author for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.