[Review] Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

From Jessi Kirby, a debut novel about confronting the past in order to move ahead. 
I read once that water is a symbol for emotions. And for a while now, I've thought maybe my mother drowned in both. 
Anna's life is upended when her father accepts a job transfer the summer before her junior year. It's bad enough that she has to leave her friends and her life behind, but her dad is moving them to the beach where her parents first met and fell in love- a place awash in memories that Anna would just as soon leave under the surface. 
While life on the beach is pretty great, with ocean views and one adorable lifeguard in particular, there are also family secrets that were buried along the shore years ago. And the ebb and flow of the ocean's tide means that nothing- not the sea glass that she collects on the sand and not the truths behind Anna's mother's death- stays buried forever.

Cover Commentary

Look at this cover.. What do you see? I see a pretty blonde girl and cute boy standing on the beach. The moon is out, everything is shiny and shimmering. I guess you can’t really see the back from this picture. Well, the back almost looks like scattered stars. What I didn’t see when I first picked up this book in the store, was the scattered shiny things on the sand. I didn’t notice that at all.. Until I started the book. Then I realized it must be sea glass. (more on that in the actual review). This is what makes me giddy about covers. When there are actual elements from the book in the cover.. oooh, I just love it. Too an outsider, it’s just a cover with sparkly shit on the sand, but to the reader, is show’s so much more. I adore everything about this cover, that is all.

Ahhh, Moonglass. I picked this up at a local discount store for $3.99. Let me tell you this is not the kind of book I usually pick up. I have never been into the books that are all about feeling and shit. I had seen Ginger from GReads mention this one on her blog, and I figured if she liked it.. It was worth a shot.. And for that price, I didn’t have much to lose.

Moonglass is a beautiful story about family, love, and loss. At a young age, Anna loses her mother.. This is the story of how her father and her cope. They pick up and move back to the town where her father met and fell in love with her mom. Not an easy thing to do when you have bottled up your feelings for a decade.

Anna learns more about her mother, her father and most of all herself. Sea glass plays a large part. Anna and her mother used to comb the beaches for it when she was young. I love the myths about where it comes from, and how it ties into the whole story.

Moving to a different place means new friends, and new boys. Ashley, she was a great comic relief. I found myself LoL’ing  at most everything that girl said. What a nut ball!  Jillian was a great supporting character as well. I think by just being there, she was a huge help to Anna on her journey, and Tyler. Whew. Have you ever been to the beach, and hoped to find the perfect lifeguard to sweep you off your feet? This guy was it. IT, and a bag of junk food. I say junk food because I’m craving it right now, almost as much as I was craving a little bit of Tyler. Seriously, dark hair, blue eyes, and a nice guy! Yes, not a brooding douche bag, but a genuine nice guy you can bring home to dad.

I really loved Moonglass. Much more than I expected too, which seems to be the going trend lately for me and Contemporary. I think my heart is trying to tell me something. I need to read more...! I think Jessi Kirby has a newer book coming out soon, I will be reading that one for sure.