Blue Graffiti by Calahan Skogman

Blue Graffiti Reviews

• 
  Sophie

  This literary fiction debut by Calahan Skogman is a beautifully poetic and touching tribute to small towns full of both mundane and extraordinary things. With so many deep elements discussed, expect to embark on a journey exploring love, loss, hate, pain, hope, nostalgia, forgiveness, friendship, faith, self-discovery… and shrooms! It tugs at your heartstrings and pulls them back together, it has you coming away from it appreciating life and loving the colour blue. The style was not fully for me but everyone needs to read this – at least, once.
  

  I thought about our lives, and the graffiti of our town. We each left our mark. We are cracks in sidewalks, bent street signs, rusted gutters and train tracks. We are nails in wooden boards, handprints in cement. We are creaks in the doors of diners, stains from cigarettes. We are streaks of graffiti, blue as the sky.

  
  [ Contains some spoilers]
  
  PLOT SUMMARY
  Cash describes himself as “drinking and careening through time” – that sums up most of the book, to be honest. If you want a very short plot summary, that’s it haha! But here is my longer one:
  
  29-year-old Cash has resided in Johnston, Wisconsin all his life working as a painter and construction worker, doing odd jobs really. He is usually found in Jimmy’s Place, the local pub, with his best friends Prince (a very philosophical and rich man) and Leon (a very caring genius of a man, and construction worker).
  
  Cash often considers spreading his wings and leaving the place but feels there is always something about his hometown he is tethered to. His mother died 5 years ago, and his father abandoned him at the same time (from the way he sees it, his father might as well be dead). He and his mates also wonder about buying Jimmy’s Place from Jimmy’s son, Saul.
  
  Most of the time it’s same old, man, same old. That is, until one day a woman shows up at the bar. Rose. A name as gorgeous as she is. Saul’s sister. All at once, Cash is drawn to her. And nothing is ever the same again. Through the combination of flashbacks and present-day events, Cash tells the story of his life these past few decades.
  
  This is told from the first-person present-tense POV of Cash, with various moments in past-tense as he reminisces old times.
  
  OVERALL OPINIONS
  ㅤ literary fiction vs the fiction genre
  When I first read the blurb, I didn’t initially know this was a literary fiction story. By chapter 2, I thought to myself that this story, and the manner of writing is the sort of thing my English teacher would have picked for us to read in high school (probably omitting its swear words) – and that is when I realised why: because they often pick literary fiction.
  
  Rose is Saul’s sister so I honestly wondered for a moment if we were going to have one of those keep-away-from-my-sis forbidden romance things – but we get none of that. Why? Because this is a trope and you do not get tropes here. So, if you are here to read a contemporary romance or rom-com, you have taken a wrong turn. While there is romance between Cash and Rose, unfortunately, this is secondary to the story’s overall concept.
  
  I have read a few literary fiction stories and their style is often very different from a fictional one.
  Literary Fiction: is character-driven, uncategorised (no genres), realistic, does not contain tropes
  Fiction Genre: is plot-driven, categorised sub-genres, may have some realistic elements, and contains tropes
  Both can have messages and deep aspects to them, and use similar elements of fiction (characters, plot, themes, points of view).
  
  Here, this story does feel very realistic. Cash is an ordinary man, we all know someone like him, he could be a friend or family in real life. There are things he goes through that I think a lot of us can relate to. The conversations do not constantly have “he says” or “she says” or “I say” which flows more like how a discussion in real life would go.
  
  ㅤ Skogman & his style
  Now the book’s style has been covered, I would like to focus now on the author and his style.
  
  I loved Calahan Skogman in the Shadow & Bone show as Matthias, his acting was phenomenal so I was very excited to be reading his debut novel! And wow, what an incredible journey this was. This story really helps you get to know the man behind it all. You can tell Skogman has scattered parts of himself into Cash (from his age to him saying “man” to enjoying walking out in nature to his own Christian beliefs).
  
  Wisconsin is Calahan’s own hometown, so it is no wonder this is where his story is set as it has an impact on him.
  In an interview with Sam Cohen for UpNorthNews, a digital news source based in Wisconsin, he says [on the matter of the town]:
  

  I spent so much of my life observing and noticing what made everybody different, and beautiful, and the nuances of what would appear to be a not-so-complicated life are actually incredibly complicated and incredibly deep. It was a place where I could foster a lot of the things I hold dear to me now as far as ideals of love and loyalty and faith, and honor and hard work and honesty, and showing up for one another and family, and the things that keep me rooted to the ground when life wants to smash me up and throw me in different directions. I’m profoundly thankful I grew up there because it’s a very nice center. My life has changed so much since those years that it’s been something I can always return to and I can always resonate with.

  About a third of the story was written in Wisconsin and most of the rest in Vancouver during COVID-19, a time where people both had to be and felt isolated. This is conveyed through hearing Cash’s thoughts as he reflects on there being times where he felt “dramatically alone…for weeks I could pretend as if the world had abandoned me and it would continue to do so from there on out”. Ah, all the highs and lows in life are covered so well!
  
  Skogman has previously published poetry and there is so much of his skill and magnificence with words apparent in this work here. Why, even on the first page from this description alone, I could tell this was going to be very poetic and expressive: “She turns her glass slowly, like the universe in orbit”. Another lovely moment I like is when Cash is setting off from town in September and “The leaves on trees are beginning to die in their wondrous display of color. Ready to bid me farewell” – it is September, autumn, and the leaves leaving the tree as he is literally leaving is so poetically fitting!
  
  Indeed, for the majority of the story, it is not about what Skogman says but how he says it. The words are used to illustrate points and set scenes effectively. I will give some examples. Straight off the bat you really get the small-town vibe and tight-knit community, of everyone knowing everyone else, solely from the omission of surnames. First-name terms mean more proximity, being made to feel like you as a reader actually know them. Another very interesting and clever thing is the way Cash refers to his parents, “Ma” (close, endearing) as opposed to “my father” (distant, formal).
  
  And let’s not forget the colour blue. It is everywhere in this story – mentioned a whopping 71 times! Most prominently, Cash’s eyes are blue interestingly like his father, there are mentions of blue jeans, tears, skin, socks, cushions (this is significant as it is at the hospital as he waits for the news of his mother), flowers (this one in particular is interesting because there is a list of colours and blue is at the start showing its priority). There are many ways in which the colour can be interpreted: it can mean loyalty, confidence, freedom, creativity, depth and depression. Here, Cash believes it is “the color of hope in the heart”.
  
  Overall, this was a breathtaking read and I really enjoyed it. I would rate this 4.5 stars if I could! Unfortunately, it was missing some emotional depth from side characters and some of the conversations felt repetitive and boring. This made the story lose some of its charm. A debut novel is not easy to do, however, and I heartily commend Skogman for his efforts.
  
  My favourite moment is when Cash and Rose write their names in the sky. It is so romantic:
  

  She points her finger about an inch from the moon and traces my name in the sky. She whispers to herself as she does it, “Cash.” And I’ve never been so moved in my life. With her hand silhouetted by thousands of stars, I join her in that painting, and I write her name as she did mine. “Rose,” I say softly. She touches my finger with hers, for only a moment, and smiles. “Now, we live forever.” And I believe her.

  
  << Positives >>
  🠚The cover is symbolic, having a cream wall and blue paint. Cash is a painter and blue is a prominent colour throughout the book, but also it almost looks like the ocean/sea, and Cash mentions this a lot too when he feels uncertain or distant: “I knew my mind was out to sea again, wandering somewhere foreign, perhaps never to return.”
  🠚I love the rose as a sort of frontispiece at the start of the book. A literal rose to symbolise Cash’s Rose, her impact on his life. The opening sentence for chapter 1 starts with her “You see it, or you don’t, and from the back of the bar, I see her drinking alone”, so you know she is important, and also indicates he is observant. There is also a quote elsewhere “Rose. There is nothing else” that perfectly reflects how much she means to him.
  🠚Skogman captures a lot of relatable things: the loss of a loved one, toxic families, healthy families, found family, the feeling of falling in love with someone and knowing they are the one, feeling alone and down, feeling on top of the world, getting high, having a purpose, finding a purpose, inspired by the stories of other people, thinking the grass is greener on the other side (someone else’s life being better) but it isn’t
  🠚Even if the character was not introduced for long, or had passed away off-page, the way it was written had you feeling they usually had an impact no matter how small. I loved Nancy the most, she was so lovely!
  🠚There are only a few women in his life, and they are all quite different: Mo (Leon’s wife, very compassionate), Rose (becomes part of Cash’s life so easily), Mrs Miller (the mother of late schoolfriend Tommy, very kind), Alexa (hairdresser, only mentioned, innocent and trusted the wrong man), Nancy (neighbour in Cambridge, helps him see a purpose), Kassy (beautiful but insecure), and Cash’s late mother (loving, religious, always tried to teach Cash to be forgiving).
  🠚The relationship between Rose and Cash, though bumpy to begin with, is so nice by the end of the novel. I like that they communicate effectively. I like that the first time he talks to her he collapses haha! I was hoping more would have been done with that, that she would have been there when he woke up.
  🠚I especially liked the father-and-son dynamic. While it would be very difficult to forgive someone like him, I liked the way this was handled. We have a very powerful parallel where as a kid Cash “looked up to my father like a Greek God or hero, he looked down at me, ant-like, small.” and then later the roles have reversed, his father is frail and “looks up to me. The son, taller than the father”.
  🠚Most of the flashbacks from his younger days provide a purpose: one example is when he used to go to the theatre with his mother and all is dark for a moment before the spotlight shines on the main character – this is how he feels in the present moment when he looks at Rosie again.
  🠚The story ends on a hopeful note as he moves to Arizona with Rose and Prince.
  🠚Cash has great character development.
  
  << Negatives >>
  🠚Some of the backstory felt unnecessary as it did nothing to the character development or overall plot. For example, the nasty twins that are mentioned: I did not need a whole story about what they were like in school because we never meet them.
  🠚That one backstory about the Boxer just…why? I get the imagery but of all things it was so unnecessary.
  🠚The way the novel is set up, focusing so much on Cash noticing Rose, I assumed she would be in the story far more than she actually was.
  🠚I actually thought Cash getting with Kassy was random, too random. I really wanted the first steamy scene in this story to be him with Rose.
  🠚It is ashame that Cash never got to properly talk to his father about his father’s past as I too wanted hear where he had been (his mistake was thinking they had time). I also would have wanted his dad to give him a proper apology rather than an indirect one. At the end of the day, it does not matter where he has been but who he is: trying to fix the past, wishing he had been a better father.
  🠚Some of the conversations were confusing actually because of the omission of “he says”/“she says”/“I say”. There were certainly moments where I had to jump back to the beginning of the convo just to remember/work out who was talking.
  🠚Cash gets drunk quite a lot in this story, was hoping he would change his ways.
  🠚I think they should have played pool more often! It is a missed opportunity because he was good at it, and it was something his dad taught him.
  
  CHARACTERS
  -ˋˏ ꒰ Cash꒱ ˎˊ-
  ↳ He has been through a lot. I like that he goes from someone who loathes his dad and any time he is mentioned to being at peace with and understanding him, that he did actually love him but did not show it too well. That parallel when he held his hand in church as a boy to his dad holding his hand and face as an adult was really something.
  🠚When he said “sometimes I forget that I am one body, one story, one self. When I look back at my life I can forget that it was me all along” – I felt that in my soul! Sometimes you forget things you did as a child, what you have been through, and then one day someone mentions something and it instantly unlocks a memory.
  🠚He overthinks moments and I am the same: “I can’t help but feel I could have said that all a bit better but my mind’s running crazy now.”
  🠚I like the part where Rose says to him “But everyone loves you.” And he corrects her with “Everyone knows me.” – he was only really loved by his mother and believes he is not worthy of love.
  🠚A little inconsistent as he gets offended and is like “I can’t let it slide” but then a page later… you guessed it, lets it slide?
  

  That’s a thing people so often misunderstood, silence. All my life I’ve watched the quiet and the loud, and let me tell you something real that you can trust - the quiet ones are more interesting, complex, and unpredictable... I always thought they knew some profound truth about life that all those circus folks with loose mouths…would never understand. What a drag, that bunch. Give me the quiet, the listening folk every time.

  
  -ˋˏ ꒰ Other characters꒱ ˎˊ-
  ↳ Rose was a character I did not warm to, actually, until way later. Probably the moment where she admits she noticed him too. I hated her audacity of leaving and not leaving a note or anything. But I sure did I love his descriptions of her, with universe analogies “constellation of freckles on her cheeks”.
  🠚Prince and Leon are sweet, though I could not relate to them much. I loved that one conversation where Leon says she saw Rose while Cash was away and he wants details but he hasn’t much to say. It is such a typical guy thing haha! I also love that description about Prince that “It was nearly impossible to be absolutely certain whether he was high or not. It just sorta matched his personality, ya know? His sensibility. You really had to know him to tell” – you know the sorts of people just like that.
  🠚Nancy though she was not in it loads really captured my heart, the way she essentially adopts Cash when he comes to help her and all she just wants is company. Bless her!
  
  FAV QUOTES
  • She gave me the warm hug of forgiveness, and it washed over me like a cleansing ocean wave, moved by centuries of love. Her arms were a blanket stitched together by every patient mother, everywhere.
  • Rose Rose Rose... Do stay. I want to take your hand in mine. I want to kiss your red lips and see through your eyes. I want to look through your greens, and you can look through my blues. We could be the same, in the end, me and you.
  • It was the closest I ever felt to him, and I was a million miles away.
  • Winter makes the spring and the summers what they are. Just as dark defines light and pain defines joy. They need one another.
  • We are all born into this big mess with a purity, with a goodness. No hate, no anger. It’s only over time, with the pain that comes through the course of life that we get strapped with all the unfortunate things that happen to us. What a shame. We grow older and more careful, hardened and quieter. But every once in a while, you’ll catch a glimpse of yourself in another and maybe you’ll feel like you’re flying. You’ll find a good swing and be reminded that when we strip ourselves down, away from all those things we carry, we are free. We are free as we were at the start.
  • We kiss. We are stars in the sky, like far away lamps, in a blues dipped, infinite world.
  • I had painted a magnificent mural of abstract cuts and swoops, splashed and chaotic but somehow specific, right on the money. The wall looked like it was crying, like it was hemorrhaging blue. I had covered the entire wall of my basement in blue graffiti.
  • “Do you want to tell me about it?” And for the first time in years I feel willing. Her kindness, her honesty. Her vulnerability. Here she is, in my home, with enough courage to come back. To see. For the first time in years I want to tell someone everything.
  • “You’re so beautiful,” I say quietly, and I know I’ll say it a thousand more times if she’ll let me.
  • There’s enough heartbreak in the room to kill a man and enough love to keep him living.
  
  ══════════ ⋆★⋆ ══════════
  
  I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review and I’d like to thank Calahan Skogman, The Unnamed Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity. This has not affected my opinion in any way.
• 
  Sylvie {Semi-Hiatus}

  *Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review!*
  
  3.75 out of 5 stars!
  
  I want to start off by saying that this book as a debut was very gripping and one will finish it in only one sitting. That's how fast-paced, easy going and gravitating this story was.
  
  I'm also going to include some quotes that spoke to me the most from Cash's (aka the main character of this book) inner monologue.
  It's been a while since I've been so mesmerised by the writing style of a book, I kept myself wanting to include lines and lines of the mmc's monologues, that's how much I enjoyed it.
  
  I'm going to find out how she got her walk all dangerous and tailored musically like she has it. Rose. You have done it. It's obvious. You swam to the top of my soul and are floating, effortlessly. I will stand on this maple, and I will call out your name. Rose. The Fox will take the echo. I know this river. Up and down the banks it will travel, and you'll hear me, I know it. Just listen for it Rose, that familiar sound, whispering everything you were meant to hear from the start.
  
  I absolutely adored the short chapters. I think it's every readers dream to read a book which has short chapters. It feels like a reward, most of the time.
  
  I also loved that from the very beginning we get to meet not only the main characters, but the secondaries as well. They were all from very early on fully described how their outer looks were, plus some backstories about them and what kind of a relationship they share with the main character. It truly felt like a movie!
  However, on the other hand, the too much of the people's descriptions in the early chapters made me feel a bit icky sometimes.
  
  Do stay. I want to take your hand in mine. I want to kiss your red lips and see through your eyes. I want to look through your greens, and you can look through my blues. We could be the same, in the end, me and you.
  
  Every now and then I got Nicholas Sparks vibes from this book, especially his recent works. I think I can say that this book can be categorised as coming of age, but for adults, if that is a thing.
  
  We are stars in the sky, like far away lamps, in a blues dipped, infinite world.
  
  Coming back to descriptions and how some moments were written out; They felt very poetic, lyrical and even romantic. A lot of the scenes that happened and how they were described made me long for them, doesn't have to be about a person, it was also about moments in the past or just feelings.
  
  But tonight, we are endless. We are spirits in Johnston and on the road right to Heaven. We are story.
  
  I also loved how faith was always there in the plot and in the characters' minds, and that throughout the entire book it was present.
  
  If I didn't know any better I'd tell you God is speaking in the wind. I'd tell you He is speaking all the time, in everything. He's been sailing the ship all along, in no hurry.
  
  All in all, I really enjoyed reading this and I loved how easy it was to get into the story!
  
  A romance literary fiction by Calahan Skogman? I'm going to melt...
• 
  kenzie♡︎ (ON HIATUS) (emily henry’s version)

  NEED THIS SO BAD😭😭😭😭😭
• 
  Grace (irisroman & evajacks' version) ✧

  I AM SO NOT READY FOR THIS 😭😭❤❤
  
  Literally have no idea what it's about but I need it <3
• 
  Queralt✨

  This is probably one of the best books I’ve read. I’d recommend it to anyone who’s lost a loved one and to anyone who’s angry at their parents for what their parents did to them. Also for people who are still trying to figure things out, people who are looking for something without knowing what that something is.
  
  I can only compare the feelings I’ve had when reading this book with
  The Outsiders (and maybe
  Wait Until Spring, Bandini?). I remember reading that book and just feeling broken and full, just being grateful that I had experienced it. Blue Graffiti has me feeling that same thing. The writing is just spectacular and the story is so mundane that it is heartbreaking. Like, the main character goes through things you’ve probably gone through or know someone that’s been through it, and it makes this intimate story feel so small and so universal.
  
  Story-wise, there isn’t much to this book. Blue Graffiti is an intimate reflection on the tragedy of being human. Cash has lived all his life in middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin, has odd jobs here and there, and meets his friends at the same bar his own father used to get drunk at. This may not seem like a lot, but Skogman really just went all out and made this into a tale about surviving and forgiving the sins of our fathers, faith, and (yes) having the blues.
  
  I’m deeply and utterly obsessed with the writing. This is a book you need to own and DESTROY because I felt like highlighting entire sections and dog-earing so many pages for easy access - but alas, I’m reading an e-ARC so that will have to wait. I found myself reading this book slowly but compulsively. It seems Skogman also writes poetry and you can clearly tell by how he writes because I found myself going over sentences multiple times just amazed and what he had done. Honestly, I am obsessed.
  
  My biggest surprise was that I did not expect to end up choking back tears for half of this book. Well, maybe not ‘half of the book,’ but a few chapters had me on the verge of sobbing. I did not expect to care so much about Cash’s mother. And, damn, Cash’s dad? I don’t know. This was just so tough to read. I kept thinking back on people that I’ve lost myself. There are so many reflections on losing people because of death or because of choice, and it was just very touching and relatable.
  
  My last praise will be a big one for me. I always say I’m a character-focused reader. I also put Stephen King on a pedestal because it doesn’t matter how good or bad his books are, King can introduce a character for two pages and then kill them, and you’ll care about that character. Well, Skogman’s right there with him. This book is a love letter to small towns and what are small towns if not their people? Cash would talk briefly about people that live or lived in the town and have you emotional about them, or you’d smile about them, or you’d worry. I often hate books that don’t manage to make you care about the main character after 400 pages, and here’s Skogman being like “yeah well, this character will only show up on this page” and here you are wanting to give them a hug.
  
  Five stars (though I do want to say this book had some weird stylistic choices that had me raising an eyebrow but oh well we roll).
  
  In the end there is this suffering, or there is the drink, and on again. Flip a coin.
  
  * Thank you Unnamed Press for the ARC.
• 
  rachel conway

  i’m not mentally prepared for this but thank you 🥲🫶
• 
  buket

  the only male author i’ll read🫡 only because it’s him <3
• 
  zluvsreading

  I WILL NOT REST UNTIL I HAVE THIS IN MY HANDS
• 
  Akankshya

  A meandering, lyrical, nostalgic story that romanticizes life in the American Midwest. The novel did a good job of conveying the protagonist's emotional struggles and ambitions. It depicts childhood friendships that turn into adulthood companionship, has a sweet love story intertwined with parental issues, and an exploration of grief. The prose was beautiful in some places, but it was a bore to get through in some. It was a tender, slow, reflective read. By the end of this novel, I did feel an emotional attachment to the characters, but I don't think they were particularly memorable. A 3.5-star book, pretty good for a debut.
  
  Thank you Netgalley and Unnamed Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
• 
  talia ♡

  guys, i'm meeting cal and leigh bardugo for this book tour next month :')
  
  --------------
  
  CAL SKOGMAN WROTE A BOOK AND IT’S REPRESENTED BY BRANDON TAYLOR??!
  
  ohhhhhhhhh he’s taking it!
• 
  dio

  I really cannot wait for this I love him
• 
  RB (evangeline fox’s version)

  At first, I was confused about why I saw a bunch of people getting super excited about this, and then *dramatic pause* I realized
• 
  Kat

  This book is filled with hesitation, longing, desperation, but mostly with love. Love to this little town in the American Midwest, to its residents, to the landscape, and wider - to America. It's a tribute.
  Cash, the protagonist, has been living and working in Johnston his whole life. This is where he was born, went to school, where he loved and was looking for someone who would love him back. He loves this town. "Every hidden corner of Johnston I knew and loved so well." The fragment, where he talks about the Princes' parents' country house and the fields around is truly touching. It's too long to quote it all, but this one sentence should give you a hint: "Prince and I would sit on his porch for hours and watch over his kingdom, sometimes saying nothing at all."
  He loved his mother, whom he lost at the age of 22, more than any other person. The way he talks about her is heartbreaking. This is the prose from a higher shelf. So touching, so emotional, so beautiful. His mother loved him like only a mother does. His father was cold and distanced. He made Cash feel unloved by him, which pained the mother. "No woman like my mother should have eyes so sad, but in that moment, she did."
  Cash seems to be lost, he is looking for something and doesn't know what it is exactly, but he keeps looking. Alcohol and drugs are meant to fill the void. The void that only love can fill.
  
  Stunning prose. Highly recommended.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  liv ❁ (i)

  I have had very bad luck with arcs this year, and, while I was anticipating this book, I figured out pretty early that it is not for me, so I am choosing to spare myself (and this book) and dnf. This is a small town Midwest romance from the point of view of a rugged man and I really couldn’t care less about the story or the man and found it to be a bit too stereotypically gendered for me.
  
  dnf at 4%
  thank you Netgalley for the arc.
• 
  Eva B.

  WISCONSIN MENTIONED!!!!!!!!!!!
• 
  Emma

  Thank you to Unnamed Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
  
  As far as summaries go, I don't really know where to start with this one. We spend the book with Cash, a 29-year-old man living in Johnston, WI. He's always been there. Most everyone has always been there. Things change, sure, but day after day rolls by and Cash finds himself in the same place and is content to remain that way. And then a woman walks into his local bar.
  
  My favorite kind of fiction skews literary and is often about not a whole lot -- day-to-day life, the emotions we all deal with as it grinds by. Joy, fear, grief, love, anger, etc. That's what I thought 'Blue Graffiti' would be, but it was so much more. It felt like all of my favorite books about places -- Steinbeck writing love letters to the Salinas Valley, William Least Heat Moon weaving his way through an America that doesn't exist anymore along blue highways, lessons about the universe through motorcycle maintenance. I'm incredibly impressed by the utterly absorbing tone with which Skogman writes. It's poetry sandwiched between the ordinary exchanges of people who love and know each other, and it's a deep, romantic ode to the Midwest (transferrable to any place you've ever loved singularly, I'm just biased as a Midwest girl myself).
  
  Though the narrative is in first person, the way Cash describes the people and places around him makes them stand on their own. I grew to care for his entire crew, for the places he visited in his mind and in the story, and I felt for them just as much as he did. The entire book just seeps with tenderness, a raw wound of nostalgia and searching for something, for purpose, love, for the answer, who knows.
  
  I know that I'll be going back to reread and pull from this novel many times. It's one of those, folks!
  
  4.5 stars.
• 
  Kat(ja)

  I was provided with an ARC by the publisher in exchange for an honest review!
  
  As excited as I was for Blue Graffiti, I struggled to get into it at first. The novel is steeped in nostalgia and showcases the lives of regular folks, but it also meanders and feels aimless for a large portion of the story. It really took some time until I found that connection to the characters and started to care or figure out where the plot was even supposed to go.
  
  In all honesty, I wasn't sure if I was the right reader for this story, but I saw parts of it that really resonated with me. It was truly at its strongest when the writing was focusing on the exploration of grief. Those chapters really struck a nerve and maybe even had me shed a tear or two.
  
  Despite my quarrels, it all came together quite beautifully in the end, but it feels like a novel you have to stick with to get to the "good" parts.
  
  
• 
  emma

  this was an absolute masterpiece. im so thankful i received an arc. i’ll be posting the full review in a few days but i’d just like to say calahan has an amazing career as an author ahead of him. so proud ❤️
• 
  Georgia

  “I wept for everything. I wept enough for every kid that ever found something to cry for. All the lonesome souls like me”
  
  
  “I saw the stars and the moon and felt universal in anguish. I had no ability to sort it out, but it was there, in the blues, and I knew. And I know it now, ever-still"
  
  
  This is completely different to anything I've ever read in the past. I went into it expecting romance. It is not a romance. It’s so much more than that. I have been anticipating this book since Calahan announced he was writing it, I can’t actually believe I was accepted for the ARC on Netgalley. It’s one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I love his poetry and this did not disappoint. I hope he continues to write and I’ll eat all of it up!
  
  
  
  Calahan is a poet, his writing is simply exquisite. The way he describes the turmoil of losing a parent will always stick with me. Cash is struggling with the mundanity of his life. He talks about the people in the quiet town of Johnston with such adoration and respect. It makes you think of the “little people”, the people who go about their daily life without fanfare. People like my mother who worked every day so that me and my sister wouldn’t lose our home, who go to work and don’t want anything more than to provide for their children. These smalls towns are built up with people like these but all we see are the people on social media bragging about what they can afford. After reading this book you won’t be the same, it will make you think about your neighbours, the people who serve you in the shop, the people you say hello to in the street. Everyone is in their own story.
  
  “We are born into this big mess with a purity, with a goodness. No hate, no anger. It’s only over time, with the pain that comes through the course of life that we get strapped with all the unfortunate things that happen to us. What a shame. We grow older and more careful, hardened and quieter. But every once in a while, you’ll catch a glimpse of yourself in another and maybe you’ll feel like you’re flying”
  
  
  
  Skogman’s writing is poetic and dreamy. The way he wrote the love scenes are some of the best I've ever read in a book. The romance is a teeny, tiny part of this story but it is done with tenderness and affection. It’s the kind of book you sit down and read and have to sit afterwards with your thoughts because you don’t quite know what you just read. It isn’t romance or plot heavy but it’s full of heart and soul for a town and characters who are so realistic you could pass them in the street.
  
  
  
  Thank you to Netgalley and Unnamed Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own
• 
  Briana

  Pre book being read:
  
  I need a large amount of Wisconsin references in this book. I want cabin summers and a brat fry, Fish Fry Fridays and the lake, PBR and Kwik Trip.
  
  Post book being read:
  
  Y’all. Y’all. Y’ALL. I’m in pain. And I don’t know how to say it.
• 
  Olivia

  Calahan Skogman aka Matthias Helvar is writing a book. I REPEAT HE'S WRITING A BOOK?!?
• 
  katie

  I will truly think about this book for years to come.
  
  Blue Graffiti is described as a love letter to the middle of nowhere Midwestern America. That description alone made me worried this book wasn’t going to be for me but I was pleasantly surprised.
  
  Cash is a 29 year old who has had so much hardship and loss in his life. He loves his small town and the friends he has there but is always considering leaving and finding what else is out there. It often seems as though he wants to run from his childhood and the things he hasn’t fully dealt with. His fear of leaving what is comfortable often stops him from taking the leap and having a change of scenery.
  
  I think this is a story that just found me when I needed it. Calahan’s poetic writing describes the depths of loss and grief in a way that feels as if my own personal experiences were spoken about in this book. He simultaneously writes about new found love and the feeling of finding someone who understands your experiences in a way that gives hope.
  
  This is one of those rare books that you find yourself rereading and finding new imagery and quotes that stick out to you each time.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for this arc!
• 
  sadichha

  okay purrrrr I’m so excited for you, calahan. Seriously, congrats.
• 
  ang ⭑ kanej lovebot

  OMG COVER REVEAL
  the premise sounds so enjoyable
• 
  ash

  a beautiful novel, written by a very promising author 🩵 congrats on this wonderful first book, i can’t wait for the world to read it🫶🏻
  
  “i saw the stars and the moon and felt universal in anguish” 🥹🌟💘 this book. i can’t. the plot was very based around the characters and their personalities/lives, depicting their experience in a small town, focusing on Cal. i didn’t know what to expect here, but i could not have imagined this. cal’s love of poetry shines through in this novel, and it was perfect. i love words with beauty to me, and this book definitely had it.
  
  
  ***more of a review coming soon***
  
  thank u for the arc, i could not be happier !!! big big fan of cal. this is incredible
• 
  Annie

  I’m really sorry to his fans, I didn’t know this was by a celebrity on the way in (though honestly that probably made me less biased) Gotta say, this sucked. I barely made it through.
• 
  Rachael

  
  i initially requested this arc because i seen Emily Henry giving it praise and usually when she likes or praises a book i end up loving it but this was a little hard for me to get into and in the end i don’t think it was the right book for me.
  
  a lot more literary fiction than romance(we’ll get into it) in my opinion and usually i don’t mind when a book has little to no romance but when a book is marketed as having a subplot of romance i’m expecting the romance to be good, if not absolutely amazing. i’ll talk about the things i liked about the book first.
  
  the writing. wonderful! extremely vivid and the imagery he conjures up is just breathtaking you genuinely feel like you belong in this small town and that you’re almost immersed in the life of Cash and his friends. Everything flowed well and it’s obvious that Calahan has a deep love for writing.
  
  the male friendships!! this is one of the aspects of the book that sticks out to me so well is that the theme of friendship especially when it comes to male friendships is done with such gentleness and reading the love that these characters have for each other spanning years was just wholesome and definitely made the book for me.
  
  ok things i didn’t like. the romance. i’m a huge romance reader it’s what i typically reach for but the romance actually has to be there and evident in the book otherwise it’s just literary fiction. Cash spends 40% of this book pining after Rose and basically falls in love at first sight (he seems like a hopeless romantic but reading between the lines he comes across as quite desperate to me) and then sleeps with some random girl only to come back to his home town and ask Rose out? Cash’s inner thoughts about love and romance actually made me turn against him because it felt like he was in love with the idea of someone and the IDEA of settling down that it didn’t matter who it was at the end of the day as long as he got his white picket fence happily ever after.
  
  the hardest negative for me about this book was Cash himself. He just seemed to put people on this pedestal and held them at a higher level than he expected for himself. He would assume things about people just because he knew of them since he was young but has absolutely zero relationship with them. the biggest gripe i had was when Cash and his friends got annoyed that Saul wouldn’t sell his bar to them even though he never expressed he was willing to sell it in the first place, and it was almost like Saul was doing this just to annoy them (he wasn’t he just didn’t want to sell HIS OWN BAR). I feel like i’m reading about a man who is having a quarter life crisis and that’s okay if that was what the book was trying to convey but i’m not sure if was.
  
  thank you to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for sending me the arc!
• 
  Judith

  Unfortunately I didn't like the writing nor the story. After about 100 pages I gave up on trying to reading it further. It felt like the story wasn't going anywhere and there was just a lot of whining with nothing really happening. Not a book for me nor would I recommend it to anyone.
• 
  mallika

  absolutely gorgeous writing, this is definitely the sort of book you want to annotate and underline sentences in. the atmosphere and the setting is so strong too, and I think after the first part or so, after all of that is established, you really do feel like you're in there with them all.
  
  also, personal shoutout to this book for mentioning davenport, iowa, bc I used to live there :)
• 
  Nour (FREE PALESTINE) Books

  Calahan Skogman wrote a book? uhhh yeah I’m gonna read it.