Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the writing or the story. Nothing was pulling me forward, so I decided to DNF 50 pages into this novel.

"We have oceans of life, don't we all, right beneath the surface, right where we're conscious and dreaming."

Happy release day to one of my favourite books of the year. The incredibly talented Calahan Skogman wrote a story that feels so deep and personal, like this story came from the depths of who he is, from his bones and all those lingering forever places that form the foundations of a person. The best stories are told by people who live in and love those worlds, and the best storytellers are those who can take a reader with them to live in those places for awhile.

The writing is gripping and soulful. The main character, Cash, is a real romantic who tempers his love of life with his bluesy reflective ways. Cash is in love with life as it is and for all it could be. He believes in potential and opportunities. He sees what's unique in everything and everyone around him. What a special way to look at life, honouring the sonder and wonder of it all.

I have an absurd number of passages bookmarked and will be revisiting this book endlessly. Thank you to Netgalley and Unnamed Press for this arc, and most importantly thank you to Calahan Skogman for writing this book.

I DID IT!! I finished it!!

And then I wrote most of my review, accidentally clicked off of it, Goodreads didn’t save it, and now I, back to writing it again. I think that sums up my experience with this book…EFFORT.

I truly did not think this book was ever going to end. The last two days that I’ve spent reading it have felt the longest of my life. The page count is deceptive, it’s longer than it looks, I swear. I was ready for this book to end at part I, and I think that would’ve been a decent ending, however instead it just kept going and going and going and going and going and going and just never really arrived anywhere. There was just no cohesive structure or storytelling to anything. The blurb was the most well structured and that was a lie.

There was just no plot. No excitement. Nothing. Just Cash getting high or drunk or thinking the same few thoughts over and over again (I too only usually think of the same few things but that’s beside the point). He wasn’t engaging. At no point did I ever really feel a sense of his character growing or actually feeling connected to people. Heck, I couldn’t even tell half the side characters apart! Don’t ask me which friend is Prince and which ones Leon and who is Saul and who is Sal. They all began to blend in to one another. We’d always have new characters introduced and they’d be someone who was so special from Cash’s past — and oh here’s someone else just like that too. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed all the different variations of male friendships, but I kind of found it hard to care when I couldn’t keep up with who was who and what backstory they had and why I should care about it anymore than something else.

I really was just bored out of my mind reading this. There just wasn’t really any plot. Nothing really happened. The romance wasn’t romancing. There was no chemistry. Cash wasn’t appealing as a love interest anyways, I couldn’t see why Rose or anyone would be interested in him and his remarkable conversational skills.

Also what time period was this meant to be set in? I missed that and it annoyed me throughout the whole book.

Now I know it’s going to sound like a lie when I say it wasn’t all bad. But I do think there were often moments of great writing that pondered upon thoughts of grief and brotherhood and friendship and such that were quite profound. I also think the setting descriptors were often well done, such as the describing of the bar etc.

I think the main problem with this was the structure, the character work and the fact that at my core I think, unfortunately, and I currently can’t think of any examples to prove myself wrong, I am a literary fiction hater.

I do still love you though Calahan Skogman even if after this you might not like me. I think for a debut this was good, but Skogman has so much more potential, and it does show here in Blue Graffiti so I’ll be intrigued to see what the next novel is like…as long as it’s not more literary fiction…please…

I requested this book on Netgalley because my favorite author, Emily Henry, has been repeatedly plugging it on social media and in her newsletter. After reading this book, I find that marketing strategy an odd choice because this book is very tonally different.

I will be honest and say I do not have much experience with beatnik authors, except for a few Kerouac excerpts, but I do not think romance readers and Emily Henry fans will gravitate towards this style of writing. I found it to be very meandering and was struggling to pick up the book, especially during the first half because so little was actually going on. Even the conversations Cash would have felt like they weren’t moving the story forward that much because so many of them weren’t actually conversations. Saul would talk and Cash would just say “yeah”, Deangelo would talk and Cash would just say “yeah. Prince would talk and Cash would just say “yeah”.

I do think this is a book that would appeal more to male readers, which is why I find the choice to use Emily Henry to market this book so odd. Her readership is almost entirely female. I feel bad giving this a bad review because I don’t think I’m the proper demographic. That being said, I personally did not enjoy this book. It was so focused on Cash’s internal self that there was almost no plot and Cash’s inner thoughts alone were not interesting enough to make me want to read.

I thought this was a really impressive debut novel! When I started reading I wasn’t aware that it was literary fiction, but this novel suits the genre perfectly. This book is written in a very poetic manner, which makes sense given Skogman’s background with writing poetry. Overall, I enjoyed this book! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eArc in exchange for my honest review.

This is such an impressive and beautiful debut novel. I could tell that Skogman 1) is a poet at heart and 2) put his whole soul into this.

It was visually stunning, with voice and atmosphere I would expect from someone much, much more experienced than him. I felt like I was there in Johnston every time Cash passed a house and gifted us with a little town lore.

I didn’t expect to be comparing this to Salinger or Kerouac, but they kept coming to mind as Skogman dove into the human (particularly male) psyche. But I actually found that this book was much more self-aware and emotional than other similar stories written by men, which made it feel more modern and culturally important. As a certified non-man, I found the male friendships and the insight into being a son fascinating. The way Cash idolizes his father despite his neglect is gut-wrenching and really spotlights a generational trauma not many people talk about openly.

A main theme in the book is how men cope with their emotions in a world that expects and molds them to be closed-off and stoic. Cash is extremely sensitive and emotional, but he only seems to be able to express it openly when he’s been drinking, smoking, doing psychedelics, or with women. I loved that Skogman was showing this because I think it’s a real tragedy that men inflict on themselves. Perhaps more books like this will help men move past that and take that pressure off themselves.

When you read this, have your highlighter ready because I was stunned by some of the lines in this book. I can think of a few I know will stick in my mind for a long time to come.

The story was just so raw and visceral, despite its more subdued, slice-of-life type plot. I’ve never read about loss (particularly the loss of parents) in a way that felt so honest and vulnerable before. It breaks your heart without falling into the dreaded “trauma-porn” you see too often in books. It leaves you thinking about the impact of family, the roots that reach the deepest parts of you.

I think this could’ve easily been a five-star book for me with a few changes.

First, and most importantly, while I feel like Skogman put great effort into writing about the few women in the story in a kind way, I wanted more than that. The women in the story are put on a pedestal, which doesn’t let them develop into well-rounded characters. They were much too perfect. By not really giving them flaws, they are robbed of their humanity and their own character development. It just felt like a big part of the story that lacked the depth of the rest of the book.

If I’m being nit-picky, I thought that some parts of the prose could’ve been more condensed and tightly edited. It sometimes came across as TOO reflective, which as a reader can feel like they’re trying too hard to be deep. It just occasionally distracts from the many parts that are truly insightful.

All in all, this was a meaningful and beautiful read and I’m excited to see how Skogman’s career unfolds (and I will always be rooting for him after seeing how he brought a character from one of my all-time favorite books to life with so much care).

*Thank you to Unnamed Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I want to thank netgalley, unnamedpress & Calahan Skogman for the arc. Book is out on August 13th.
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This is a book that talks deep about grief & the natural course of life, the nuances of a little town, the feeling of being inadequate for the life we are living or the things we never accomplished & perhaps, lost the chance to do in what we think is 'the right time'. Here we meet Cash, a man of 29, that tells us of his life in this little of town called Johnston. We get to know about his life, his struggles, the emptiness of pushing 30 with much left to figure out.⠀
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His life is perhaps not much different from our own but 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 is the strongest part of the book. You can sit & read about a life not much different than yours, see how it affects you, if there are parts that feel too far away, others that hit close to home. Cash is a man affected by living alone, by grief, by the love of his friends, by finding a person, 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗲, that suddenly appears in his life to make it brighter, better, even forcing 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 in him.⠀
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You can see the poetry background in Calahan's writing, the novel is far from plain & i really liked how easily you can go from one chapter to the next & not wanting to put the book down. I'm not an avid reader of the genre but it was a very nice re-introduction to it. Again, thank you to the publisher, netgalley & the author for this wonderful book.⠀

I want to thank netgalley, unnamedpress & Calahan Skogman for the arc.
⠀
This is a book that talks deep about grief & the natural course of life, the nuances of a little town, the feeling of being inadequate for the life we are living or the things we never accomplished & perhaps, lost the chance to do in what we think is 'the right time'. Here we meet Cash, a man of 29, that tells us of his life in this little of town called Johnston. We get to know about his life, his struggles, the emptiness of pushing 30 with much left to figure out.⠀
⠀
His life is perhaps not much different from our own but 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 is the strongest part of the book. You can sit & read about a life not much different than yours, see how it affects you, if there are parts that feel too far away, others that hit close to home. Cash is a man affected by living alone, by grief, by the love of his friends, by finding a person, 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗲, that suddenly appears in his life to make it brighter, better, even forcing 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 in him.⠀
⠀
You can see the poetry background in Calahan's writing, the novel is far from plain & i really liked how easily you can go from one chapter to the next & not wanting to put the book down. I'm not an avid reader of the genre but it was a very nice re-introduction to it. Again, thank you to the publisher, netgalley & the author for this wonderful book.⠀

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 mesmerized 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!

Blue Graffiti is an exploration of love, grief, friendship, faith and forgiveness, but at its core, it is a love letter to the small town in Wisconsin where Skogman grew up in.

The story comes to life through vivid and poetic prose, which I enjoyed to an extent but ultimately, it left me feeling bored and hesitant to continue with the story. The blurb also highlights a blooming romance between Cash and Rose, which unfortunately fell flat and came across as one-sided infatuation from Cash's part. Instead, the strength of Skogman's debut lies in Cash's journey as he grapples with the loss of his beloved mother and the complicated relationship with his estranged father, alongside the unwavering companionship between Cash, his best friends and the people of Johnston.

Despite its slow nature, I still really enjoyed Blue Graffiti and I can't wait to see what Skogman will write next!

Thank you Unnamed Press and NetGalley for sending me an ARC!

I tried so hard with this one, but I ended up having to put it down at 54%. This book just couldn’t hold my attention. The story seemed to have no real direction and it just felt like I was reading someone’s rambles in their journal.

I typically really love contemporary fiction, but this one was not my cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!

I wanted to like this book but it may just not be for me. It felt so overwritten and like it wanted to be important and profound but it just feel flat to me. And the characters names all felt false.

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.

When I first read the blurb, I didn’t initially know this was a literary fiction story. Literary Fiction is character-driven, uncategorised (no genres), realistic, does not contain tropes. 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.

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. 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".

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!

📚gorgeous and gritty📚

Skogman’s breakout work of literary fiction is absolutely stunning to read. It hits the most heavy, profound poetic notes and contains so much depth of emotion, it is absolutely gorgeous to read.

I am familiar with Skogman’s poetry via his Instagram and patreon, and this is more of that, put to story. The main character is traumatized and a bit broken, but likable. I love how the mundanity of life so perfectly encompasses grief and hope and beauty and pain and longing. the author’s voice is so unique— the story jumps to and fro along the day to day of a midwestern man living in small town America with the same people he grew up with.

This book is especially good at wrestling with emotions regarding parents and God and change. The way that Skogman explores the complex relationships between fathers and sons specifically, was breathtaking. I think those particular reflections will stay with me for some time.
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CW/TW: drug and alcohol use and abuse; parental abandonment; sex on page; death of parents; child disappearance;

I didn’t finish this, but I think it was a great book, just not my type of story. I think this would make a fabulous audiobook because of the first person narrative. Still an interesting story though!

The author has a unique, entrancing voice. This is a book where my attention was held by the writing style alone. I enjoyed sort of slice of life narrative and how unapologetically Midwestern this book was. The story meanders in a way that isn’t dull or repetitive and focuses on characters and relationships. This is a book that I already plan on buying and rereading down the line.

🤍 Thank you @unnamedpress for the arc of Blue Graffiti! 🤍

From the actor who portrayed Matthias Helvar in Shadow and Bone comes this exquisitely written novel!

Immersing me in a charming Wisconsin town, the book is a heartfelt tribute to the charm of small towns, the enchantment of falling in love, the nostalgia of a simpler era, and the essence of true friendship.

The writing was absolutely fantastic, a reminiscent style that echoes that of Ernest Hemingway! I highlighted so much of this story.

If you love:
• classic-style literature
• grief + healing
• a small town
• romance

I was so excited for this book partly because of the author's person, and partly because of Emily Henry's enthusiasm for this novel. The premise sounded intriguing, and I was really happy to be approved for an ARC.

The writing style is incredibly moving, the atmosphere Skogman creates is so transportive that you feel like you know this small town and its inhabitants, you feel the sun beating down on you, and even hear the sounds of a calm starry night. There is so much love and attention written into every line, and each character is so real and human that they feel like your own friends. Slowly, you learn about their past traumas and present struggles, and Cash's romanticism is contagious enough for you to love everyone and wish the best for them.

Sadly, the beautiful writing and transportive atmosphere could only hold my attention for so long, and without any real action, I got bored and felt reluctant to continue reading. If you're looking for a no-plot-just-vibes book, this is perfect for you, and maybe some other time I would have loved it as well, but right now I'm putting it down nearly halfway through.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me the ARC.

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.

While I found the prose to be dreamy, the novel itself felt like I was wandering aimlessly in a Midwestern cornfield: continuous rambling, but no defined direction. In other words, I was reading pretty sentences, but a lackluster story with bland characters. I wouldn't categorize the romance subplot as "romance," rather it felt more like a one-sided lusty infatuation on his part. The premise had potential, but ultimately struck out with me because of the weak storytelling and completely forgettable characters.