This book was absolutely beautiful. I've been looking for more magical realism books, because the idea of making the "real world" slightly more fantastic is just... well, magical to me. And "When the Moon Was Ours" delivered.

The intricacies of the town Miel and Sam live in grounded the story, sometimes even though I wanted the town to be more magical. But it was good- like I said, it gave structure to the story's setting. And that realness was combined with the out of the ordinary characters in the town that the general population seems to either ignore or discriminate because they don't understand their magic. This combination was done perfectly. Because of the "real world" element, the emotions and problems struck me harder I believe. Furthermore, I was more enchanted by the magic of some of the characters because they were spinning circles around the rest of the townies.

And the magic itself! So interesting! Each magical character had a different "ability" (if you could even call it that) which was left not fully explained. I know that some people have been put off by that mysterious aspect of this books magic, but I thought it was well done. Not every single thing in a story needs to be expressly spelled out to the readers- leave some to the imagination, let us enjoy the mystery and the possibilities! But it was just unlike any kind of magic I have read so far in my life. I'll be looking out for more magical realism books like this one now.

One of the most real and well-written aspects of this book was Sam and Miel's relationship. Miel's relationship with her sister is also a very well developed one, as well as Sam's with his mother. All 3 of these relationships are thorough and complex and grow. But back to Sam and Miel. They are just so beautiful and they know each other so well. They have so many complexities in their character, and untangling those complexities and getting to learn about Miel and Sam so intimately was just breathtaking to read. They eventually lay everything out for each other, and consequently for the reader. And thank goodness for that. Plus the fact that this is a LGBT relationship with a trans-gender character makes this even more special, and the author herself has a transgender spouse so this aspect of the book is coming from a place of knowledge on her part. The struggles Sam dealt with were heartbreaking and real. And the way he talks it out with his mother, Miel, and Sam's sister were wonderfully executed and had me hoping for the happiest possible ending.

There were so many absolutely GORGEOUS lines in this book, I was highlighting all over the place in my kindle! Just the craftsmanship of the way Anna puts together words to convey an emotion of a character, or to describe the magic or setting was just brilliant. My words don't do it justice.

My only complaint is that it was hard to get into this book- it dragged in the first 30% of the book and I almost gave up on it. But I am SO GLAD I didn't! I should say that even when it was dragging, it still had beautiful lines.

Overall I gave this book 4.5/5 stars. Like I said, it dragged out for quite a bit in the beginning which is knocking off that half a star for me. I highly highly recommend this book! Especially if you like The Night Circus, Like Water for Chocolate, or The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender.

First off, I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing me this ARC to review. Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition.

Stars (Out of 10): 5/10 Stars

Overall Thoughts: This was a wonderfully whimsical and quirky novel, and delved into some pretty important social issues, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. While by the end I was fairly invested into the story, the awkward beginning and getting used to the writing style did throw me off quite a bit. While the plot was pretty good and kept me hooked, I couldn’t really connect with any of the characters myself, and it made me feel quite detached for most of the book. However, the work and dedication and love put into this book is quite clear, especially from the author’s note, dedication, and acknowledgements.

The Good: A unique and whimsical way of storytelling, an interesting plots with clear closure and a few twists, and a nice diversity in cast members.

The Bad: Writing style is tough to get into at first, some points of the plot did tend to feel a tad straightforward, and the introduction was a tad quick and seemed to jump straight into the story.

SPOILERS BEGIN HERE

The Characters: I felt that while the characters were built and created very well, all with real issues and real flaws, I wasn’t able to truly connect with them. However, the diversity in cast was a great thing to see, and I liked that while any LGBT characteristics were important to the characters, it was not the only thing of relevance for that character, which is an issue I’ve seen too many times in LGBT based books.

The Plot: This was definitely the part I enjoyed most. We got to unravel both Miel and Sam’s past, present, and future, were able to see them develop quite well throughout the book, even though the span of time it took place over was on the shorter end. However, some parts of the book felt a tad slow/”dead,” and a chapter or two sometimes made me lose interest for a bit.

The Favorite Character: Aracely

4 stars

It took me longer to read this book than I would have liked. It’s not a fast book, it’s a slow, meandering, thoughtful book with beautiful, lyrical prose. It contains probably the most sensitive portrayal of a trans character that I’ve come across, a trans character that is allowed to fall in love and explore his sexuality without fetishization.

I think I can safely say that it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Things happen and you just have to let go and accept that they’re happening. This book is the definition of Magical Realism, down to the beautiful authenticity of the Latin American elements present in the book. Think pumpkins turning to glass, brujas pulling the lovesickness from a heart, shining painted moons, and a roping vine of rose that buds and flowers in response to the protagonist’s inner turmoil.

You can really tell that this book is ‘own voices’. McLemore draws upon her heritage and, as is described in the afterword, her marriage to her husband, who transitioned after they started dating. It gives the book a truthful feeling even amidst the unreality of some of the magical elements. You feel as if McLemore is very carefully and sensitively choosing her words. The relationship between Miel and Sam, how it blossoms and, equally as importantly, how they help to manage each other’s foibles is just so tenderly handled that it makes your heart swell in your chest.

'To Sam, she was the girl who gave his moons somewhere to go. She was the dark amber of beechwood honey, the caramel of sourwood, and the bitter aftertaste of heather and pine. She was every shade of blue between two midnights.’

I also loved how McLemore intertwined the cultural identities of our two characters, how Sam shared traditions of his Pakastani heritage with Miel, and she shared with him the Mexican culture of her family. It’s sad and powerful and feels very true.

One star was removed because I felt that, in places, this book could have benefitted from being shorter. There were some beautiful passages that lost their power for me because I felt as if I’d heard them before earlier in the book. I felt it was dilute when it could easily have been concentrated.

However, I think overall that any positives far outweigh the benefits. I think it’s still sadly unusual to find a book 'for’ lgbt individuals as opposed to 'about’ lgbt individuals. There are some books I’ve read where I worry for the lgbt kids reading them, where an overuse of slurs to illustrate the hardships facing lgbt individuals ends up hurting those who read it whilst looking for characters like themselves. This book was different. Yes, it covered transmisogyny and dysphoria, but importantly it gave its lgbt characters a happy loving relationship and a warm positive ending. I cannot thank McLemore enough for that.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for a copy in return for an honest review.

This unique coming of age story centers around Sam, known around town as moon, for the many moons that he creates, and Miel, known as honey because she loves to eat the stuff. Since Miel was found in the town's water tower, Sam and Miel have been best of friends. As the story unfolds, Sam and Miel find their relationship strained as they are pitted against the town bullies, the Bonner sisters, and in the end, you see that everyone has secrets that they'd rather keep hidden. With a hint of the magical with glass pumpkins and a girl who grows roses from her wrist, the story is unique, but at the same time, the themes ring true for all - a true coming of age story.

The story is extremely well told. However, I personally was not a fan of how much sexual content was described in the book.

Magical realism, exploration of identity, LGBTQIA issues, brujaria! This book has got it ALL!

First and foremost this book is about self discovery, self acceptance, and the love that we accept from ourselves and I LOVED IT. Sams journey of acceptance and discovery as he realizes who is and the lies he has been telling himself is simply breathtaking.

Miel's journey as she slowly faces her greatest fears about who she is, where she's from, and what she's worth to herself and to others hurts to read because it resonates so deeply.

I think that this book is a worthwhile read for anyone who has ever felt like they've needed to grow into who they are. Beautiful book!

This wonderful novel takes on gender identity in a story decked in magical realism. Miel and Sam are wonderful characters whose stories and bright inner lives are lovingly revealed throughout the book, treating their struggles with their chosen identities with respect. A great book for YA collections.

I absolutely adored this gorgeously written, magical love story. It tells the story of Miel, a girl with a painful, half-forgotten past and with roses growing from her wrist, and Sam, a boy who paints paper moons to hang all over the village and keeps his share of secrets about his own past. Together, they must learn to accept themselves and embrace the truths of their pasts, but this is no easy task, particularly when the four red-haired, cold and calculating Bonner sisters set their sights on taking something that belongs to Miel. Written in beautiful, luscious prose that flows like poetry, and exploring themes of identity, self-acceptance, gender, family and love, this is a lovely work of magical-realism that will delight teenage and adult readers alike.

Enchanting and full of diversity, although the flowery prose didn’t convince me.

The book opens on Miel and Sam, a skittish girl with roses growing out of her wrist, and a boy who doesn’t exactly know if he wants to be a boy or go back to being a girl. In itself, this was an interesting premise, as both characters were searching for their inner truth, all lthe while being surrounded by lies (or what they perceived at such): Miel’s memory—not exactly the most reliable; what Aracely, Miel’s adoptive guardian, knows and what she doesn’t say; Sam having to hide his body in everyday life; and the Bonner sisters, with their red hair and their mysterious ways, four girls acting as one, enchantresses ensnaring boys and wielding their own kind of power that always gets them what they want in the end.

There’s more magical realism than actual magic here, although Aracely’s ability to cure heartbreak, as well as her being a self-professed curandera, definitely hint at ‘witchcraft’. It’s more about the way things are shown and described, in the moons Sam paints and hangs outside people’s windows, in the roses growing out of Miel’s skin, in the rumoured stained glass coffin meant to make girls more beautiful, in how modern life and themes (immigrants in a small town, transgender teenagers, fear of rejection, or the practice of bacha posh, which I didn’t know about before reading this book…) intertwine with poetry and metaphor, with images of rebirth and growing up and accepting (or realising) who you’re meant to be. Not to mention racial diversity, instead of the usual ‘all main protagonists are whiter than white.’

To be honest, though, as much as the prose was beautiful at first, in the end it seemed like it was trying too much, and the story suffered from too many convoluted paragraphs and redundant descriptions & flashbacks. As it was, even though I liked this book in general, I found myself skimming in places that felt like déjà vu. Granted, it’s much more a character- than a plot-driven novel, but I’m convinced all the prose could’ve been toned down, and it would have remained beautiful without sometimes running in circles and drowning the plot now and then.

This title expanded my view of what is possible in the world of YA literature. Even though I am not the biggest fan of the genre, I was utterly enchanted. I picked this novel up because #weneeddiversebooks and the representation of Latinas. Since the author is a fabulous activists on Twitter, I wanted to show my support. But kept on reading for the gorgeous prose and intricate worldbuilding. Totally worth it.

First of all, I absolutely love the cover. Not only is it beautiful, but it also has meaning and it ties in to the actual story. This book is about a transgender boy and his neighbor, a girl who has roses growing out of her wrists. I’m not sure if there are some actual folktales or mythology behind why she has roses growing from her wrists, but I thought it was an interesting element to the story. I am starting to find, however, the more magical realism that I read, the less I like it. I don’t know if it’s magical realism itself, or just the way that some authors choose to write it. In my experience, the writing for those types of books tends to be really flowery and abstract at times–not really my kind of thing. One thing I did appreciate about this book is that the characters felt like real people even though they were in this more fantastical version of the world. Even the four sisters felt real and I thought that I could understand their motivations. I also appreciated how Sam was treated and developed as a character. I’ve written in the past how I don’t like when authors include diverse characters just for the sake of diversity because it feels inauthentic. Well, I thought that the subject of transgenderism was treated very well and authentically in this book. I think there was an author’s note at the end where the author states that her partner is transgender–so that’s obviously why she was able to create such a genuine character. Overall, this book was well-written, but not really my cup of tea. I can still appreciate it for what it is, though.

Review for jennakristine,com in progress to be posted by 1/17/2017.