Hi all!
So first of all, I was supposed to post a few reviews before this one but unfortunately real life got in the way and things that I thought I had weeks to deliver were actually pushed to this week which meant all my planning got thrown out the window. One major thing that got pushed back was reading Small Beauty by Jia Qing Wilson-Yang. When I was planning this month’s reading one of the things I counted on was buying the books I was most excited about and some of them buy them through kindle. This was one of the books I decided to buy but with the way things turned out I couldn’t order it in time and now that I’m a week away from going back to the UK I thought it best to just have it shipped there. That way I don’t have as much weight on my luggage.
So Small Beauty will be added to the TBR of July and for this month’s pride reading of Trans POC I have swapped it for When the Moon was Our by Anna-Marie McLemore. I’m disappointed also because I was looking forward to reading Small Beauty but oh well, things happen, at least it’s on its way home 🙂
Now with that little change explained, here is the review:
When The Moon Was Ours
by Anna-Marie McLemore
To everyone who knows them, best friends Miel and Sam are as strange as they are inseparable. Roses grow out of Miel’s wrist, and rumors say that she spilled out of a water tower when she was five. Sam is known for the moons he paints and hangs in the trees, and for how little anyone knows about his life before he and his mother moved to town. But as odd as everyone considers Miel and Sam, even they stay away from the Bonner girls, four beautiful sisters rumored to be witches. Now they want the roses that grow from Miel’s skin, convinced that their scent can make anyone fall in love. And they’re willing to use every secret Miel has fought to protect to make sure she gives them up.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Slight spoilers
First of all, I have so many feelings about this book, I’m having trouble knowing where to start. Let’s start with the magical realism, so, growing up latinx meant I read stories that had fantastical elements to it but they were treated as normal or just common things, this is very much a product of our culture, where there’s so many superstitions and beliefs that are not treated separate from what we know is real, it just is. Now having said that, I usually avoid reading magical realism books in english because I have this slight bias that Magical Realism only works in spanish as the language is already flowery enough it doesnt feel forced. I take it back with Ana-Marie Mclemore’s rating and I guess she will continue to make me eat my bias. I loved the prose, the beautiful descriptions, the dreamy, whimsical way that she puts together words which helps the novel’s strong focus on its character-driven plot. The main characters of this novel, bestfriends Miel and Sam both go through challenges throughout the story. Miel, a latinx girl, struggles with her past while Sam, a trans italian-pakistani boy, is still coming to terms with his identity. As When The Moon Was Ours ultimately is about self-acceptance in whatever form you need it and that you will have people who accept you and wait for you to accept yourself. That, especially made my heart tighten up and get me a bit choked up.
Those struggles are presented respectfully, especially Sam’s journey to acceptance but also while sensitively dealing with phobias (Miel’s), the portrayal of latinx and pakistani culture. Those little details of the cultures were a delight to read and as someone who doesn’t get to read a lot about latinx culture in a non-offensive way, it was a breath of fresh air. There’s so much more I could praise like the sex-positive scene, I have to give kudos to Anna-Marie McLemore for making sex sound so poetic and not falling into the cliche territory. Now I do have to say this isn’t really a happy happy romance novel, it is much more than that, it is slightly bittersweet but at its heart it is about love, acceptance and being true. Overall, this book was a joy to read, there’s so much more I want to say but I’m also conscious that I don’t want to spoil a lot.
If you’re looking for a beautiful, flowery story about acceptance with a beautiful undercurrent of romance, this is your book.
I can’t promise I’ll have time to post the reviews I owe since I might be a bit busy this week but I’ll try, if not, my last book of the month will be All of Us with Wings, another one I’m really looking forward to reading.
Playita Reads 