When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
Love story: 💖💖💖💖💕 (4.5/5)
Writing: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5/5)
Happy ending? Yes
Is it about coming out? Yes
trans books, magical realism, fantasy, Latina main character, Italian-Pakistani trans boy main character, lesbian minor character
Dedication:
Summary: 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.
Thoughts: The book is a re-imagining of the tale of La Llorona. The story also incorporates the Afghani and Pakistani cultural practice of bacha posh, in which families without sons will dress a daughter as a boy. Traditionally, when the bacha posh reaches adulthood, she returns to living as a woman. Sam struggles to decide if he can leave behind his boyhood and grow into womanhood, or if his true desire is to live the rest of his life as a man.
This is a beautiful tale that wraps you up in a world of magic, secrets, and love. Highly recommended.
Warnings: Transphobia and misgendering, Traumatic childhood experiences, Body horror for the roses that grow out of Miel’s wrist (*details/spoilers below)
