Anna-Marie McLemore

Imagine as a kid you see a lake open up and reveal a secret world underneath. The downside is that the only other witness is a total stranger who you assume you'll never see again. Years later your friends tell you about the new kid in town who just so happens to be the stranger from the lake. When strange things start happening that only Bas & Lore seem to notice, they have to work together to right their world.

This was the first book I've read by Anna-Marie McLemore and I really enjoyed their writing style. The chapters were short, switching between the two main character's narration. I adored the representation and that this didn't have to be another story of trans youth being rejected by their families.

This story had just enough fantasy to make some of the scenes really jump off the page for me. I loved the tenderness of the friendship between Bas & Lore as they learned to trust each other. Looking forward to reading more of this author's work!… (altro)

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/when-the-moon-was-ours-by-anna-marie-mclemore/

I really liked this book, and once again kudos to the Tiptree Award (as it then was) for spotting something that others had passed by. It’s set in a world very close to ours, where the protagonists are a Latina girl and an Italian-Pakistani boy in love, but there’s a lot of magic going on (she grows flowers out of her arms; he has a well-hidden secret) and the four red-haired neighbour girls may be witches. It’s an intense exploration of body dysmorphia and the experience of being trans, in a well-realised small town, where the grownups have back-stories too. One of the best novels I have read so far this year, and strongly recommended.… (altro)

I'm still not sure how I think about this book. Having said that, I really feel for Isla because she feels abandoned by her sister, as well as not fitting anywhere. Her intersexuality, coupled with being Hispanic, and raised by her grandmother, not to mention how the girls and Gram are seen as new money and therefore unworthy of much respect all conspire to leave her feeling like she doesn't belong anywhere. Despite all that, she does find the emotional strength to return to Alarie House, an extraordinarily odd finishing school, after her older sister returns from there a completely different and scary person. It's that school that still has me shaking my head because it was just too strange to allow me to finish the story without feeling a bit befuddled.… (altro)