A beautiful book, all the way from its dedication to the author's note at the end (which is a must read).



When the Moon Was Ours is a magical realism novel - possibly my favourite genre - and as such, most of the story straddles the line between reality and the fantastical. Full of gorgeous writing, unforgettable characters and respect for culture and cultural traditions, this book just dazzles.

It's a story driven almost exclusively by its characters and their struggles. The plot is a little hard to follow at times, largely because of the ethereal nature of the writing and the uncertainty over what is actually happening and what is metaphorical. It took some getting used to and that's the reason I didn't rate higher, but once I settled into the style of the novel, I was whisked away into Miel and Samir's world.

This is, ultimately, a book of friendship and love between the Latina Miel and Samir, an Italian-Pakistani trans boy. Woven with Spanish, legends, family dynamics and lunar references, this is a special book, a very different kind of YA that is as important as it is magical. It is wonderful to see a non-contemporary book tackle teen "issues" in such a sensitive and often heart-breaking way. From Sam's experiences as a bacha posh (you should really read about this if it is unfamiliar) transgender boy:
That was his problem. Sam was sure of it. He couldn’t be a girl. But maybe if he waited out these years in boys’ clothes and short hair, he would grow up enough to want to be a woman. He would wake up and this part of him would be gone, rain and wind wearing down a hillside.
To the racism he endures:
A few of the blond ones, their skin so pink their necks looked red even in winter, told him to go back home, and it had taken him a week of first grade to realize they didn’t mean the bright-tiled house where he lived with his mother.
The book deals with these social issues, but it is subtle, delivered with a feather-light, and yet no less effective, touch. There's also on-page sex that is neither sensationalized nor glossed over, and an unfaltering respect for the characters that evidently comes from an author who knows what they're talking about.

Powerful, moving, and more than a little out of this world.

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Anna-Marie Mclemore’s books are vulnerable, hauntingly beautiful patchwork quilt of thoughts and emotions that leave your heart held tight and wishing you could transcend into their level of beauty and tenderness and be rid of all your feelings except for your love for them.

When The Moon Was Ours was no exception.

So what's this book about?

When The Moon Was Ours sweeps you into a treacherous and romantic world that takes center stage in this story of Miel, a petaled girl spilled out from a water tower who grew roses out of her wrist and Samir, who painted a hundred bright moons and hung them anywhere he could get away with. Miel and Samir housed entire armies of information about each other—Miel knew how Sam would never feel himself inside the name he was given at birth and how he wanted nothing more than to be a boy who grew into a man, and Sam knew how much the roses woven into her veins weighted on Miel and the truth about her guardian, Aracely, who pulled lovesickness from weary hearts.

But there were many secrets neither of them was ready to give up just yet—secrets the gorgeous haughty Bonner sisters, who’ve always seemed less siblings and more a force, gathered enough of to compel Miel into obediance, because they believed that the roses coming through her skin had the strength the rumors said: the power to earn them the love of any boy and any heart they failed in winning.

Anna-Marie Mclemore's writing sings—each sentence, each paragraph marvelously wrought, and the plush, sensuous prose unspools the story with delicious languor. Add in the author’s ability to always breathe into existence fully-realized characters that you'll want to live with long after you turn the last page and you've got a story very few writers could conjure in their wildest imaginings and only McLemore could make into something so wondrously, palpably real.

Miel and Samir’s story is an elegantly crafted paean to the healing power of living your truth and the indiscriminate power of love. A story that will carry a dizzying sense of familiarity for a lot of us—made palpable in Sam and his complicated longing to settle an argument that waged deep inside himself, Sam who wanted to carve a space for him in the world but felt the world was too heavy a backpack that he was carrying through time and space, Sam who was caught in the thorn bush of who he was and was so sure that settling into his truth would be painful that he didn’t trust any path that didn’t come with agony.

“It was his. All of it was his. His body, refusing to match his life. His heart, bitter and worn. His love for Miel, even if it had nowhere to go, even if he didn’t know how to love a girl who kept herself as distant from him as an unnamed constellation.”

And Miel who never gave herself enough credit for overcoming things and getting better or celebrated her strength, Miel who’s convinced herself that loving her isn’t easy because of her sharp edges and missing parts, whose problem was never the lack of love but the inability to understand why anyone in their right mind would want to love her.

Miel and Sam who have always known the tide and undertow of each other’s feelings, their hurts, both small and large, both voiced and unvoiced, for most of their lives, yet being the object of so much tenderness and devotion loomed a scary specter because they didn’t think they deserved it. But they do. They do. And seeing them eventually embrace it with open arms and let it all wash over them was so beautiful.

“When they both realized they were heartbroken enough to want the love torn from their rib cages, they touched each other with their hands and their mouths, and they forgot they wanted to be cured.” 

Lastly, no review of McLemore's books would be complete without discussing diversity and representation. This is a beautiful love story between a Latina girl and an Italian-Pakistani trans boy woven with an authenticity that stems from the author's own first-love-turned-marriage with a trans man. And here the author not only infuses her Latinx culture into every nook and cranny of this book (such as including the legend of La Llorona—The Weeping Woman) but she also delves deep into the Pakistani tradition of Bacha Posh— a fascinating practice where fathers and mothers dress their daughters as boys until they grow up to be women. 

This isn't surface-level, checking-off-items-on-a-list diversity. It’s not just the inclusion of Spanish words and Afghani customs. It’s a way of interpreting the world, of making choices, of navigating life. So not only does it make for a culturally vibrant story, but an eye-opening and educational experience as well.

If there’s any book you would read upon my recommendation, please please make it this one!

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Whoo boy was this book heavier than the cover implies. With their trademark ethereal tone, McLemore yet again pens a piece of magical realism that made me cry, swoon, and gasp out loud at. This is my third 5 star read from this author in as many years, and has solidified their spot in my list of all time favourite authors.queer314 s Melissa ? Dog/Wolf Lover ? Martin3,589 10.8k

I don't know how to even begin with this book! It's a mystical story of love, scary myths, transgender, magical things I still don't understand. AND, it was bloody brilliant!



Miel and Sam have a special relationship. They have been best friends for years, but they also love one another. I said, I was confused during a lot of the book with all of the prose and trying to understand the meanings. But there were parts where the author explained more and it was just this crazy mystical ride with real issues.



Miel who grew roses out of her arm was afraid of the la llorona, the mythical spirit-woman who had drowned her children.



There is a lot to that story but I will let you read all of that for yourself. Miel lives with her sister who is said to be a witch because she can take certain things away from you to help you.

This book!

Sam who has so many things about himself that is so sad and so wonderful. I loved Sam and Miel, they were weird, they were different, but they were my kind of people if they weren't anyone else's.

The neighbor girls, I never did understand their story totally. There is some magical things going on there as well. Or maybe it's all just the way it's told in the prose, maybe none of it's magical at all, but I think you will find that the magic IS there.



A beautiful story written by the author and in reading the Author's Note, finding that some of the things have been a reality in her life. And that touched me even more so than the book.

*I would to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*

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RTC <3

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This is the April pick for the Dragons and Tea Book Club!
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