When the Moon Was Ours: A Novel

Anna-Marie McLemore

Oct 2016 · Sold by Macmillan

About this ebook

Winner of the 2016 Tiptree Award
Longlisted for the 2016 National Book Award for Young People's Literature
Stonewall Book Award Honor

"McLemore dances deftly across genres, uniquely weaving glistening strands of culture, myth, dream, mystery, love, and gender identity to create a tale that resonated to my core. It’s that rare kind of book that you want to read slowly, deliciously, savoring every exquisite sentence." —Laura Resau, Américas Award Winning Author of Red Glass and The Queen of Water

At once a lush fairytale, an unforgettable queer romance, and a celebration of trans love, Anna-Marie McLemore's When the Moon Was Ours is a modern classic that proves there is magic in being yourself.

To everyone who knows them, best friends Miel and Samir 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. Samir 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.

As odd as everyone considers Miel and Samir, even they stay away from the Bonner girls, four beautiful sisters rumored to be witches. But now the sisters 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-- including Samir's past.

Ratings and reviews

This is one of those books that you anticipate for a really long time because you've heard nothing but wonderful things about it. And it's also one of those highly anticipated books that live up to your expectations, thankfully. Well... it lived up to mine, anyway! Miel is our main character, and as you can see from the synopsis, she can magically grow roses from her wrist. Beautiful, fragrant roses. But not everyone sees the roses as something beautiful. Sam, though... our other main character, and Miel's best friend, has no problem with the roses growing from Miel's wrist. They have a close bond with each other, unlike anything they've ever had with anyone else, and I absolutely adored this relationship between them. They were the perfect match for one another. I felt I could relate more to Sam's personality than Miel's, but I still loved Miel just the same. "Giving someone else a little of who they were hurt more than giving up none or all of it." Although we have these perfect (to me) characters, we also have the Bonner sisters, who are perfect in everyone else's eyes... but are in no way perfect on the inside. They are mean, cold hearted, and just down right cruel. I didn't like them as people, but I did enjoy them as characters, if that makes sense. I like stories that have all different types of characters and personalities... that's what makes it fun! And that's exactly what I got with When the Moon Was Ours. All of the characters worked so well together to create a great, interesting story. When the Moon Was Ours is magical realism at its finest. A perfect example of non-fantasy having magical elements, and I really loved that about this book. It gave the story life, as if it was living and breathing like you and I. And I was pulled right into this world McLemore had created. "Someday, Sam and Miel would be nothing but a fairytale." The one thing that bothered me about this standalone novel, was the writing in the beginning. It was almost as if the author was attempting to be nonchalantly poetic, but it ended up being more confusing than anything. It took me a minute to wrap my head around the writing, but once I did, I was hooked. And that's all there is to it! Labeled as LGBTQ+, I knew I wanted to read this book, even though I was totally unaware of the reason behind the label. Well, come to find out... all the readers whose reviews I read on this novel did a very (and I mean, VERY) good job at not spilling the beans! (Thank you, non-spoilery reviews!) The twist was fantastic and totally unexpected! The LGBTQ+ representation was done very well, and I applaud McLemore on this aspect of the story. Kudos, kudos, and more kudos! A bit odd and different (in a good way!), When the Moon Was Ours is a really, really good story that a reader can learn a lot from. If you haven't read it yet, you really need to. It's one of those stories that just NEEDS to be read. As much as I wanted to give the book five stars, it just didn't reach that point for me, due to my issues with the writing in the beginning. But it absolutely is worth the four stars I gave it... and it could be worth more to you! Why don't you read it and find out?!

Interesting

About the author

Anna-Marie McLemore was born in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and taught by their family to hear la llorona in the Santa Ana winds. They are the author of THE WEIGHT OF FEATHERS, a 2016 William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist; 2017 Stonewall Honor Book WHEN THE MOON WAS OURS, which was longlisted for the National Book Award in Young People's Literature; WILD BEAUTY, a Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Booklist best book of 2017; BLANCA & ROJA, a New York TimesBook Review Editors' Choice; DARK AND DEEPEST RED, a Winter 2020 Indie Next List title; and the forthcoming THE MIRROR SEASON.