Anna-Marie McLemore

First Lines Fridays: October 6, 2017

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First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

As far as he knew, she had come from the water. But even about that, he couldn’t be sure.

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

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.

September 2017 Wrap-Up (Part 1)

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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
(Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  September 1
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  “Look would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?”
Least Favorite Thing:  Vogon poetry 😦

I can’t believe how long it took me to get around to reading this. I think it’s because it is one of those things everyone talks about reading (or they’ve seen the movie), so I just sort of tuned it out. But I had seen examples of Douglas Adams’ writing and I knew I would enjoy it if I just did it, and I was right! I definitely recommend this book.

My Posts About The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt
(The Tillerman Cycle, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  September 1 – 2
Read Count:  3  (Pretty sure I’ve read it more than that, but only 3 that I can be sure of.)
Favorite Thing:  That scene where Jeff and Mina both visited the farm for the first time and met all the other Tillermans and everybody sat around singing songs and it was cheesy and cozy and perfect!
Least Favorite Thing:  Dicey’s English teacher…blech.

My Posts About Dicey’s Song

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
Rating:  ★★★★★
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  September 2 – 7
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The colors of the story.
Least Favorite Thing:  That freakin’ Reese douche.

I normally don’t enjoy books that are as romance-centric as When the Moon Was Ours, but everything about this story was beautiful and I’m so glad it got recommended to me.

My Posts About When the Moon Was Ours

A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voigt
(The Tillerman Cycle, book 3)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  September 7 – 8
Read Count:  3  (Pretty sure I’ve read it more than that, but only 3 that I can be sure of.)
Favorite Thing:  The relationship between Jeff and his dad in Part Two.
Least Favorite Thing:  Fucking Melody. Ugh. Double ugh. I had forgotten just how manipulative and emotionally abusive Melody was to Jeff and his father!

My Posts About A Solitary Blue

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
(The Lynburn Legacy, book 1)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  September 8 – 11
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Angela’s rudeness.
Least Favorite Thing:  THE FUCKING ENDING WTF???????? IT BETTER BE SOME KIND OF FUCKING TRICK I SWEAR TO GOD!

I was hesitant about this book at first, but I’m very glad I read it (even if I’m also very mad). There were many moments where it had me literally laughing out loud.

My Posts About Unspoken

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 1)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  September 12 – 14
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  That masqued ball scene.
Least Favorite Thing:  When Laini turns her spectacular powers of descriptive language against us and describes things like Razgut and Bain… I needed 10 showers after that whole beard thing.

To my mind, DoSaB isn’t as good as Strange the Dreamer, but it’s still really good and really hard to put down!

Also I’m still filled with jealousy every time it’s mentioned that Karou just wishes knowledge of new languages into her collection. No fair, no share!

My Posts About Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Part 2

Musing Monday: September 11, 2017

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Musing Mondays is a weekly meme, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ____, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Do you plan a reading list while on vacation?

I blogged about ____ this past week…

Do you plan a reading list while on vacation?
Welp… I’ve literally never been on a vacation so… But I know if I was going on one I would want books so I probably would do this.

Review: When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

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As their deep friendship turns to love, Latina teenager Miel, who grows roses from her wrist, and Italian-Pakistani Samir, a transgender boy, fear their secrets will be exposed by the beautiful Bonner girls, four sisters rumored to be witches.

Rating:  ★★★★★ – it was amazing
Genre:  young adult fiction, ya fantasy, magical realism
Pros:  chock-full of representation, lyrical prose, beautiful imagery
Cons:  occasionally dense

When the Moon Was Ours is a lovely story that I officially recommend to everyone.

The writing is beautiful and flows like a song. Even when things are happening in the story that are hard, the writing is so lyrical you don’t entirely hate to read it.

I’ve never described my favorite thing about a book as “the colors” before, and in any other context it would make no sense at all. But the imagery used by McLemore paints such vibrant pictures in the mind! Reading this book left me with a swirl of colors in my imagination.

There were a few times where the prose got a bit dense and I would find myself needing to reread a passage to figure out exactly what was occurring or impatient to get past the descriptive language to the action again. Luckily, these instances were few and far between. Overall the book was a joy to read.

The absolute best part of the book was the representation. Reading a book with so much racial diversity and LGBT+ representation right at the forefront — not shoved into a passing remark or a single character — was like a breath of fresh air. And what’s more, it was all handled with loving sensitivity.

If you are one of the many readers challenging themselves to read more #OwnVoices novels, a fan of the Magical Realism genre, or just a lover of well-told stories, you absolutely must get your hands on a copy of When the Moon Was Ours. It is a unique and thoroughly enjoyable tale of magic and romance.

Goodreads | Book Depository | Author’s Website

 

Thursday Quotables: September 7, 2017

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This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

Her mother did not guess that water could be more dangerous when there was less of it.

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.

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!

What Are You Reading Wednesdays: September 6, 2017

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What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:

  1. What’s the name of your current read?
  2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
  3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

  1. When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
  2. They’d spent enough time together that their bodies had pulled on each other, and they now bled at the same time, when the moon was a thin curve of light. If Miel had been anyone else, her knowing this, the steady rhythm of her knowing every month, would have been humiliating.
  3. Well I haven’t read far enough in to say for sure yet, but I think I might, yes.

WWW Wednesday: September 6, 2017

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Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three W’s!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:  When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
I haven’t gotten very far in this one yet, I’ve been in a weird headspace, but what I have read so far I really like!

The writing is beautiful and the story is interesting. I am really excited to see what unfolds next. The imagery especially gets me. As I read I can see everything unfolding in my mind like some kind of painting and I love it.

I’m also really excited about all the representation in this book! It’s so refreshing!

Recently Finished:  Dicey’s Song (The Tillerman Cycle, book 2) by Cynthia Voigt
I did not mean to read this one so fast! (I started it an hour or so after I finished Hitchhiker’s Guide and just read straight through till 2am when I realized I was at the end!)

I definitely shed some tears there at the end, but it was cathartic and everything else was satisfying and left me feeling quite content.

I’ve been trying to read this series slowly this time around so I can make it last, because Cynthia Voigt is my all time favorite author.

Reading Next:  A Solitary Blue (The Tillerman Cycle, book 3) by Cynthia Voigt
This is the first book to diverge from following the four Tillerman children from Dicey’s POV. Instead, we follow Dicey’s new friend Jeff.

Under normal circumstances I might be annoyed at the POV shift, but Jeff is a sweetheart and his story is interesting. It gives insight into his character that I appreciate.

Teaser Tuesday: September 5, 2017

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Her feeling that the moon had slipped from her grasp seemed locked in a place so far inside her that to reach it would be to break her open.

– Anna-Marie McLemore, When the Moon Was Ours, page 5

Version:
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published October 4th 2016 by Thomas Dunne

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.