A review by tiarala
When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

5.0

I'm not generally a big fan of magical realism. I tend to find it heavy-handed, getting in the way of the story. McLemore has made me rethink this. The interweaving of cultures is brilliant and the storytelling is just magnificent. Sam and Miel navigate morality, love, friendship and, oh yeah, it's got a trans protagonist and isn't a coming out story like pretty much any YA that touches on gender identity. I have never seen a trans story handled so beautifully and seamlessly within a story. (It helps that McLemore's husband is trans, I'm sure.) It's just so, so good. This should be on every YA reading list.