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A review by twowheelsaway
The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore
5.0
TW: Sexual assault. The plot of this book deals directly and somewhat graphically with an incident of non-consensual sex involving alcohol and other substances.
To those reading this as potential readers: this book is beautiful, but difficult. There was never any way for it to not be difficult, and the heaviness is handled as well as I think it possibly could be, but if you've dealt with sexual assault, this is frankly a book that will probably be really triggering. That said, it's potentially also healing, and at the very least affirming. For anyone who hasn't dealt directly with sexual assault, and wants a difficult and complicated but truthful and unflinching perspective, this is definitely worth a read, although it will obviously not be light reading.
To those reading this as potential recommenders: I am having trouble thinking of the student to whom I would recommend this book, to be quite honest. I would never recommend it without telling a student what they're getting into, but I would have to know a student quite well to be sure this is what they could want. BUT this is the kind of book we have to have quietly on our shelves, so someone can find it when they need it. So when a peer recommends it to them in a way I don't think I could, we have it there for them to read.
More practically, I would never rip a book out of someone's hands, but I might have some hesitations about letting a younger student (we have kiddos down to 12 at my school) walk out of the library with this. Ultimately students' reading decisions are their own, but as comes up in the book, letting someone make a decision with information you know is incomplete is not harmless.
This review is a little differently structured than my usual deal, but I did want to acknowledge some kick-ass things about the book beyond subject matter. The magical realism strikes a perfect balance, where it can't be assigned just to the character's perspective, but it's also not entirely clear what exactly is and isn't happening. Also this book is stuffed full of rich, rounded characters, even in tiny roles. The world of the book feels so real and vivid. Finally, this book made my stomach growl any number of times with amazing food descriptions! I need to read some of McLemore's other books so I have something by them I can more easily recommend.
I hope I've given enough warning that anyone who picks this book up feels like they know what they're getting into-- if you feel up to it, this book is stunning.
To those reading this as potential readers: this book is beautiful, but difficult. There was never any way for it to not be difficult, and the heaviness is handled as well as I think it possibly could be, but if you've dealt with sexual assault, this is frankly a book that will probably be really triggering. That said, it's potentially also healing, and at the very least affirming. For anyone who hasn't dealt directly with sexual assault, and wants a difficult and complicated but truthful and unflinching perspective, this is definitely worth a read, although it will obviously not be light reading.
To those reading this as potential recommenders: I am having trouble thinking of the student to whom I would recommend this book, to be quite honest. I would never recommend it without telling a student what they're getting into, but I would have to know a student quite well to be sure this is what they could want. BUT this is the kind of book we have to have quietly on our shelves, so someone can find it when they need it. So when a peer recommends it to them in a way I don't think I could, we have it there for them to read.
More practically, I would never rip a book out of someone's hands, but I might have some hesitations about letting a younger student (we have kiddos down to 12 at my school) walk out of the library with this. Ultimately students' reading decisions are their own, but as comes up in the book, letting someone make a decision with information you know is incomplete is not harmless.
This review is a little differently structured than my usual deal, but I did want to acknowledge some kick-ass things about the book beyond subject matter. The magical realism strikes a perfect balance, where it can't be assigned just to the character's perspective, but it's also not entirely clear what exactly is and isn't happening. Also this book is stuffed full of rich, rounded characters, even in tiny roles. The world of the book feels so real and vivid. Finally, this book made my stomach growl any number of times with amazing food descriptions! I need to read some of McLemore's other books so I have something by them I can more easily recommend.
I hope I've given enough warning that anyone who picks this book up feels like they know what they're getting into-- if you feel up to it, this book is stunning.