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A review by sistermagpie
When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
3.0
I was torn on a rating for this because there's a lot of beautiful writing in it that made me want to be surrounded by the world described in it. It's full of colors and tastes and smells that are deliciously heady.
But in a way that kept me from being fully engaged with it. It was a bit like if you were trying to get to know somebody just by reading poetry they'd written. At some point you think you'd see them more clearly if you could just take them to Starbucks and watch them deal with the people at the counter getting their order wrong three times in a row. Like important moments always have time for poetic descriptions, and emotions almost always involve some physical reaction that's surprising and carefully described.
The wider plot, too, is very symbolic. In some ways it takes place in an ordinary town, but here too events cause physical, magical changes. Four red-headed sisters seem to have the power of making men fall in love with them, until something happens to one of them and the pumpkins on their farm turn to glass. Sam, one of the main characters, hangs moons all over town that help children with nightmares. Another character goes into the river as one thing and comes out another. Oh, and the other main character has roses growing out of her wrist, a family trait with ominous rumors attached.
So while this makes for some beautiful writing and the author's clearly very much in control of what she wants to say and how to say it, I always felt a bit removed from the characters. At times when they would be furious or hurt I never felt it with them or worried that it wouldn't just work out.
But in a way that kept me from being fully engaged with it. It was a bit like if you were trying to get to know somebody just by reading poetry they'd written. At some point you think you'd see them more clearly if you could just take them to Starbucks and watch them deal with the people at the counter getting their order wrong three times in a row. Like important moments always have time for poetic descriptions, and emotions almost always involve some physical reaction that's surprising and carefully described.
The wider plot, too, is very symbolic. In some ways it takes place in an ordinary town, but here too events cause physical, magical changes. Four red-headed sisters seem to have the power of making men fall in love with them, until something happens to one of them and the pumpkins on their farm turn to glass. Sam, one of the main characters, hangs moons all over town that help children with nightmares. Another character goes into the river as one thing and comes out another. Oh, and the other main character has roses growing out of her wrist, a family trait with ominous rumors attached.
So while this makes for some beautiful writing and the author's clearly very much in control of what she wants to say and how to say it, I always felt a bit removed from the characters. At times when they would be furious or hurt I never felt it with them or worried that it wouldn't just work out.