A review by kitrook
The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore
4.0
4.5 / 5 ☆
"On the perfect white of Victoria’s car interior, I write NO.
I write it hard, crushing down the bullet top of the lipstick. It smears into
the upholstery."
cws: sexual assault, blackmail, date rape drugs
What a beautiful novel. This was my first book by Anna-Marie McLemore, and as I don't read magical realism, this was also my first magical realism book in a long time. I will admit, it was hard for me to understand at first, but as I progressed through the novel the magic set into place for me, and I came to realise what an essential part of the storytelling process it was. The way Ciela speaks of her culture, her family, and her skin, can only be described as beautiful– if beautiful can even describe it. Despite what has happened to her, Ciela's desire to gain her love for life back makes this book so much more magical. The way Ciela talks about the pastelería and pan dulce made me wish with my entire heart that I could meet her in real life. I want nothing more than to walk into the pastelería and have La Bruja de los Pasteles tell me exactly what I need to heal my heart after reading this book.
I also want to commend Anna-Marie McLemore for the Queer rep in this book. Too often, authors, even Queer ones, shy away from using the term Lesbian, or even any identifying label. They don't do that. Ciela and Jess are openly Queer girls, and take pride in their labels of pan and lesbian. As a fellow Queer survivor, this was so important for me to see.
The reason I give this book 4.5 stars instead of 5 is simply because of how hard it was to read. This is a beautiful story, but it is also incredibly painful. Towards the middle of the book, when the plot twisted, I found it very hard for me to continue. But I was so invested in the story of Ciela and Lock, that I kept reading. I am glad I did.
However sad this book may be, it is also full of life and I recommend anyone who believes they can handle the themes, to pick it up and never put it down.
"On the perfect white of Victoria’s car interior, I write NO.
I write it hard, crushing down the bullet top of the lipstick. It smears into
the upholstery."
cws: sexual assault, blackmail, date rape drugs
What a beautiful novel. This was my first book by Anna-Marie McLemore, and as I don't read magical realism, this was also my first magical realism book in a long time. I will admit, it was hard for me to understand at first, but as I progressed through the novel the magic set into place for me, and I came to realise what an essential part of the storytelling process it was. The way Ciela speaks of her culture, her family, and her skin, can only be described as beautiful– if beautiful can even describe it. Despite what has happened to her, Ciela's desire to gain her love for life back makes this book so much more magical. The way Ciela talks about the pastelería and pan dulce made me wish with my entire heart that I could meet her in real life. I want nothing more than to walk into the pastelería and have La Bruja de los Pasteles tell me exactly what I need to heal my heart after reading this book.
I also want to commend Anna-Marie McLemore for the Queer rep in this book. Too often, authors, even Queer ones, shy away from using the term Lesbian, or even any identifying label. They don't do that. Ciela and Jess are openly Queer girls, and take pride in their labels of pan and lesbian. As a fellow Queer survivor, this was so important for me to see.
The reason I give this book 4.5 stars instead of 5 is simply because of how hard it was to read. This is a beautiful story, but it is also incredibly painful. Towards the middle of the book, when the plot twisted, I found it very hard for me to continue. But I was so invested in the story of Ciela and Lock, that I kept reading. I am glad I did.
However sad this book may be, it is also full of life and I recommend anyone who believes they can handle the themes, to pick it up and never put it down.